Changes

I have to apologise for not writing so long.... No excuse but we had a bit of a moving time. To make a long story short: To create some income I started to look for work and found a job as an English teacher. I started work a few weeks ago at a privet Taiwanese Buddhist school from Tzu Tsi foundation. It is the first school in Thailand but in Taiwan there are many schools and also hospitals build by this Taiwanese foundation. They are dedicated to help the poor and sick and help all over the world with aid relief.
My job is to work together with the English teachers and create some sort of remedial lesson plan. Eventhough I'm struggling myself with the English language, the school think I'm of great help and I have to tell them again and again that I'm not a native speaker! The English of the teachers in whole Thailand is really poor you have to know.
It is a school I never seen before,,, no breaks for the teachers (on my first day I asked when the teachers will have a coffee break so I can meet everyone,,, I was looked at really funny and was told I can bring my coffee from home and drink it at my desk!) , The 10 minute lunch for the teachers is eaten in silence and according strict rules. But even though the rules, the children are very out of control because all is reacted upon with Love and Peace and no consequences for bad behaviour . So copying homework and cheating is rather normal,,,, So I think the kids feel unfortunately with their new teacher who brings in some new rules...! It is just very different than in Australia or Holland what makes it a good experience I guess! My Taiwanese and Thai colleagues are really nice and slowly I manage to have a chat with them all.

I will keep you up to date with my adventures at school and of course as well with the project. Ben is now visiting the schools on his own but I will join him on Mondays when I have a day of work so I can assist the project. So for me a change in our life here but it hasn't made any difference anything for the project. I can work at Tzu Tsi and still help all the teachers from Free Schools so all is well.


At the school from Ban at the orange farm all is going great! The teenagers are still coming every day and that is something we didn't expect. These Tai Ai, or Shan people are really motivated to learn.
They are the newest migration group who have arrived in Thailand and have no rights at all. They escaped from the military junta and now live in Thailand but are not excepted as refugees. It is completely out of line with the human rights Geneva Convention from 1951 how these people are treated. But as long as there is no media covering these issues, nothing will change.


It was my birthday not long ago and Ben took me to a beautiful resort where we enjoyed the pool and the green tropical surroundings. It was not so hot so we stayed a bit too long in the sun not realizing we were getting fried! So for more than a week after that we were sore and sorry!







The beautiful surroundings in Mea Salong. This area has a rich history with the famous opium trade and was home to the Shan drugs lord Kung Sa. After our wedding in January we will have a tour to this area as it is only 1,5 hour from Fang.








Smaller but more touristic than Fang. 'I'm just looking' doesn't work here! You always end up buying something. Anyway I think that is fair enough.
This lady is a Akha hill tribe. In this area you can find many Akha villages.