The room was about 6'x6'. Upon entering there was a bed above which was a poster of Bruce Lee and a Thai movie star. On the windowsill straight ahead was a gerry-rigged transistor radio. To the left of the window on the floor was a tuner and CD player. There was also a fan, an alms bowl and a pitcher of water in the corner. To the left of the door wa sa small shelf with stacks of language books on it. On the wall above it were two posters of Thai singing sensation, Dan. Written on notebook paper on the walls were vocabulary words with arrows pointing to the corresponding object they were defining. The ceilins was draped in monk's robes.

I was in the bedroom of novice monk, Make.

Unchaperoned!

The Lonely Planet had siad that monks can not converse alone with, make eye contact with or pass to or receive from a woman. Apparently, these rules do not apply to novices. Or perhaps my persistence earned us a breaking of the rules.

I had met Make on my first day in Luang Prabang when I was walking past the Wat where he lived. He was extremely friendly and very eager to practice his English pronunciation. We practiced for a bit but it was getting late so I offerred to return. The first time I returned it seemed he could not study with me because his friend was leaving for class and he couldn't be alone with me. The second time I returne, I waited 45 minutes for the novices to finish their soothing chanting.

Rick had also met a novice on our first night and we returned together to help them with their English. When we were discovered sitting on the steps of the Wat our respective novices came out to thank us for coming and said it wouldn't be much longer.

By this time it was around 7 PM and they had been fasting since lunch. When I asked if he still wanted to study or if he was too tired, he replied, "education never tires."

Ans so, much to my surprise, I was lead back to his room. We began with pronuncitation and definitions of words he had circled on the society pages of Bangkok's English newspaper. Then he leafed through his notebook, a paper one much like college exam blue books, and asked me to explain the present and future perfect continuous.

Grammar! What is the perfect continuous? I thought we were just going to spend a little time helping a novice monk from Laos perfect his Jersey accent!

Looking at his examples, I think I was able to figure it out and hopefully, I left him well informed.

He was an excellent student. He also studied Japanese and French along with the typical subjects one studies in school. He had been sent to the monk school when he was 16, he is now 18, because he came home with a tatoo one day and his dad was less then happy about it. His music collection included a Lao pop star, and some pirated Britney Spears and some British pop bands I'd never head of.

I have discovered in my time here that novices are just like typical boys with a bit of giggly girl thrown in because of their more wholesome, innocent and obedient lifestyle. Being a novice is the best way to get a good education and requires discipline, but once one finishes school they do not necessarily go on to become a Monk.

Novices have 10 precepts to follow while Monks have 220- a serious lifestyle choice indeed!

I spent a little over an hour with Make and we exchanged emails. I was not the first to help him. His list of email addresses were proof that his friendliness and eagerness to learn had charmed many tourists before me.