Students Behaving Creepily: Lessons in Cross-Cultural Communication

For the most part I've been really impressed with my students. During my interview for this job I specifically requested to teach at the high school because I wanted to work with students who already had a decent grasp on the English language. I can communicate just fine with even my youngest class, and I can have fairly complex conversations with my older ones. I can speak to my M4 class like I would to anyone. They may have an accent or get a word or two mixed up, but by that age they're close to fluent.

That being said however, occasionally a student will say or write something incorrectly that means something different then they intended. It can be funny. One exercise had students practice using -ed and -ing endings. I got answers like "Sally is really looking forward to the party tonight. I hope she won't be disappointing." Mistakes like this are funny, but sometimes they go farther and it comes across as unintentionally creepy/hilarious.

We English teachers have a group chat on our phones that we use to stay in contact with one another, make plans, get dinner... things like that. Sometimes though if we get a particularly funny response from a student we'll share it. Like this one from one of the Prathom teachers:

We don't know what the student meant to say, but he wants to "eat a Japanese minor". 

This next one was from one of my classes. Write about someone with an unusual hobby:

"Mike's hobby is trying to burn his house." Using this as a learning opportunity, I wrote underneath in red "Mike is an arsonist". I'm concerned about Mike.

Oh, and yesterday I promised cannibalism, arson, and stalking. My students have found my Facebook page and keep sending me pictures like this:

(It was a Tuesday, hence the pink tie.)

One Month in Bangkok

I can't believe that it's already been a month since I graduated and moved to Bangkok. In a way it feels like I just left, but on the other hand I've become really comfortable living here.

I'm getting used to the city; to taking public transportation everywhere, to the weird spicy foods, to seeing people selling bugs from street-side carts. I'm getting used to the daily monsoon rains and the flooding. The pollution doesn't bother me as much anymore, and it actually makes for some awesome sunsets.

like this one

And maybe most importantly, I'm getting used to teaching. I'm way more comfortable in a classroom than I was that first day. I like my office, I like my students, and I like all the other teachers that I work with.

We went out for Mexican food downtown on Friday to celebrate our one month anniversary in Thailand. You can find pretty much any food you want in Bangkok, you just have to be prepared to spend a little more if you aren't eating Thai food. I spent as much on a pulled pork quesadilla as I did going to and from Koh Larn last weekend (which is still not a lot). Basically, if you want American food though, you have to spend American prices. That's why I'll be sticking with street food or Toni's for a few days.

Speaking of Koh Larn though, I didn't write a second part to my blog post about my trip because I realized that it would be pretty boring. Once we got to the island we just sat around for a while eating watermelon on the beach. It was awesome, just not a lot to read about. We took the ferry back to the mainland, ate at an Italian place in Pattaya for dinner, went to sleep, and came back to Bangkok on Sunday after playing with a beach dog near our hotel for a while.

After a month, I think everyone was ready to spend a weekend around Lat Prao. It rained on Saturday, but I was up early and took the MRT out to Lumpini Park. I've spent the day today cleaning my apartment and doing laundry. So yeah, not a lot to write about for this weekend either.

I do have some interesting things to talk about in the next few days though. Here's a preview just to keep things interesting. 

Cannibalism, Arson, and Stalking: A Normal Friday in Class

There. More to follow in the coming week.

Koh Larn

I love it here in Bangkok. The city is great; there's always something interesting to see and do. Even on a regular work day I usually see or learn something new. Nevertheless, after a month of life in the city wearing us down, it felt like it was time to get away.

There was nothing special about last weekend, except for us having just received our visa reimbursements. It wasn't a long weekend or a holiday of any kind, but on Monday we made plans to leave the city, booked our rooms, and arranged transportation entirely over text message. Katie, who has been here for a year already and who organized the trip works at the vocational school. Rachel, Ryan, and I are over at Mathayom, and the rest of the girls are at Prathom. It was a little confusing organizing everything. By lunchtime though, our plans were set. The week went by quickly after that.

On Friday we went back to the apartment to pack and get ready to leave. We were to all meet in the lobby at six on Saturday morning to be ready to leave.

We left our building just after 6:00 AM. After stopping briefly at Family Mart for some breakfast, we caught the Number 8 bus to Chatuchak. A lot of different bus lines will take you from our apartment to the MRT and Skytrain, but the 8 is always a safe bet. It goes pretty much everywhere we need to get to. The bus ride isn't super comfortable. It's not air conditioned and they don't always close the door when the bus is moving. You get used to it. Besides, it only costs B8 to get anywhere in the city.

At Chatuchak Park we transferred to the Skytrain (BTS). We got off at Victory Monument downtown just after 6:45. A lot of people travel out of Bangkok by van. It's cheap and pretty comfortable. You can buy a ticket at the Victory Monument station to take you an hour or two out of the city. Normally you have to wait until the van is full though, but with us it didn't matter since we pretty much filled the van.

As we were driving, the scenery out the window abruptly changed from big city to tropical jungle. Bangkok is the biggest and most important city in Thailand, but most of the country is still pretty rural. It turned dark as we were driving, and started to rain pretty heavily. Lucky for us though the rain stopped after about twenty minutes and didn't trouble us all weekend.

Pattaya is located about an hour and a half out of Bangkok. The city grew out of the Vietnam War when American GI's would stop there for R&R. As time went by Pattaya developed a pretty sleezy reputation. Since the 90's, Pattaya has started to rebrand itself as a resort town, and has become popular with middle class Thai families, Chinese tourists, and nouveau-riche Russians looking to escape their cold country for a holiday down south.

I'm not joking about the Russians either. There are tons of tourists in Pattaya, and none of them speak English. They just come up to you and start speaking Russian. Even the Thai people know way more Russian than English. They kept assuming we were Russians. The signs are all in Russian, and so are the menus. I wasn't expecting that at all. 

Pattaya wasn't our final destination though. We were going to Koh Larn. In Thai, Koh Larn means Coral Island. We caught a ferry boat from the Bali-Hai pier, and soon we were cruising through turquoise water towards a little green island in the Gulf of Thailand.

I sat at the bow of the boat, and had a great view of the island as we approached it. It took about an hour to get there. I love boats. I'm like a little kid when I'm on a boat ride.

The ferry was too big to approach the beach directly, so a long wooden boat with a motor came out to shuttle us to the shore. I was the first person on the beach.

The Third Week of School

I just finished my third week teaching! Today is Friday, and it's been a good week. I gave my first test, we celebrated Wai Kru, and I really feel like I'm starting to understand how things work around here.

This morning I broke my breakfast routine. I haven't been up to having a rice dish for breakfast; I like to start my day with some protein. I've been having a package of mixed nuts and a carton of Choco-Drink, but today I and a few of my colleagues decided to branch out and try one of the prepared and packaged Thai breakfasts available at the little store on campus. The truth is, I miss having a hot breakfast. Breakfast is my favorite meal, and I normally eat a big one every day back home. I ordered "American Breakfast" off a menu at a restaurant one time, but it turned out to be a slice of bread, a fried egg, and a hot dog. My friends here know about my love of breakfast, and I've been disappointed trying to find it at a restaurant so far. A little old lady who teaches English here has been worried about me; she asks me every morning what I had for breakfast. So today, I decided to try a real Thai breakfast, just like the other teachers and students eat. I got some kao mun gai.

Ok, so it's just chicken and rice. It was good though. The chicken was hot and crispy, and came with a little package of sweet and sour sauce to put over the dish. It seemed the most breakfasty of all the options. I'm still not sold on fried rice for breakfast. We'll see.

The week was long, but super busy. I'm glad it's the weekend again. I've been looking forward to it ever since Monday when we planned our beach trip. Tomorrow morning I'll be on my way to Koh Larn for the weekend. It's beautiful and sunny today for the first time this week. Hopefully the nice weather holds at least until we're back in Bangkok.

Wai Kru Day

Today was Wai Kru Day- Teacher's Day. In Thai, a wai is the respectful bow you give to someone older than you or in a place of authority. Kru means "teacher". Wai Kru is celebrated throughout the country on a Thursday near the start of the school year, and is a special day when the students honor and pay respect to their teachers.

Prathom celebrated Wai Kru last week, but we at Mathayom got our day today. Ryan, Rachel, and I were told to wear our suits. Geoffrey, James, and all the Thai teachers wore school blazers. 

All morning classes were cancelled today because of the ceremony, and I don't have any afternoon classes on Thursdays. That made for a pretty fun and relaxing day at work. Besides that, I got to experience some Thai culture. As Geoffrey said this morning, Thai culture can't help but bring a smile to your face. This is the Land of a Thousand Smiles after all.

The van got us to the school in record time today. I think the driver took a different route than he normally does. The Wai Kru ceremony was in place of morning assembly today, so James, Ryan, Rachel, and I went downstairs at the bell and joined Geoffrey onstage. There were five rows of chairs on the stage. The first was reserved for the head teachers and Geoffrey. We were put on the third row so that we could see better. In all, about fifty teachers sat on the stage, the rest stood throughout the assembly hall.

On a normal morning, the assembly hall is open to the elements, with fans going to try to fight the oppressive heat and humidity. Today however, the doors and windows were all closed, and the air conditioning was running full blast! Every student was carrying garlands and bouquets of tropical flowers, giving the whole hall a floral aroma.

When everyone was seated, the head teacher kneeled at the alter and lead the students in their morning prayers. Then she said a few words before the ceremony really kicked off.

While musicians along the side of the hall played festive Thai music on drums and some sort of wooden xylophone, rows of students approached the stage and bowed, placing piles of flowers in front of us. It's amazing how much the students here respect their teachers. Although I have a very friendly and casual relationship with my students, many of them still wai when they see me in the hall, and every one of them will bow whenever accepting anything I hand them (such as a worksheet, book, or graded homework).

After the students had presented their flowers, many former students approached the stage and added their flowers to the pile. Once everyone had placed their flowers on the stage, all the students stood and sang the Wai Kru song. I could only pick up a few words, but I recognized "kawp kun", thank you, and "kru", teacher.

Then we went back to our office. Even though I've only had a few classes with my students yet, the level of respect they showed to all the teachers was really moving.

The assembly went on until about 10. The festivities didn't stop there though! During lunch they served a tiered tray filled with various small traditional Thai sweets from the students. I don't know what any of them were, but my favorite was this small light spongy ball that tasted a little like honey. At least I could figure out how to eat the dessert today; it's often a challenge. Lately I've been relying on my new Chinese friends to help explain dessert to me.

I didn't have any classes to teach today, but I had some grading to get done. We were working quietly at our desks when there was a knock at the office door. A group of students had come by to give flowers to each one of the English teachers. A little while later, another group came by with more flowers. Throughout the afternoon former students came by to visit their old teachers and give them even more flowers.

Week three has been going really well. I gave my first test on Monday to my M4 Reading class. I am starting to feel like a real teacher!

In other news, our reimbursements came in for our flights and visas! As soon as we got the good news, we made plans to take a vacation. This weekend we are going to the beach! I love Bangkok so far, but it will feel really good to get out of the city for a day or two. Ever since our hasty travel plans were made over text message at work on Monday, I've been really looking forward to the weekend. I just hope it stops raining long enough to enjoy the sun; monsoon season is definitely upon us.

Happy Wai Kru to my mom and all the other teachers out there! Now I really understand how hard you all work. Kawp kun khrap!

Edit: No photos. Sorry! I didn't want to take any pictures during the ceremony.

The Night Market

It was already dark when we arrived at the docks on the Chao Phraya River Saturday evening. The rain had stopped, and it almost felt cool with a breeze blowing over the water. Almost.

We didn't have to wait too long to catch a free ferry to take us down the river. The Chao Phraya is a huge river, very wide and heavily trafficked. As we cruised down the river, we passed numerous other shuttle boats, mostly belonging to high end hotels, all lit up with lanterns and little white lights on their peaked roofs.

It didn't take too long to get to the Asiatique Night Market, and we got to see some of the city all lit up, from the river.

The Night Market is pretty popular with both farangs and locals alike. It was like the Weekend Market, but more upscale and much less stressful. The market is only open (surprise) at night, and is built along a boardwalk. In fact, it kind of reminded me of the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.

We browsed around for a while, but nobody had much money. It was kind of fun being around people from all over the world. So far I haven't really been to many tourist areas. I just got an ice cream cone and walked around with my friends looking at all the shops.

The Night Market is especially famous for its huge Ferris wheel. 

We got tickets and went around a few times. The view from the top was amazing! Looking across the river you could see all the tiny, brightly lit boats, and farther on the modern skyscrapers of central Bangkok. Unfortunately it was too dark to get any good photos for the top.

The Black Temple

The Black Temple wasn't originally black, but was painted during the reign of King Rama III after the death of his beloved daughter. It's one of two black temples in the world, the other one being in Sri Lanka. I asked Joey about it. Besides its unique color, there's no real religious or historical significance to the Black Temple. It's just a cool sight to see.

King Rama III

The Black Temple is about five minutes down the street from the Golden Mount. As we got there, the wind had picked up and the sky was getting darker, but we still had time to look around. We're nearing monsoon season, and soon it'll rain every day.

The Black Temple

Unfortunately the Black Temple was closed for repairs, but we got to look around the grounds for a while. We were about to go inside another building (in the left on the photo) to look around, but we saw monks inside praying. As we were leaving, an elderly monk waved us in, and we entered and sat for a few minutes while they chanted their prayers.

the temple was undergoing repairs

I wish the main temple had been open, but it was gated off for now. It was getting darker and we headed back down the street for what Joey assured us was the best food in Bangkok. The place looked like a little hole in the wall. It was built into the side of the building with a garage door they rolled up when they were open. I don't know the name of the place, but Joey said that it translates roughly to "Ghost Door". They cook the food outside on the street and bring it in to serve you at your table inside. I guess it's pretty famous, there were framed newspaper clippings all over the walls, even English and Japanese newspapers had done stories on the restaurant!

Joey ordered for us. The restaurant is famous for its Pad Thai with eggs. We had bought bottles of fresh orange juice at the Black Temple, and we drank those with our meal. Just as we were sitting down to eat, the rain arrived. When it rains in Bangkok, it pours. Lucky for us, we had gotten inside just in time. It was a total downfall, but it didn't last too long, and the rains had stopped by the time we finished eating.

Just then, Joey got a message from one of the girls. A few of them wanted to meet us after all, but they weren't going to have phones with them. We thought we had plenty of time since we weren't planning on meeting anyone. We hadn't rushed, and it was five 'till six. We were in the complete wrong part of town, but we ran down to the canal and got on one of the river taxis. We were back in Siam, the central shopping area, in about ten minutes.

We still had to catch the Skytrain though, and between the river and the station we got caught in another monsoon rain. We ran, but got soaked anyway. The rains here are so weird, it's like a wall of water that comes down for ten to twenty minutes, then abruptly stops. It had been sunny all day too!

raining on the Skytrain

It was a few stops before we got to where we were supposed to meet them, and fortunately the rains had stopped again. We didn't have any trouble finding them, which is a miracle since none of the girls had working phones. The Skytrain stop we met them at is right on the Chao Phraya River. That's where we planned to catch a ferry for the Night Market.

The Golden Mount

On Saturday morning, Tony (a Californian and one of the few other guys with us) invited me to go out and meet Joey, one of the Chinese teachers. I've had a great time with the whole group so far, but I was ready to see some sights. Basically, all the girls have just wanted to shop every weekend so far, and I'm not super interested in shopping. To be fair, they need to put a lot more effort in dressing in the colors of the day than I do. I have six shirts, one for each color plus one white one, and several ties. That's all I need. Besides, I'm quickly running out of money; we get paid at the end of the month, and have to get by on one week's salary until July.

Joey is working at the school teaching Chinese, and is in a very similar situation to us. He is a recent graduate from Beijing, and has been working at the school for a year already. We left our apartment around 11 to go meet him. The Chinese teachers live in a different but similar apartment to us, a little closer to downtown. We took the MRT, and caught a taxi to take us to his building. 

Joey teaches at Prathom, so I hadn't met him yet, but he and Tony have become pretty good friends in the past two weeks. He had gone to Big C before we arrived and bought a big bag of mangosteen that we ate while he explained what we were going to do.

1991 - the Year of the Goat

He told us he would show us one of the most famous temples in the city and then take us to eat the best food in Bangkok. After that we would head to a dock on the Chao Phraya River where we would meet up with the girls. From there he was planning on taking us all to the famous Night Market.

So Joey, Tony, Me, and another Chinese teacher caught a bus to take us downtown to the historic heart of Bangkok. Our first stop was the Golden Mount, which stands tall in the city center. It's pretty prominent, and is even on the back of the golden 2 baht coin. To get to the Golden Mount, you have to walk through a pretty big temple complex. Joey is Buddhist, and he was a great guide.

me at the temple complex with the Golden Mount behind me

We stopped into a smaller temple on the grounds before we went up the mountain. Joey said a quick prayer, and pointed things in the temple out to us, explaining their significance. Soon, we heard chanting; a group of monks were singing their daily prayers. I was surprised. I thought that the Golden Mount would be kind of touristy, but there weren't that many tourists around. It was really quiet and peaceful, and we got to watch and listen to for a little while.

it was a really great day, sunny and not too hot!

a large Buddha inside one of the small temples

The Golden Mount is a man made mountain temple in the heart of Bangkok. The ruins of a much older temple collapsed at some point in the past, and the area became overgrown, eventually becoming a large natural hill. King Rama V constructed Wat Saket, the Temple of the Golden Mount at the top in the 19th century. The peak of Wat Saket supposedly has the best view of the city. To get to the top you have to wind your way around, walking through what feels like thick jungle, up hundreds of shallow steps. Tony and I had to pay 20 baht apiece; since it's a holy place it's free for Thai. We were obviously farangs though, and we stood out. Joey didn't have to pay. "Asian face", Joey joked. Still, 20 baht is less than a dollar, and I don't mind paying for something like this. It seems fair since I'm not Buddhist.

Tony, Joey, and me about to head up the path

In the heart of the city, being surrounded by so much green was literally a breath of fresh air. Walking up, you could forget that you were in one of the worlds' biggest cities. It was quiet and cool, and the plants were so thick you couldn't see the city or hear the cars passing nearby.

ring the bells to let Buddha know you're on your way up

Occasionally, we would pass by rows of big iron bells. Joey told us that people ring each one of them to let Buddha know they're on their way to the top, so that he can listen to their prayers.

nearly there!

more bells, getting closer to the top

It's not a long walk to the top; it probably took twenty minutes, and we were walking slowly to take in all the views and shrines along the way. It wasn't the hottest day we've had, but it was early afternoon, and definitely warming up. At the top, we got a yogurt drink to cool off a little bit. There is a little building on top, and inside there were several small shrines where people were praying. I thought that it was the very top, but Joey told us that we needed to go up higher before we could really enjoy the view. He led us up a narrow staircase to the summit of the temple. The golden peak of the mountain stood in the middle, and people were walking in circles around it praying.

great view from the top!

at the summit of the Golden Mount!

We stayed at the top for a while looking out over the city. Joey's friend, Cici, pointed out the Grand Palace out to me. Even from a distance you could see how big and impressive it was. She also pointed to a green patch in the distance. At first I thought it was a park, but she told me it was Chitralada Palace! It was windy at the top. That was the first real wind I've felt since coming to Bangkok, and it was great! Finally, fresh air and wind that's not from a fan or air conditioning!

We were supposed to meet the other girls at six, and it was getting close to four. We were about to head down when we got a message saying that a few of them weren't feeling well, and the others were too broke and they wouldn't be able to join us this time. Tony was relieved, he wanted to have guy time anyway. That meant that we didn't really have to hurry any more. Since we had time, Joey told us that he would take us to see the Black Temple next before we went to have dinner.

The Jim Thompson House

We got off the river taxi at 4:45 on Saturday. On the ride back to the city center we had passed what we thought was the Jim Thompson house. When we realized how close we were, we hurried down the street along the river to see if we could get in before it closed. The guidebook said that the house closed at 5, and we made it just in time for the last English tour!

part of the house from outside

Jim Thompson was an OSS agent who was stationed in Thailand during the Second World War. After the war he left the service, but stayed in Thailand where he got involved in the silk trade. He became very successful trading Thai silk with a prosperous postwar America, and amassed a huge fortune. Thompson, an architect before the war, designed and built his home along the river in Bangkok. The home incorporated traditional Thai design and western conveniences of the 1950's (indoor plumbing, connected rooms, etc).

most of the rooms are built on an open-air plan; there are panels that can close at night

In 1967 Thomson disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever heard from him again, and no body was ever found. He had gone out for a walk one day, and left his cigarette burning in his ashtray.

During his life he built up a huge collection of priceless Asian art. Today, his house is more or less preserved the way it was when he lived there. The Jim Thomson House is a museum not only about Thomson himself, but also displaying his art collection. Unfortunately photography is not allowed inside his house, but we were allowed to walk around his gardens after the tour and take photographs outside.

7th century statue of Buddha in the garden

The tour was really interesting, and I actually learned a lot about Thai culture. Nearly every building has a small shrine outside. I wondered what they were for. The tour guide explained it to us. Tradition says that when you develop land, you are disturbing the spirits that lived there. In order to make them happy, you build them a small ornate "spirit house" on the property. You want to keep the spirits happy so that they will send you good luck. This is a belief that has been incorporated into Thai Theravada Buddhism. We have a small shrine at our apartment too.

the gardens

After the tour we went back to April's apartment. Since she's living by herself and working at the princess' special school, they send her food every night. She always gets a lot of food, so she invited us back to join her for dinner. We tried to watch some Thai TV, but couldn't understand what was happening, so we walked back outside to see what was going on near the mall (there's usually some sort of entertainment).  I don't know if it was a concert, or a talent show, or what, but there were a couple different Thai pop groups singing on a stage, and a small but vocal group of loyal fans watching. Then at the end this happened:

?

I still don't know what was going on, but we watched it for a while. It was kind of fun, although very confusing.

First Adventure in Bangkok

Last week I got Sprint to unlock my phone so I could put a Thai SIM card in. They were really nice about it. Almost everyone else I'm with here had to pay someone at MBK, a huge mall downtown, to unlock their phones for them. Saturday afternoon they all went back to the mall to get their phones set up. The two of us who were already set up went to meet with April, a Baylor grad who had flown in with us, but was picked up at the airport to go to her separate apartments. She's working at a different school for low income students, and we hadn't seen her since we arrived.

The first thing to do was to catch the number 8 bus outside our apartment. There are lots of bus lines that stop at Lat Prao 46, but number 8 is always a safe bet; it stops at the Skytrain, MRT, Chatuchak Park, Big C, and pretty much anywhere else you need to go in Bangkok. It does, however, have a reputation as the line with the craziest drivers. It's uncomfortable though. You almost always have to stand, it's crowded, and not air-conditioned. Sometimes they won't stop all the way, just slow down forcing you to kind of hop/fall out. It only costs B8 though. The Skytrain is only about ten minutes away by bus, and it's really nice - much nicer than the number 8!

We met up with April at the Siam Skytrain station, near where her apartment is. We ate at the food court in the Siam Paragon, one of the nicest malls in the city, and looked through our guidebooks to find something interesting to do.

river taxi approaching the dock

One of the more iconic Bangkok experiences is taking a river taxi. It's the quickest and cheapest way to get from the Siam area to the city center where all the temples are located. The nearest river taxi dock was about a ten minute walk from the mall, and we were able to catch one of the regular boats fairly quickly. The boat ride was quick and super cheap, although the whole thing felt somewhat unstable and the river stank. We were the only three farangs on the boat! It cost me B30, but it kind of seemed like everyone was paying a different amount, and I'm not great with Thai numbers yet.

soon as we stepped out of the river taxi dock we were accosted by tuk-tuk drivers offering to take us around to all the temples and major sites in the area for only B10 per person. We had discussed this on the boat ride over, and were well aware of the scam. They take you to all the major temples, but after every one they drag you to an overpriced tailor or souvenir shop where they have a deal with the owner. Still, we had never taken a tuk-tuk, and wanted to see what it was like. Riding in a tuk-tuk was actually pretty fun. It's basically a motor scooter, and they weave through the traffic and get you where you want to go fast.

We asked the driver to take us to see Luang Pho To, the Temple of the Standing Buddha.

me with the giant Standing Buddha

I don't know what it is... it looked cool

We walked around the temple complex for a while. Besides the giant Buddha, there were lots of smaller shrines. There really weren't any tourists there that day, just a few people burning incense and praying, or talking with saffron-robed monks.

one of the smaller shrines

shrine to the beloved King Rama V

After that the driver took us to a much smaller temple. We were the only ones there. The temple housed a small Reclining Buddha statue. When we showed up, the caretaker excitedly showed us around "his" temple. When he learned we were from Texas he excitedly announced "Cowboy! Clint Eastwood!" The caretaker showed us the statue and gave us each three sticks of incense to light. "Say a wish!" he told us. Afterwards we talked with him for a few minutes. He was excited to learn about our job teaching English.

not THE Reclining Buddha, but still pretty cool

After the second temple, the driver told us he was taking us to a tailor where we could get a "special discount". Luckily we had been expecting this, and offered him B50 each to take us back to the river taxi. We were expecting it, and had already planned how to get past the scam. It ended up costing less that $2 per person for about two hours visiting the temples. I'll admit, I'm pretty proud of us navigating Bangkok by ourselves and working out a pretty good deal for a tuk-tuk ride.

 

Street Food

Saturday morning I awoke early feeling hungry. Not everyone was up yet, but I made plans with two of my friends to go for lunch at Toni's; she opens up at 10:30. Unfortunately when we went downstairs, there was a handwritten note up on the door to the restaurant telling us she would be closed that Saturday, but would be open for business again on Sunday. We've been eating at Toni's nearly every day because it's cheap, clean, and has a great atmosphere (not to mention air-conditioning). Saturday however, we were on our own. For the first time since arriving in Bangkok, we stepped out into the already sweltering city looking for street food.

There's a small noodle cart across Lat Prao from the soi where we live. I don't know what it's called, but it has a yellow sign with red letters. Grant had told us about it last week, and he really recommended it. The lady who runs the cart doesn't speak English at all. You just hold up a finger and say "one" so that she knows how many orders you want. There's only one item on the menu, and it costs B30, about a dollar.

After handing her a few Baht, she started preparing the meal. It's fascinating to watch her, she puts everything together quickly and expertly, and hands you two plastic bags, one full of broth, the other with noodles and other ingredients. You have to assemble it yourself.

We stopped in at the Family Mart next to the cart, the one where the nice old man works, to get a drink. We then headed home. When the group from last year left Bangkok they left lots of stuff in their rooms for us. Meow, the lady who runs the apartment collected it all up and put it into a special storage room for all of us. Last week she opened it up so that we could help ourselves to whatever we wanted to take. I took a water heater so that I could make noodles and tea. She also gave me some bowls, cups, mugs, and silverware. Back in my room I put my lunch together in one of my bowl. I was not disappointed! My first street food experience here was definitely a success. There's a little food market nearby across the street. I'm going to walk down there sometime soon and see what they have to offer too.

Ordering Out

It's Sunday afternoon now here in Bangkok, and I've had a very busy weekend. I finally got to get out into the heart of Bangkok and see some of the sights the city has to offer. I feel like I've been posting too many long posts too frequently recently. Everything is new and happening so fast that I'm having trouble keeping up with the blog. I don't want the blog to get boring or overwhelming by posting a lot of really long posts too often, so I'm going to break this weekend up into a series of shorter posts over the course of this coming week.

After school Friday we went to see a Thai Beatles cover band. It was good, but very loud. I wasn't feeling my best; after working all day in un-airconditioned rooms I was overheated and had a headache. The others wanted to stay out later and go get Mexican food, but I decided to leave early after the music was over. I am proud of myself for navigating Bangkok and getting home by myself without any problems. That was my first time alone in the city, and now I feel confident enough to get anywhere by myself.

Yes, you can get Mexican food in Bangkok. Actually, you can get pretty much any food you could possibly want (except breakfast) and can even have it delivered. On Thursday night we were all really tired so we send out Italian food. There are literally hundreds of restaurants of all sorts in our area that will deliver. You just have to place an order online and they'll be there within the hour. It's a little expensive, but when you're really tired it's worth it. On Thursday we sent out for pizzas and pasta, but you can get everything from Lebanese food to McDonalds.

speaking of which...

I won't ever order the McDonalds though. I promised myself I would never eat American fast food while I'm here - except maybe Dairy Queen. For some reason DQ is really popular in Bangkok; there's one in just about every mall here!

Friday Afternoon Sticky Rice

On Friday after finishing my last class I headed back to the English office exhausted. I have more classes on Friday than any other day, and none of my rooms are air-conditioned. I shouldn't be complaining. None of the rooms at Prathom are air-conditioned at all. At least on Wednesday and Thursday I get the AC rooms all day, something that the Prathom teachers are really jealous of. The Mathayom teachers know that we can't handle the heat as well and try to schedule AC rooms for us as much as possible.

black sticky rice sent from the principal

Anyway, on Friday I was overheated and exhausted, but relieved to have finished the first week on such a strong note. When I arrived back in the office, James greeted me with black sticky rice. It were sent by the principal, he told me, as a way to celebrate the end of the first week. The rice is stuffed inside thick bamboo shoots which are burned over a fire. James showed me how they were meant to be broken in half so that you could get the sweet sticky rice inside. There were four servings, one each for me, James, Ryan, and Rachel. We were served white sticky rice balls with mango at the welcome tea last week, but I hadn't tried black sticky rice yet.

It was very good! I don't know how to describe the flavor, but it was really sweet, and I think that there may have been black beans mixed in. You could see them, but couldn't taste them at all. Sticky rice is a popular dessert here, and James told us that the other teachers and parents would often send us treats. They love giving us traditional Thai food!

The First Week of School

Every class I taught this week got better and better. I finally just accepted that I wasn't going to know what was going on until right before class, and everything just sort of worked itself out.

I'll be teaching M1-M4. Some of my main classes have as many as 30 students, but the extra classes have between 9 and 15. So far I prefer teaching the smaller classes. In the big classes it's almost impossible to keep the student's attention for an hour.

The real problem though is the wide variety of English ability within the same class. For the first day of class in my M3 classes we gave the students an icebreaker assignment. They had to go around the room and get everyone's name and learn a fact about that person. Then they had to write a sentence about each person in the class. In the same class I had the responses "He like blue. She like green. He like red" etc... and "In her free time she plays the piano well."

On Friday I had a second chance with the M4 Reading class that had gone so poorly on Monday. It had been my first class and I had no idea what was going on. I wanted to make a better impression with my students, and I worked really hard on planning out our next meeting. By Friday I had completely over-prepared, and it turned out to be one of my best classes yet.

We were going to read an essay about a girl who studied abroad for a year in India. The textbook lists a few reading response questions, and I modified it and had them write as a warmup assignment. I think I'll do that every week and make it into a sort of daily journal assignment. I had the students write as much as they could in ten minutes about where they would like to live for a year and why. I got some really good responses. My favorite response was about the USA. The student wrote about how much more fun life would be in America. He could eat junk food all day, stay out until midnight, and read comic books in the back of the classroom. Other responses were more serious. I'm not really taking a grade over this assignment since its so subjective, but I'll check for completion and note any major issues I see several students having. It's just going to be a daily completion grade.

I visited my friends in the Prathom office the other day looking for some markers. Their office is much smaller than ours and really cluttered. There are way more teachers crammed in there and they all share one big clump of desks. I like our office much better!

a quiet afternoon in the English office

I spend a lot of time hanging out in the Mathayom English office. We are right next to a teacher's break room where we can get coffee, tea, and fresh cold water. Sometimes they put snacks out for the teachers. Most of the time it's just me, Rachel, Ryan, James (who returned for his third year), and Geoffrey. Suzy comes in on Thursday and Friday and sits at the desk next to Geoffrey. It's really great having another Texan around. Her mother is visiting Bangkok and baked us chocolate cake. There are three Thai teachers who have their desks in the office, and they're all really nice. Sometimes they'll turn on the radio and play music.

We eat a lot here. I'm not usually super hungry at breakfast, especially since I'm never usually ready for fried rice or noodles that early (that's what most of the Thai's eat). I've been having my daily Choco-Drink and holding out for lunch. The lunch is still really delicious, but I have no idea what any of it is or how to prepare it about 90% of the time. I try to follow along and see how the Thai teachers are preparing their food. The desert is always a surprise. Every day it's served over ice and usually consists of coconut milk over something. I rarely know what it is, but I know it's good. Geoffrey has been here over twenty years, and he still doesn't know what a lot of the food is!

rambutan, mangosteen, and one tiny banana

The dining room is laid out in a very specific way. The back of the room is reserved for the lunch buffet, with uniformed staff making sure everything is fresh and topped up. The two tables nearest to the food belong to the head teachers and the English department. The head table is the most important. All the little old ladies who run the school sit together, and they have their own helpings of food served at the table. Whenever you walk past you wai them and duck down a little. Next to them, equidistant to the food is the English table. I don't know if there's any lunchroom hierarchy past the first table, but if there is, Geoffrey has managed to reserve the second spot for us; we sit right next to the head teachers. We have to get our own food, but the staff sets out a plate of fresh fruit for us every day. They usually have these tiny bananas and little green oranges. The weird red spiky fruits are called rambutan. You can sort of twist them apart and the fruit inside pops right out. The purple things are mangosteen. You have to rip into them. The fruit inside is white and juicy, but the skin is a dark purple, and will stain your clothes if you're not really careful.

I've been going to the morning assembly every day. One day they gave a presentation about one of the past kings. On Friday, James (who can speak and read Thai after three years here) jokingly whispered to us that the words on the screen said "really long prayer". He was right!