Holiday - Part 1 (Bangkok)

After 2 months of living in Mandalay, it was time to head off to a new teaching destination. This time - VIETNAM! But first, a Holiday!

Once I left Myanmar, I settled in Bangkok for a few days with 2 of my friends from Mandalay (Clare and Ryan) and Clare's friend Nina (from South Africa). We spent Saturday just relaxing, shopping, and EATING STREET FOOD!! It was SO great to eat flavorful food again. Then we went out for drinks, and danced until morning. All things I couldn't do in Myanmar!

Sunday we spent the day spoiling ourselves. Getting our hair did, manicures, etc. I even got to meet up with some of my Bangkok family for some ice cream. Then it was dinner (with a magic show!) and a little earlier of a night, because Monday was a big day.

Monday Ryan and I got up SUPER early and headed to Wat Ban Phra, for new tattoos. Why at this place? Because it's a big thing in the Thai culture. You get to the temple (Wat), and give your offering (flowers, cigarettes) to the head monk, then wait your turn. When it's your turn, you sit in front of the monk, and he decides on your tattoo and location. So, when it was my turn, I sat in front, and (since he can't touch women) he positioned my body using a stick. He handled me a little rough, throwing my arms and head around until he had positioned me to how he wanted. Then, it was time to start. I sat in the most uncomfortable position for abot 25 min, my legs fell asleep, and I had NO idea what design he was giving me. But finally, he was done! He cleaned off the ink, and then said a Khmeric prayer over the tattoo. And FINALLY, I got to see what it was! And here it is....

So, in case you are wondering about what my "Sak Yant" means, here ya go:

It's 5 rows and each row represents something different:

1. First row prevents unjust punishment and leans in your favor when the area is grey, cleans out unwanted spirits and protects the place you live in.
2. Second row reverses and protects against bad horoscope constellations and bad luck.
3. Third row protects you from the use of black magic and anyone who tries to put a curse on you.
4. Fourth row energizes your good luck, success and fortune in your future ambitions and life style.
5. Fifth row is to gain charisma and attraction to the opposite sex. It is also is a boost to the fourth row.

After the tattoos were done, it was time to head back...because us girls were off to KOH PHANGNAN for the FULL MOON PARTY!

Sawasdee Kha,
Apes

"Teaching Clothes"

So in each country I have been in, the teaching attire is different:

Thailand
Each day of the week you are supposed to wear a certain color.

• Monday = Yellow: wear this color to show respect to the Royal Family
• Tuesday = Pink: wear this color to show repect to the King
• Wednesday = Green
• Thursday = Orange: I'm not sure, but I assume it's to show respect to the Monk's (they wear orange robes in Thailand)
• Friday = Blue: wear this color to show repect to the Queen (my school let us choose to wear yellow OR blue on Fridays, as blue was my school's color)

There are specific "teaching shirts" that are the colors for the days of the week. They look like hawaiian shirts, and all the teachers wear them. You can even see workers of other industries wearing a similar style shirt.

Along with the shirt, I was required to wear a skirt - NO PANTS for me!!

Left to Right: Our Boss Mel (in the school polo), Angie (you can see the blue under her blazer), Me in my "Teaching shirt" and Meghan (she's a rebel!)

Myanmar
In Myanmar, I was there for an English camp, so the dress code was not specific. Even still, business attire was expected. Dresses, skirts, dress pants were the daily wear.

South Korea

In South Korea, there is no uniform and being in a rural area, the dress code is even more lax. Most of my schools are ok with me wearing jeans and a sweatshirt (not even a dressy top!). The "different" thing about the attire here is the shoes. It doesn't matter WHAT shoes you wear, as soon as you get into the school building, you change into a pair of slippers. Didn't bring any? Don't worry, each school has a supply of basic ones with their school name on them for visitors.

School "slippers" for guests (or me, when I don't bring my own)

It's interesting to see the different uniforms in each country!

Ghamsamnidah,
Apes :)