Two Years in Thailand: That was the week that was

And what a week - I am mightily glad that it is finally over!

Monday 9th: Arrived at work to an email from my coordinator, to say he was sick but hoped to be back tomorrow.

Tuesday 10th: No improvement. Starting to get a little concerned - we had set aside this week for going through the workshop in detail and practising the presentation.

Wednesday 11th: Still no coordinator, and no indication of when he might be back. I was very glad that we had already prepared all the resources in plenty of time. Provisional contingency plan put in place in case he was not well enough by the weekend.
p.m. - bitten by a dog on the way home from Alice's. Spent much of the evening at the hospital.

Thursday 12th: Coordinator finally back, though still not completely well, and me limping around on my sore leg. We had a constructive morning going through Day 1 of the presentation. At lunchtime I started feeling unwell with flu-like symptoms - fever, headache, muscle ache. Went home to bed with some paracetamol and the feeble hope that it was not flu but a reaction to the rabies jab.

Friday 13th: Woke up feeling much better, after a really good night's sleep. It was just a mild dose of rabies after all. Went through Day 2 of the workshop. At 3:30, just as we were ready to load all our materials into the WE truck to set up at the venue, the heavens opened and poured and poured and poured.
Having been told we could arrange the room any way we wanted, we arrived to find it all set up very formally boardroom meeting-style, with no option to move the furniture in any way... Not quite what we wanted for our practical, interactive workshop. Nothing to do but make the best of it.

Saturday 14th: Day 1 - We knew the Opening Ceremony would take up time in the morning, with speeches from the various local government officials. We were not really prepared for it to go on right up until morning break time! The rest of the day went very well, and we were able to get through most of what we had planned. The teachers seemed to enjoy and appreciate it.
Back to the hospital at the end of the day to get my second rabies jab. Spent the evening going through the questions from Day 1 and adjusting the Day 2 plan.

Sunday 15th: Took a pre-emptive paracetamol together with my antibiotic after breakfast. Just as I was arriving at the WE office to get the truck to the venue, a dog ran across the road at my motorbike and started chasing me. I could see it in my mirror just behind my right ankle and was bracing myself for a repeat of Wednesday. Thankfully it lost interest as I turned in at WE, but I had to sit on my bike for several minutes while I waited for my legs to stop trembling before I got off. NOT a good start to the day!
Another really good day very well-received. In the Closing Ceremony, one of the head teachers said that our training was very different from anything they had attended before. They were used to training that is very theoretical without much indication about how to apply in the classroom, whereas ours gave practical ideas that they could use. I was so pleased, because that is just what we set out to do. My coordinator did a fantastic job, and we were both really pleased with how it went, after all our hard work planning and preparing. Both absolutely exhausted by the end of it - had a day off today to recover!

Somewhere in the middle of all that I turned 43, but to be honest I hardly noticed!

Opening Ceremony

Obligatory group photo

Setting workshop agreement

Shame this photo came out a bit fuzzy. I think it is hilarious - we look like we are doing a double act directing traffic!

Building on what teachers know about Early Childhood Development

These teachers didn't seem very familiar with the idea of water play, but had great fun!

This group were very focused on their creative activity, but came up with a very formulaic result, which is how they tend to teach the children as well. Not much room for individual creativity.

Role play also seemed a bit of a challenge, so I joined in this hospital scenario with my dog bite story. I really hammed it up and caused much hilarity.