The Wanderings of busman7

OK that did it! While having dinner + a couple quarts of Bintang served by the great looking  Bintang girl I made the executive decision to put Pontianak, Indonesian Borneo on the bucket list for anyone interested in getting off the beaten tourist track & happen to be in the area ie; SE Asia! See below for reasons.

A quick heads-up on credit cards, to save unnecessary hassles it’s a good idea to make sure that your name on the card is exactly the same as on your passport, managed to talk the nice young lady into using the one I wanted her to but took a bit with the language difficulty.

Just when, after 5 months in SE Asia, one thinks they have they have seen it all & there will be no further surprises, you reach the Tebedu-Entikong, where the last empty page on my passport was used for another full page visa, border between Malaysian Borneo’s Sarawak province & Indonesian Borneo’s West Kalimantan province where—hang on to your horses—you have entered a whole new ball game!

From no motor bikes/scooters in Brunei to less than usual in the Malaysian province  of Sarawak, you are immediately into a whole bunch of motos/scoters & pedal sharing the road, not as bad as Saigon but more than Bangkok. Then add a slew of Mitsubishi public buses, basically a 20-25 passenger minicoach  (equivalent to an E450 Ford) which are seriously overloaded & may or not still have the dual rear wheels in place. The first one we met only had singles in place & was using the motos as a slalom course, speeding down the highway, looking as if it would upset at any moment (& I thought Thailand’s van drivers were crazy—nope perfectly sane in comparison), add in the lousy road conditions & driving can be a challenge, especially after dark as lights seem to be optional.

Other than the crazy drivers (coach bus drivers excepted) & the questionable safety of the public buses it’s a great place to visit with friendly people who although their English is limited, successfully make the effort to communicate. Did have a tad of a disagreement over price with my taxi driver who toured me around this afternoon (tried to change price to piece work from hourly agreed upon) but the hotel staff negotiated an amicable agreement with no hard feelings on either side.

Restaurants in Borneo tend to have tables set up for 6-10 people so if busy you get to sit with others & invariably the others will try out their English on you even if it’s limited to a few words which makes travel in Borneo even more interesting. Oh yeah saw another white face today, makes a total of 3 in 4 days. So definitely a destination if one wants to get away from western tourists.

Have been warned more than once by locals that safety can be a concern in Indonesia but so far I have had no problems or found myself in a situation where I felt uncomfortable. Of course on my last day in Bangkok I walked through a red shirt encampment with no worries nor problems but am keeping alert & staying out of iffy areas here. Staying on the water front but apparently the hotel is owned by the navy so it’s all right.

Another first today as this old farm boy from The Eastern Townships crossed the Equator for the first time, visited the Kadariyah Palace, which is nothing more than an elaborate wooden house (for the time) situated in a working class neighborhood but pretty cool, then the Provincial museum where NO English translation of the exhibits is given (clearly showing the lack of western visitors).

Then tonight after dinner while having a cool one & enjoying the scenery, I was joined by an Indonesian whose hobby was practicing his English language skills, which were quite good, on any foreigner he came across. That along wit the Asian tourists I met at the Equator monument who wanted their picture taken with this farang (or whatever the term is here), not to forget the Bintang girl with the long hair & those fantastic Asian good looks (same as the Bangkok Singha girls)  made me deicide to place it on the bucket list for any traveler to SE Asia looking to get off the beaten track (regular tourists need not bother. Also given the fact that Kota Pontianak is reachable by air, ship or bus from anywhere  makes it an ideal destination !

So a nice rain came in the afternoon to cool things off for my boat trip around town, the water village, supposedly the largest in SE Asia, the Sultan’s Palace with it’s 1000+ rooms & 2000 staff is supposedly the biggest in the world (so says the boat driver) then a trip on the river to see the proboscis monkeys & even a couple monitor lizards as an added bonus.

To sum up my Brunei experience, it was a nice relaxing transition from my 2 month break in Bangkok, back into travel mode & glad I took the time to visit this small prosperous country (due to it’s oil) with it’s friendly people where it’s no problem finding English speakers. Prices while a bit dearer than Thailand are not bank breakers & as is true with the rest of Borneo very few tourists. Actually since I left BSB Sunday morning until now Tuesday afternoon in Pontianak Indonesia, I have seen a total of 2 white faces.

Lonely Planet has turned out not to be all that reliable when it comes to travel plans in Borneo as even though mine was printed in Mar 08 it’s badly out of date. Firstly it tells one to go to Kuala Belait, switch buses then cross the border & on to Miri, When all one has to do is catch the Blue Bus which takes you straight to Miri in about 3 hrs which includes the time spent crossing into Malaysia. LP also states that you need to go to the Indonesian Consulate in Kuching for a visa as it can’t be issued on arrival at the Entikong border crossing which as of Jan 12/10 is no longer true, they also list the old address for the Consulate.

Left BSB at 08:15 Sun. & arrived Kuching Malaysia 04:00 Mon where finding out that I could get visa on arrival at the border & as didn’t seem much of interest in town caught the 11:00 bus for the 9 hr ride to Pontianak, where I lucked out & got a nice room right next to the dock my ship to Jakarta leaves from.

One thing I didn’t notice while in Brunei was the complete lack of motor bikes & scooters, it was only upon crossing the border into Malaysia & seeing one that it became apparent that I hadn’t seen any for awhile.

A 10 minute walk from the Grand Kartika Hotel  http://www.grandkartika.blogspot.com took me to the Pelni agent where I got my ticket to Jakarta for a mere 223,000 Rupiah  about $28.00 CAD for the 36 hr trip taking 2 nights.

Off to find the Equator in the morning a 28 cent city bus trip.

Population of the entire country 375,000 a bit of a change from Bangkok’s 10,000,000+ & it covers an area of only 5765 sq km, making it one of the smallest countries on earth. An interesting bit of trivia, Brunei owns a cattle station in Australia, Willleroo, which is larger than the country itself & I intend on passing by when I am in the northern territory.

The capitol city, Bandar Seri Begawan (BSB), population 81,500 on first impression seems really small with it’s lack of high rise buildings but lots of green space & it’s compact airport is a welcome change from Bangkok’s monstrous Suvarnabhumi (bear with me as after 2 months in Bangkok, it’s kind of a culture shock leaving), shall go exploring in the morning.

Oh yeah & no alcohol in Brunei except for what a nonmuslim tourist is allowed to bring in. Only giving all these dry facts & figures because if you are like me, you have never heard of the country or met anyone who has visited, one of the reasons I decided to include it when Borneo was added to my itinerary. Also it’s the first country listed in Lonely Planet’s SE Asian guide book which, with the exception of East Timor, I will have visited all, by the end of next week when I reach Indonesia.

So BSB makes a good place to spend a day to get away from Thailand’s tourist scene as not that many here & the ones that are are so full of themselves they can’t be bothered to talk to you anyway. It’s just the boat operators that try to get you to take a ride but they aren’t too aggressive so not a problem, will take one this evening when it cools down a bit. Checked out the town this morning with a visit to the mosque & museum, then it got too hot for walking so will chill with HBO & A/C this aft then boat ride & check out the night market after.

Tomorrow morning catch the Blue Bus to Miri in Sarawak Malaysian Borneo.

Ten more days until my Thailand visa expires & it will be time to say so long to Bangkok which has become home for the past couple months. Think will head for Kanchanaburi tomorrow for a couple days as the red shirts have managed to get most of Bangkok’s Songkran activities cancelled, then have to meet up with Radek for a beer some time next week.

Just booked a flight & hotel room for the 23rd to Bandar Seri Begawan the capitol city of one of the smallest countries in the world Brunei Darussalam, located on the 3rd largest island in the world, Borneo.

Why visit Brunei? Well because I’ve never met anyone who has been there or to Borneo for that mater. Although I have read on Boots of a few travelers that have been to Borneo & enjoyed the experience.

Plan is a couple days in BSB then catch a bus to the border of Malaysian Borneo in Sarawak state where I will spend the night in Miri before continuing on with a 14 hr bus ride to the capitol, Kuching “cat city”. Have to spend a day there, find the Indonesian Embassy to get a visa so I can enter the country. Then the next day a short 9 hr bus trip to Pontianak  Indonesia.

Pontianak or Kota Khasulistiwa, Equator City is one of only 2 cities in the world to straddle the equator, so that will be kinda cool crossing the equator for the first time. Have to check out the Equator monument there to. Then book passage on the only Peleni Ship for at least a month heading for Jakarta where will try to catch the train across Java & end up in Bali for a 3 or 4 day break before catching a cheap flight up to Singapore to seek out Raffles Hotel for a Singapore Sling.

May 8th is the day to take a Quantas flight to Perth & my first look at OZ where the plan, at this point in time (subject to change) is roughly, get a Rail Explorer Pass, good for the India Pacific, Gahn & Overland trains then head out to Adelaide then switch trains & head north to Alice Springs. Three days until the next train north to check out Ularu & Ayers Rock.

Next a couple days in Darwin & seeing’s  how I am this close get a  10 day flexi-pass & catch the Grey Dog out to Kununurra, the area where the Sultan of Brunei has a cattle station that’s bigger than the country. Next south to Tennant Creek, west to Mt Isa to catch a train to Townsville where will take the bus, which with my pass I can Hop-on-off up to Cairns then spend a week making my way down to Sydney to catch the train for Adelaide then on to Melbourne.

Managed to find a 6 day “Tassie Explorer” tour for a not too inflated price. Finally back to Melbourne then NZ for a week before heading out to Hawaii in search of Dog the Bounty Hunter & visiting Oregon, Washington & Alaska which will complete my goal of visiting all 50 states.

Oh yeah have to make a quick trip down to Antigua Guatemala in there some where to!

Made an “A” on Friday’s exam, weekend & Monday evenings TP’s all went well with better grades, still waiting for the results of Mondays final exam but we have been told everyone made it through, although won’t be given final grade until we receive our TEFL Certificates at Thursday’s graduation.

Has it all been worth it? HELL YES!

Of the 5 of us that started the course, 1 each from Ireland, England, Germany, US & myself from Canada, one guy dropped out as he found the 4 week course to be too intense but started the 6 week one on Monday, 4 made it through & are the better for the experience. That being said & as there are many TEFL courses (that I haven’t checked out) to choose from, I can not in good conscience recommend this course over the others, as everyone’s needs are different.

Tues & Wed are being used to prepare CV’s/Resume’s & preparation hints for the job interviews the others will be having, after the week long Songkran, Thai New Years celebrations. When schools will hiring English teachers for the next semester starting in May. Personally I will be planning the next stage of my RTW through Brunei, Malaysian & Indonesian Borneo, Java, Bali, Singapore & on to OZ. Hanging around Bangkok until the 23rd when my visa runs out then returning mid Oct for my own job search, preferably in the Golden Triangle area of north eastern Thailand, for the term starting in November. Hopefully my classmates will have some helpful hints for me then.

So it’s Thursday afternoon, I have my certificate & the TEFL course is history!

That’s right the dreaded English grammar exam netted me an A grade even though I messed up the question (I got right the day before on the review) on abstract nouns. This info first thing in the morning of the busiest week of the course really made my day & started the week off on the right foot, bring it on T & T, now I’m ready for you!

Presentation on teaching large classes went well & actually had to cut it a bit short (made all the points just dropped a bit of filler) as was going over time. Another B on Wednesday’s exam & TP’s are going OK.

Every organization has one, you know the little strutting know it all jerk, well the one at T & T happens to have the job of evaluating TP’s (talked to 4 other former T&T students & their opinion on him is the same as mine) & I was given him for Monday’s class so grade was down on that one but back up on Wednesday when evaluated by a normal trainer.

Last module exam Friday morn then 2 children’s class TP’s Saturday & this week will be over, good thing as everyone’s nerves are on edge from the stress & we’re getting a tad cranky. Did I mention it is also HOT, HOT in Bangkok in April!?

Speaking of cranky we had a slightly heated, off topic, discussion over the, just discovered, fact that T & T puts your overall course mark on the front of your Certificate. Consensus was it was NOT a good thing, especially as an A grade while technically possible is hardly ever attained & not sure if one has ever been attained on the 4 week course. The conversation then went on as to whether, knowing what we know now about the course, we would have chosen T & T over other schools had this fact been  mentioned in the info describing the certificate on their website? The only way to know this is to click on the picture of the certificate itself, not really being upfront about it imho. Shall post the answer along with reasons in my final overview next week.

“Congratulations! You just survived the worst class in the school” says the evaluator, their regular teacher of the last class on Saturday. That’s all I needed to hear, for a great finish to the week from hell. Whether that means a good grade for managing to make it through the class (most likely) or tough luck, you get a bad one, will know Monday. First class went pretty well as did Friday’s exam.

So there’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel & it definitely isn’t a train! Final 4 hour exam Monday followed by a final TP in the evening (marks are good enough that I can completely blow both, not likely, & still get a pass) & that’s all she wrote for he material we get marked on. Tues & Wed are just on putting together a resume & job search information. Thursday is Graduation with a free pizza lunch.

WOW!! It’s hard to believe that a year ago around this time I was in an Antigua Guatemala studying Spanish, one-on-one in the the school courtyard where the weather was perfect & the classes relatively easy. Spanish verbs conjugate the same as their French counterpart, conversation was coming along & could get the gist of a story in the local paper. The odd day the lesson would  be incorporated in a shopping trip in town or a chicken bus ride to a neighboring pueblo. It was pretty cool & was even offered a job when I returned.

Now a year & 23 countries later I find myself in a different classroom halfway around the world, in Bangkok Thailand where it’s HOT, studying, of all things English grammar a necessity in a TEFL course. I can assure you that learning Spanish was a walk in the park compared to learning proper English grammar. If it’s hard for me, a native English speaker, I can only imagine the work an Asian speaker will have to do to become proficient in it. However that’s why I am taking the course, to teach English to others in a place where it never snows.

“The best laid plans of mice & men—“ can’t remember who said it or the exact ending but my weekend study plans went all awry as just couldn’t get in study mode on Saturday so spent it researching the continuation of my trip through Borneo, Indonesia & onto Oz. Then procrastinated Sunday morning away going out for breakfast as I  needed change for the washer & dryer but couldn’t go to early as wanted to pickup a 6pack  & can’t buy take away alcohol here before 11.

Finally picked up a book while waiting for the laundry to wash & dry. By 7 I had the module on the problems in teaching English to Asians read & a rough plan for my presentation drawn up, finding information in 3 different books but was too tired to think straight so had a cool one & rested to midnight when I got up all bright eyed & bushy tailed, to put the finishing touches on the presentation, then rewrite my TP lesson plan for Wednesday evening’s class. Did however have to use a section of the grammar book to complete my presentation so the weekend’s plans weren’t a total loss!

Updating Thurs. morning, hump day for the week has passed & actually we are now on the downhill slope of the course. The worst of this week from hell has past rather smoothly with a C grade on Monday’s presentation, Wednesdays exam went well as did the TP lesson in the evening, some helpful constructive criticism on the lesson but that’s to be expected on a first try, haven’t received grades yet but confident of a pass. That only leaves the grammar exam tomorrow to finish off the week so we shall survive.

Received marks, apparently the normal mark on a first TP usually falls between 6 & 7 so my 6 1/2 is there, however the B (that’s 3 in a row) on the Thai culture & teaching exam made up for it.

Lost a classmate yesterday as after looking over the exam questions he asked the trainer if he could try the course again in the next session & left. No surprise at 19 he wasn’t mature enough to handle the intense workload + a new live-in girlfriend, same thing will likely happen again but such is life.

Next week is shaping up to be a tad busy with a final presentation Monday morning, a TP in the evening, an exam Wed. morning followed by a TP in the evening, another exam Friday & at this point in time 2 TP’s with children’s classes on Sat.

The dreaded grammar exam actually went not that badly with probably a C or possibly a B.

So went week 3, a prelude to the week 4 the “real” week from “Hell” where T & T owns our soul in exchange for a TEFL Certificate!

So last Thursday, as class ends for the day, our trainer says don’t forget the exam tomorrow also the grammar exercises are due & your presentation for next Tuesday will be  8-10 min. interactive lesson geared towards beginning nonnative English speakers on the words; for/since.

WTF—–DUH——IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Shelve that task until the weekend (have to do it then as sitting in on a lesson being taught by one of the students from 6 week class Mon. evening + the week is so busy that can’t let things build up to the last minute or will be swamped).

During the next couple days nagging little thoughts come & go on how to accomplish the impossible until while doing laundry Sun. morning they start to come together in a somewhat cohesive plan. Jotting these ideas down over the course of the morning then letting them to marinate over a walk down the street for a 35 Baht lunch with a stop at Tops for some munchies & a floor mop, helps to get the cobwebs out of the brain so it can do some logical thinking.

To cut to the chase once I started to realize that yes this was a teaching course & he was looking for a presentation in the form of a lesson using my fellow classmates as students & keeping to simple words, it all came together.

Tuesday; The presentation went well, even ran a couple minutes overtime, trainer will be letting us know tomorrow what our grades are on it. The lesson I was supposed to sit in on Monday was cancelled due to the Red Shirt demonstrations in Bangkok closing the street in front of the school for a couple hours, so it has been rescheduled for tomorrow.

Received the date, next Wednesday, for our first practice teaching class. Have to make a lesson plan for a dry run on Friday & the next exam is Thursday so no rest this week.

C grade on my presentation along with the rest of the class except the one guy who hadn’t prepared his, apparently a normal grade for the first interactive one. Have to make better use of the white board in future, another chance next Monday when I have one on; There is/are/have, discussing the problems encountered in teaching the use of them to Thais, another interesting challenge.

Sat in on the lesson given by a 6 week course student where I found he had an easier time with this class of language school students (a group of Burmese nuns in training, same class I will be teaching next Wed.) than we do in presentations to our fellow students who tend to give each other a bit of a hard time (all in fun though).

With Thursday’s exam out of the way & the dry run TP (Teaching Practice) lesson done then another lesson on Thai culture we have survived week 2 no problems. This according to others who have taken the course means we are pretty well assured of graduating providing we keep our noses to the grindstone.

If I thought this past week was busy that’s because it was preparing us for the next 2 weeks which ARE going to be busy we have a class presentation, 1 or 2 evening TP’s & 2 exams in each week, of course new material to study presented daily. OUCH!!!!

So all I have to do this weekend is prepare my presentation for Monday, make some changes in my TP lesson plan & study for the Wed. exam & study, study & study some more for the GRAMMAR exam!!

Friday’s exam is on grammar which will be (for me anyway) a B***h considering this statement taken from one of our course modules “Third, and finally, from the undeniably extra demands made on EFL/ESL teachers by Asian learners comes the magnificent reward – a greater knowledge about their own language than possessed by people in any other profession in the world, bar none – –“

A bit of trivia, the movie The King and I, about an English governess hired by the King of Siam to teach the children of his harem, is banned in Thailand.

Also as due, either coincidence, fate or whatever the day we (hopefully) graduate & receive our TEFL certificates falls on the day of my mothers 90th birthday.

results from Thursday’s exam, another B.

Anyone thinking that taking a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course is a walk in the park where as long as your warm body is present is a guaranteed pass is sadly mistaken!

At least that’s the case when taking the TEFL Certification course offered by the Text-and-Talk Language Development Academy based in Bangkok Thailand.

http://www.teachthai.com

Have just complete an interesting first week (30 hrs) of the very intensive (120 hr) course. Where I discovered the names of tenses that although used every day I had never heard of in my Canadian education. Seems kind of weird sitting in a classroom in Bangkok learning things about English, my native language, that will enable me to successfully teach it to others.

Along with a brush up on English grammar we are getting a look at Asian culture in general with special emphasis on that of Thailand where most of us will start our teaching experience. Of course all facets teacher training from lesson planning to presentation are being covered. We also have to adhere to a dress code which seems to be a bit of a problem for a couple of the younger members of the class.

Our small class started out with just 4 but a 5th joined Thursday (going to be difficult for him to catch up) is all male & represents 5 western countries. Two young guys, a Brit & a German, 2 30 something’s, 1 from Ireland & 1 from the US & last but not least this young at heart, not very patriotic Canuck.

As class finished Friday we were given our homework assignments & warned that last week was the easy one & we had 3 more weeks of extremely intensive work to look forward to.

Shall try to keep posting my progress as time allows.

Just stumbled across a really cool feature on Google Maps.

When you click on directions there will be a dropdown window that that says car but you can scroll to either transit or walk also.

With transit just enter your address & the place you want to go then click more info & another window opens for date & time, fill in click search.

Viola

There before your eyes is the bus # you want, the time it leaves (make sure computer is set to local time), & the total time the trip will take. Then this is broken down into the walking time to the stop, the ride time to transfer point, the wait time for transfer then once again ride time & walking time to destination.

There is even another window that gives possible walking hazards such as no sidewalks.

How accurate it is shall know in a couple hours as taking a little jaunt up to Kanchanaburi this aft to visit Jimmie & the guys at the Red Neck bar.

Found the site by accident while trying, in vain, one more time for a simple, sensible way to map my trip. Know there is a way to do so using Google Earth but the solution is still eluding me & no one I ask has a clue.

Actually have come up with a way to map it just not how to link the map to my blog, so close yet so far away from the answer!