Chapter 3: Orientation Day!

January 7, 2019

Because of my excitement and nervousness, I woke up really early today! It was Orientation Day today, meaning, we were going to meet the teachers in our deployment schools and our buddies! I was very excited.

UDRU gave us folders that contained essential information about our stay in Udon Thani. It included information like which school I will be deployed to. I saw that I was going to be deployed to the Satit Demonstration School of UDRU.

We were welcomed by an administrator of UDRU, and by a dance. We were so amazed because the dance was very beautiful and graceful.

We also had classes on Pasathai or the Thai Language. It was very fun because the teacher was very creative and the activities were engaging. I found it difficult to understand the alphabet or the characters of the Thai Language but still, it was fun. I also learned basic dialogue like the Thai translation of “My name is…” or “Di chan cheu…” I also learned how to count in Thai. The buddies who were helping out also helped us in learning the language.

Each cooperating school gave us an orientation about their school. Mrs. Pornpan Phatinawin gave the orientation about Satit Demonstration School, and she also showed us a video of the school. It turns out, she is also my cooperating teacher.

After the orientation of each school, we talked with the teachers of that school. I met Kru New (Mrs. Pornpan) and Kru Ae. Both of them were very nice and welcoming. I was very excited to go to school the next day!

After that, we had a delicious lunch, and we were also sent to visit the other campus of Udon Thani Rajabhat University which was very beautiful.

When we came back, the buddies already prepared the hall and gave us a paper to write our names on as name tags. We then introduced ourselves and then we played charades. Most of the categories were movies and it was very fun.

Thereafter, we were told to pick a stick and read the descriptions from the note. We had to guess who our buddy/buddies was/were. I was so nervous because I could not find my buddy, but later on, I saw that my buddies were Frank and Aeffect! They were really kind and funny.

However, Wahyu, from Indonesia, asked me to change buddies with him. His buddies were all girls. He said that it would be difficult for him because his religion does not allow him to touch other girls.

I agreed and asked for permission from Frank and Aeffect. I then met Beam and Tak! They were two lovely girls majoring in Social Studies. They told me that they will bring me to Satit Demonstration School tomorrow, even if it was so near to my dormitory.