Assimilating: A Brief Summary

Thailand. Old Siam. What a place. The first two to three weeks here passed rather sluggishly. That's not to say that there was nothing going on. If anything, I was too busy when I first arrived, with orientation and and logistical matters left and right. The adjustment period was a bit trying, but now that I am settled things are going great. Time is flying by, as I knew it would. I think that I am really lucky to be teaching at Suksanareewittaya. Not only are the students friendly and eager to learn(for the most part), but the faculty, particularly the teachers in my department, have been unbelievably generous and accommodating. My coordinator, Pi Moo, has been my Thai mother(self-proclaimed). She has helped me figure out not only how to navigate in this massive metropolis, but also how to do so most efficiently. She showed all of us(non-Thai English teachers) around the village, pointing out the various restaurants and shops that we would be frequenting during our stay here. She took me to get my haircut: 50 baht, ~$1.25. My bangs are a bit uneven, but you can't beat that deal. She brings us breakfast fairly often and orders Pad Thai for all on Mondays(25 baht). Pad Thai is a popular Thai dish both locally and internationally, consisting of stir fried noodles, egg, chicken, and/or shrimp(and tofu I think) I recommend that everyone try it. The teachers also bring us sticky rice on occasion. Sticky rice is made by surrounding some filling(there are many) with rice and boiling into one compact piece. The finished product is then wrapped in a bamboo leaf and ready to go. Sticky rice is an Asian delicacy. I had never heard of  either of these foods, and I continue to learn new things everyday.  This is one of the reasons that I feel it is important to get to know as many Thai people as you can, or at least the ones who you are in daily contact with. It is much more fun to put yourself in a situation where you know nothing then to be in a situation where you cannot learn anything(i.e. touristy beach outings, etc.) It is fun to get away and enjoy a good beach weekend with some pals, which I have done only once thus far. And it was great, although I must say that the western presence was rather annoying to me. I cannot stand the backpacking culture in Thailand. These are hippies(I guess?) who really do nothing at all except clutter the scenery. How they are able to afford to stay is a mystery to me. Thailand is a great place to take a family vacation, so I not impugning these individuals. It just annoys me when I see tourists who have no respect for Thailand and her people, an ignorance that cannot be tolerated of visitors. The Thais are so generous. Why would you want to disrespect or take advantage of them? Whatever, I'll stop. (Sidebar:This is a sort of therapeutic arena for me, and you too if you feel like commenting. You can comment about anything. An incident at the supermarket? A run in with an old foe? This can be a forum where anything is vented, so feel free). 

I look forward to exploring some of the cultural landmarks of Thailand. Ayuthaya, the old capital that was burned to the ground by the Burmese, is next on my list.

I will be posting again soon. 

Sawasdee 

Pedagogue

I have now been in Thailand for nearly a month. I feel like I have adjusted to the the Thai way of life at least enough to be comfortable, and when I say comfortable I mean capable of functioning on a day to day basis with some street knowledge and reasonable expectations of how things work here. I did not leave my block for the first week in my new apartment. I was intimidated by the public transportation system, which is vast and intricate. I found one dish that I like to eat, Khao Mon Gai Pa Som (a delicious mix of deep fried chicken and boiled chicken cut over a bed of rice,served with some great sauces) and ate it every day for over a week. I did not travel anywhere the weekend after Chiang Mai. Instead, I slept for almost 24 hours over the weekend(2 weekends ago, I was exhausted). For the first week plus  I stayed in and watched Mad Men, checked out the Bonus Features of Grandma's Boy and There's Something About Mary(2 commentaries per flick, score), and read most of Jack Kerouac's On The Road, hoping it would inspire intrepidness. Instead, I spent my first week in Bangbon focused on the task for which I am here in the first place: teaching English to non-English speaking Thai students.

Stepping into the first class of my teaching career, I was apprehensive and unsure of why somebody wanted me to pay me to stand in front of a bunch of 16 year olds and tell them that "scene" and "seen" are pronounced the same way, or that "celebrity" and "celebration" have very different meanings, or that "rice" is pronounced RICE not LICE, etc. However, fifteen minutes into my first class, as my students frantically passed around a pen while singing "Happy Birthday", waiting for me to yell "STOP!!" so that the student holding the pen could stand and introduce themselves in English, I realized that teaching was going to be something that is thrilling. 

I write this post at the beginning of my 3rd week of school. I love it, although it is extremely demanding on all levels. It is physically and mentally exhausting. As a teacher, you have to keep your energy up at all times, even at the end of the week as you are approaching your eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth classes of the week. If you come into class without the fire to excite fifty 13-17 year olds, you are sunk. Solution? Nescafe canned coffee.

I really like my students, although there are a few sections that struggle and behave badly. Those classes are frustrating, but I get through it and hopefully reach a a decent number of students in those poor performance sections.

I have already talked to the basketball coach. I will begin helping them out this week. They will know how to take a charge and play solid D by the time I leave(if they don't want the wrath of Carson thrust violently upon them, daily). I have already balled with the seniors a few times. A few of them have some game, but sadly for them they cannot compete with my superior stature and finesse on the courts de roundball. To their credit, they are really great passers and work well as a team. I am thinking this is a direct influence of soccer, which is very popular here. 

It is really something walking around campus. The students genuinely respect teachers here, much more than in the U.S. It felt strange at first, but now I think I am getting the hang of it.

I took a trip to the city this past weekend to meet some friends and tried out the public transportation. It was a great adventure for me. I left late on Friday, and it was pouring down rain. I took an hour-long bus ride to a sky-train station, and then I took the sky train to Siam Station(or somewhere nearby) in Bangkok. It is not an impressive journey, but it was my first solo escapade on the road since I have been here. It felt like an incredible act of valor.

Until next time, be true to your school.

Sawasdee Krap, 

Carson