On Wednesday afternoon I found out that I would not be teaching either Thursday or Friday because of a leadership camp my school was hosting – which turned out to be more of the presentations similar to the ones at the temple a few weeks ago. It was unfortunate for my students, but I was excited to have a “thanksgiving break.”
Knowing that I didn’t want to spend Thanksgiving Thursday cooped up in my cabin alone all day, I made plans to go observe Rita and Peter teach. They are the volunteers that live farthest from me, so having two days off was perfect to make the trip worthwhile. I was supposed to head to Rita’s school, Chok Amnuay, Wednesday evening, but instead Nit and I took a death-defying bike ride that made it too late to head to Rita’s. Makes me wonder why it’s not safer to go by myself? Ok, enough of my independence issues (more on this at a later date), and back to the fun!
Thursday morning I arrived at Rita’s just in time to walk to school with her and meet some of her students. I always find it helpful to observe other teachers and get ideas from them, so I was really excited for the day. As Rita was showing off her school, we ran into two of her teachers that told her school was cancelled for today because of some academic competition. Mai pen rai…off to Peter’s we go! We got to Peter’s school and many of the students were in the courtyard practicing for the color games (a week of school sports competitions that most elementary schools hold). Only 2 of his classes showed up, but it was great to sit and chat and compare teaching notes.
Rita and I got back to her village just in time for our Thanksgiving feast! She eats at a restaurant every night, and they cook her wonderful meals. I was so thankful for someone to share a meal with on Thanksgiving, and the owner of the restaurant even gave us ice cream as our dessert! We got back to her house and watched a movie and quickly fell asleep. The next morning we headed into NKP (after skyping in to various family thanksgivings) to meet Nit and watch the province’s culture show (I think that’s what it was). But it required us to sit and listen to people speak thai for about 4 hours. After about 15 minutes, Nit says to me “I don’t think you understand this. Paaw Aaw says to pretend we go to bathroom and we walk around outside.” Alright! There were a lot of cool exhibits in the school’s field from all over Asia, so it was awesome to ditch the boring stuff and look around a bit.
Then we all headed back to Kut Chim and completed many errands and some mashed potato shopping. We had a lazy Saturday morning, and then it was time for Rita and I to get cooking. Washing, peeling, and cutting all the tiny Thai potatoes took about 45 minutes – and then it was time to get the water boiling. Note to self: boiling water in a giant pot over a tiny fire takes a loooong time. We watched the pot not boil for a while, but then we headed off to lunch at my favorite, and only, restaurant in the village. The place only serves Goi Tiow, which most closely resembles chicken noodle soup – except when it has chicken feet and pig blood in it (thankfully not at the place I frequent). Gen had been dropped off by this time and when we arrived back to the house the potatoes were boiling and finished. The 3 of us quickly got to mashing, and the potatoes came out perfect!
We headed off to Peter’s and assembled our pot-luck Thanksgiving feast! We had all the usual fixings, albeit Thai-style and a little….off. We ate off the floor and made make-shift platters out of beer boxes and plastic bags. We were also able to share our traditions with some beloved Thai guests: Rambo (the security guard from Pla Pak), Pi Nok (Jes’ roommate and the amazing sister of WorldTeach), Pornchai (the education office’s director), and some random guy that drove Zach and crashed the party hahaha. While it didn’t really feel like Thanksgiving, we had a wonderful time and I’m so happy to have the WorldTeach family to share it all with.
No Thankgiving post would be complete without a list of things I am thankful for:
- Family and Friends back home – Thank you for all of your love and support for this journey of mine. I love getting your emails and calls that, no matter how seemingly mundane, mean the world to me. They keep me sane while I navigate this new world of mine.
- WorldTeach Kru – You are the greatest support system to have here in Thailand. Weekly gatherings and frequent emails keep me going and motivated to help my students “beat the system.” I love you all.
- My Host Family
Nit (mother)– For understanding me, despite our language barriers. For understanding when I’ve had enough and am overwhelmed.
Loi (father) – For the silent support and anticipation of what I need. He brings me whatever I’m in need of, without me asking, and without saying a word.
Cinto (brother, age 22)– For finally conversing with me and slowly overcoming his shyness.
Bo (sister, age 24, lives in Bangkok) – For the weekly check-ins by phone.
Chang (brother, age 19, at college somewhere) – Although I haven’t met him yet, I am looking forward to his arrival next week.
Pi (dog) – For being the best protector and questionable food eater in all of Thailand.
- My students – The brightest part of my days. Some of my m.1s asked if they could have English class every day – and I’ve recently seen them show up in some classes that they aren’t actually a part of. When I tried to convey Thanksgiving to my m.3s, I told them I was sad I’d be missing it at home. 2 minutes later, in unison, they said, “We love you Teacher Malee” (Malee is my Thai nickname and has completely replaced Heather).
- Kut Chim Teachers – For always asking “Are you happy?” and wondering what the heck I eat for breakfast (breakfast, or differing meals for that matter, don’t exist here), but I eat an American breakfast of cereal or PBJ everyday.
- My independence – While struggling with this here, I’ve become accustomed to cherish whatever freedom I do have, and work towards getting more. It was something I took for granted in the states, which I will never do again. I’ve learned the value of independence, and for that I am thankful.
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving everyone! I hope yours was as special as mine was.
For Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2071401&id=1326450028&l=604b774afe
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