Her Arrival to Phanomsarakham

By Shelly 

We returned from Kanchanaburi to our orientation hotel to meet our school coordinators.  My heart fluttered nervously at the prospect of meeting my coordinator for the first time and parting ways with Matt and my new friends.  I went to the table where my coordinator, Ajarn Patchara was sitting with the current farang teacher *Elster, and my fellow new teacher, Clay.  Ajarn is the Thai word for ‘Teacher’.  Upon sitting down, Ajarn Patchara informed me that my house was not quite ready so I would be living in different accommodations, not far from the school, in an apartment.  She had brought along some photos of the apartment that contained a simple, cute presentation of a studio with a king-size bed (sweet!), mid-size refrigerator next to a table with two chairs, a TV, and a bright open bathroom where the shower was not separated from the rest and my toilet had a seat but no flusher.  This meant that I would be flushing the toilet with the large bucket that sat next to the toilet.  I really didn’t mind!  It was kind of cool to get a more authentic Thai experience.  J   The walls of my apartment were painted a pretty lilac color with sea green marbled tile floors.  The tiles of my bathroom contained periwinkle butterflies.  I couldn’t wait to see my place!  After chitchatting for a bit, we decided to head out, collecting our luggage and hopping into a van with another teacher, Ajarn Pinu and her son.  We were almost instantly offered a type of Khanom (a sweet snack), which consisted of coconut, rice flour, and sugar all mixed together which was wrapped and grilled in a banana leaf.  Mmm.  SO GOOD!

 As we made our way out of Bangkok heading northeast to the province of Chachoengsao, the space opened up as buildings and houses spread out across the landscape.  As we entered Chacho, things became slightly more congested again, though incomparable to that of Bangkok.  Dusk had just arrived as we drove on a bridge over a large river (name of river) and made a right turn into what was a jet ski rental place and loading dock.  Next to it was the restaurant we ended up going to for dinner, which was outdoors and right on the water.  We each got a Chang beer and proceeded to eat a delectable display of Thai food including coconut chicken soup, fish cakes, ground pork, rice (of course), and something that reminded me of my mom’s egg fu young.  As soon as our plate was empty, the Thais at our table would offer more food until we obliged.  Haha.  This is also where I learned to say “Im Lao”, which means, “I’m full”.  As we rode the 30 minute drive after dinner to my town of Phanom, the space again opened up but this time did not change much upon entering Phanom.  The first thing *Elster pointed out was the miniature Eiffel Tower all lit up on top of the building next to Tesco (a shopping mart similar to target) that served as a radio tower.

Phanomsarakham's very own Eiffel Tower

Apparently, they also had a wide selection of Paris t-shirts with the Eiffel Tower and writing in French on them.  He told me that the town was for no particular reason obsessed with Paris, which I found particularly ironic, given my desire to live in France.  Not far from there, we turned left three times; first onto a sub main street, then to a short side street and a back street where we turned into my apartment complex.  Everyone helped take my luggage up and I was directed, key in hand, to apartment number 99, where numerous Doraemon stickers adorned my door.  If you do not know what Doraemon is, it is the most famous cartoon in Thailand – a robotic cat from the future who steals things.  A criminal mastermind with magical pockets adorned my new apartment door.  Haha. 

My Doremaen toilet complete with water source and bucket to flush with.

My (cold) shower that has no separation

As we stepped inside, what I saw made me the happiest girl alive.  There, sitting on my bedroom floor, was a brand new Turbo charged bicycle…with a basket on the front and an extra seat on the back.  It was EXACTLY what I wanted!!!

They had also bought various things to get me started, so my bed was freshly made with new sheets, a brand new set of lime green bathroom towels awaited, along with a bright green Baby Pooh bath mat.  Hahaha, it was too cute what they had picked out for me to get me started. J  They showed me the coffee, orange juice, and luxury crackers they bought for me to have for breakfast the next morning.  As I bid them goodnight with plans to be picked up and toured around the next morning, I slowly unpacked my toiletries and put a few clothing items into my wardrobe, all the while smiling to myself about how happy I was to be having this experience.  Once I laid down, my eyes immediately closed and I fell fast, fast, asleep. 

*Some names have been changed at the request of the individual