Sun sun sun

Dear readers,

This past week has been amazing. My teaching has gone very well, weather has been great, I've been 

exploring around and I think I have landed a job.

Teaching was good, I had middle school on Friday. It went really well, however, I am swayed that that's not the age I wish to teach. Friday afternoon I had a Skype interview with a school in China. They offered me the job - rent, flights and daily meals included. I am unsure whether to take this job, I am quite set on going to work in Vietnam. After posting on Hanoi teaching page in Vietnam, I have received plenty of interest in hiring me. I found a few companies I would like to work for and have been in contact with them. I did have to give good reasons to most places why they should hire a non native but I feel that I did get my points through really well. Looking forward to hearing back from the companies next week now that I have sent my paper work through.

For future workers; be positive and persistent- you will get a job as long as you are smiley person.  Remember to have all your papers ready and set - you will need your diploma papers, copy of your passport, criminal background check and a CV. Some schools require you to write a cover letter, lesson plan or a video introduction.

Friday night we headed out to Chaweng (central) for a little celebration ! It was a great night out, something different and very fun and lively.

On Saturday morning we were planning on heading to Koh Tao, unfortunately, we discovered that it is not possible to go for just one day. The boat ride takes nearly two hours and the last ones leave by sunset. If you would like to do a day trip you would have to book a set tour, they might seem pricey but what I have seen they are good value for money.
We ended up heading back to Koh Phangan instead to see what else is on this famous full moon party island. It proved to be amazing. We were very lucky with the weather, one of the most beautiful days so far. Everything was turquoise. We went swimming, climbed mountains, ate tasty food, found a great smoothie stall. Pictures to come. 

By the time we wanted to head back no public boats were going any more so we had to hunt a speed boat. Most boat owners were asking about 5000-7000 bath. We had met this Rastafarian earlier in the day who happened to own a speedboat so we were looking for him with a picture of him in our phones ! We managed to find him and he promised to drive us back to Koh Samui ! 3000 for the ride including the taxi ride back to our hotel for the two of us. 

The ride back was fantastic !! It was pitch black dark, I could not see a thing (so I understand the night fare). Half way to Koh Samui we hit a storm. What an experience to be in a speedboat in the dark when there's water splashing from all sides. We were loving life !

Sunday morning we headed to the beach for breakfast. We were going to rent scooters to drive around the island but my friend had never rode one before and we were advised against it so we decided not to risk it. Keep in mind the amount of people who die in scooter accidents. I spent the evening catching up with work and finishing the last lesson plan for tomorrow. I am 99% done with the course !

Talk to you soon,

Mira

Floating market

Dear readers,


Today is a good day ! I am finally feeling quite the bit better - could not be closer to the eleventh hour; I had two teaching practices today.

First, I taught a fifth grade. The kids were extremely sweet and quite organised. I and my partner, unfortunately, mishear our instructor and were under the impression that we had 20 mins left when in fact we were only 20 mins into our hour. This caused a little hassle but I fully enjoy the lesson anyway and I believe that the kids did too. I must say that the lessons are slowly starting to feel more natural and require a lot less trying. After the fifth grade we moved onto the local International School to teach adults. I was quite excited for this already beforehand because I am swaying to the direction that I wish to work with adults during my adventure. The lesson went amazing. I was a natural with them (I don't even say so myself, it's in my report haha). The International School is a very nice, modern place, like most private schools in Thailand.

I am just busy booking a group tour for our training team for the weekend - any suggestions are welcome. We are planning on doing some island hopping, apparently there are 42 islands in the area and I have only been on two. We are also looking to do some kayaking and snorkeling, we actually went kayaking at Koh Samui last night already. We aimed it perfectly to the sunset, the view was straight from a postcard, no filters needed (check my instagram; _miramaria).

Tonight we are headed to the local floating market in hopes of finding amazing street food and fresh fruits ! The others went last week already and said that it was amazing so expectations are high.

Till next time.

Loads of love,

Mira