My students!

Oh my goodness. I don't know how I am going to leave this place. Since I only have four more days of teaching (F, M, T, W), the time is seriously ticking. These children brighten every moment of my day and I'm so accustomed to them grabbing my legs or showing me random dead bugs under their desks. I'll miss their antics, enthusiasm, and most of all, their love. This sounds so cheesy, but I feel so much warmth after a day with my kids. Of course, I'm exhausted, dripping in sweat/colored pencil shavings/chalk, but I'm smiling.

Hard at work!


Yesterday while walking to lunch I was grabbed out of surprise by one of my six year olds. Walking ahead of me, Tom stopped and spun, shouting "I LOVE YOU TEACHER DEVEN!" and ran full speed, nearly knocking me over with his embrace. I almost lost it right there.

I attempted to communicate to my P4 class (10 year olds) that I was only to share one more class with them. This took lots of my acting and artistic (hmm) ability to illustrate an airplane, stick figures, and lots of thai translation for THURSDAY and FAMILY and LEAVE. My students seemed confused and one student Mod who barely spoke the whole time stood up and asked "Teacher Deven live Thailand?" The other students stood up too and started jabbering in Thai. I roughly tried to explain that I had to go to America for university, my family, etc...but then Mod asked to approach the blackboard. He erased my airplane from Thailand to America and drew it flying the other way. He looked at me with questioning eyes.

I had to take out my Thai money to explain that I wasn't sure when I was coming back. The students started jabbering again. I appeased them by saying "3 years maybe? You will be 13 years old". They started smiling again. Gah these kids kill me.

Nhaca and I are currently undertaking a mural project in the outdoor stairwell of Sanamklee school. We are painting a world map with different colored continents-planning to make the USA and Thailand the same color for symbolism. We started having the kids individually make handprints in multicolored paint today. It was hilarious to watch my kids squel with delight. THis is a very clean culture--for example, my kids all bring toothbrushes and toothpaste to school to brush after lunch. Even Nhaca's 15 year olds brush! To put their HANDS in PAINT was outrageous--and fun. They loved it and I helped them spread their fingers to get neat prints.

Nhaca and our lovely half-finished mural!


Can't believe I only have 4 more days of bliss...Bangkok should be great, though, and I'm ready to see good old America.

More Thoughts on Age

Women:
Age is not even a number in Thailand. I’ve already written about the incredible youthful glow widespread among all the middle-aged women I’ve met. Exhibit A: The Thrasri women of my host family. MaReam is hot. She has a hot body, gorgeous curls, nice teeth, and the looks of a 28-year-old. I refuse to accept that she is in her mid-fifties. Aunt O has even better skin than MaReam and she’s 52. I had the pleasure of meeting Aunt O and MaReam’s sister in Chang Lai. She looks the youngest of the three (even though she technically is only 51) but I could easily see her primping that perfect hair alongside my beautiful girlfriends getting ready to go out.
Men:
The men, handsome ones anyway, have not been as plentiful. Every man I meet is either under the age of 14 or over 50. There is a single exception that I’ll explain later when I discuss the trip to Chang Lai in detail. However, Nhaca and I enjoy the man-candy that is Witwat.

Oh Witwat, how I appreciate thee.

Witwat is a “technology teacher” at our school but basically he just struts around looking handsome while Nhaca and I drool at the off-limits, mid-fifties, married Thai brilliance. He wears button downs with the first three unbuttoned, aviators, and has amazing teeth. Witwat certainly makes school entertaining. He takes more interest in Nhaca (of course) because she is gorgeously Asian and exotically born in Vietnam. Witwat is starting to play matchmaker---not for himself, but for his son! He is sketchily trying to set the 28-year-old with Nhaca, but Nhaca’s knowledgeable host mom says he’s been married before! The scandal continues…

I met my first attractive young man in Chang Lai at a family roadside dinner with about 20 attendees. Gong celebrated his 21st birthday with me and we clinked over Thai beer. Turns out Gong studies political science at university (I am a government major) so we had a few things in common. Through our congruently limited language skills, we bonded over the Eagles’ “Hotel California”, an appreciation of Obama, and…the Thai beer. It was refreshing to (sort-of) talk to someone close to my own age. Punch (my host cousin) and I talked a little bit, but it’s difficult with her adorable 2 year old Pin interrupting/crying.

Teens:
Fun and Film are typical teens, bopping to Avril Lavinge and obsessed with anime cartoons and printed tee shirts. Fun bought a Michael Jackson shirt and hasn’t taken it off! However, they are very dependent on their parents—more so than teens in America—and can be slightly whiney. The “Maee” (Mom) call perfects the complaining tone for maximum yield. In case I haven’t written this before, I actually don’t sleep in the host family house but am next door in the now-North-Carolinian uncle’s house. Fun and Film come over to sleep to keep me company and even though there are 3 bedrooms, they sleep together. Come to find out that Film actually slept in her parents’ bed until I came. She’s 15 years old! No judgment, but whoa.

Anyway, back onto age.

Older People!
I love old people. I love hearing stories and just being with people with worn shoes. Luckily for me, old people abound in Thailand. A Thai lifespan is about 72 years of age, a little less than in the United States. I’ve met many old people here and there, and there were a few gems in Chang Rai as well.

First Background:
Saturday July 25th was the most I’ve ever laughed or felt completely at bliss. It was just this: a fantastic day surrounded by happy people, good food, and beautiful scenery. Saturday morning I woke up naturally at 6 am, “up-nam-ed” (showered), and met some extended family during a trip to Chang Rai in Northern Thailand (see post below!)

Old People:
We stayed at MaReam’s sister’s house but I went next door to meet her sister’s mother-in-law, 93-year-old Bea, the first Christian I’ve met in Thailand. Talking in my limited Thai to this shriveled woman on her bed, I realized how quickly life passes by. Bea showed me her prized possession-a picture of herself meeting the queen over 50 years ago in her teaching uniform. It’s so special to step into the lives of these people who live with richness and tradition. She showed me wedding pictures, handmade crocheted side-table covers, a portrait of the last supper, and pictures of her mid-30 year old son who is the family prodigy—because he went to university in Oklahoma; (I was later handed a cell phone to “speak at English!” to the kind man). I literally had been talking to her for less than 5 minutes and she sat up and randomly embraced me. Bea gave me hand-crocheted key-chains—that she makes for weddings—as a parting gift on Sunday and with her soft hand in mind, peered at me through large spectacles and said, “God bless you”. It was very special. When saying goodbye to the rest of the family I used the usual “yin dee tee dai ru juk” aka “nice to meet you” and the regular wai. It’s more casual-see-you-again style. I felt readily aware when I was saying goodbye to Bea that I will never see her again. She and I seemed to be thinking the same thing and although no more words other than the formal “long-gon” (farewell) were exchanged, I could sense her understanding of my thoughts…

I also met PaChub’s parents. His mother is warm, beautiful at 77, and bid me farewell with a hug. His father had a giant potbelly, hearty laugh, and a penchant for growing lum-yai trees—which bear one of my favorite thai fruits.

I love meeting these family members even if I perform the mandatory circus animal routine of smiling, saying cute things in Thai, and having them comment on my appearance.

FAMILY FAMILY FAMILY. The Thais have their priorities down. Even the 21-year old Gong goes home from university about twice a month and celebrated his 21st with 10 relatives instead of with friends. Family makes up all of MaReam’s friends besides her fellow teachers who she’s been alongside for 30 years.

Lesson learned: Age may not matter, but family sure does.

I existed in 3 countries this weekend (and I finally rode an elephant!)

7/26/09

Rule #1: There is no such thing as an ETA.
Rule #2: Don’t ask.

We were supposed to leave on Friday afternoon on a 7 hour drive from Bangkratum in Phitsanulok to Chang Rai, a Northern Province near the golden triangle of Laos, Burma, and Thailand. When I prompted, MaReam said we would depart “2 P… M…”. This meant that we had to leave school early to go home, pick up Aunt O and Film, and continue to drive to Phitsanulok to pick up PaChub and Fun (Film stayed home because of H1N1).

But Friday morning the phone rang, informing MaReam a teacher at school had died. He was a Pratom 4, 5, 6 (middle school) teacher who was much loved by my students. We suited up in black (only worn for mourning).

I only got to teach my morning classes as the entire school headed for the temple at around 12:30 pm. I saw my second ever dead body—the first being about two weeks ago. The funeral felt a little more somber than the first I attended, probably because this man was only 55 and had a sudden heart attack. I couldn’t imagine what his wife was going through and how it had literally been hours since he had been asleep next to her, and now SHE was comforting people with dried tears of her own. The body was just in the temple under a sheet and they uncovered his head and then his arms. Witwat, a teacher at our school, pried open his rigamortis-y hand and the funeral attendees poured water through the claw-clenched hand for good luck in the next life. We hung around for awhile and then headed to the house to pick up Aunt O and Film. Then we drove to Pitsanulok, about one hour away…and waited. Fun was late getting out of school and we ended up leaving at 4:30 pm. I enjoy roadtrips now and am conditioned to sitting for long amounts of time, especially after annual summers to Kentucky with church and oh yeah, a 14 hour plane ride with a15 min layover and 6 hour plane ride…I was ready for anything. We stopped every hour or so for seven hours, eating tons of butter-sugar crackers, strawberry gum, chocolate squeeze-stick things, and other junk like seaweed chips, as well as bopping to Korean pop and poking eachother. I’m starting to feel at ease with my host sisters and try to joke as much as possible with them. We finally arrived at MaReam’s sister’s house around 1am, NOT EVEN BOTHERING TO SHOWER-BIG DEAL!

I woke up Saturday morning naturally around 6am. I love getting up early!
After the nice morning meet-and-greets, MaReam, her sister and sister’s husband and daughter, Aunt O, Fun, Film, and I all(yes Mom, 2 people in passenger’s seat and 5 in the backseat) piled into our truck and headed to our first attraction, the late queen’s mountain palace. The gardens were the most beautiful that I’ve ever seen. We were suited up in long sleeves and pants in what can be described as denim pajamas that were one-size-fit-all and extremely cute. YES. We toured the luxurious cabin-style mansion and gardens.
It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been and I also had a memorable iced café mocha. Many people asked to take pictures of me and I started saying “Mai ow ka”(I don’t want, thanks) because it was annoying.

Next we headed to…BURMA!

The Union of Myanmar was exactly the same as Thailand. I paid 600 B, about $20 to hand over my passport for safekeeping (which was difficult to do mentally…I just kept thinking of Aung Sang Suu Ki (bless her)). It took about 3 seconds for my thai family to pass and their fee was 40 B. Ah the perks of being an American. So after a ton of paperwork and surprisingly no health check, we were through! I stepped out of immigration and into an extremely dirty and crowded market. We strolled through the miracle breast creams, knock-off Louis Vutton, and loads of underwear. I have never been more uncomfortable in my life. The stares and cat calls were so much worse in Burma and the vendors were not as polite as Thai vendors. I was grabbed by the arm multiple times, especially by cigarette vendors. Child beggars held onto my legs asking for money…it was hot and uncomfortable. I was glad I got to stamp another country into my passport and I’m sure outside of the market Burma can be a pleasant place…right?

After our Burmese adventure, we headed to a giant temple with a HUGE Buddha. Here I saw so many tourists speaking English, French, and German. It was weird since I’m so used to being the only white person around. I felt happy to be with my host family and not on some impersonal tour with a fanny pack. MaReam asked if I wanted to go to Lao. Laos! OMG yes!

We (about 5 of us)headed to a small long-boat and literally after 10 minutes on the speedy vessel we arrived on the shores of Laos. This island did not have any kind of passport stamp/immigration, so I’m not sure of the legitimacy, but I sent a postcard “from Laos” regardless. I also enjoyed shopping for really cool gifts that I can’t write about. Let’s just say I have to go to the bank to exchange some more! Laughing and splashing my host sisters on the fast boat back, I had another moment of bliss. Ah the cleansing delight of natural beauty.

We stopped at a resort to meet more family who owned it and I saw more white people and enjoyed ice water.

Next we headed to the famous Chang Lai night bazaar complete with singers, dancers, and many many tourists. I walked around with my host sisters and this time, they were a minority! Strange. Dinner was too much and too delicious—some sushi, fried vegetables, rice, etc.

I rode in the bed of the truck and watched a monument in Chang Lai flash lights like the New Years Ball in NYC. Aunt O, MaReam, and I commented on the beautiful scenery that quickly changed from urban lights to rice fields. MaReam struck me when she said “I think, you think we meet. We meet because..” and she pointed to the sky, “…happened”. I used lots of hand motions to explanin the word “fate”and she agreed…and then said “I love you. Forget-me not”. How cute is MaReam? <3

Sunday morning we woke up and hung around, eating fried fish and half-boiled eggs (don’t like ☹ )leaving at a leisurely 10:30am for waterfalls. After driving through ridiculously rugged dirt roads, getting lost, stopping for fruit out the window, we reached the waterfalls. But we didn’t get out of the car.
Bizarrely, MaReam decided that it was too dangerous and since we had “no man”, we couldn’t get out. Strange.

Anyway, I shook it off since we headed to a hilltop village to ride elephants! I enjoyed the drive SO much. Thailand is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Period. I can’t even explain in words. The pictures help…a little.

Arriving in Karen Ruammit village, we stumbled upon the only industry in this hut-filled nook-elephant rides. A herd of about 10 elephants carry touristy folk like me through winding, muddy rice fields. It was surreal to be so high up and feel my hips shift left and right with every mighty step. There was even a surprise dip in a river and the elephant’s head was pretty much underwater! I felt a little awkward again when I heard the French and saw more white folk. I felt like a tourist instead of a cultural volunteer, and I didn’t like buying into the whole photo op idea. At the same time, I rode an elephant!

Next we headed to an amazing NEW temple in Chang Mai- Wat Rung Khun. It was magnificent and I loved the art museum we toured. The temple itself is white to represent the Buddha’s purity and has many the glittering mirrors to symbolize the Buddha’s dharma that teaches man to observe his own mind and reflect loving kindness towards humankind. It has powerful sculpture to represent suffering and was a really cool take on the four noble truths. Aka I loved it.


Next we drove and drove, stopping to meet random family members, eating giant meals, and finally arriving back home in Bangkratum around 1 am. Getting up at 5:30 was not easy, but teaching is worth getting up for.

On the Movies(Mostly) 7/21/09 Tuesday

Yesterday, Monday July 20th, we ventured to the cinema to see Harry Potter! MaReam and I drove home from school at lightening speed. MaReam is a wild driver on these pot-hole ridden dirt roads. When there is a hole, she accelerates. But that’s not all…whether it’s a tiny motorcyclist, a cowherd, or a rice farmer with his tractor; she honks and continues to barrel through the mud. Thank goodness for seatbelts in the truck!

After a delicious coconut-chunk yogurt, MaReam and Aunt O and I strolled to the bus stop, conveniently located adjacent to our not-so-humble-by-Thai-standards house. The bus was FAST, air-conditioned, and full of coughing people who kept pointing at me.
Granted, I WAS wearing a shirt I bought with Maream last week. In Thai script, it reads “No boyfriend”. MaReam thought it was hilarious and I kind of liked it too, so I bought it. I’m already sticking out enough, right?

We arrived in Phitsanulok, the nearest city about 50 minutes later. Descending back into the 5 pm heat, we met PaChub leaving his bank job as well as my host sisters Fun and Film coming from high school. In the truck on the way to the cinema, Fun briefed me on the normal procedures. I was handed hand sanitizer, an air mask, and instructed not to use the armrests, eat popcorn, or breathe in the movie theatre.

Just kidding about that last item…but really, swine flu is serious business here. A girl in Film’s class has H1N1 and thus Film doesn’t have school Tuesday-Monday. I see more and more kids missing from my classes as well as more mask-wearing students. The worst part is that I too have a cough….going to the doctor on Wednesday to be accessed.

To continue, we bought tickets for the 6:20 showing of HP, in Thai without English subtitles. Regardless the language barrier, I was still excited to get out of the house and see some Daniel Radcliffe up-close. In Thailand, you can go to a movie for 60 B as a student, which is roughly $1.75 for a side seat. We however, bought pricier tickets at 100 B because we were exactly center of the bottom row of the slanted section. Basically the most desirable seats in the house…

Before the movie (at a mall-movie-bowling alley-complex) we noshed on delicious food court dinner. “Delicious food court dinner” is often an oxymoron in the States, but in Thailand the food court is clean, uses glassware, and has fresh, incredible food. I had an awesome dumpling soup and a great iced coffee. We browsed in a bookstore and I enjoyed the cookbook photos, self-help-book covers, and entertaining “English Idiom” books.

Then we (Fun, Film, and I) headed back to the cinema while PaChub, Aunt O, and MaReam hung around to shop. I couldn’t understand why Fun said we couldn’t have popcorn but could have candy during the movie, but I was NOT going to complain about chocolate, even if it was only Hershey’s.

At 6:20, we slouched in the MOST comfortable movie chairs ever and watched hilarious Thai commercials for shrimp-chili-lime chips, diapers, and “Learn Speak English” classes (they are marketed to city kids with more money than the farming families).

At 6:40, I was startled to my feet to stand for a 5-minute video montage of the King. The whole theater stood for respect. The images floated by (with cliché inspirational music) of a group of people pushing a broken truck to the side of the road—oh hey, a picture of the King in the background!. A camera zoomed to the sweaty brow of rice famers who happen to work with a portrait of the King next to them. Cut to schoolchildren coloring headshots of the King and smiling. Next (SERIOUSLY) were nurses in uniform who appeared to be working in a warzone repairing bleeding soldiers with photos and paintings of the King all over the walls. A soldier reaches up his half broken finger and gently strokes the King’s face from his stretcher. The devotion video ended with “Long Live our Loved King” and triumphant music. WOW.

Soon after we sat down, Harry Potter began. I was impressed with the voiceover quality because every time the English-speaking actors spoke, the Thai speech took over with little overlap or awkwardness. I understood snippets of things, but relied more on visuals to understand the plot. I totally forgot that Dumbledore died (and that SNAPE killed him) until the scene in the movie! It was also LONG→3 hours with commercials and King promo. I didn’t get into bed Monday night until 11 pm which is VERY different from my usual 9:15pm. Getting up at 5:15am was tough Tuesday morning!

I’m trying to catch up on rest before my 5-class Thursday (usually 4) and a family trip North to Chang Lai this weekend. Only 3 weeks left in Thailand!

Death

7/16/09

I saw my first dead person ever, and it was in Thailand. In my experience, I’ve attended several memorial services and funerals, but never a wake, so I’ve never actually seen a body until today. It was a normal day at school with a really tough back to back 3 hours with the 6-8 year olds and then afternoon classes. I finished around 2:30 and when I exited my classroom 15 minutes later after erasing the board and cleaning, the Sanamklee schoolyard was deserted. All the kids were gone, the teachers’ cars and motorcycles missing. I called MaReam and she thought I had left with Nhaca. Someone in the village died and everyone was at the temple. Thais never ever wear black unless in mourning. I was wearing white, which apparently is the other appropriate color (thank goodness!). She sped over to the school (because although one can walk to the temple in less than 5 minutes, everyone drives EVERYWHERE). I really really had to pee because I try not to go at school on the squat toilet that is especially small for all the little kids. Bladder bursting, I begged MaReam to help me find a bathroom at the temple. [This was Thursday which means “weekend market” at most temples. Vendors of all kinds(t-shirts, shoes, sweets, famers and their produce) set up in this huge street-festival-esque market. It seemed strange to have this while a funeral was going on]. Some kind monks showed me the way and it was a squat toilet after all! Arg.

Feeling “worth-it” relief, I emerged from the bathroom and looked upon the scene of about 300 people outside the temple-nearly everyone who lived in Sanamklee (the village) and their kids. All my schoolkids were there, smiling and sipping on sweet fruity drinks in the intense heat. In fact, everyone was smiling. It seemed really bizarre to me that we were at a funeral. Walking in a single wave of folk after MaReam gave the signal to “bye” aka go, I slowly climbed the temple stairs armed with a paper flower and what look like sparklers that you light. I saw the tightly clasped hands of the older gentlemen around some roses, stiff as stone. My curiosity got the best of me and I peered in at his face, weathered skin and closed eyes looked at peace. We walked by in droves and one woman was holding a large portrait of him looking stately. The family stood at the bottom of the stairs receiving people and handing out commemorative pins. The entire thing took 5 minutes and everyone was back to the market, buying, socializing, and laughing. It seemed so odd to me. This was how someone was remembered?

Buddhist tradition is very different than the way I grew up mourning in Christian and Jewish ways. People are still sad, although not expressively crying that I saw. The whole Thai attitude about death may have seemed nonchalant to my eyes, but it fits with their theology. I talked to Supa more about reincarnation and she said that although death is sad, it is unpredictable and Thais are comforted by knowing that their soul will find a new host even after their body is cremated. She said “I know there’s a tomorrow”….

Midpoint Break in Taphan Hin

7/18/09

I am feeling so relaxed after an exhausting week of teaching! Thursdays are really long just because I teach 8:30-2:30 and then have an adult English class from 4:30-5:30. Currently it is 2 pm on Saturday the 18th and I have been in Taphan Hin since Friday afternoon. Nhaca and I took the train from Bangkratum to Taphan Hin, a small city where Crystal and Stacy, the other two LE volunteers teach in a high school. Taphan Hin is friendly, bustling, and has the best café yen (iced coffee) I’ve had in my life. We stay at Supa’s gorgeous Adobe house and eat and eat and eat. Yesterday we went to use the wi-fi at Supa’s friend’s cell-phone store for about two hours and it was glorious, although we got many many strange looks. American girls on fancy macbooks attracted many customers.

Whenever we meet someone (or are introduced to so-and-so’s cousin’s grandmother’s monk friend) the first question asked after our names is always “do you have a boyfriend?” Then the following conversation ensued always is “well, you should meet this thai boy I know!” MY host mom MaReam is especially a fan of setting me up with boys, but she is an even bigger fan of setting up Fun and Film with one of my American friends…Supa says that this is because many Thais seek financial security and view all Americans as insanely wealthy even though clearly we are all not rich!

Sorry about the tangent. Anyone, I love love love going to Taphan Hin because the small city has aerobic dancing by the river EVERY night at 6pm. All the women show up in 80’s spandex and do ridiculous hip thrusts and fist pumps to American/British techno. Of course I love making a complete fool of myself. It doesn’t matter at all because I am still a spectacle wherever I go and have gotten used to stares and honks, etc. Aerobic dancing is such a tough workout. After that we went to the tennis and basketball courts to watch (I mean “be” watched) and got to go inside a Thai gym! I can’t believe how many more resources for athleticism Taphan Hin has. Many people have businesses and work in Bangkok and other places so they have more leisure time for working out. After that I enjoyed a creamy coconut smoothie and while sitting in an outdoor restaurant with the whole gang, spotted an elephant! Being led down the street by pan-handlers, an adorable baby elephant waved his trunk to my excitement. I feel bad now that I supported this street industry that strips baby elephants of their mothers, but at the time all I could do was think ELEPHANT ELEPHANT ELEPHANT. Nhaca and I ran to the street, paid 20 baat (about $.66 ) to feed the cute thing. It made lots of noise and slobbered all over my hand! It was so cute-only about 5 feet long and maybe 4 feet tall. It was my most touristy moment thusfar to shriek over an elephant, but I couldn’t help myself.

Then we went back to Supa’s house and gorged on tons of fried seaweed, jackfruit, pineapple, peanut brittle, and noi-na (one of my favorite fruits). Nhaca and Daniel chatted until about 3am but I got up at 6 to run. It was incredibly refreshing to run alone because it is such a personal retreat for me and I love the solitude. Then I took a shower and talked to Supa about Buddhist views on death on the porch. It was very interesting and she has so much to share—Supa is a woman of self-growth and lots of hardship and she is a leadership and inspirational figure to many women in Taphan Hin. She made it to America, owns her own business, and is comfortable with herself. She is the biggest personality I know—the most loud, ridiculous, hoot I have ever met!

This morning (Saturday) Crystal and Stacy arrived and we did some work for LE such as plotting out the next scheme of our failed service program. We decided to ditch the whole high school-middle school letter writing scheme because it isn’t beneficial for their students to dumb down for my students who don’t really know how to hold a pencil. It is also not a sustainable program once we leave. The new plan of action is to put together a comprehensive resource booklet of all of our contacts and information so next year’s volunteers can make a service program that will actually benefit the community. I am going to interview community members so we can better identify needs. Access to higher education and connecting students to college students is important, but because college is not an option for so many, we need to make the program simpler and more in tune to increasing ACCESS to education and extra English. After a huge breakfast, we went to Stacy’s amazing host house. She has maids, a driver, and a lap pool. Definitely different from Bangkratum. I swam laps, then had a huge lunch. Currently working on my laptop with more wi-fi and enjoying some coconut sticky rice with rambutan (heavenly). I don’t want to eat for the rest of the day, but in Thailand that isn’t an option. Luckily I am going to aerobic dancing at 6!

On Thai Cuisine

Gah I know I write about food in every post anyway, but it is just such a huge part of my life here (and in America, haha). Rice is really growing on me-breakfast, lunch, and dinner! It's not like in the states where there is usually one or two main dishes for dinner. Every night there are 6 or 7 things to "chim" or taste and then there are the fruit offerings :) I love it.

Strange Flavor Facts:

There are a lot of corn things here. That reminds me of other interesting flavor tidbits. In Thailand, there are these fantastic powder drink mixers that are mixed with ice for about 33 cents USD. The flavors are pretty normal, like green apple, watermelon, vanilla, chocolate, etc…until one starts reading other labels for beer flavor, corn (of course!), onion, rice, etc. We’ll see when I start saying no to the sweet coffee flavor and choose corn instead.

Fruits I want to find in America:
Custard Apples (Noi-na)
Jackfruit (Canoon)
Pomelo (I know we have it!)
Rambutan
Mangosteen ( I know we have it)
Thai bananas, watermelon, pineapple, and coconut (SO MUCH BETTER)

On Teaching..UPDATE

Since reforming my attitude on teaching to be less hardcore drill-sergeant and more fun older sister-style, I am reinvigorated and in love with teaching. Since no teachers (hhh-rumph) come to relieve me or are ever around in the classroom, I have been staying a few extra hours whenever I don’t have commitments to be in other classrooms.

My schedule has me teaching 15 hours a week with 4 grades., but it’s closer to 25 hours because whenever there is a room without a teacher and I am free, I walk right in and start teaching!

I see my youngest students in Pratom 1 the most frequently, but I don’t mind. It is really hard to only see the Pratom 4 students three times a week however, especially because they scheduled two classes on Thursdays. If a student is absent, as they often are, they have missed at least two hours of English. This is awful if I have taught all new material or even if I am just reviewing old material.
Today I got ready to leave for school as usual at 8am with MaReam. While driving the big ass truck, she pulled over after a friend flagged her down. This woman taught at the other elementary school in Sanamklee; a school with only 6 grades and 46 students. We have 9 grades and around 150 students! We gave her a ride and although I had class at 9:30 and it was already 8:30 I agreed to do my usual “come meet the American” routine. I was introduced to all the teachers and greeted students doing the usual morning chant on the lawn (sing Thai anthem and other We Love the King stuff). I awkwardly talked, they stared and then the teachers said: Teach them English! So, I went with it and started “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” in my beautiful crackily voice. They absolutely loved it, especially when I went really REALLY fast to trip them up. I was having so much fun I lost track of time and had to make sure MaReam stepped on it to make it to class on time.

There are so many four day weekends that I can never completely count on having class. For example, today, Friday the 17th, Nhaca’s students (the older ones) didn’t have class because policemen came to the school to talk about motorcycle safety. They were “busy” from 8-3, no time for class! BIZZARE.

Also bizarre was that the meeting was held in our outdoor cafeteria so Nhaca could literally watch her students…watch a powerpoint. There was also free ice-cream? I mean, it was great, but really? I had all three flavors at MaReam’s request, coffee, coconut, and corn. Interesting!

My Pratom 3 Class was 25 minutes late. Unacceptable. They dawdled after lunch with the policemen-related festivities. I thought about scolding them, but they are 8 years old. We ended up writing brief letters and coloring while I played some N’Sync on my laptop. The kids LOVE the laptop. The therapeutic benefits of coloring are good for Teacher Deven’s soul. There were also lots of hugs from behind. Cute.

Disclaimer

After reading over some of my posts, I want to apologize for the gross generalizations I've made about Thailand and Thai culture. It's unfair of me to classify people and things when I've only been here for four weeks! Please know that I only have good intentions and whenever I make umbrella statements, I mean to preface them with "in my experience". Thanks.

On Teaching Anxiety

Being a teacher is being on an emotional rollercoaster. Because I only have 47 students, I quickly formed close relationships with them; this closeness as well as my own perfectionist tendencies mean that I am utterly engulfed in their English education. I want my students to succeed. I want them to be comfortable in the classroom and excited to explore subjects in and out of English language.

Recently I have become frustrated with the difficulties of teaching younger students of a tongue I am NOT proficient in. Its really frightening to be put in a room of 6 year olds who have miniscule attention spans and who took 1 week to master the concept of saying “Hello!” when their name was called during attendance. Even my brilliant acting skills as little Devy and Teacher Deven have thus far been ineffective at improving comprehension. Students don’t ask me questions (probably because they can’t or are too shy) and choose not to do their homework instead. This cycle has led to every class being pretty similar as I have been hesitant to move on without students mastering “My name is..” and the alphabet. These combined frustrations of feeling like my students are registering information even when I feel like they understand and then they completely fail a quiz—taken without the assistance of peers or notes—with frustration over variable absences upsets me! One student has missed the past 3 classes and I only see the class four times a week. It’s no wonder students miss so much class when school is always closed for a random reason.

Lesson Planning

So to make a long story of frustration short, I had a breakdown on Wednesday morning while lesson planning. I just started crying because I felt like I didn’t know if I was even making a difference. How can I expect 6 year olds to write letters as part of our village connection project with high school students in Taphan Hin when they can hardly write in Thai? I felt lost and inadequate. Everything just seemed to build up on my while correcting abc quizzes and trying to figure out if introducing family words and numbers would be overwhelming. I came to Thailand with different “dreamer” ideas about my students being able to put on a play in English as a final project. I didn’t estimate for students this young or inexperienced. After a cup of sweet coffee with MaReam encouraging me and telling me that even though the students didn’t seem to be registering much, they were SO excited to have me as their teacher and apparently babble about me in other classes. I simply needed to adjust my goals and reassure myself that English exposure, even if muddily understood, is still exposure. I still felt unsure of my “wasted” time drilling the abc’s unsuccessfully when really, they aren’t SUPER necessary for conversational English. I resolved to focus more on other goals of fostering a love of learning and of school with less focus on proficiency. I think my goals for the next month are going to be variant with the 4 grades. I hope that the 10 year olds in Pratom 4 will be able to introduce themselves, talk about their likes, dislikes, families, numbers, and be able to have an introductory conversation. The Pratom 3 (8-9 year olds) should be able to do this too. I am most skeptical of my 6 and 7 year olds, but I think if we do more fun vocab like animals and food I will be able to hold their attention and know that they have many years of English training left to go.

I wish I could just draw and play games with my young students but as the pilot group for LE Thailand, we designed a mentorship program to connect high school students to college students and also to connect students from the small, mostly upper-middle-class city Taphan Hin in Phitchit province—where LE volunteers Crystal and Stacy are teaching—to our rural and impoverished students in Bangkratum. I thought letter writing wouldn’t be too tough, but for a six year old learning how to hold a pencil, “Dear ____, My name is _____. I am ___ years old” takes over 45 minutes of my 60 minute class period because I have to individually assist each student and keep them excited about sitting. It’s difficult. I am adapting my “letters” to be really short and have mostly pictures, but it’s weird knowing that 15-18 year olds will be reading and responding to them. I will need to find a way to distribute class time evenly so they my students can practice speaking AND write weekly “connection” letters. The other wrench in the mess is that students who miss class miss a quiz/test and could miss writing the first 3 lines of a letter which is determental to the weekly connection project! What if that mentor doesn’t receive a letter at all? AH! Hence signing up for independence and “piloting”. I love Learning Enterprises go-with-the-flow self-designed lesson plan ideas, but I like overhead supervision too. Nhaca and I talk frequently and I am in touch with Daniel (our program director in Taphan Hin) several times a week, but ultimately I am in charge. Being trusted with vital responsonsibility is both a blessing and a scary feat.

Today, Wednesday, went surprisingly well and my students outpouring of love for me makes it impossible to be worried about their progress. Just seeing them smile and stand up saying “Good morning, Teacher” (even in the afternoon!) comforts my OCD self. I went into my Pratom 1 classroom after class (again, they were unsupervised) and they all ran to the door and hugged my legs so hard I almost fell over. A passing teacher took a picture of them for me. Enjoy the cuteness.



It’s also adorable to have some of Nhaca’s older students say completely innocently: “Teacher, you are beautiful today!” Thai students soften my soul. I hear stories about the struggles that these families go through everyday. although its true that a huge communication gap on when to go to school or stay home exists, the truth is, some students have to stay home to watch the store or take care of sick grandparents. I learned of one girl in Nhaca’s class who is frequently absent. Her father is out of the picture and her mother re-married away from home, leaving the student to care for her disabled grandfather. To maintain herself and her grandfather who cannot walk, the student tends to a duck farm, going to school when possible.

Family Matters..Tuesday July 14th

On Tuesday after school (school report comes after), Nhaca and I held an adults-only English class in Nhaca’s home. Her loveable dad “Pa” set up a side room (kicked out Grandpa into another house), bought a whiteboard (Nhaca’s “Meh” scolded him), and set up an adorable classroom. We taught a basic conversation about introducing yourself. I had no idea how hard English was until I tried to teach it. So many things to explain…why do we say “interesting” but being “interested” in someone has romantic meaning attached to it? We went over the concept of “See you later” and how later is indefinite, etc. The “students” were great.

Our lovely abode.


Family Shots.


MaReam has made ENORMOUS strides and was singing in English, laughing and making “a funny” like it was her first language. In the beginning of my homestay, she didn’t know how to ask me what time it was. Now she is very chatty and asks me about American food, family life, university, money matters, etc. She told me the CUTE story of how her and PaChub met...he was riding on a motorcycle on his way home from work, saw her, was struck by her beauty, and was speechless. He did the speechless impression at dinner and I died laughing. They are so sweet…luckily over time, he finally stopped and introduced himself and the rest is history.

More R and R: Sunday the 13th and Monday the 14th

Sunday was spent exploring the rest of Lop Buri’s old city and lots of driving. I felt exhausted when I got home, but still g-chatted with Mom for 2 hours. I didn’t have to worry about lesson planning for Monday though, because lo and behold, school was canceled again. Every time I try and plan a unit, I have to re-adjust to the peculiar schedule that gives no notice of school closure for random excuses. This time around was a “big” teacher meeting MaReam said was because of the new Governor. I tried to ask her what happened to the old one and if he was appointed by the King or voted on and she just said “He come to Phitsanulok from Phuket”. Okay.

The teacher meeting was held at Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, a large school that is like most Thai universities where students either commute from home or live in dorms Monday-Friday to rejoin their families on the weekend. As I’ve mentioned before, the attitude of most Thai teenagers I’ve met lacks a want to get away from their parents or crave the thrill of independence I know I craved at 18. It was a sparling campus and I loved watching the college girls with their uniforms. Black miniskirts and white bloushes with heels. I have to make a second (first was the snake charmer) shoutout to Britney (“Oops”). I got an iced coffee and was able to communicate NO SUGAR, NO CREAM amazingly.

This meeting in Phitsanulok (a city about 25 km away) was certainly well-attended. There had to be at least 500 people in the hall! In typical Thai style, we left the house at 7 am. The meeting didn’t start until 10 and was over at 12:30. It ended up not being about the new governor like MaReam said and it was to simply remind teachers about H1N1—by handing out masks and literature. It seemed more like an excuse to “hang out”…our post-meeting festivities illustrate THAT.

Interesting side note on H1N1: There have been hundreds of cases in Thailand of avian flu and the greatest concentration of these cases happen to be in Phitsanulok, MY province! Ah! My host sister Fun said that when we go see Harry Potter on next Monday night (I’m so excited! Thai subtitles  ), we will wear the masks. With all these kids glomming on my body everyday, I wonder if I should be wearing one to school! (*this tidbit is going to FREAK OUT my mother.)

I joined MaReam and about 7 fellow teachers for a luxurious three-hour feast on a houseboat restaurant on the Nan River. One makes his way down the rickety wooden dock to in the brown water to sit, drink beer, and FEAST. It was hands down, one of the top 3 meals of my life. The fresh seafood and spicy or pungent flavors were so well, flavorful! I taught lots of English to the other teachers and they had fun teaching me Thai as well. The older men teachers were making all the embarrassing/creepy “does she have a boyfriend?” comments but I simply laughed my laugh and they love how I’m “so cute”. HAHA. I look disgusting/covered in greasy sweet 96% of my days and have let my eyebrows go, don’t wear makeup, etc…but I am hot stuff. Haha.

After gorging myself, I was invited by a passing fisherman on a longboat fasinated by me and my “farang”-ness to go on a ride! I gratefully accepted and climbed into the wooden canoe-sized boat with an electric motor. Speeding down the Nan River exposed me to so much of Thailand that I had seen in pictures…floating, dilapidated houseboats, temple after temple, fishermen and the like. Students outside of a riverside school waved and shouted “HELLO!” while others peered out of their shack windows at the strange girl grinning and waving. It was really REALLY hot out, but so worth it.


After the “meeting”, I spent another 2 hours talking to my host sisters about High School Musical, Lady Gaga, teen boy crushes, etc. They are so intellectual though! I was looking at their English homework and there is no way I could name the predicate or the subject. What?? Fun is going to Bangkok this weekend to take a 6 hour English test offered by the government. If she is one of the top 2 students (out of hundreds), she wins a week to Japan! She’s a sharp girl and we practice all the time, so I’ll be crossing my fingers for her! She’s never left Thailand, so it would be a great opportunity for her.

On the trip to Lop Buri--Saturday July 11

Well, I have many updates to make!

On the trip to Lop Buri
Aunt O surprised me Friday night with an invitation to Lop Buri, a historic city South of Bangkratum, 150 km North of Bangkok. Frankly, I was ready to do some more tourism and have been hearing about Stacy and Crystal (the other two volunteers in Thailand in a more city-ish area) jet-setting off to Bangkok, Chang Mai, and the like!

So at 5 am on Saturday, Aunt O, Punch (my cousin), Punch’s daughter Pin (an adorable two year old), and Punch’s mom Pee, and I squeezed into our Toyota truck prepped for a 5 hour trip. After only 2 hours, we stopped for breakfast at one of the many roadside vendors. In Thailand, no matter where you are, food is only seconds away. We sat at the outdoor picnic tables right around sunrise and noshed on hot noodle soup. I stopped eating meat a little while ago mostly for health reasons and have so much trouble communicating that “no meat” includes pork. I thought I had been clear when telling O what I wanted i.e. “no meat” but then they brought out two bowls- 1 with a dark pork broth and greens and the other was a watermelon pink soup with white and brown masses of tough something. I went for the pink one, but when I bit into one of the masses I realized it was parts of pig digestive organs. OMG. I swallowed, ate the noodles and tried not to think that indeed, what was traveling through my digestive system was indeed a digestive system. Interesting. Anyway, we got back in the car (zzzzz) and stopped a little later for some iced coffee and crocodile shaped pastry with an egg custard filling. VERY delicious. Before I knew what was happening I was sawatdee-ka –ing 7 of my cousin’s cousins and more extended family. We sat around with fans blasting and talked (well, they talked and I smiled and nodded).

Side note on sitting:
No matter how old you are, you sit on the floor for some portion of the day in Thailand. My butt is flattening. The first time I sat on wood for a few hours I had bruised hips from shifting out of discomfort. I am never completely comfortable because I also am constantly afraid of offending anyone by pointing my feet subconsciously. In Buddhist culture, your feet never should point at Buddha or anyone. One has to be careful walking around or when sitting “like a lady” with one leg crossed. Sitting “Indian-style” is the safest, but my awful circulation contributes to asleep legs and hilarious stumbling around afterwards.

We drove to what I’ll call “The Monkey Temple”. MONKEYS WERE EVERYWHERE. There were hundreds running around this traffic-roundabout-enclosed temple. O insisted I leave my purse in the car. I insisted she hold my passport in her pocket (I didn’t have any!) because I try to always travel with it. There are signs everywhere warning that monkeys snatch bags and not to interact with them, so yet people were feeding them, touching them, etc! I saw little baby monkeys nursing and watched them haggle over bananas; it was certainly a unique experience.

Then it was off to Lop Buri Zoo! Or lunch. I was not hungry, but after getting the “you must eat” eye from O, I ordered vegetables in broth. The host cousins’cousins’ grandparents were disdainful and I could hear them chattering in Thai “nit-noy”, “America” and “gin aahan”. Nit-noy means little and gin aahan means eat lunch.

Anyway, we soon arrived at the zoo!




Cousin Punch's daughter Pin and I outside the zoo :)


I have mixed feelings about zoos because I read lots of animal rights propaganda when I was young yet I still love viewing beautiful things (ahh the materialism strikes again). I saw exotic animals such as “Domestic Goat" and “Spotted Deer”(but the "Spotted Deer" sign mislabeled what were definitely sheep). I really liked the sea otters because they reminded me of my good friend at Georgetown; the otters are his favorite exhibit at the National Zoo! Later I got to hold a snake Britney Spears style around my shoulders. My host fam freaked that I wasn’t afraid but to be honest, it was my second time (my 4 yr old cousin at home had a reptile party)! Then we watched a terrible exploitation of orangutans in a ring show where they wore clothing and were ridiculed with the boxers being shoved down to their knees as they struggled to pull them back up. The ring leader (human) noticed me, pointed and yelled into his microphone-“Farang! (foreigner)” and suddenly 200 pairs of eyes met mine. I just kind of smiled and waved. AWK. After that he insisted I meet the star orangutan and “he” held my hand with his slightly scratchy and very hairy one. I felt bad for the little guy wearing a red tee-shirt and being forced to ride a tricycle. Afterward we rented pedal-boats and went for a leisurely ride. It was great, despite the heat and my constant holding of my dress so that I didn’t flash all of Thailand while pedaling.

Next we tried to go to Lop Buri’s Old City of ruins but it was closing. The kind man let us have a quick look and we resolved to return in the morning.

We returned home and feasted on the crazy-hot Som Tom papaya salad that I love and I was again pestered for not eating enough rice. When the cousins’cousins heard I planned to run in the morning, they pretty much freaked out that I wasn’t eating more. BUT WE EAT every 5 minutes, or sip on really filling sugary-fatty drinks. Argg.

THEN I MADE A MISTAKE. I was asked “Do you want to take a shower?” I replied in Thai, saying oh no, that’s okay I will in the morning after my run and then the whispers started. “Kow” (rice) “America” “hung nam” (shower). I eventually said oh okay, I will, but the damage had been done. Americans are dirty and don’t eat enough rice. Oops.

View more pictures here!

Please click on the title "View more pictures here!" for photos of Lop Buri, an old city, as well as pictures of my host house, "long-boating" on the Nan River, and more!!

On Teaching and Thai Education...

7/10/09
I ended this week feeling a little less inspired and a little more discouraged. But only a little! I just feel so frustrated when I can't communicate to my students and when they excessively chat or goof around. I know they're young, but it's difficult to maintain a professional environment when I have 20 peeping eyes around the door of the UNSUPERVISED students not in my class. Today I needed help translating brother and sister into Thai so my 6 year olds could understand their homework to draw THEIR families. I do everything to the extreme and play two brill ant actresses, Teacher Deven and student Devy. I call on Devy and she says "Hello!". Devy doesn't talk when Teacher Deven is talking, ec. Devy has a high pitched voice and shrinks to about a 5 foot hunch. Whatever works, right? The hard thing about drawing the family was that the students didn't understand that MY (Devy's family) had 4 members (Me, Danny, Mom, and Dad). So all of their drawings looked like mine, even if Grandma lived in the house, Dad was missing, the student had a sister, etc. So I sought after help from a Thai teacher that could say the directions in Thai. Except that all 8classrooms in the elementary school building (there is a middle school building and this one) were full of kids and NO teachers. The students were either sitting there or messing around playing games. I was mortified. I finally found a teacher near the bathrooms and he came and helped, but explaining the directions to him was also an ordeal.

I gave a quiz to my 9 year olds on the ABC's. It was very simply with the letters A B C _ E etc and the students had to fill in the missing letters. I covered posters and removed all in-desk materials and spread them out to discourage cheating. Even so I still caught kids talking and helping each other. There are discrepancies within the class as well. For example,4 out of the 11 got 100% right, about 5 got 60% right and 1 girl got 40% right and was very lost. I struggle to challenge the more advanced students while not losing ones further behind. And then there are those who just don't care at all. These students stare blankly when I address them, don't do their homework, disturb class...

But there is a root to this problem.

I found out some interesting information about Thai education the other day. I'm at
the middle school/junior high, right? Well only 70-80 % of these kids
start 8th grade (high school) and it is extremely costly--over $1500
USD a year. For a farming family, this is not feasible. As Learning Enterprises volunteers, we came here with the intention of connecting kids to college students addition to intensive English, but of that 80% less than 10% can afford university.

It's tough too because many of the kids in this rural area Bangkratum know they aren't going to high school and it is hard to engage them in regular classes, let alone something difficult like English.

I will update with more later. Tomorrow (Saturday) I head South to Lop Buri with Aunt O for some tourism that apparently includes monkeys!
Monkey!-->

An Update on What I’ve actually been doing besides school! 7/6/09

7/6/09

On Thursday I had an intense day of teaching 5 classes including an extra English session after school for the community. No community members showed up though...but it was still a very successful lesson and I felt like I was doing what I was meant to do. I might consider going into teaching after this experience. There are frustrating points, but the rewarding feeling watching a phrase as vital as “my name is..” click makes all of the planning and time worth it.

On Friday we did not have class because it was the start of a Thai national holiday. The entire school of around 150 students marched through the village with drums and instruments to two temples, carrying a GIANT candle and gifts for Buddha and the monks. It was great to be a part of the celebration.

The pictures help explain more, but I went to Big C on Friday, a Thai version of Walmart where you can find lots of random housewear as well as culinary delights like “fake” fried squid morsels, RICE RICE RICE, and some really cute clothes for about $3-6 USD each. This weekend (7/4-7-5) is Fun’s birthday weekend. I convinced MaReam to let me buy cake mix and improvised with tub margarine (no butter in Thailand) and guesstimated without measuring cups, used soybean oil, and a gas oven with “low-to-high” temperature settings. YET IT STILL WORKED. The birthday cake and celebration was a grand success and my host fam loved the cake/candles/song. They tried to give me more cake for breakfast…no wonder Americans are fat. I forgot to mention my host sisters call me P-Dev; when you say “P” before someone’s name, it means big sister.

Since this is a 5 day Thai holiday through Wednesday to celebrate the rainy season, I don’t have school. We went to Phitsanulok on Saturday and Sunday and I shopped, saw 5 temples, and ate SO MUCH food. I visited 4 temples with PaChub and MaReam on Saturday while Fun and Film studied…really incredible. I love feeling spiritual and connected to a higher being, so it was interesting to try worshipping in a different way.

I had a pretty intense experience that is hard to describe at this temple called Wat Chawmaichunim above the city overlooking the countryside. I have never felt so free…it’s very difficult to explain. The pictures speak to the beauty of this place, but one realizes the sacred spiritual grounds only from encounter. A monk played this giant gong with with hand and the sound of it washed over my body. It was so surreal and I know this sounds cheesy, but I felt the rupture and reverberation of my spirit. I got to rub the gong afterwards for good luck. The temple was so peaceful with music and water rushing, playing into all of one’s senses. I sat on a rock reflecting on the glorious Earth beneath me…it was really special.

Then we had ice cream for Fun’s birthday and picked up ‘National Treasure’ so that I could show them a movie with D.C. in it!

On Sunday we went to a library to drop off Film while Fun was at tutoring and then went to Sukhothai, an ancient city North of my home. We (Me, PaChub, MaReam, and a fellow teacher from our school) drove about an hour North and saw the glorious stone buildings built over 700 years ago. MaReam and I rented bikes and enjoyed the cooling misty rain and took lots of pictures. It was remarkable! MaReam is so cute and sang funny English songs i.e. “hello, hello, hello, how do you do? Fine, fine, fine, how are you?” while we biked. I am getting so close to my host family!

I missed everyone over the 4th of July, but I’ll be home in 5 weeks...thanks for reading.

Thailand: A Land of Contradiction? 7/6/09

1. People look SO young but are actually old. Asian people age so gracefully, but the kids seem to grow up a lot slower than in America.

a.My host mom MaReam is 54. She could pass for 31…seriously. She is beautiful and has flawless skin.

b.My 21 year old host cousin looks about 13 with her braces…yet she has a 2 year old daughter old of wedlock.

-->Me and my adorable host cousin (the daughter)

2. People are very conservative on top but not on the bottom.

a.Thailand has a very conservative culture (almost no clothes are sold sans sleeves. Cleavage is an absolute no-no and my crew-neck dress was too low for school. (SCANDAL)

b.Girls wear the shortest shorts EVER. You should see the “university uniforms” with the most miniscule skirts I have ever seen.

3. The juxtaposition of wealth and poverty as I’ve explained previously…

a.Vast variation in socioeconomic classes on the same street.

b.People still give all they have to monks who wander the streets with these food buckets because they aren’t allow to buy anything, they depend on donations. This mirrors the funding of extravagant temples in poor communities.

4. Education system…poor or good?

a.My school has a lot of indifferent teachers.
i.I found a class of Pratom 1 students (6 years old) unsupervised while the teacher covering for the other teacher slept…on a bed in the corner of the classroom.
ii.Students are often left sitting alone while teachers chill in the lounge or smoke.
iii.School is often cancelled for ‘boy scouts’ or marching band or something religious.

b.My host sisters are super intense about school.
i.Fun and Film go to private school in Phitsanulok, a city about 45 minutes away.

1.They leave at 5 AM and come home at 5:45 PM M-F and both have English tutoring/extra studying on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 AM-4 PM.
2.When they get home, we eat dinner. Then they do homework.
3.THEY STUDY SO MUCH. I feel like such a slacker.

Kind of a Continuation…on Freedom and “Free-style” 7/5/09

7/5/09

“Free-style” is one of my host mom’s favorite words. It’s very useful because it applies to everything…the way we eat dinner (take whatever whenever), choice of clothing on the weekends, sizes of clothes (some shirts are ‘free-size’)..the one way I don’t think really makes sense is when Maream says Thailand is free-style. I realize that the word free is problematic here. There are unwritten AND written rules about respecting the King above all. His picture graces homes, is right next to Buddha statues in temples, and is all over streets and billboards. My host sisters wear rubber bracelets that say ‘Long Live the King’. There is a rule to stand in the beginning of a movie to respect the king, and any sort of slander about the royal family is a direct route to prison.
[Temple in Phitsanulok]
I try not to get political with my family because it’s hard enough for them to understand words like “vote” and “freedom” as Americans define them. There is an invisible hand that governs life here and although most everyone in Bangkratum is happy with the monarchy…PaChub talks about the evil “red shirts’(anti-King, in support of exiled P.M. Thaksin) stirring up trouble in Bangkok. My family’s “yellow shirt”(royalist) Thai loyalty to the king is intriguing to me. I want to learn more about the government and why it is so loved. Do Thais pay taxes for their schools? I know all the temples are funded directly through donation and are exquisite no matter how poor the area. I will continue to look at the meaning of free-style…

On America…a reflection for the 4th of July 7/4/09

7/4/09
[Playing the gong at my favorite temple]




Talking about Thai reaction to me when exercising also touches on a few things I’ve noticed about general approaches to meeting me. I’ve been thinking about what it means to be an American since I’m now on the outside looking in. I realize more and more what a complex thing it is to describe-The United States of America.
On the first day of school, I introduced myself as Teacher Deven from the United States…but the students didn’t register the far-away land until I said “America”.
A morning at the exercise park, I was approached by two 12 year old boys who cutely made “muscle arms” and asked why I was so “exercise”. I got them to say “My name is…” and informed them that I teach Pratom at Sanamklee School to their delight! When I said I was from “America” they kept saying “America! America!”…it was so cute.

What is it about America that is so universally interesting to others? This morning I ordered a “chai yen” (thai iced tea-highly addictive, wickedly sweet “tea” with lots of sugar and condensed milk) and spoke in English to the 20-something young man making my tea. He asked where I was from ( I started saying Washington, D.C. because CT is not recognized) and when I answered, he exclaimed “ Barack Obama!”. I’m bringing him some pictures of me meeting Mr. Pres later this week. Even in this rural section of Northern Thailand, our President is recognized.

I miss reading about Michelle’s daily wardrobe…and someone needs to fill me in on Iran, the status of Sarah Palin’s resignation, etc…I miss my NYT, but my internet use is so limited and staggered that I can’t spend time reading the news!

Anyway, back to America. It’s really hard to answer questions from my host family. They don’t understand how Nhaca is from the US and is Vietnamese too. They just say ‘Vietnam’ and don’t understand how immigrants come to the melting pot of America. [It’s a little awkward for me sometimes because Nhaca is usually spoken to before I am approached because she looks Thai (although apparently I look Indian..see below) and has a very hip Korean-ish hairstyle. Thais love Korea! The music, the clothes, styles…all the young girls are really into Korean pop.] (I go off on tangents so often; I apologize!) My host family asks a lot of questions about school i.e. “In America, do you go to College every day?” “Why don’t you stay with your family?” and “Why do you go to College 6 hours from home?”

These questions are all hard to answer. It’s also hard for them to conceptualize“summer break” because Thais go to school year round and my host sisters go to school 5am to 5pm everyday and go to tutors/extra English on Saturday and Sunday. They think I’m skipping school right now but I try to explain that I don’t start until August! They also ask questions that I make gross generalizations to answer…i.e. “Do people fly more than drive?” ( I said, generally not, but some people have to fly often for business) and “What jobs do Americans like?” (my cynical side wanted to say “ones that profit”) and “When do people get married?” (uhhhh I don’t know!).
Buddha on July 4th
They also commented on my ring, an Irish cladder ring that tells one’s relationship status (design is a heart held in hands worn face-up means taken but upside down means single) and asked if everyone in America wore one. They asked about American food and music…hard to specify something as distinctly American.

Thinking about these things makes me realize what a rich and diverse nation we live in. There is no ‘typical’ American. (I really sound romantic, don’t I?)

On Exercise 7/4/09

As I’ve mentioned before, my host family insists that I have supervision when I exercise because they are convinced that the rice patty roads are dangerous and that because I am so “sawai” or beautiful, I am a target. At first I was a little annoyed because running has become so much of my daily routine to reflect and unwind and serves a spiritual purpose for me that is usually solitary. Yet I am so overwhelmed by their concern and am very grateful for the companionship and protection from the dogs. Thai dogs can be vicious and seem pretty territorial. Not only am I unfamiliar in appearance, but I have only seen one other Thai runner since I arrived in Thailand. In Taphan Hin there was aerobic dancing, but here in Bangkratum few people appear to exercise. Thus when I, the strapping American ramble through the streets, I get lots of looks. The other day I had a run in which a man driving a cart of longan (one of my favorite fruits) slowed WAY down behind me, muttered something in Thai, went by, and then turned around for a second look-see. Most are too shy to say anything, but if someone is following along side me, I usually try to greet him/her in Thai. Today I ended my run at an “exercise park”. 2 older men used the “weight” machines that are really just brightly colored playground equipment without actual weight or a way to increase intensity. I started doing my normal ab/arm routine and motorbikes and cars were pulling over to watch. AWKWARD.

Runs are great to see some of the beautiful Thai countryside and its intriguing how much variation in socioeconomic class there is in a single kilometer. There will be a spacious gated house like mine and 40 meters away is a dilapidated 1-room shack missing half its roof. I also observed a man bathing in the canal of the Nan River in coffee-colored water the other morning. How is it possible that expensive cars and trucks whiz by and I live with a washing machine, A/C, a motorcycle while this man cleans himself in mud, riding a beat-up bicycle with his belongings in two plastic bags dangling from the handlebars?

I'm addicted to sugar

CHECK OUT PICTURES by clicking on "i'm addicted to sugar" title!

Thailand is so sweet. The children are affectionate, whether they're creating me drawings with hearts and houses and cats, hugging me (4 at a time and I fall over!), or just smiling and greeting me with "Good Morn-ning Teacha" even if it's afternoon. Today I taught 5 classes and it was exhausting! I taught an extra afterschool community English class but it was full mostly of kids from school who wanted more! Their favorite activity was learning 'thank you' and 'you're welcome' because i let one throw my book on the ground and another kid picked it up to say the phrases! They love noise...anything with rhythm or music seems to be popular. Musical letters is another game I like to use with the alphabet. Today I used some MJ (as a sort of tribute haha) and they kids pass the A B C letters in a circle. When the sounds of "Thriller" silenced, they had to each say their letter. This is harder than it sounds when one has simply memorized ABCD and doesn't actually know what an F is out of sequence. Nonetheless, I hope improvements are bountiful! The only problem is that Thais never go to school. Being a teacher is so casual here. I walked into Pratom 1 (my 6-7 yr olds) to pick up their homework and the teacher was asleep...on a bed in the classroom! Often times teachers are smoking or just hanging out in the lounge rather than teaching. School is never scheduled! For example, tomorrow is Friday, but it's the start of a 5 day Thai holiday to celebrate the rainy season so we don't teach until next Thursday. A full week. I'm convinced they'll forget everything....

Thailand is also sweet for its food/drink. I can't get enough fresh pineapple, mango, and coconut (pickable from outside my house!). I also drink that crazy sugary coffee and other refreshing fruit drinks whenever they are handed to me. Ahh love it!

Side note: I drove the truck today. Wrong side of road is fun. America seems so off. We should totally use the metric system and join the rest of the world!
Side SIDE note: I'm learning to ride a motorcycle. Riding is the most FREE I've ever felt. soo much fun.

My new address

I don't know if I already wrote this, but I need to mention the over-protective ness of my family. "Davb" is considered a daughter to them...my host aunt BOUGHT a bike

Here is my new address:

Deven Comen
55/4 M. 5
Tumbol Bangkratum
Pumoux Bangkratum
Phitsanulok, Thailand 65110

A single pic I know, but visiting with the head monk in Taphan Hin!