Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thai Thanksgiving

Well on Wednesday night a Thai teacher came up to us and said something along the lines of, "We have party tomorrow, you come? You cook American food for us?" We kind of mumbled an agreement because we were so shocked then started thinking about the reality of the situation. What American ingredients were we going to find at the local market in one days time? I decided I would get this Thai curry I like because it tastes like christmas and he asked me 3 times, "You make it?" and with each question I replied, "No, I'm going to buy it."
We get to the market and Jonathan is making spaghetti so we find some mac-n-cheese noodles and ketchup, but I insist their version of ketchup is tomato sauce. We think that will suffice because we're already surprised we found that. He then gets some vegetables to put in the sauce and he's done. Then we go look for my curry and the Thai teacher just says, "I think no today," and I'm like uhh okay. Then he goes to get his ingredients which involve several vegetables and the fish stall where the live fish lay in no water just gasping for… water. You tell the lady what you want, she grabs the fish and slaps it on her log cutting board then proceeds to barehanded scrape all the scales off. Then takes a cleaver and cuts the fins off. Asks if he wants the gills off, he says yes, she cleaves them off. Then slices the underbelly and out falls the stomach. Then she throws the fish in a bag and rinses her hands off in a bucket of water she uses after every fish killing.
We drive to this older couples house and its a pretty cool layout. It's super open, like the whole lower level is one huge room. The Thai teacher and Jonathan begin cooking and I have nothing to do so I sip beer and eat all the fruit in sight… by myself. The fruit was really good and they grew it in their massive yard. Meanwhile the older man who owns the house sits on his patio smoking alone and the older woman cleans the bathroom. After about an hour I join the woman in watching a Thai soap opera and then the Thai news.
Jonathan over enthused to chop
Oh you know just mixing sticky rice in a hat on the floor
"Hold those and pretend to cook."
Fruit city
Some weird fruit that was mostly black seed, but super yum
What half my night looked like
Finally dinner is ready!! Its a huge assortment of various fish and macaroni with ketchup. It was pretty funny. The fish was actually pretty good, well one of them. One kind of fish tasted considerably fishy and I'm not being punny.
I like to think he was gasping for air
Even though they breathe out of their gills… 
The table post eating
The fishy fish
The men continued to drink quite a bit of beer and smoke several cigarettes. The non smokers sat inside talking about church, music and future plans. All of my favorite topics when talking to people you don't know very well… Not! Thats when the guitar was brought out. The Thai teacher who invited us began singing "Stand By Me", but only seemed to know one verse and the chorus which I thought humorous. Then he played "Zombie" by The Cranberries which was pretty dang classic. No one knew the song other than me and I only knew it because of my Rock Band days. Then he tried to get me to sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" so he could get the tune down, but that wasn't going to happen so we moved on. He then tried to play "Hotel California" and all the other boys joined in, but it seemed I was the only one who knew the right words so I kind of stopped singing so as not to look like the only one who didn't know the words.
It was getting to be 9:30 and I was tired and sad that I wasn't with my family eating Thanksgiving food and laughing endlessly and probably arguing, so we started to get ready to leave. I didn't tell everyone I was sad and thats why I wanted to leave, that would have been kind of awkward.
Overall it was a pretty good time. Certainly what one might expect on Thai Thanksgiving. Like wait why is it 85 degrees outside and why is there only fish and ketchup on the table and why is there no toilet paper in the bathroom?
Teaching on Thanksgiving made the lesson plans pretty fun. I had the students make the turkey hands where they say what they're thankful for. Here are some of my favorites.
These guys weren't really into the whole turkey idea.
I thought the descriptions were touching and grammatically humorous.
This one was touching.
Excellent and somewhat confusing decorations.
I want to say its related to Buddhism, but cannot be sure.
My best student and her impressive art skills.
Maybe she'll draw me.
One of my favorites because only a really cool person would include "shorts" as something they're thankful for.

P.S. Sorry for the bad quality pictures, forgot my camera.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Spoiler Alert… Monkeys Suck.

My journey begins at 8:15 at the bus stop in front of the school. I'm looking out for the number 7 bus ready for the ride to the train station. It comes and I get on. No air-conditioning, but its a nice morning and the windows are open to bring in a cool breeze as well as an abundance of car fumes. I think to myself, "I'm so excited for my black lungs." I'm thrilled because I'm seeing new things and going to parts of town I haven't been to yet with small lakes and cute markets. Suddenly we stop and the bus driver has everyone get off the bus, obviously I had no idea he wanted that until some guy pointed at me and pointed at the door, repeatedly. I'm not at the train station and slightly panic. Then I think to myself, "Chill out Leah, if worst comes to worst just take a taxi home." I get on the next 7 bus that comes and it has some thai letters on it in front of the 7. There's a trigger in my mind that something isn't right, but what do I know?! I ask the bus lady if it'll take me to the train station and she says, "Yes Yes!" and I relax. She then tells me to get off the bus and points to the left. I'm like cool I'm there! But theres no train station. So I take a taxi the rest of the way and finally get there at 10:50. I buy a train ticket for the 11:20 train and sit in the station.
A monk on the bus
He had so much money on him, it was confusing.
I run into another OEG guy named Phil and we ride the train together. The train ticket cost 28 baht (less than $1) so naturally the train didn't have AC and the windows were down the whole time so my hair and skin and clothes were absolutely disgusting when we finally arrive 3 hours later in Lopburi.
Some ruins called Phra Prang-Sam Yot across from the train station in Lopburi
Super cool
A beheaded Buddha with one an arm
Some dude on a bicycle taxi offers to take us to our hotel and bad move on his part because then he more or less dragged us in this tiny bike trailer for an hour to our hotel with the sun beating down on him. Well he got paid 250 baht for it so I don't know who was at a loss on that one.
The hotel had the cutest umbrella decoration
Franki, me and Hannah
We had a fun little orientation reunion with about ten people. Shared some drinks, played some games, chatted a lot, laughed even more, and went to a bar with a swimming pool and a live thai band.
In the morning we had a hilarious version of an "American Breakfast" complete with 2 eggs over medium, a hotdog (no bun), a cold slice of deli ham, a tiny two bite salad, and toast. It was yum though. I also drank some tang.
Real life, I'm addicted to Coca Cola with real sugar
Just kidding I often drink water and juice as well
After breakfast some random super nice dudes drove us in the bed of their pickup to this super cool and huge sunflower garden. We took a hundred photos and had some fun. After spending maybe too much time taking photos we went back to the truck and find out there is another field of sunflowers. At the second one though there was also a lake with huts on docks and puppies so we had other things on our mind than silly sunflowers. I loved those sunflower fields though.
We brought the sunshine that perked up the flowers
Franki and I
Just sitting in the field being silly
Hannah and I
Puppy city!
Oh Brownie sandals aren't food
Finally to the main event!! The monkey festival. Probably one of the weirder things I've witnessed. There were tons of monkeys everywhere, eating, drinking, playing and fighting. Some were cute snuggling up to their moms and some were total a-holes. Scratch that, they were all total a-holes. Spoiler alert monkeys suck. But I mean its not everyday you see a monkey grab a water bottle out of someones backpack and unscrew it and drink the whole thing then run to the lady over there for some of her corn snacks.
Look closely
So thanks for sharing… 
Well I was clearly terrified
The stupid head tried to steal my neck pillow!
So selfish, it wouldn't even fit him.
Six and a half hours later I step off the bus in front of the apartment. Tired, dirty and hungry. Successful end to a couple days I'd say. 
The cutest little Thai family who spoke pretty good English
On the train they gave me a hard boiled egg and it was dang good, still hot and with some yum sauce. Also I'm glad they realize Barbie shirts never go out of style.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Smiles and Thank you's

I often receive emails from my Uncle Gene. We chat about many things, but we mostly just chat about life. In his most recent email he said something that I found pretty dang cool.
He said, "Many times being immersed in another culture the survival props with which we have grown up: manners, speech, values, even gestures and facial expressions are pulled out from under us. Sort of like going on your first date or first birthday party and not being sure how to act. But then you adapt and can look beneath the props and discover the common thread of humankind." 
I found this to be incredibly true, moving and frankly just very well written. It got me thinking what I have found so far to be the common thread of humankind, at least for me here in Thailand. The two things that I find myself doing the most are smiling and saying thank you. Since most people don't speak enough english to have a conversation, a smile, I've found, can really say a lot. Some of the things it has said for me in the past few weeks are: "Hello" "I'm sorry" "I don't speak Thai" and the classic "How funny!". I know they say that a smile is the universal language, and I can't speak for other countries I've never been to, but they couldn't be more right for Thailand.
Thank you on the other hand can be a little more finicky (I've always wanted to use that word in real life). Due to my general laziness and lack of motivation, I haven't learned much thai. I regularly feel bad about it in the moment, but then excuse the guilt with a "if its meant to be, it will happen" state of mind. So thank you is one of the few phrases I know in thai "Kap Kun Kah" (I probably spelled that wrong). It took me forever to remember the phrase for some reason. I tried to come up with means by which to remember, but an anagram didn't quite remind me of the proper words. I've no idea why! Just kidding obviously KKK wouldn't necessarily bring the words to mind. So anyway I finally got the phrase down and tried to say it as much as possible, but it started to sort of eat at me inside that it didn't sound as sincere as "Thank you" does. It just sounded like I was saying a bunch of sounds with little to no feeling behind them and I could't stand it. So now I simply say "Kap Kun Kah Thank you!" each time. I'll continue doing this until I find a way to express my true gratitude with the thai phrase.
So to conclude, in my 22 years of age, whether you see me as young or old, I have at least come to the conclusion that 2 things that make up the common thread of humankind consist of smiles and thank you's and well thats quite the achievement in my opinion.
When in doubt smile
Even when you're supposed to be reading and ignoring the camera

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Banana Boats and Ice Cream

Come Sunday the Thai's will celebrate Loy Krathong festival. After several minutes of broken english including the words "tree banana" and some drawings, my students were able to tell me what the festival was all about. People gather banana tree leaves to build these floating boats that they decorate in all sorts of ways. Its really very cool how intricate they are when each group of students only gets like 2 hours to build it all. Then they put a candle on top, light it, and send it into the river to float down. My favorite part was that the school created this make shift river in the middle of the school and that was where the students would float their boats.
A harshly angled aerial view of the makeshift river
I wish it was there forever
The 2nd place winner let me send off their boat
Beautifully and intricately woven
Float on!
Hey guys look its me with terrible posture and the boats!
Just hanging with the Vice Principal lady and a Director
I'm a big deal… just kidding... obviously
My student made the 1st place winning boat, so proud!
I've discovered the coolest part of Thailand! At least in my opinion. Some crazies may not agree, but they're obviously crazy based off their title. I found out the shop right next to the entrance to my apartment sells ice cream! It's absolutely delicious and the ice cream chick really hooks it up with the scoops. Anyone who knows anything knows that the scoop size is really very crucial for enjoyment. Theres no disappointment like receiving a small scoop*. So anyway its this little hole in the wall (not literally though… when I was young and people said that phrase I thought they meant literally) and tons of students go there after school because get this… its 15 baht for 2 scoops or 20 baht for 3! Thats like 45 or 60 cents for a good amount of divine ice cream guys. If I thought I was going to get fat before, now I know I will. However, I'm not complaining. Bring it on!!
Little does she know she is my new best friend
I have no idea who this girl is, but she had a waffle with green tea ice cream on top
I have got to figure out how to order that
In addition I finally got a photo of the lady who makes my dinner each night. She's the coolest and makes the best food ever for a real steep price of 30 baht (90 cents) per dish. I don't know what I'm going to do when I return to the states and have to pay $10 for a thai dish, well I'll probably become poor fairly quickly. They baked some beetles the other night and Jonathan and I tried one and they were actually pretty good. I was terribly grossed out, but I made myself eat it. I know you guys don't believe me without a picture because anyone can say they've eaten baked beetles, so fear not I will get a photo of it! The only bad thing about the dinner place is mosquitos feast on your feet the whole time, but I figure they're just going out to dinner too. I'll take the company I can get, unless of course its creepy older drunk Thai guys who ask if they can show me around Bang Bon.
Sadly I can't remember her name so we'll call her best friend #1
BF #1 and her daughter and the assistant in the back

*Post Script: I would like to attribute the realization of the importance of scoop size to Jesse Gouveia

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

My People

Well I won't lie to you all, being here in Thailand has not been anything easy for me. I suppose that is to be expected. Maybe a greater thing to worry about would be if it was easy for me. The new place and such was difficult to get used to for the first couple days, but after a couple weeks I got the lay of the land down. After exploring and such I like it here.
The hardest part is being away from those I care most about. The ones I can talk to without having to think of something to say. It can really get exhausting conversing regularly with people you hardly know. Takes a lot of brainstorming. So anyway I got to thinking, where would we be without the people we care most about. I can't even imagine. I've been thinking a lot lately about a theory I've developed that states theres two types of people in the world: 1. People people 2. Place people. It is fairly simple. People people (for lack of a better term) are people who can make the best of anything and everything if they are simply with those they care about the most, or at least a few of those they care for the most. Place people can make the best of anything and everything if they are simply in a place they love. I am certainly a People people.
I guess I just wanted to say that I miss my people. I love all of my people so much, you guys are great! Some of the best times of my day come when chatting, emailing or face timing with those I care about. Carry on and stay wonderful. Don't ever forget those people of yours exist.
The people here are nothing compared to my people, but they can certainly bring a smile to my face.
They like Harry Potter so naturally they're my favorite class.
Also the girl in upper left actually looks exactly like a Thai Beyonce
I'd rather be their friend and not their teacher, but that is obviously impossible because hello I'm like old and white. So maybe I'll be like a friendly teacher. First I have to figure out how to be a teacher though. Could serve to be useful.
On a somewhat unrelated note, starting now I will try to be more positive. I am a firm believer of acknowledging the negative in life, but I do believe you get through things better if when acknowledging the negative you also notice more positive than you do negative. For example, my last class took it all out of me and I knew I was achieving fairly little. However, one girl followed along the entire time even though the kids had already learned the same lesson in a different class (I found this out later). The one girl didn't quite outweigh the feeling of helplessness I felt, but then I remembered a girl in the middle of class coming up to me with various snacks to try and telling me the names of each. It was so nice and cute. I just ate the sweet crunchy treat she gave me and it was aloy (delicious)! I felt so dumb for getting wrapped up in failure and forgetting the kindness of a 13 year old girl, so thats what started my new goal. I'm thrilled to begin it.

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Teaching Shenanigans

I'm starting to get the hang of things. I finally understand what Anne meant when she said, "Don't waste all your time reprimanding the bad kids and just focus on the kids who want to learn." So thats what I've started to do. I only yell at the bad kids when they start to interrupt the kids who are paying attention or when I just get annoyed. However, once class was over three of the bad kids left the room by walking over every chair in between them and the door, so I guess I don't yell every time I'm annoyed. You gotta choose your battles in this world guys.
Earlier that class one of the chair walking bad kids said, "Hey Teecha!" and I was like, "What?" and he started showing me this magic trick and it was good! He wasn't doing what he was supposed to be doing at all, but I didn't yell at him because I figured at least he's learning magic and not doing drugs on his free time.
Some of the kids are cool and yell at the other kids to be quiet. For instance, today my microphone ran out of battery half way through my loudest class where I have to yell into the microphone to be heard. So some little homies yelled for me a bit which was real nice. I just had to slam the wooden eraser on the white board to get people to be quiet even if it only lasted 30 seconds.
My absolute favorite thing is when you're losing hope on your purpose there in the classroom, right when you think no one cares, someone from the back yells out the answer and inside you get so happy because YAY SOMEONE CARES ABOUT THE WEATHER! Yes chick in the back, it is warm out today!
Today P-Moo said to me, "Leah you look like real teacher today!" and I was like "Oh thanks!" But really I was thinking, "What the heck Pmoo, what did I look like the other days. Maybe I don't want to look like a real teacher." It was actually really funny because I thought she was going to yell at me for my outfit and say it wasn't good enough. Oh life.
I also really enjoy looking at people who are texting under the table because they freak out. I now realize how big of an idiot I was in high school AND college for thinking teachers couldn't tell.
On the daily people bring fruit for everyone to eat
Its the best
I work in an insane asylum
I like the windows
Smile!
That I guess is a popular pose
I was too scared to tell everyone to smile

Friday, November 8, 2013

Scout Camp

The Thai government makes every kid from 7th-9th grade go to scout camp to learn various good qualities. Although I can say that from what I saw neither the students nor the teachers were complaining about the "forced" three day vacation from school.
We rode on a school bus for a couple hours to get to the camp. It was super pretty and actually very cool. A retired school deputy (person high up in the school system) bought the land and turned it into a scout camp for kids.
It was real pretty
There was all you can eat (if you can make it) tom yum as well as all you can drink instant coffee. I learned how to make instant coffee taste good so naturally I had at least 3 cups a day. Recipe: one scoop instant coffee powder, two scoops powdered creamer, two cubes of sugar (using the same size spoon for each scoop).
I roomed with my coordinator, PMoo, and the head of the english department, PNoy. There was a queen bed and a matress pad to lay on the floor. Pmoo and I shared the bed (each with our own comforter... that could have been a little awkward) and Pnoy slept on the ground. We had a couple "friends" and "animals" as the P's put it. In other words there were 2 geckos, 1 big lizard, 4 snails, termites, 2 worms, and tons of bugs in our room throughout the stay. Not sure how I managed to sleep since I was real scared they were going to crawl on me all night. The P's just kept saying its okay they are our friends and I had to act like I agreed. The rough part was that we all stayed up pretty late, but they woke up no later than 6:30 and turned on our light and started getting ready. The roosters cock-a-doodle-doed at 7:15 every morning (as well as periodically throughout the day). As you guessed I wasn't able to sleep through all that and breakfast wasn't served until 8. Sooo yeah all you can drink instant coffee was nice as well as a nap anywhere and everywhere.
A blurry photo of my girl PNoy
Pmoo told us before we left, "Bring your computer or a big book because theres nothing to do there." She couldn't have been more right. Thank goodness I brought two books. It was a pretty nice, relaxing, and fun trip to get paid to attend. Bonding and all that right? Most of the time I just sat there watching all the thai people laugh and talk thinking to myself, "Well I bet that conversation is just as funny as the last, if only I could understand."
Just another classic toilet
Cruise on my homie, thanks for the smile
We totally knew what the sign said (Jonathan and Parker)
The story of my life
Reading on the ropes course in the back
Best pup ever, Dang
I could have eaten all that fruit
Just kidding thats like 100 pounds of fruit
Bean lady nice bucket hat
Eak and I found the cutest baby pup ever!
Did I mention there was a bonfire and fire twirlers?!
I was so scared they would burn themselves
Dinner is readyyyy!
"Now when you sleep the fish will come to you and say why you eat me!"
My favorite thing that happened during the trip though was on the first night. Eak, Pmoo, Jonathan, Parker and I were just chatting after dinner and we get to asking about the other teachers in the department, how long they've been there, hold old they are, blah blah blah. Then I ask how old the Chinese teacher is and Pmoo responds with, "The fat one?" I tried so hard to keep a casual straight face, but I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing and then so does Jonathan and Parker and after a few seconds Eak and Pmoo. Then Pmoo says, "Is that impolite to say?" and we try to explain that it is, but can't stop laughing.
Later the next day, Pmoo starts telling me about the old teachers who were here before we came. She begins telling me about some guy named Mica and she says, "He was very difficult. He got sick the first two days of school because he had diarrhea so I announced that he had diarrhea and thats why he wasn't there, but he got mad at me and said that having diarrhea is a private thing, but I didn't know." Classic.