Chapter 23: Thailand

After a long day of visiting schools…all I needed was a shower. As we drove up, I was presented with a ticket and an invitation to attend the dormitory students (matium 3 and 6) graduation at 5:30. It was 5:15. Tables were set up on the lawn and the stage was set. Each class put together a performance…some sang, some danced, some told jokes…they were all light hearted and more fun then the tradition Thai performances I had attended in the past. A few students stood up to speak…say their thank yous to their classmates and teachers…although I couldn’t understand much, their expressions and emotions said enough. Tears streamed as they hugged on stage and embraced each other…when the head boy and girl of matium 3 class got up to speak, her tears held back her speech.. It is quite uncustomary to touch someone of the opposite sex in public…especially if you’re a student. I could tell all she wanted to do was embrace him. They looked at each other and gave quite uncustomary deep, slow wais. After a few more performances, they started loading the chairs on stage…the Thai teacher grabbed my hand and said , “Come Kim…“ surprised I wasn’t already up and out of my seat like the rest of the teachers. I sat up on stage between the director and the teachers as the students lined up one by one. They each handed me a white string. I glanced at the other teachers…and tied the strings on the students’ arms one by one following suit. After a few ties…I whispered to another English teacher a few chairs down…“what’s congratulations”. She laughed and realized I had been caught off guard and thrown up there. “Yin Dee Doi”, she replied back. I continued with each student as they bowed at my feet…some fighting off tears…“yin dee doi…choke dee (good luck)“. “thank you teacha,” their reply. The ceremony was moving and unexpected. Mikwamsuk (happy) and siajai (sad) all at the same time.

**Ive posted some more pictures on-line under “my last month…” There is one quite disturbing I caught at an elementary school. Of course…I was the only one thrown off by it…

 Last week I took two trips across Uthai Province to visit primary schools in hopes of recruiting children to attend Kanchanapisek (my school) next year. Each school was quite unique….some had 3 buildings and 1500 students, while others had only 3 classrooms with 100 kids. All the students were the same however, peaking into the class I was presenting in (well attempting to present in thai)…trying to get a look at the white farang, which im sure some have never seen before in their small rural farm villages. The shy ones would run around the corner, point, then run back, while the braver students said hello and answered my questions unconfidently…“what is your name…how old are you…“ exc. Pictures of some of the schools are posted. And I did get quite a few offers to continue teaching at their school. Although I felt like more of a commodity…it was refreshing visiting with the younger students…their enthusiasm and energy. The day was draining in the hot sun though. At the end of the day we dropped off our school students that came and spent a good deal of time visiting with their families. One student lived with his grandmother (pictured) and owned a small shop. Another student lived back on dirt roads…her mom fixed us fresh jack fruit and showed us their juice room (they make and bottle their own juices). They also had a tamarind farm (my favorite fruit in Thailand).

She bagged some for each of us…and they tasted better then the store. I tried everything…and when we were finished….she said in Thai, “youre very easy…most foreigners worry about the cleanliness or think its too dirty but you try everything…” I think this was a compliment…but I didn’t think much of it…cleanliness is all relative. My other student lived in a small Thai style house (thatched roof and wooden walls) that overlooked the cane fields her father farmed on. We drove up to him sleeping in a hammock overlooking the fields watching the sunset. Simplicity.

The last few weeks have been filled with Thai food, fun, and family. Cheesy I know but I thought it had a nice ring to it. I visited Cha Am few weeks ago. with a teacher (Yui) only two years ... [Continue reading this entry]

Friday I headed out again…trying to make the most of my last few weekends here. Another 10 hour bus trip North to Chang Rai for Juliette’s 25^th birthday. With a plan this time, we (me, Juliette and lisa) were making ... [Continue reading this entry]