Wai Kru 2559

It's time for the obligatory "Wai Kru Day" post. At this point, I feel like I have very little new to add to my previous writings about the traditional Thai Teacher's Day, but it's become a tradition for me each year to always write at least "The (x) First Week of School", "The (x) Last Week of School", and "Wai Kru Day" every year.

I feel like I spent a lot of time during my second and third year in Thailand writing about the day-to-day goings-on at the school, school traditions, classes, teaching... etc. I'll be bringing the focus back more to the unique sorts of experiences I have living in Bangkok, but I especially enjoy writing about my travels in Thailand and around Southeast Asia.

Nevertheless, let's talk about Wai Kru Day 2559*

I always enjoy Wai Kru Day. It's the day when the students show their appreciation for and give their thanks to their teachers. Each year, it seems like the senior students get quite emotional on this day! I like Wai Kru not because I'm on the receiving end of the appreciation (although it's nice!) but mostly because it makes me really think and appreciate how much my own teachers have done for me. In fact, several of our teachers who are alumni of the school choose to come forward with the students and present flowers and wai to their own former teachers instead of sitting with the rest of their colleagues on the stage.

This year was also special for me because I got to see and speak with several of my former students who graduated in February. That's the first class I really got to know well, having taught them for three years, and it was great to hear how they are doing and where they will be studying. One of the boys who graduated in the spring had spent a few months as a monk, and had finished his monastic studies just before he came back to visit. Almost all Thai men will serve as a monk at one point before they are considered to be adults. If not after the death of a family member, they will usually do it upon graduation before beginning at university. Even HM the King was a monk at one point!

I was really proud to see my students in their university uniforms, and very happy that they came to talk to me. I think I made a good impression on this class!

So, I want to take this moment to say "thank you" to all my former teachers. I certainly wouldn't be where I am now if it weren't for the support of some important teachers and professors. As a teacher, I now know how challenging and difficult at times this job can be. I also realize how important the job of a teacher truly is. In the words of my colleague, Geoffrey, "I never realized how much of an effect a teacher could have on someone's life". So, to all my former teachers, and to all the teachers in my life (including my mother and soon, my sister!), THANK YOU! and happy Wai Kru Day!

*2559 BE (Buddhist Era) is 2016 on the Thai calendar