Why is teacher Siri's ram thai so bad?

A brief update with lots of pictures!

This week is midterms, which is again blowing my mind. I am on less than the final quarter of my time here in Thailand and still hilarious miscommunications are happening! Last week I worked laboriously to prepare and copy midterms for all of my five hundred students, only to find out today, Monday, that I won't be giving midterms and do not even need to come to school except to sign my names in the morning. Just a typical example of how I don't know what's going on, but luckily now I just know how to accept it and smile!

My newest endeavor is becoming a Thai traditional dancer.  Last semester, I helped out with the dance team and this semester I am IN the dance team. Oh my. Our grand premiere is coming quickly too!  July 22nd is Ubon's famous Candle Festival, where tourists from all over the country flock to see the immense handmade candle floats and parade. Every lunchtime I try to hustle over to the stuffy dance room after slurping down some noodles and remember the intricate movements my students have been patiently drilling me on. I feel better when I see beads of sweat dripping down each of my student's face. Whew. I'm not the only who looks like the just got rained on.

I'm not sure if it's even legal to have a Farang (foreigner) dance in this national holiday event, but I am stoked to make my debut appearance as a ram thai dancer.  One of my students, a talented dancer and ladyboy extraordinaire, recommended that I soak my fingers in hot water every morning to make them more bendable. 'Soft-soft hot' though.  I would take her up on her advice, but I don't think three weeks will quite give me the edge that a lifetime of training, soaking and general cultural understanding has given all the other students. I will just have to make do with my ruler-straight fingers this time!

Lately I have been busy and things are picking up speed even more in the coming days.  Last week I judged an English competition for the city schools and listened to some fluent English speakers, which came as quite a shock as compared to the 'how are you, students?' followed by blank stares that I experience daily. I also prepared students for an English 'debate' that was the next day, in which we placed second (out of three schools)! Hurrah, we weren't last, the students said! This past weekend I road-tripped to the Laos border and saw one of the most spectacular temples, located behind a waterfall in a cave. Stunning. However, on the way back to Ubon, our teacher's car gave out in the middle of nowhere. We proceeded to push it to the nearest roadside snack shack where everyone called their friends who called their friends until we had a nice crowd staring at the car. The best solution was deemed to be tie a string from the car to a pickup and pull it to the nearest mechanic shop. Naturally. The string came off many times, but eventually we reached the mechanics who generously opened their shop to us and spent five hours working away until 11:30 pm to replace the offending clutch.

While the mechanics worked under the car, I spent time standing in an abandoned field, watching heat lightening over the horizon and talking to God.  It was one of those moments I will never forget. Where time stands still and all there is is nature and you and stillness.  Utter stillness.  Nowhere to be and nothing to do. I saw how with each strike the whole sky was illuminated, showing beautiful cloud formations that I never knew where there. It made me think, how many times in our American culture do we experience that? Or even let ourselves near an experience like that? Our value is represented by how much we produce and progress.  Although I still appreciate those values in many ways, I have come to enjoy and sink into just being.  Sitting and lounging is an event here, an activity, a purpose. In America, it is judged and condemned as lazy. But it is also life! I want to give myself the freedom to just be, without my multitasking and goal-oriented western brain driving me crazy, and I hope you give yourself that sometimes as well.

Beautiful temple in Katharalak

Longkong season!

Fruit picking with Amanda

Coffee with my Chinese housemate Lily (center) and friend Mamung

My boys working hard

Gonna be a heartbreaker

Hammin

Fighting for the front!!

RIP Namthong, my Thai mom's dog

I love Spy wine coolers

Love at a Laos viewpoint

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3 Carlson Girls & the June Monsoons

After having a month and a half of travel time, I got spoiled again by having my two sisters come visit me in Thailand!  My ridiculously busy sisters fit in a ten day jaunt to SE Asia before a move to Dallas, Texas (Britt) and the start of a summer job (Paige).  Their first stop, after an exhausting two day journey from the states, was my hometown of Ubon. This was the part I was most excited about because they were the first of my family to get to experience my regular, daily life here teaching at the Warinchamrap School.

Another Thai holiday! Happy Wan Wai Kru (Respect Teacher Day)

I have to say, my sisters were such troopers! Jet-lag, combined with the intense Isaan heat and meeting tons of excited children can be overwhelming, but we spent such an amazing four days here.  Britt and Paige got to experience the overflowing Thai hospitality by being taken out to extensive meals, receiving abundant baskets of fruit, being cooked for, driven around and greeted by everyone.  They played games in class with my students, answered carefully crafted questions such as 'do you don't like snakes?' a hundred times, passed out candy and took pictures for days. They even survived the direct observations from my Thai compatriots, who consistently reminded us that 'this one has a sweet face' or 'this one has more beautiful eyes' even though that can always be a bit of a shock at first.  Luckily, I have developed a thick skin to every and all comments about my looks or style. However, my most recent favorite observation by a student was, 'Teacher Siri, your gold earrings make you look like a pig seller!'. Oh Thailand.

Exciting nights on Koh Phangan with my sisters!

Peaceful beach time

From Ubon we took two flights, a bus and a ferry down south to the getaway island of Koh Phagnan.  This island is world famous for the Full Moon Party each month, but luckily we were there during low season and it was peaceful and clean.  We found a perfect little wooden bungalow on the beach and enjoyed a snorkeling trip with our Thai guide Noppy, watched fire dancers at night and relaxed on the beach during the day.  Next on the itinerary was the urban sprawl of Bangkok.  We hit most of the big highlights that I showed my parents as well, such as Wat Phraw Gaew, the Emerald Buddha, MBK mall, the Chao Phraya river and it was fun to navigate the city with ease.

 The best part about Bangkok, however, was meeting our other sponsor child with World Vision, Chorpaga! We got to hang out with her for a few hours, chatting, eating and exchanging gifts.  My adorable mom has also kept every sponsor photo of her since she was a little girl and together we looked at each one via Skype.  It was amazing to hear her little comments about each photo (oh, I was trying to make my eyes look bigger in that one!) and just realize she's a normal girl, figuring out life. It made me incredibly proud to be the daughter of two people who have sacrificed money for twelve to help this girl they didn't know; they are true examples of what Christianity is about. Although at the end  of our time in Bangkok, little Paigeltons got a bit sick, probably from all the walking in the sun, it was such a unique opportunity for the three of us to be together and travel alone. Memories I will never forget, and pictures to follow on Britt's Facebook.

Parents skyping our World Vision sister, Chorpaga

Reading about Oregon!

Overall, this semester I feel lightyears more comfortable and happy.  Sometimes during first semester, I would find myself counting down the days or wishing to be somewhere else, but something has changed now.  Although of course each day is not perfect, and I still want to pull my hair out or feel like breaking down after teaching my M 2/2 students who insist that going to eat is more important than my teaching, I have (as Britt aptly put it), a 'very good life here'.  I have been a bit lazy with studying my Thai, but I know enough to communicate everyday and form stronger relationships with my students and coworkers and they are consistently patient and good with me.

Recently, four new Chinese girls have moved into the campus's teacher houses and will be teaching alongside me this semester.  One of the girls, Lily, is my housemate who now wakes me up in the morning whispering "Siri, how many eggs do you want for breakfast?". Adorable. I think that being around them also makes me realize how far I have come in these past nine months. Negotiating the everyday difficulties and language barriers has gotten easier and I am more 'sabai' (laid-back, easygoing) than ever in the true Thai fashion. I know when to bow, how to predict problems, and when to crack the whip with my students or when to smile and simply encourage. I'm definitely a pro at appearing like I understand what people are saying when I really have no clue and also am a pro food-taster. Two necessary and much appreciated skills here.

And now on a hilarious sidenote---the current chronicles of my love life here! Oh the Thai men I can choose from! Let me give a brief profile:

• Gentleman A) Name: Hippo Age: 28 Occupation: Teacher at a school for orphans or at-risk youth. Whew that gets me! Where we met: He's the son of a teacher at my school and she is trying to set us up...aka having me over to dinner to make rice cakes together. Hot first date.
• Gentleman B) Name: Joe Age: Unknown (ballpark mid-30s...maybe up) Occupation: Hotel chain Manager/Owner (from the business card he gave me and what I can remember haha). Where we met: At a local coffeeshop that Amanda and I frequent, the owner introduced us...turns out he studied in Portland, Or years ago!! Small, small world. Last weekend he invited me to go jet skiing. JET SKIING. That's not normal in Thailand, people. He's super high-so.
• Gentleman C) Name: Billy Age: 22 Where we met: He's the precious PE student teacher who lives next to me on campus. Cute little cowlick. Always talks to me (not a word of English, of course) which is rare for Thai guys. His students always laugh at him when I pass by.  He knows the way to my heart...offered to make me sticky rice on our first meeting. Smart dude.
• Gentleman D) Name: Noppy Age: 36 Where me met: As aforementioned, he was our tour guide in Koh Phangan! Beach bum-esque with a long ponytail and excellent English (thanks to all the partyers) and has a tale of woe about his love life (picture dating a girl for 12 years only to find out she will only marry you if you give her a dowry 1 million Baht/$300,000!) that could melt any heart. Thinks he's 'too old' for Thai women and therefore decided he's into foreign woman. I think I'm his next target...have been receiving phone calls lately.

Who will it be, friends?! But in all seriousness, I rarely interact with men here and I miss just having good guys friends.  That's one thing I look forward to for when I return home.

Speaking of home, there is now this small, nagging, lurking realization in my subconscious that in three months I am going back to America. I keep pushing it away. Although I know I want to come home (as opposed to a few Fulbrights that are staying on in Thailand indefinitely after the grant period), I can't quite picture what that will look like.  If I decide to find a teaching job, there will be some massive cultural shocks that will take some getting used to. No students come to my house after school and eat my food and watch MTV China with me? No late night knocks on the door for homework help? No students to carry my teaching supplies? No giggles and eyes following me wherever I go?

 I think that I'm going to need a transition period and the fact that I have no idea what or where that will be, scares me. I guess that for now, I just need to focus on my time here.

Love from the monsoons of my jungle house.
Siri

My students showing me how to cut durian

Cuties at the elementary school

Wai Kru Day (each birdseed individually glued by students!)

99 Baht buffet nights with students!

April and May Update!

Where to begin?  I have to start by reflecting that regardless of the extreme challenges and emotions of this year, I will forever be grateful to Fulbright for the opportunities it has given me to travel and see so much more of the world!

So where have I been the last month and a half? I think where haven't I been is the better question! I started off the month of April with a whirlwind honeymoon getaway to the island of Bali with my Fulbright friend Portia.  It was my first taste of Indonesia, and to be honest, I see why people go to visit and end up staying there.  It's one of those exotic locations you hear about and dream of vacationing to and it truly lives up to your crazy expectations.

Dolphin Watching in Bali

The island is highly populated (Indonesia has the 4th largest population in the world, right after China, India and the US!) but the steep, dense mountains and panoramic rice terraces give it unique and stunning views.  Portia and I decided to spend our week in only two locations: the beach and the inland 'cultural center' town of Ubud.  We settled on the northern town of Lovina for its black volcanic beach and my weakness, the dolphin watching.  The low tourist season gave lent a quiet atmosphere, and besides a few aggressive hawkers, we enjoyed our beautiful boutique hotel in peace.  A wild sunrise dolphin watching excursion and a jeep ride around the mountains to see waterfalls and the twin lakes, accompanied by our local tour guide Katuck were definitely the highlights of the north coast.

Hindu temple in Bali

We then traveled to Ubud, which many westerners know because it was a filming sight for the movie "Eat, Pray, Love".  I could see how the movie changed the future of the town because it catered to a more hippie, tourist population than I saw in many other parts of the island.  However, we got to experience a home stay for those four days, which turned out to be incredible.  In Balinese culture, extended families live in huge walled in complexes that even contain Hindu shrines or temples as well and our was intricately beautiful.  I also ate some of the most delicious, fresh food I have ever eaten and did a cycling tour through the villages and rice paddies and met up with two other Fulbright girlfriends, Michelle and Alex.  We explored monkey forests, got monsoon rained upon and even did some dancing!

  The island is also known for producing the world's most expensive coffee. It's so ridiculously expensive because a certain kind of mongoose, a civet, eats only the best coffee beans, proceeds to poop it out and then the bean is taken and roasted. I guess that's as organic as you can get though!

Ted Carlson ladies & gents...Songkran time!

Next came my parents' visit! I had been looking forward to this for months, but I was also nervous. What would they think of Thailand? Would they survive the heat, the creatures and spicy food? Would they love my second home? My first time playing host freaked me out a little bit.  But I'm so lucky to have the parents I do because they constantly reminded me that 'seeing Thailand was just a bonus' and they were really just coming to see me! It didn't seem real when they finally flew into Bangkok, but it only took hours for it to feel normal again. I guess you just pick up right where you left of...it's family!  We flew straight down south, to a gorgeous beaches of Krabi.  If you ever think of visiting Thailand, go to Krabi! Tall, craggy limestone cliffs surround jade waters and powder sugar white sand.  We spent four glorious days swimming, taking a snorkeling day trip to Koh Pi Pi, sipping coconuts, hiking around the area and doing some much needed catching up.

Back of the pickup!

After paradise, we flew up to the real Thailand and stayed for three nights in Ubon, aka my 'hood.  My fabulous and sassy Thai mom Pilaiporn picked us up and we were shuttled around the city by her friends who I had never met.  These friends insisted that my parents stay with them, showered them with presents and became their Isaan tour guides---my parents were blown away by the average Thai hospitality and I am so happy they got to experience what I experience on a daily basis.  We even had a legit Songkran (Thai New Year) celebration, riding through the streets in the back of their truck, dousing kids and elderly alike in water and being covered in baby powder for good luck. My parents got to water the Buddha, a tradition called 'tam boon' in Thai or the making of merit.  We visited ancient Khmer ruins, the place with Thailand's first sunrise, met some of my teachers and students and ate some delicious Isaan food of course!  Even though it was such a short stay, it was so important to me to show them my life and get them off the well-beaten tourist path.

My Thai mom and our new friends in Ubon

We ended our time together in Bangkok, where we enjoyed a relatively quiet stay, as quiet as Bangkok can be that is, because all the Thais return to their homes outside the city for the Songkran festival.  We did a ton of the sightseeing in the mornings: the crazy mazes of Chatuchak market, Lumpini park (all while being sprayed with hoses, guns, buckets because of the holiday) and then would relax at our sick hotel on the Chao Phraya river. It's incredible how much smaller BKK seems and how much more I enjoy it now that I understand it and have spent so much time there.  It was really hard to see my parents go and know that I had over five months until I would see them again, but I am so blessed that they made the huge effort to fly across the ocean to see me!

My next adventure was Vietnam! Everywhere I went I compared things to Thailand. One thing I noticed was how excited people were to practice their conversational English; we had numerous young people approach us and chat, which was really fun, especially being used to the Thais and their utter terror of looking bad when they don't understand something.  Also, people were more direct and confrontational.  Going from the land of subtlety and non-confrontation to people yelling at each other or quibbling over money was definitely a cultural shock.

Nha Trang, Vietnam

A big part of me was nervous to see our reception in this place that my country has affected so horrendously, as I'm sure any even slightly aware American traveler would be, but I was pleasantly surprised by how positive everyone was.  We had a good conversation with the son of a Vietnamese diplomat who said, "Where does hating get us? It doesn't get us anywhere. Our country wants to move forward."  Even after going to War Remnants Museum (it used to be named the Exhibition House for US and Puppet Crimes)in Ho Chi Minh City and viewing picture after picture of Agent Orange victims while standing next to Vietnamese visitors, and connecting it to the fact that the country seemed very young in general, people were very hospitable and I didn't have a single bad encounter.

Hanoi, Vietnam

 Overall it true backpacking trip and my compadres were my Fulbright friend Megan and her friend from Arizona, Nick, who pretty much turned out to be our tour guide!  We made our way north up the coast from Ho Chi Minh City, through the cute coastal towns of Mui Ne, Nha Trang and Hoi An all the way to Hanoi and the World Heritage Site, the stunning Halong Bay. We knew Vietnam was world renowned for its coast and waters and we were not let down!  The partaking of pho (delicious noodle dish), sandwiches, the syrupy Vietnamese coffee and smoothies was a daily occurrence of course.  I even got to cross off parasailing from my bucket list (ask me to tell you that story sometime, as long as you aren't my mom or dad ;))!

Then May came and with it our Fulbright Mid-Grant meeting, which turned out to be a very emotionally charged session.  We've had some issues during our grant and it was definitely another exercise in cross-cultural communication to express the things that have been unsaid and undone for too long.  However, this meeting made beyond proud to be working with my nineteen other compatriots, seeing them articulate themselves so diplomatically, passionately and eloquently made me realize that I am a part of a group that has amazing potential to change our country and the world.  Although we are perhaps already are less bright-eyed and idealistic, we have made it through some tough situations and each one of us has each other's back.

Delicious pho!

Whew.  I know I will be processing the past months for a while, but I will admit it has been nice to unpack and settle into my second semester of teaching again.  Back to my adorable students, speaking Thai, my jungle home with its creatures and the monsoon season of Isaan.

Oh yeah. Don't forget to stay in touch...even though it has been 8 months, I still love and miss you all! A lot.

Siri

Chiang Mai Life

The end of the teaching semester and the transition into the month-long internship was such a whirlwind! Time is always such a weird thing---why do days seem so long and months seem to fly? I can’t believe that half of my time here is finished, and yet when I think back to my thought processes six months ago, I realized that I really already have changed.  I think in many ways my comfort bubble has expanded so much, if not popped completely.  On a daily basis I’m asked to do uncomfortable things and it’s just not a big deal anymore.  Wing an English camp for 200 kids who don’t speak English? No problem.  Give a speech in front of the whole school with no notice? Easy. Sing Whitney Houston karaoke in front of a party of hundreds of people? Just another day.

Sometimes I seriously ponder if I will be able to be a normal person when I go back to the States.  I have acquired so many quirks that I hardly notice until someone points them out from me.  I make strange noises, I don’t know how to talk to opposite sex, I can smell ants from across a room (and yet have no problem eating them), I expect any bottles I purchase to be accompanied by ten straws at least, 85° weather is freezing (where is that fleece I packed?), I expect to be told I’m beautiful at least a dozen times a day (or I know I really must look pretty damn bad) and I know not to eat breakfast because I will be given so many snacks when I get to work.  The other day when some of my students wanted to hear me speak Spanish, what first came out of my mouth was ‘kun hablas espanol dai mai ka?’, a horrendous mixture of Spanish and Thai.  It’s weird to think that is a place in this world where my character isn’t determined by whether I can eat spicy things or not.  ‘Siri gin pet dai nit noi’ (Siri can eat spicy a little…aka I’m only an okay person). This is a warning to all my family and friends as well, if I my go-to conversation starters are ‘Where are you going, what are you doing, have you eaten yet, are you always happy and is it delicious?” please just understand that I have been living in Thailand for a year and that it will just take sometime. Be patient with me!

Phanom Rung ruins in Buriram, Thailand

Okay, time for some life updates. 

I made my M6 classes make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for their last class before they graduated! Our vocab words were all the essentials: Peanut butter, jelly, bread, spoon, spread, cut, taste, sweet and eat.  I found out that ‘jelly’ is the same word in Thai and also that Thai kids love just as much as I do! I was nervous they would hate it, but to my delight everyone ate all of theirs! Ahh sweet cultural exchange at its finest! My job as a Fulbright is complete.

Besides finishing up classes and giving exams, I also managed to squeeze in time to go to Laos and Cambodia on weekend trips.  And yes, I know am crazy. One of my Fulbright friends summed it up well when she said that traveling to Laos or Cambodia is sort of less dramatic when you already live in SE Asia and it only takes an hour or two to cross over the border. So true! Definitely not the dramatic airplane landing that drops you into an exotic and foreign land.  More of like an ‘Ooo the bananas taste different here” or “Wow, why are there so many foreigners and why can everyone speak English?!” type of reaction.  That said, both trips were amazing and it was so fun to be a tourist again!

I went to Laos with a group of teachers who all speak Laos in addition to Thai and so it was quite an easy trip.  We saw three gorgeous waterfalls and the city of Paksé.  Laos was similar to Thailand, just less developed, more green and lush than Isaan and most of the women were wearing beautiful long traditional skirts.

Cambodia was great and I definitely want to make a return trip soon. I went to Siem Reap and its beautiful ancient Khmer ruins known as Angkor Wat.  The French had colonized the city in the past and so we also got to eat some delicious pastries. Boo to imperialism, but hurrah for croissants!

Angkor Wat temples were simply stunning.  They are these massive complexes of ruins, with dark crumbling stone, intricate engravings, airy passageways and in general reminded me of a real-life version of the popular Nickelodeon tv show ‘Legends of the Hidden Temple’, sans the creepy men in jungle attire waiting to attack us.  A typical child of 1990s observation, sorry I know.


 Currently I am in Chiang Mai doing an internship in the English Language Learning Department of the American Pacific International School (APIS) that I got through a friend Dan, who I worked with in Seattle.

APIS employs quite a mixed bunch of ppl---a bunch of Americans, Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, Korean, Thai etc. so it's been another interesting cultural experience. The student population is about 40% Thai, and the rest is primarily Chinese, Korean and Japanese.  The campus is absolutely gorgeous, set up in the mountains outside of the city. Super lush, green and tropical and the campus is beautifully maintained.  Definitely a change from my humble government school---money definitely changes things.

My transportation to the international school is quite a relay---first I have a pleasant twenty minute walk past a gorgeous temple (Wat Suan Dok) and a street where all the Thais are giving alms to the monks.  The street I walk down is home to many coffee carts that serve fresh, hand-pressed coffee.  For the first time in my life, I am a 'regular' and the man at my favorite stand knows my drink of choice.  And then I picked up on motorbike by a British guy who is an ELL teacher at APIS. I am whisked out of the city and through the gorgeous tropical landscape to the bottom of the mountain where I am dropped off on the side of the road, to then picked up by Safari jeep by the ELL coordinator. 

Not a bad life! It's been such a refreshing change of pace and scenery until my upcoming month and a half of traveling.  First stop: Bali, Indonesia!

Finishing the Semester

Weekend excursions through Thailand!

I would like to start off with some of the daily cultural questions I encounter from students and teachers alike, purely because I think they're entertaining:

"Teacher, why is your nose so big? Is it real? Did you put collagen in it? Teacher why are you so hairy? Why do you (sometimes) shave your legs? Is your hair real? Is the color real? Why do Americans like to be tan? Do all Americans have big butts? Have you seen snow? Why do you walk to 7-Eleven...it's so far away! (It's literally right down the street). Why do you have spots all over you (freckles)? Why are your eyes so big?"

Also (sorry male readers) but I showed all my friends what a tampon was for the first time. They were utterly disgusted! Cultural exchange at its finest!

Well folks, my semester is coming to an end!
Two and a half weeks to go. Crazy.

Where has it gone, you ask? That's the question.

I feel like I haven't described my classes very much, and so since it's the majority of my life, here's the lowdown:

School

Monday- Starting fresh.  I have my younger classes and so they have a ton of energy! M 2/1 (the first track in 8th grade) is one of my favorite classes and there is a group of girls who I have really connected with here. So precious.

Tuesday- Affectionately nicknamed 'the day from hell' by me.  I teach four classes, which to an American teacher is a normal day, but for a Thai teacher---that's a heavy work load, and for a Thai teacher who doesn't fully speak Thai (me) it's a heck of a lot.  My naughtiest class M 1/2 greets me with "Hello teacher! You don't have to teach today! We are hungry, we want to go eat! Pleasse don't teach!". Now if this was in English, maybe I could get excited about that welcome. Maybe. But It's in Thai.  Also, because of their affinity for running out of class, I have taken to being 'serious' (sooo not Thai) and pretending to circle their names and write notes about them when I see them run out the door. And they freak out and come back! For the win! Siri-1, Students- 0.

I've realized that their Thai teachers pretty much let them go early everyday and so they have these bad habits that are perpetuated by non-enforcement by other teachers.  In the afternoon I have M3/1 and M4/2.  For M4/2, the amount of students usually ranges from 8-15 out of 40 students, so that tells you something.  However, I saw a gang of the rough boys (I always wonder why they look more like grown men than the guys in M 6) in the canteen earlier this week, of course skipping class, and so I decided to talk to them and see what's up.  Turns out they don't like English! Who would've guessed?! But I ended the conversation with "I'll see you TOMORROW!" and they all sheepishly said yessss....and they came! And then proceeded to make my life hell. Did I really win on that one?! Still not sure...

Wednesday- Mornings are free and so I go study Thai with Ajan Napawon.  She talks so fast, but it is always pleasant to be around her and the kids and other teachers pop their heads in and get quite the kick out of our sessions.  In the afternoon I have M 5/2 and M 6/1 (jr's and senior's) and they are always  really participatory (albeit late) and my faith in myself, teaching and life is restored!

Thursday- I have coffee and breakfast with one of my favorite teachers P'Jum and we go to the elementary Nong Khoo.  I have two kindergarten visits with the adorable little mokeys, and then teach 1-3rd together and 4th-6th together.  Usually I'm hoarse by the end of the day, but I'm so privileged to be with these little kids, many of whom come from such impoverished families that I can tell they only have the uniform that they wear to school.  This week, however, I am staying at Warinchamrab to participate in all the Valentines Day student activities, such as discussions on safe sex and the prevention of teenage pregnancy! Should be a grand time! Oh and by the way---Thailand is ranked 2nd highest in the world for teen pregnancies, such an interesting social problem in a culture that seems so 'conservative' about male-female relationships on the surface.  My one good English speaking student has informed me that I have pregnant students, who are keeping it on the low.

Friday!- Happy 'wan-suk'! 3 classes to go and I'm feeling good.  My favorite class, M 5/1 is the last class of the day and so I end the week on a high note.  They are always present, full of enthusiasm and are so, so funny---also immature like any 17 year-olds would be. Last week when asked to provide a team name, the girl side of the room selected 'Team Banana'. Not very original, but acceptable.  The male side decided to run with that and selected 'Team Big Banana', much to their own delight. It took me a split second, but as soon as I got it I promptly ex-nayed it only to be quickly provided with two alternates: 1) Team Small Banana and then 2) Team Banana and Two Eggs.  Almost started writing the second on the whiteboard. Oh man. Teenage boys are just the same everywhere in the world I think.

So seems pretty routine, right? Ha try interspersing all of that with craziness, dogs fighting in my classrooms, 100 degree weather, gang fights, Thai celebrations, judging a wide variety of English competitions, and being fed by every teacher and it makes things a bit more interesting.

What's up next:

• Friday: I am taking my M 5/1 class to a local hotel to show them how to eat 'like a farang' (foreigner). Wish me luck! Might get ugly!
• A little jaunt over the border to Laos on Saturday. Ya know, just a day trip to another SE Asian country. The usual.
• One week of classes and then finals!
• Also might my helping at an English camp and going to Angkor Wat in Cambodia sometime before the end of the semester.
• For the month of March I am moving to Chiang Mai for Fulbright's internship month! I will be working at the American Pacific International School in the mountains and living with four other Fulbright girls in the city. SO EXCITED! I hope to help establish a library literacy program and assist in the ELL classes.  Really ready for a change.

No...my students did not have a sleepover at my house...(I totally would get sued in America)

Some of my M 6 boys!

Wat Sarapong...the most beautiful temple I've seen!

The picture on my fridge is real...and his name is Thong!

Meet the guy my family sponsors: Thong (pronounced Dawng...Thai does not have a 'th' sound, so all our family's jokes can promptly go down the drain)

Thong and I having a nice chat!

I made a three hour trek across the Isaan landscape by train last weekend to Grace Ministries, an organization in a neighboring province to see a friend from high school and meet the guy whose picture has been on my fridge at home for years.  I could write a whole blog post about the train ride itself---'free trains' in northeastern Thailand consist of squawking chickens, sweat, enormous bags of rice, people hawking assorted goods, rather friendly Thai men and conductors yelling at you to move to the next car because suddenly the other half of the train decided to go back in the direction we came---but it  was my time at Grace that made the deepest impression on me.

If you know me, you probably would say I'm not a very logical person. I tend to be easily distractible, easily excitable---even the way I write is haphazard as I skip back and forth from paragraph to paragraph. Some people call it being ADD (personally I think so many kids these days are being over-diagnosed). But I will try to breakdown what I learned from visiting my family's sponsor child in two logical parts, mainly in order to help myself understand:

My weekend at Grace had been going by quickly and I hadn't had a good chance to talk with Thong, partly because the boy's house is very separate from the girls, and partially because to be honest, I didn't know if he had any idea who I was and I felt awkward.  Guy-girl interactions in this Buddhist culture are a lot different and I didn't want the poor guy to be weirded out my the American girl trying to chat him up.  But on my last day there, I noticed that Thong hung back from everyone a bit after lunch, and so I thought 'Here's my chance!' and decided to carpe diem.  We struck up a conversation and so here is what I learned about Thong in our brief thirty minutes together: He loves English and he wants to be an English teacher in the future 2) He is from Chiang Mai and he will go to visit his family again in the summer months of March and April 3) He is a Christian 4) He loves to read, sing and play football 5) He has a younger sister- 7, older sister- 20,  an older brother- 23, and a mom and dad. 6) When he saw me for the first time he remembered me from pictures! 'Jam daai, jam daai' (I remembered!)  7) He has a crush on an adorable girl in the same grade who lives at the same organization. Seriously, I don't blame you Thong. Best of luck to you! 8) He knows the name of everyone in my family and how to correctly spell their names, even down to my dog Thor, which he could not pronounce, again given the lack of 'th' sound. Beyond precious.

That boy knows the way into my heart

Things I learned about myself/life: When you support someone financially, whether abroad or even in your own neighborhood, it is real. It is tangible. Although giving money can sometimes feel like a cop-out (or at least it does to me)...it simply ISN'T! Sometimes I hate the nature of this life and the fact that I have things that Thong doesn't. But being there with him made me realize that Thong has many things that I don't.  He has communal living and a sense of caring for family in a way that we Americans rarely experience.

When we finished talking, he raced off on his bicycle to do who-knows-what and I didn't think anything of it.  Next thing I knew, he was walking back through the doors with, such an earnest look on his face. Now I don't how you would feel when an adorable 17 year-old Thai boy buys you a box of chocolates with his own pocket money (which I know he doesn't have much of), but it was one of those moments in life I will never forget. When he wai-ed to me and said in broken English, "I hope that God blesses you", a deep impression was made on my heart...kind of like---hmm, this is part of the reason I am here, this is part of what life is about. He took what little he have and gave it away.  It reminds me about the story in the Bible about the poor woman who gave her one coin.  Man, that's who I want to be right there.  I want to be that woman who drops everything to give whatever I have. I want to be Thong.

Thank you Thailand.  Thank you for continuing to teach and humble me.

View from the Free Train

The flat, dry palm-tree peppered landscape whisks by---
Isaan the mosquitoes whisper.
The region of spice.
Kon Thai puut pet maak
Little faces peek over the rims of bright motorcycles.
It is grandpa's strong brown hands and crinkled eyes that
keep them safe.
From burning trash piles, smoke curls lazily into the buzzing evening sky.
Each baan lek is a tiny picture of life---
the blurring windows that the tracks pass create a collage of existence.
Faster, faster, faster---
Poor and rich, happiness and misery blend into one color.

A rough week

This week has seen its share of grief...

I would like honor a man who has been an important person in my life since coming to Thailand. My PiPi (older brother) Nink, passed away suddenly yesterday from complications with a viral infection.  He was a Fulbright employee who was charged with looking after me and Amanda in Ubon, and he always made us feel so special and cared for even though he was such a busy man.  He had such a positive energy and good heart---P'Nink, I hope to honor your memory by striving to be a better cultural ambassador, teacher and person. Thank you for being there for my first day of school.

It has been so interesting to see how Thai people deal with death.  Emotions are expressed differently here; sadness and anger are not shown as openly and freely.  A little different than the American flow.  When my Fulbright friend called me in the morning and told me the bad news, I was at school in my office. I tried to hide the tears that kept coming, but when I told my host teacher what happened they came unexpectedly again.  When the other Fulbrighter Amanda came to my school that day, we just dropped everything smack in the middle of the English office right when we saw each other and hugged and silently wept.  I don't know what everyone was thinking, but it was how we felt and exactly how we needed to process. I have been thinking about the situation afterwards, and I realized that hey---it is good that I am expressing my feelings genuinely because that is the only way true cultural exchange can happen.  I did not come here to transform myself completely into a Thai person and that is okay. The Thai teachers who found out expressed their concern by becoming very serious, and I can tell from their eyes that they understand. They get it. They understand pain. They just don't let the world know like I do.

The second shocking experience happened last night. A student teacher friend at my school took me out to a country club to listen to music and we were out late.  As we were arriving back at school, we saw something big in the road that we couldn't quite make out.  To my horror, it was an overturned motorcycle and a crying girl holding her face.  I was so shocked and I went into emergency mode to go try to help, but was told I should just wait for the police.  When the police came, he was all smiles and laughing, chatting with the other people who had gathered around the poor girl (still on the ground sobbing and obviously in pain) and just flicking his flashlight to warn oncoming traffic.  I understood that they could really do nothing until the ambulance came, but the feeling of nonchalance that surrounded the whole incident really surprised me.  I'm still trying to figure out all the nuances of behavior and life here, and there may be some things that I just plainly will never understand.

Although a few aspects of culture here don't still well with me, the way people treat me has been such an amazing example of hospitality.  Warinchamrap's teachers are truly so kind. People always describe Isaan people as extremely friendly and they have been proven right.  Everyday I am greeted with smiles, little hand-holds (yes that's right), endless amounts of snacks pushed on me and an effort to communicate with me, usually in the lovely Thinglish mix that fills my days here and maybe even a nice rear-end pat from an old Thai lady if I'm lucky!  We chat about the weather, students, food and share pictures and laughter.  Sometimes I look at my life and I am amazed that I am consistently surrounded by people with whom I have a language barrier, and yet I have been able to form real relationships and I am never lacking people to spend my time with.


Ok, a few exciting updates:


Fun fact: While surfing the internet today, I learned that I am precisely the average height of Thai males. Bha. I also will warn anyone going to live in an Asian country, that if you are taller than 5'3'' and weigh more than 100 lbs, you might feel like an awkward giant sometimes. It happens.

The lovely teacher P'Sung (a slender, older woman who has the kindest face) has graciously volunteered to teach me Thai reading and writing!  So far I have learned an assortment of vowels and consonants, and have recently mastered the progression of the 5 tones.  I go to her classroom once or twice a week and we Thinglish and cover the whiteboard in Thai script. A lot of the time I just pretend to understand her because I like her so much and I just want to spend time with her :)

But oh learning Thai!!!! Those damned five tones.  Have you ever tried to learn a tonal language my friends? It is one thing to study a language where if you read the word as written, you are saying it correctly and can be understand. It is a whole other ball-game when you can learn the word a thousand times and STILL not say it correctly. And trust me, I know when I am not saying it correctly because my students either "Kru Siri, mai kao jai" (don't understand) or we all laugh and spend precious class time correcting my pronunciation. A simple word 'maa' can mean come, mother, dog or horse depending on the way you say it. Oh vey. I'm sure I've said some interesting things in my three and a half months!

Next weekend I am traveling to a neighboring province to visit Thong, the 17 year-old boy my family sponsors! He lives at an organization called Grace Ministries that welcomes and cares for children who are poor and at risk of sexual exploitation...I am beyond excited to meet him!  How rare is it that I can take a little weekend jaunt to visit the boy in the photo that has been on our refrigerator for years? And I can chat with him in Thai a bit! I am so interested to see what he is really like and what his life looks like. Also, Fulbright gives us the month of March to have an internship of our choosing anywhere in Thailand because school is out for the summer months---I am hoping that I can spend my month with Grace, helping out in any capacity.

My Laotian outfit!

Overall, this week has been pretty challenging emotionally, but also filled with some really redeeming and beautiful moments: the old Thai man who volunteered to be my chiropractor when he was giving me a Thai massage and felt my messed up back and the fact that he thinks 'God sent me to him'. Driving on my motorcycle along the Moon River with my friend Portia on the back and the wind in our hair.  Dancing like a crazy 'farang' at the country club, when none of the Thai patrons are dancing.  Being called up in front of my entire school, made to repeat some complex Thai phrases, butchering them horribly and the entire place erupting in laughter.  Having a new hero, a young overweight female student who participated in the assembly's dance contest with such pure, utter abandon, joy and complete disregard of the Thai 'saving face' culture that I had to give her a standing ovation. Having students' faces light up when they see me. Any miniscule attempt to speak English with me. So many little things here make comprise a beautiful life and such an enriching experience.  These are the things that I hold onto when times get a little rough.