Camp Thailand

On Saturday we took a trip in Nakhom Phanom (the provincial city).  J, the volunteer doing a second year, wanted to go into the city early in the morning so he’d be able to be back in time to return to his village to take a field trip with his students. He offered to show the rest of us the city as long as we were willing to wake up early to catch the first saawng tao (meaning “two benches”…basically in the back of a pickup truck)  into town.  Knowing that we had places to be and activities to do with the groups’ plan later in the morning, most of us took him up on his offer.  

We had a group of 12 or so people, so when we got to the saawng tao stop and saw that it was already full, we were bummed that we would have to wait for the next one in a half hour.  Instead, however, we decided to play a little game called “How many people can you fit in a saawng tao?”  The driver jumped out of the cab and into the back of the truck and pulled out a 3^rd bench and put it into the middle of the two benches (now it should be called a saam tao).  We crammed in and tried to intertwine our knees with the local’s, much to their amusement. The boys, of course, were hanging out of the back of the truck.

We were dropped off in NKP near the Fresh Market, where, during my group’s cultural observation later in the day, we observed people selling eels, skinned frogs, live fish, bunches of chili peppers, waffles, shoes, clothing, jewelry….basically anything you wanted or needed, you could find it there.  

After a brief exploration of the fresh market we headed to the river walk, where we could look across the river to the beautiful mountains of Laos.  While it was a hot, humid, hazy day the mountains were more hidden, but we could still see their beauty.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  The mountains are more like steep, rocky plateaus that just jut out from the landscape.  And its crazy to think that if we wanted too we could just swim across to an entirely different country. Surprisingly, however, in order to get the required documentation to travel to Laos, we have to go to the embassy in Bangkok.  

We explored a temple on the river too, to practice everything we learned about wai-ing monks and entering a temple respectfully.  It was a gorgeous temple, with gold and red paint on the outside, which beautiful scenes painted on the walls of the inside.  Everything was just ornate and really fancy looking, especially compared to the poverty right outside the temple grounds.  We then went to the IndoChina market, which, like the fresh market, had anything you wanted (with the exception of food).  After wandering around there for a bit, the slow-pokes in the 2^nd group met up with us to buy phones and get lunch.  

It just so happened that we were in NKP for the Chinese University’s Vegetarian Food Festival (odd, I know, but I have very few details about it other than that) where they serve free food once a year.  It was delicious…they served som tam (spicy papaya salad – an Isan staple) and some other really great food.  The vegetarian dishes here are always really great, and the fake meat is waaaay better than the fake meat in the US. We have a few vegetarians in our group, so there is always a veggie option for dinner, and one night I swore there was meat in it, but it turned out to be a soy protein that was awesome.

After our lunch we split up into our cultural observation groups where we were to spend time observing a busy community spot.  On the way back to the fresh market, we stopped at Tesco Lotus (a Target-esque department store) to stock up on toiletries and other items we would need.  I got all my shower stuff, some school supplies, and 2 shirts for $25. Not bad. Included in my shower supplies was my new favorite product – baby powder.  For one, it was the most extensive baby powder display I have ever seen anywhere, and there were kinds with sunscreen, whitening agents (Thai’s covet white skin, so almost all their lotions and potions contain some sort of bleach or something), different scents, etc.  But I’ll admit my favorite kinds are the ones with menthol to give your skin a nice, cool, tingle; and Sweety Pink, a pink-tinted baby powder to use on your face to sop up the sweat.  It was cool-ish when we first got here, but its been in the high 90s – low 100s this week, so the baby powder is a necessity.

After we finished at Tesco, Jackie, Zach, and myself headed back to the Fresh Market, where all the women thought Jackie and I were Zach’s wives (polygamy and cheating is expected here). One of the things that we’ve gotten used to is being stared out a lot and being called “Farang!” (white foreigner) all the time.  We’re certainly a novelty here, and people are curious about who we are.  Word travels fast though, and most of the people knew that we were volunteer teachers and some even knew which school J had worked at last year without ever having met him before. We explored a bit more and met back with the whole group at the sawn tao stop, where on the ride home, I think we had more people on it than in the morning.  

Orientation:

We’ve sort of formed a little Camp Thailand here in Pla Pak.  We do everything together, so there’s zero alone time, and very rarely any one-on-one time with anyone else in the group.  While it could be expected for us to have formed cliques or have had some personality conflicts, that is not the case.  My mom asked who my best friend here is, and I can’t answer that.  I feel like we’re all equally close (maybe the boys are little bit closer because there are fewer of them sharing their bedroom).  After the first week, we had to start splitting up for lunch because 15 people at a time overwhelmed the tiny restaurants near the school.  Instead of forming regular groups and forming cliques, we decided to have a lottery for lunch groups, so everyone would eat with different people every day.  We have breakfast and dish duty lists each week and Thai study sessions at night.  Once we finish studying, we take the projector from our classroom to one of the bedrooms, hook up a computer, and watch TV.  The show of choice is season 1 of Modern Family.  After that, we’re all asleep by 10 to be ready for another day of TEFL, Thai, Culture and, this week, Thai Dance lessons.  

That’s right, we’ve been learning traditional Thai dance for the last few days for an hour after lunch.  It’s a lot of fun, but takes a lot of coordination.  Peter, the oldest of our group and our Thailand “dad” had a little crush on our teacher, so that made it even more entertaining. Ajarn Oh, our Thai teacher, came to dance with us to help translate.  She’s the most adorable woman and a great teacher (we’re picking up Thai even more quickly now!).

Another person who has become a wonderful part of our Thailand family is Kate, a volunteer from last year, who is staying through our orientation to receive her TEFL certification.  TEFL wasn’t a required part of her orientation, so she decided to stick around to get it with us….and I think she just wanted to stay in Thailand as long as possible.  She’s been a great resource throughout our TEFL classes and about anything else we may have questions about.  We’ve already made the suggestion that a few of us stay through next year’s orientation, because it definitely has made it easier with her here.

The last new member of our Thailand family is Rambo (his “Thai” nickname…chosen for obvious reasons), the policeman assigned to be our security.  I’m not sure if he always works in Pla Pak, or was hired specifically to watch over us (although I’m not sure we need it).  His wife has family in the states, so he lived in Georgia for a while and worked with the FBI.  Sometimes he explains that the embassy has hired him for us, but I’m not quite sure if that’s the case.  Regardless, you can’t escape the man, somehow, some way, he knows where we are at all times.  The first day we went to lunch as a group without any experienced veterans we were all excited to see if we could order for ourselves and figure it out on our own.  We walked there, and as soon as we sat down, Rambo strolls up and takes a seat with us and helps us order.  So much for our independence.  He also followed Peter, Zach, Ben, and Rita on their site visits last week, for no apparent reason. He’s living in the chemistry room here at the school so he can watch our every move.  Tonight at dinner we were wondering aloud when the stores closed because some people wanted ice cream, but we never made any decisions about it.  Twenty minutes later, Rambo strolls up with 20 ice cream cones for the whole group.  

It’s typical of Thai culture to be so hospitable, but I never imagined that we would be so well cared for at all times.  It seems as though all of our wants and needs are anticipated and taken care of in advance.  

So there you have it, an explanation of the daily life here at Camp Thailand.  We’re so comfortable here that I’ve become a little anxious about going to my placement in Goot Chim, but I know that I’ll be as well cared for there as well.

For those who want it, here’s my contact info:

Email: heatherjohns87@gmail.com

Skype: heatherjohns

Mailing Address:

Heather Johns
c/o Jesica McDonough, WorldTeach Field Director
Nakhomphanom Educational Service Area Office 1
Klangmuang Road Tambol Nongsang
Aamphoe Muang
Nakhomphanom Province
48000
Thailand

Cell phone (incoming calls are free for me, so if you call from skype it would be super cheap for both of us): 

(+66) 083-338-9018