Field Trip!

Saturday it was off to Kanchanaburi on a school field trip, “English on Tour”.  A group of my M2 students were selected to go on this field trip in order to practice their English skills. The bus ride started off with me and Olivia asking questions in English and students reading the history of the sites we were going to see. The students were supposed to complete an assignment at each of the stops on the trip.  First stop was the WWII cemetery containing soldiers and prisoners of war involved in building the “death railway”. After that it was on to the “Bridge over the River Kwae” (apparently pronounced kway not kwai.  Kwai means buffalo in Thai which the Thai teachers and students thought was hilarious) The bridge was part of the “death railway” built by the Japanese. The railway was intended to link Thailand and Burma and was used to transport labor and supplies to the Japanese army. After a morning filled with history it was off to the Soi Yok waterfall. The students had to complete an assignment where they had to have a conversation with a foreigner and ask them questions in English. The waterfall was pretty but it was very crowded and touristy. As for the kids, I don’t know if any of them completed this part of the assignment. I kept asking my kids if they needed help, but they just said “No teacher. Later”. I think they were too nervous about approaching a stranger and attempting to talk to them in English. Overall, a pretty interesting field trip.

Sunday it was time for another “field trip”. Although, I wouldn’t necessarily call a trip to the Chatachack weekend market in Bangkok a “field trip”. Doesn’t seem to me there is much educational value there….Nonetheless, 7 buses were loaded with probably about a thousand kids (all grade levels). And guess what?  The kids were literally dropped off and told to meet back at the buses. I was shocked as the M1 students (11-12 year olds) were simply let loose into the largest market in the world. I thought for sure someone was going to get lost. Heck, there have been a few times where I have felt the onset of a small panic attack because I could not find my out. But low and behold, after an afternoon of shopping, all the students seemed to have made it out alive. Whew.

It was a pretty fun weekend, however I think I am done with the school field trips for a while. I don’t know how many more bus rides filled with loud techno music and bad karaoke I can handle.