T-minus 2 weeks!

So if you haven't heard by now, Cyrus and I are going to Thailand!  We will teach English for a year at a high school an hour north of Bangkok, in Suphan Buri.

After graduating, both of us wanted to have some life experiences before heading out into the real world.  We figured living in another country with a culture completely different from ours would definitely count as a life experience.  By teaching abroad, we will be able to see the world and meet new people, before I actually have to get a big girl job.

We applied through a program called CIEE, which organizes work abroad programs around the world.  Something about Thailand intrigued us, so we made the decision to apply for that country.  We got accepted in July, and have been preparing since.

A picture of my Visa:



The school we will be teaching at is the Kanchanapisekwitthayalai Suphanburi School (aka longest name ever).  It's a public middle school/high school with 1,900 students.  From what we've been told so far, the students we will be teaching already know how to read and write, but struggle with using English in an everyday sort of way.  We need to teach them how to communicate and use English in the "real world", which I think will be a lot more interesting to teach than basic grammar.

The school pays for us to live in an apartment, and gives us a salary on top of that.  It's not much in US dollars, but it's pretty substantial relative to the cost of living in Thailand.  Our apartment will also house teachers from other schools in the area so we'll be able to hang out with and meet new people.
For some more info and pictures of our school and apartment check out the School Website.

We leave October 20 out of Chicago, and get to enjoy a nice 16 hour flight to Seoul, then another 4 hour flight to Bangkok.  We'll have to take a cab to the hotel, then we get a day to wander around before orientation starts on the 22nd.  The orientation lasts for 5 days and we'll learn about basic teaching practices and how to survive in Thailand.

The past couple months have flown by, leaving me excited and anxious.  I'm not too sure what to expect, but I know it will be an adventure.