The Tuk Tuk.

The day my Tuk Tuk decided the sidewalk would be faster.

Thai tradition meditative dance.

Watch the first video all the way to the last.

Somdet pittayakom students.

The Merit Ceremony

This is the ceremony I went to back in October and that I wrote about a few weeks ago.

Love, Maggie, Michaela and a pair of very happy chicken feet.

Turkey is hard to come by here...

Happy thanksgiving from the Thai table to your table!

I shouldn't write posts when I'm hungry...

Maybe there is someone out there googling blogs about teaching in thailand. Maybe someone is contemplating choosing CIEE or OEG or another program. Maybe they're doing exactly what I did for months on end: obsess over everything Thailand online. Maybe, even, they're thinking of coming to teach in Somdet at Somdetpittayakom school. (Fun fact: pittayakom in Thai means knowledge house. So, that indeed reads Somdet Knowledge House School.  The 'school' is only added so western people know learning takes place there!)

Either way, I want to make something clear about living abroad that people who have never done it don't understand. 

I am living a regular, ol' normal life. I still pay bills. I have to go grocery shopping. Budget. I have to work. And, yes I do work about 40 hours a week. Between lesson planning for 18 different classes, grading and going to functions, I'm busy. Am I less busy than I was in the states? Of course. Do I make less? Hell yes. Traveling happens sparingly.

There is an American teacher I work with that complains everyday how we work too many days and need more breaks. I want to make it clear that I would never complain about this. I love my job and the people I work with. I get free accommodation. Free wifi. Free computer use. I spend $5 or less a day. I play games for a job. And, I live in Thailand where it never snows.

I have rode elephants, rafted down a river, swam in a river in the jungle, partied in Bangkok, rode a bike up a mountain, got lost in sugarcane fields, got excited when I found real cheddar cheese, been chased by dogs, watched Thai dancing, been to temples older than I can fathom, rode a Tuk Tuk, rode an even scarier motorbike, and tried chicken joints.

Adventure doesn't have to be big. Life doesn't have to be grand in order to be enjoyed.

So, my point is, if you are looking into this life understand the two sides. No, it's not backbreaking work. But, no it's not a holiday.  You'll have amazing, jaw dropping moments, but most days are uneventful. You'll read. Boil some rice. And, you'll curl up in bed with a cup of tea and greet the little ant that's decided to join you, the gecko on your wall and the spider living under your bed.

And, no matter what you're doing, be happy.

oh... and for the love of God... Remember to stop and appreciate the cheese... Because you'll never know how much you miss it until its gone.

Oh... And, salsa... Fajitas... Nachos.

My god. I'm having a breakdown. And, this post no longer has a point.

Peace.

And, send Mexican... Please.

He who laughs most, learns best.

"Stand up please," a small voice, in broken English, says from amongst 50 bodies.

The students stand and in unison say "good morning teacher."

I laugh. "Good morning. How are you?"

"I am fine. How are you?" They respond back.

"I'm good, thank you. Have a seat."

This happens every class, 17 times a week.

My morning starts promptly at 815am, Monday to Friday. I join my fellow teachers at assembly, where we listen as thousands of students sing the national anthem and state a prayer to Buddha. Announcements are read and sometimes awards are given. This morning, a few students sang and danced.

Theoretically, assembly ends at 840 and class begins, but this is rarely the case. Thai time... Everything begins late.

The one thing I always remind myself is: I'm here to have fun. I came here to learn how to play. When time starts bothering me, I ask "what's the rush? What is it I am so worried about missing?" If they don't care, why should I?

Once class does begin, after the introduction, chaos ensues.

And, I say chaos in the nicest of ways.

Now, I plan for every class. I have a timeline and objectives and things I want to accomplish. Do things ever work out as planned?

Hell no.

I have had classes where I couldn't even get the students to stand up out of their chairs, even after stating it multiple times, writing it on the board and acting it out.

I have had students just answer their cell phone in class. Students braiding hair. Sleeping. Whittling a sword out of a stick.

I have started one game, after clearly going over the instructions and the students stating they understand, to ending up playing whatever game the students apparently thought we were playing.  

My favorite occurred yesterday. The topic  this week is weather. I spent time going over weather words and having the students repeat them and understand what they meant. Then it was game time. I explained we would be competing: team one vs team two. I would pass a sheet around with A to Z on it. Write one weather word on a letter and pass. The team with the most words in 5 minutes wins.

What did I end up with? A sheet with words such as "pencil," "cat," "happy..." The only weather word was "fog."

But, I declared team two a winner for their ability to excel at a game only they knew they were playing!

There are moments when I bite my tongue. Frustrations bubble over. I even ask "can anyone in here even walk?" (When I was trying to act out walking and I was met with blank stares.) I have stood in silence at the front of the room for 5 minutes when it got so loud I couldn't hear myself think. I have not been able I find my class before. And today, they didn't even show up.

But, really, the bad is so little and stupid compared to the good.

Seriously.

If you are ever having a bad day, all you need to hear is one student tell you "teacher, you are so beautiful" to change your mood. (To hear 5 say it in a row is life changing!) 

I love when my games work. And, it's even better when the students ask to play it again because they liked it AND understood it.  And, the icing on the cake? When students actually learn and produce something back to you that they didn't know yesterday. It's wonderful.

Thai smiles are infectious. They laugh at almost anything and love to have fun.

Every day is filled with games and they get so excited, boasting when they win. 

My day ends at 4pm and I make my way either home or to the track at school to run. I'm sent away by waves and smiles and "good bye, teacher!"

While, it can be frustrating to teach to a room of kids who can't understand a word you're saying, it's also 10 times more rewarding. I have learned more random Thai words (Muay means boxing while Moi means pubic hair... An awkward mix up), I have become less self conscious (it's hard to be self conscious when your life is one big game of charades) and I have just learned to laugh. 

Oh... And I've learned to ride a bicycle in a pencil skirt, without flashing the world!

Until next time...

Mâi khâo jai.

The title is "I don't understand" in Thai. Nothing sums up the last 3 weeks of my life more. 

To start, back at the end of October I was invited to a merit ceremony. Merit ceremonies are a Buddhist celebration for the dead. In life, you earn merit by doing good for yourself, others and Buddha. When you die, it becomes your family's responsibility to earn merit for you.  So, the result is a party in which the whole village is invited to. 

The party begins with a feast. Typical dishes include sticky rice, pork curries, open-flame cooked fish, meat balls and stewed veggies and chicken wings.  My favorite dish is Pad Krapow Moo, which can be found at any party, local restaurant or school canteen. It's stir fried pork with holy basil. So yummy!

After you are sufficiently full (it's rude to be the first to stop eating!) you then join the other partiers for a parade around the village.  Buddhists believe it is bad luck to turn left, so in a clockwise fashion you move around town. You hold some sort of merit to honor the dead and you walk and dance your way with the fellow partiers and the stragglers you pick up as you pass their house. 

After you end up back where you began, it's time for another meal, typically a sweet dish or a savory soup. Pom (my school coordinator whose Dad was the one we were honoring) provided us both savory and sweet: banana and sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves, coconut sticky rice in banana leaves, and pork fat soup (which is pork meat and congealed fat floating around in pork broth).  After you're again stuffed to the brim, it's now time to pray.  Monks show up and chant as the sun sets, honoring the deceased and granting him merit.  All guests are to bring a gift for the monks or to donate money. This is how the deceased gets merit.

Thai Buddhists honor and respect water, so it ends with a water ritual. Guests bow and honor the monks and watch them depart. Then, it's time for meal number three. 

At this point, Maggie and I decide to leave, as we can't fathom eating another bite and it's very exhausting to be the only white people at a foreign event. You are asked to be in every picture and are asked to sit at every table to talk to everyone, even though every conversation consists of "where from?" "America" ...silence... As this is where their English ends and my lack of Thai begins.

It's hard to describe what it's like here. I get accused of not sharing enough, but I find it hard to sit down and write exactly what happens everyday. 

Just going to the store is an adventure. Buying a bottle of wine in this country is an event. Thais don't understand wine, don't believe women should drink and just plain don't understand english. You ask for dry red, they bring sweet wine. Well, okay, that works, too.

Coffee, as well, is an adventure. Thai people do instant coffee or espresso: there is no drip coffee, even at Starbucks (which I have to travel 2 hours for the nearest Starbucks)!  The other day I ordered a double espresso, no sugar, no milk. I asked her if she understood and she said yes... I ended up with two iced coffees, one with sugar, one with milk. 

I have started to get into the groove of life here. I do have two regular coffee shops I go back and forth from (don't worry, they understand what a double espresso is!). I have a chicken shop I frequent and I can finally speak a whole conversation in Thai with the lady! She gets the biggest smile on her face every time, even though I am just ordering chicken and negotiating price. It's the little victories, I suppose. I have a regular route to school and a regular routine after work. I run at the school. I am in a yoga club, which meets twice a week. I do additional English lessons outside of school and have traveled for a spelling bee competition where I was the word-reader. I know the local dogs, which ones to pet and which ones to avoid. I have gotten used to people petting my arms and hair and proclaiming "soi!" ("beautiful!") over and over. I know... What a hard life. But, when people follow you and try to touch you and take pictures with you when all you're trying to do is buy toilet paper, it gets to be a bit much. But, no one means any harm. They don't understand me as much as I don't understand them. 

And, in a place this beautiful, all I can proclaim is "Mai Pen Rai" (No worries!"

The sunset over the lake at my school!

Next blog will be about my ups and downs as an English teacher!