Training/ First Couple of Weeks of Work

At the beginning of the month I started training with Wall Street Institute.  I was excited and nervous.  Our first day of training was orientation on the Friday before it all began. It was pretty much a day of learning the facts about Wall Street and to meet some of our fellow trainees. There were 14 of us: 3 new teachers, 9 PTs (Personal Tutors) and 2 SOs (Service Officers). We spent half of the day at the Thailand head offices learning all about Wall Street and then we would head over to our new centers. I was originally hired for the brand new Central World branch but it is not set to open until May 1^st. So presently I am in between centers. I have now been told that I will either work at Siam or Central World. They are both very close to one another so it won’t do anything to my commute. The only real difference is that Central World is a premier center. People pay more money here to get treated like a VIP. I really don’t care which one I go to as long as I have great co-workers. Friday afternoon I spent my day at the Siam branch doing a scavenger hunt with some of the other trainees. It was a good way to meet some of our fellow co-workers and get to know the trainees. It was a pretty easy day and we were all done by 5 pm. I then hurried home to get pack and ready to go to Kanchanaburi. Monday came too soon and I was back at the head office waiting for our first day of training. We at least started our day off with a game. We played jeopardy of all the facts and figures we learned on our scavenger hunt. Pear our trainer was very nice and she is originally from Thailand but her family moved to Texas when she was 10 and she came back to Thailand for college. So it was cool to have a fellow Texan in the classroom. Training was going to be Monday thru Thursday from 11 am to 8 pm with Friday off because it was a holiday. The days were long. Wednesday was especially hard day since we spent a couple of hours going over how to read paperwork for advising sessions.  Thank god Thursday came because I was exhausted and I had a 4-day weekend. The best part about training was that the PTs are all Thai so everyday at lunch they let me tag along and took me to try all kinds of Thai cuisine. They are also the reason I am now hooked on Bubble Tea. Thursday night was nice because two of the other teachers and I went out for drinks after work. I drank a little too much but had a lot of fun. I then spent the rest of my weekend sleeping and doing chores around my apartment. My friend Raiyna stopped in to spend the day with me on Saturday she had been in Laos and was heading to Phuket so needed a place to crash for a couple of hours. Sunday I woke up early and made it to the old city to go to Easter Mass at the Assumption Cathedral.

 It was a great mass and surprisingly full. I would like to go to mass more often but the only church I have found is all the way in the old city, I have to work on Sundays at noon so it might be cutting it close.The best part about Easter Sunday was when I got home from Mass I had a package waiting for me. It was filled with Candy which made my day even better. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Suddenly it was Tuesday and I was back for my last day of training.  Our last day of training was spent separated from the PTs and SOs. The three teachers went up to one of the conference rooms with two service managers to focus on lesson planning and our role at Wall Street. It was a fun day of training I was sitting through some of the mock classes trying to be a student and I couldn’t stop giggling. I felt so bad I was taking it seriously I just could not stop the giggles. It was nice to have practice and get feedback I am just worried about my first day and my first solo class. After a long day of training the PTs wanted to go out to dinner to King Kong which is a Korean cook your own all you can eat BBQ place.  It was one of those restaurants that have a little BBQ pit in the middle of the table and we cook our own food.
 I just sat down and the PTs ordered everything. 

I had no idea what they had ordered but I knew they just said a lot of Thai words. All of sudden the food started coming out and coming out and coming out. There was so much food on our table we were staking plates on top of plates and using chairs to hold some food. I couldn’t believe how much food they had ordered and what I really couldn’t believe was that they ordered a couple more dishes. We finished everything. It was a great night and I am going to miss all the PTs I trained with. Thankfully I will work with a couple of them, I just wish I could work with them all. Wednesday was going to be my first day of work but first thing in the morning I had to head out to immigration with one of our HR guys, Tom, to extend my Tourist Visa and get my Non-B Visa. Thankfully Tom had done all my paperwork so it was a pretty easy process. I walked in and 10 minutes later I had already paid $60 for my extension. 30 minutes later I was looking for a cab to get back to the BTS after getting my Non-B approved. Tom waited for my passport so I could get to work. I think I was pretty lucky and really appreciated Tom helping me with all my Visa work now lets hope my Work Permit gets done soon because I would love to get a bank account.  After making it to work I was given my lesson for the day and had the rest of the day to prepare for it and also spend time getting to know my fellow co-workers. I was able to observe a fellow co-worker teach just so I had an idea of what I was suppose to do. Finally after hours of sitting around in the staff room I taught my first class. I was so nervous and a little disorganized but I thought the class went ok. I spoke a little too fast but I think the students liked me and they did well. After going over my performance with my boss I went home for the evening and I would have the next six days off. I had Thursday off because not too many classes were booked due to Songkran and Monday/ Tuesday were going to be my days off.  After a very long weekend I was back at work the following Wednesday with a nice little ear infection. Wednesday I would get teach two classes and the rest of the week I would teach two classes a day while observing other teachers. It was good to get more practice I felt more and more comfortable as the week went on. Luckily I had the same lessons a couple more times so I realized what I did wrong in one class and fixed it for the next one. My first Saturday working at Wall Street we had a social event celebrating Songkran so the first thing I was asked as I went into the staff room was if I was available to judge the Miss Songkran contest with Matthew (Siam Service Manager), Leah (Fellow Teacher), and Bey (Senior PT). As I was heading off to a class I was asked if I would do this little good luck ceremony after I finished my class I saw no problem with it and said yes. When I went out to the serivce area I found out that it was a blessing ceremony so the students would pour scented water over the teachers hands and give us a blessing.We had at least 50 students pour cups of water over our hands. It was really interesting and my hands were very pruny afterwards. Then it was time to judge six studetns who wanted to be the Siam Center Miss Songkran. It was pretty easy gig we sat at the judges table and watched the contestants as well as asked them a question. The students all got to vote for a contestant as well as the judges but our vote was worth more. After we took some pictures I retreated back to the staff area to prepare for my next class. Sunday was much more chill all I did was go in and teach my classes I did go out for drinks after work with some co-workers. I had a great time with my co-workers and hope to be able to do it more often. I then had two glorious days off where I just stayed in and tried to recharge for the coming week. Since I am still waiting for my first paycheck money is a little short right now but it was nice to just relax. My second week started pretty much the same as my first week the only difference is I have three classes a day and I was to teach a complimentary class. The complementary class is larger than a normal class and the students are not graded in these classes they just go there to have fun and practice. During my second week a fellow teacher and two service managers also observed me. I was told I was doing a good job my talking speed had decreased a lot and my teacher talk time was pretty low so I was happy with the feedback. My second week of work was pretty uneventful I have become more comfortable in the center and with my co-workers I am just waiting for my third week where it will be full schedule to see how I will  handle it. I am a little bit nervous about the extra classes and hope that I can get through them all. Thank goodness I have a three-day weekend to get myself ready for this.