This post is a long time coming, but completely necessary...
About 2 weeks ago I had the opportunity to take an afternoon and travel to That Phanom with Sarah, and Jes' uncle Clark. Clark had been visiting for a few days, and he was a complete delight to hang out with. One would think it would be awkward to spend time with someone else's relative you'd just met, but not with Clark; he has a truly a wonderful and generous spirit.
It was the first time that I'd been the host in this country, and it really helped me to see how much thai I've learned, and how independent I can be in this country:
1. The saawng tao dropped of us in front of the That Phanom temple, but I had no idea if that's where it would pick us up. So I was able to ask the driver and get a real answer that I understood.
2. When we still couldn't find the saawng tao pick up stop after our adventure, I was able to ask a street vendor where it was...and understand her answer.
3. We were on a crowded saawng tao on the way home, and a handful of young monks climb on as well. One said in my direction "sokesan" (I feel sorry for you). I answered with "mai pen rai"...and he got so excited that I understood what he'd said. There started a wonderful conversation, completely in thai, about everything and nothing at the same time. It was one of the first spur of the moment conversations I'd had with a stranger, and it was soooo nice to feel "fluent" in my speaking and understanding. As he was getting off the saawng tao at his temple, he said, in perfect english (a complete surprise to me), "you can visit me here anytime." It was so fun to see that he probably would have been able to speak with me in English, but we chose to communicate in Thai instead.
4. On the same saawng tao ride, a khun yai (grandmother) got on, and asked a whole bunch of questions about us and what we were doing in NKP, etc. Again, I was able to answer all her questions without too much difficulty, and it was awesome.
It was just one of those days that everything went right. (I'd even been able to teach Sarah's youngest students a complicated game earlier in the day). It felt amazing. It was the first time that any sort of "adventure" had gone so smoothly and without any sort of communication confusion. It was just so liberating and freeing. It felt amazing to know that, even left to my own devices, I CAN figure out how to do things "the thai way." I'll forever remember that day as the first day I felt the complete confidence to be completely independent here.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Baan Nahk in Bangkok
Last weekend, Rita, Jes, Nok, and I headed down to Bangkok to get our fill of city life and to take a sneak peek at Jes's growing baby. As soon as we got off at 4 am after our 10 hour bus ride, we knew we were in for an exciting weekend. Even at 4 am the bus station was packed with people and there were taxis being filed into the area in 3 lanes. Yes, we were definitely baan nahk (loosely translated to "hicks" and featured in an awesome pop song) in the big city. Just for comparison's sake, Nakhon Phanom is about the same size as Nashua or Brockton. Bangkok is easily the largest city I've ever been to, it just sprawled for miles upon miles and took more than an hour to get into an out of on the bus.
Nok was able to hook us up in government housing at Chulalonghorn University, but when we got there we had to crash in the lobby for a few hours before our room was ready. After a nap, we wandered around and went to the MBK center, basically a big mall-type market to look for legitimate flip-flops and look around. It was absolutely bizarre to see so many tourists and falangs. Not only were there a lot of westerners, but a lot of middle eastern people as well as africans. It was really cool to see such diversity after being in the village and "city" for four months. It feels like we spent most of the weekend pointing out all the different kinds of people we saw. It was definitely a different type of tourist demographic than you might find in the caribbean or in europe, so we were just fascinated by all the people we saw. After wandering around for a while, we headed back to our room and enjoyed the hot showers.
Then we went on our first real excursion in the city, and took a cab to the hospital where Jes's will have her baby. Traffic in Bangkok was crazy! Going about 85 mph weaving through 3 lanes of heavy traffic was quite an experience. We pulled up to the hospital and were completely awed by what we saw. The hospital was like a swanky 5-star hotel. Bangkok Samitivej is one of the premier hospitals in the world, but I wasn't expecting it to be that nice. We got to go to Jes's appointment with her and look at the ultrasound, which was awesome. Its so interesting to hear all about the preganancy stuff, and a lot of fun to feel the baby kick and draw faces on Jes's stomach. That being said, it was incredible to actually see the baby we've been playing with for the last few months. After the appointment we were taken to see the birthing suite, where they have a giant tub, ropes to hang from (a Hmong tribe tradition), and even a ladder to climb. No stark white walls or machines beeping, the rooms looked like they could be in anyone's home. This hospital was simply incredible. AND it had an Au Bon Pain, where we most certainly enjoyed an awkwardly timed tuna melt. And a few days later, got a bagel and cream cheese fix too :) when we were in the area looking at apartments for Jes and Abe while they await the baby.
We then tried to go to a restaurant on top of the tallest building in Bangkok, but they didn't have any tables available for us. Mai pen rai, we wandered around the markets on the streets below in central Bangkok. It was where all the riots had been last year, and where there was a scheduled red shirt protest the next day - something we certainly wanted to avoid.
The following day we designated as temple and market day. We traveled to Wat Pho, the largest temple in Bangkok and the home of the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand, as well as the most buddha images in a single temple. It was definitely an incredible sight to see, but also difficult to navigate through the vast crowds.
After we'd had enough of the temple, we went to Jatujak market, one of the largest weekend markets in Thailand. With more than 30 acres of market stalls, we were sure to be lost among all the merchandise. We wandered around for a few hours, marvelling at the much higher quality goods than can be found in NKP. You could certainly say that we shopped til we dropped. After the market, we headed to Siam Square, the posh part of Bangkok and the home to designer stores and the international grocery store. We looked in the grocery store for a while, checking out the goods, and planning what we might want to purchase later. Granola and cheese seemed to top the list, with wine being quite the tease.
Jes's uncle, Pat, met us there and treated us to a wonderful dinner in a traditional thai restuarant nearby. We're so used to restaurant stalls and street food that it was really nice to sit down inside and enjoy a meal. He was great company too, sharing stories of living all over the world and particularly interesting Thailand stories. After dinner we headed back to the grocery store to stock up on goodies unavailable in NKP, and Pat treated Jes to several rolls of bakery bread and cookies. What an incredibly generous man.
Monday we woke up and headed out apartment hunting for a bit, which meant we went back to the hospital (for bagels with cream cheese!) so they could call an apartment's shuttle to pick us up. (concierge service at a hospital?) Afterwards, we went back to MBK to buy legitimate flip-flops and crazy pants - seriously, I got the coolest pants - and check for some last minute purchases. Back at the dorms, we treated ourselves with one last hot shower and packed up for the long journey home.
We got to the bus station with just enough time to get a 7-11 dinner and board our bus. Due to traffic leaving Bangkok, the bus ride was 12 hours. We got back to NKP around 7 am, just in time to catch the fresh market at prime time. About 5 minutes after we'd unpacked and were ready for a snooze, Pornchai called to say that he was picking us up to take us to an english competition at one of the city's schools. 1/2 hour later he was sitting in the living room waiting for us to get rip roy and whisk us off to judge the spelling bee and speeches!
Nok was able to hook us up in government housing at Chulalonghorn University, but when we got there we had to crash in the lobby for a few hours before our room was ready. After a nap, we wandered around and went to the MBK center, basically a big mall-type market to look for legitimate flip-flops and look around. It was absolutely bizarre to see so many tourists and falangs. Not only were there a lot of westerners, but a lot of middle eastern people as well as africans. It was really cool to see such diversity after being in the village and "city" for four months. It feels like we spent most of the weekend pointing out all the different kinds of people we saw. It was definitely a different type of tourist demographic than you might find in the caribbean or in europe, so we were just fascinated by all the people we saw. After wandering around for a while, we headed back to our room and enjoyed the hot showers.
Then we went on our first real excursion in the city, and took a cab to the hospital where Jes's will have her baby. Traffic in Bangkok was crazy! Going about 85 mph weaving through 3 lanes of heavy traffic was quite an experience. We pulled up to the hospital and were completely awed by what we saw. The hospital was like a swanky 5-star hotel. Bangkok Samitivej is one of the premier hospitals in the world, but I wasn't expecting it to be that nice. We got to go to Jes's appointment with her and look at the ultrasound, which was awesome. Its so interesting to hear all about the preganancy stuff, and a lot of fun to feel the baby kick and draw faces on Jes's stomach. That being said, it was incredible to actually see the baby we've been playing with for the last few months. After the appointment we were taken to see the birthing suite, where they have a giant tub, ropes to hang from (a Hmong tribe tradition), and even a ladder to climb. No stark white walls or machines beeping, the rooms looked like they could be in anyone's home. This hospital was simply incredible. AND it had an Au Bon Pain, where we most certainly enjoyed an awkwardly timed tuna melt. And a few days later, got a bagel and cream cheese fix too :) when we were in the area looking at apartments for Jes and Abe while they await the baby.
We then tried to go to a restaurant on top of the tallest building in Bangkok, but they didn't have any tables available for us. Mai pen rai, we wandered around the markets on the streets below in central Bangkok. It was where all the riots had been last year, and where there was a scheduled red shirt protest the next day - something we certainly wanted to avoid.
The following day we designated as temple and market day. We traveled to Wat Pho, the largest temple in Bangkok and the home of the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand, as well as the most buddha images in a single temple. It was definitely an incredible sight to see, but also difficult to navigate through the vast crowds.
After we'd had enough of the temple, we went to Jatujak market, one of the largest weekend markets in Thailand. With more than 30 acres of market stalls, we were sure to be lost among all the merchandise. We wandered around for a few hours, marvelling at the much higher quality goods than can be found in NKP. You could certainly say that we shopped til we dropped. After the market, we headed to Siam Square, the posh part of Bangkok and the home to designer stores and the international grocery store. We looked in the grocery store for a while, checking out the goods, and planning what we might want to purchase later. Granola and cheese seemed to top the list, with wine being quite the tease.
Jes's uncle, Pat, met us there and treated us to a wonderful dinner in a traditional thai restuarant nearby. We're so used to restaurant stalls and street food that it was really nice to sit down inside and enjoy a meal. He was great company too, sharing stories of living all over the world and particularly interesting Thailand stories. After dinner we headed back to the grocery store to stock up on goodies unavailable in NKP, and Pat treated Jes to several rolls of bakery bread and cookies. What an incredibly generous man.
Monday we woke up and headed out apartment hunting for a bit, which meant we went back to the hospital (for bagels with cream cheese!) so they could call an apartment's shuttle to pick us up. (concierge service at a hospital?) Afterwards, we went back to MBK to buy legitimate flip-flops and crazy pants - seriously, I got the coolest pants - and check for some last minute purchases. Back at the dorms, we treated ourselves with one last hot shower and packed up for the long journey home.
We got to the bus station with just enough time to get a 7-11 dinner and board our bus. Due to traffic leaving Bangkok, the bus ride was 12 hours. We got back to NKP around 7 am, just in time to catch the fresh market at prime time. About 5 minutes after we'd unpacked and were ready for a snooze, Pornchai called to say that he was picking us up to take us to an english competition at one of the city's schools. 1/2 hour later he was sitting in the living room waiting for us to get rip roy and whisk us off to judge the spelling bee and speeches!
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| Me on the temple grounds |
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| the largest temple in bangkok |
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| Pi Nok and Jes |
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| Buddha images |
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| The largest reclining Buddha in Thailand |
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| Those are Buddha's feet! |
Monday, January 17, 2011
Ch..ch..ch..changes....
Although it was an unfortunate experience that led to all these changes in Thailand, I’ve felt very fortunate in what has come from the upheaval that has been my life for the past 3 weeks. There have certainly still been highs and lows, but overall I’m incredibly happy with the way things have been working out. Here’s the basic rundown, and of course, we’ll end with the positive notes:
- feeling awkward when having to explain my presence at events that I would have otherwise been at Kut Chim during. Do I explain that I’ve moved and then try to avoid further questions? Or do I just say I teach at Kut Chim, but I had free time and chose to come to the event?
- Frequent requests for me to return that I (or Jes) have to then turn down.
- Missing my home in Kut Chim. I really did love everything about my home (minus the scary spiders) and my village. I still feel very sad about leaving.
- Missing my students. This is by far the worst part about my departure. I miss my students each and every day.
- I still feel incredibly angry at the stupid man that ruined what I had in Kut Chim. Everything there was going really well and I was so happy. Emotionally, I have been completely fine, other than the fact that I am so pissed he decided to take all the liberty in the world without even considering the consequences it would have.
Here are the good changes:
+ gaining incredibly valuable work experience while assisting Jes in the FD office. Working on budgets, organizing teaching materials, etc. will all prove to be valuable skills in the future.
+ going on site visits to the other volunteers’ schools. This is one of my favorite parts of the new gig…I love going to see how everyone else’s placements are going.
+ the prospect of Kut Chim students coming in to the city to learn from me a few days a week. This idea is a great one that my Paw Aaw had, and I’m really hoping that it will work out.
+ working with Pornchai, the director of the English program for elementary schools in the district as well as the liaison for WorldTeach. He is a truly wonderful man. During all of the craziness while I was moving out, he helped so much without requiring to know why. He is so excited to learn English and is so willing to help with anything I need. The very first day in the office, he rearranged his desk so I could have a desk in between his and Jes’. Every so often he’ll receive some lesson plans from the volunteers. When he does, he’ll scoot his chair next to mine and ask me to explain everything. Sometimes it can take 2 hours, but I don’t mind doing it at all.
+My thai language skills have increased 10-fold. Pi Nok and Jes predominantly speak thai at home, and even just listening to them I can tell that I’m picking up more of what they say. I get the gist of almost all of their conversations, and can always ask Jes when it sounds like its information I should know and that I’m confused about. Along the same lines, its so much fun to just practice the language a bit. Starting just this weekend, Jes has taken to “testing” me every once in a while, “So Heather, how would you say ‘He’s in a good mood?’” which is kinda a fun surprise. It’s also hilarious to hear others’ (and certainly my own as well) mistakes. Rita was on the phone with one of the teachers at her school (phone communication is already incredibly challenging without having laughter in the background) and was trying to confirm a time to be picked up. She said, “phet mong chao ok mai” which translates to “spicy o’clock ok?”
+ living in NKP. I feel like I’m in the hub of everything, and I get to see all my friends when they come in to get mail or do errands on the weekends. Not to mention the highly entertaining free aerobics class in the park not far from home…or the prospect of swimming in the nearby high school’s pool for less than a dollar a time.
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| Jes with the scissors..scary... |
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| Pi Nok, Myself, and Rita along the Mekong in NKP |
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| Making Rita's Christmas treat! |
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Happy Holidays and Big Changes in Thailand
Been a while since I've posted, and I don't wanna get too far behind so here we go!
1. Christmas. I spent a wonderful weekend at Rita's with my WorldTeach fam, sharing old traditions and making some wonderful memories. 90 degrees and fried rice for dinner, but Christmas spirit was all around! The best description of our holiday comes from our word-smith, Peter: http://peterinpeterout.blogspot.com/2010/12/dada-x-mas.html
you can also see videos of our Christmas at
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=worldteach+thailand&aq=f The first one is of wandering around our party, and the second one is from a really special moment later in the evening when we lit candles, sang carols, and set off fireworks!
2. Big Changes! After Christmas, I ended up leaving Kut Chim and moving in with my field director, Jes, and her roommate Pi Nok in Nakhom Phanom due to some "interesting" circumstances. Details are still being worked out, but I know it was the right thing to do. There are now many interesting opportunities for me that I'm very excited about.
3. Happy New Year! Sawatdee Bpee Mai! I rang in the new year with some fellow volunteers atop a plateau called Phu Kradueng. What an interesting hike! First off, we'd read that it would take anywhere from 3-8 hours to climb as well as a random smattering of descriptions about how strenuous the hike would be. Like anything in Thailand, we went with an open mind and zero expectations. Looking around at the people who would be hiking that day, it would seem as though we were just taking a walk down a city street. Not quite...It was a 5.5 km hike UP. There were portions with stairs, ladders, and railings, but it was steep. Then once atop the mountain it was another 3 km to the area where everyone camps. Phu Kradueng is a rite of passage among Thai young adults, and apparently a popular spot for new years' eve. There must have been about 8000 people hiking the trail that day. It was hard to get a groove because you were always being stopped be people and porters getting in your way. The whole thing took us about 4 hours, and we had a lot of fun laughing at the crazy outfits people were wearing, trying to talk to the people that we passed, etc. Once at the campsite it was a tent city. There was a big field covered in tents as well as an area that resembled a typical city night market where you could buy dinner and souvenirs. It certainly was not the wilderness experience we were hoping for, but fun nonetheless. As the clock struck 2011 we hugged in our tent shivering. Lies, we actually spent the first few minutes of the new year negotiating with Peter for the extra sleeping bag (aka snagging it from him) and taking a trip to the bathroom. After freezing our butts off the first night there, we decided to head down a day early and pamper ourselves by splurging ($8) on a nice hotel in a city between the mountain and NKP. Hot shower! AC! Comfy bed! soooo nice!
Here's Peter, me, Rita, and Sarah atop a waterfall a short hike from the top of the plateau.
And that's me at the top of Phu Kradeung!
Happy New Year! Here's to many exciting experiences and to making wonderful memories!
1. Christmas. I spent a wonderful weekend at Rita's with my WorldTeach fam, sharing old traditions and making some wonderful memories. 90 degrees and fried rice for dinner, but Christmas spirit was all around! The best description of our holiday comes from our word-smith, Peter: http://peterinpeterout.blogspot.com/2010/12/dada-x-mas.html
you can also see videos of our Christmas at
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=worldteach+thailand&aq=f The first one is of wandering around our party, and the second one is from a really special moment later in the evening when we lit candles, sang carols, and set off fireworks!
2. Big Changes! After Christmas, I ended up leaving Kut Chim and moving in with my field director, Jes, and her roommate Pi Nok in Nakhom Phanom due to some "interesting" circumstances. Details are still being worked out, but I know it was the right thing to do. There are now many interesting opportunities for me that I'm very excited about.
3. Happy New Year! Sawatdee Bpee Mai! I rang in the new year with some fellow volunteers atop a plateau called Phu Kradueng. What an interesting hike! First off, we'd read that it would take anywhere from 3-8 hours to climb as well as a random smattering of descriptions about how strenuous the hike would be. Like anything in Thailand, we went with an open mind and zero expectations. Looking around at the people who would be hiking that day, it would seem as though we were just taking a walk down a city street. Not quite...It was a 5.5 km hike UP. There were portions with stairs, ladders, and railings, but it was steep. Then once atop the mountain it was another 3 km to the area where everyone camps. Phu Kradueng is a rite of passage among Thai young adults, and apparently a popular spot for new years' eve. There must have been about 8000 people hiking the trail that day. It was hard to get a groove because you were always being stopped be people and porters getting in your way. The whole thing took us about 4 hours, and we had a lot of fun laughing at the crazy outfits people were wearing, trying to talk to the people that we passed, etc. Once at the campsite it was a tent city. There was a big field covered in tents as well as an area that resembled a typical city night market where you could buy dinner and souvenirs. It certainly was not the wilderness experience we were hoping for, but fun nonetheless. As the clock struck 2011 we hugged in our tent shivering. Lies, we actually spent the first few minutes of the new year negotiating with Peter for the extra sleeping bag (aka snagging it from him) and taking a trip to the bathroom. After freezing our butts off the first night there, we decided to head down a day early and pamper ourselves by splurging ($8) on a nice hotel in a city between the mountain and NKP. Hot shower! AC! Comfy bed! soooo nice!
Here's Peter, me, Rita, and Sarah atop a waterfall a short hike from the top of the plateau.
Happy New Year! Here's to many exciting experiences and to making wonderful memories!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Korean Barbecue: Head vs. Taste Buds
Korean Barbecue is my favorite meal in Thailand, but it is also my least favorite. Let me explain...
Why its awesome:
- 100 baht (about 3 bucks) for an all you can eat buffet.
- fruit, veggies, pre-cooked items like spring rolls and fried chicken, raw meat and fish you cook at your own table to your liking, sauces galore, kanoms (small gel desserts), and coconut ice cream with peanuts.
- picking what you like and cooking it yourself
- staying warm by the firepot on a cold night with the whole thai family.
- awesome restaurant atmosphere
- live music
Why its incredibly stressful:
- placing raw meat on the fire with the same chopsticks you remove cooked meat with.
- soaking said chopsticks in boiling water every time you touch anything with them...in an effort to stave off salmonella.
- being just about ready to pull off a wonderful piece of bacon, when someone plops down some raw liver right on top of it.
- you never know when someone is going to put a questionable item on your plate. maybe its a little undercooked, maybe its boiled blood, maybe its an entire squid. you've picked your own food from the buffet, but somehow you're expected to taste "chim" whatever is placed on your plate.
- No one else seems to have the same concerns as you.
That being said, I can't wait for the gamble that is my next Korean barbecue meal. (knock on wood) I haven't been sick yet!
Why its awesome:
- 100 baht (about 3 bucks) for an all you can eat buffet.
- fruit, veggies, pre-cooked items like spring rolls and fried chicken, raw meat and fish you cook at your own table to your liking, sauces galore, kanoms (small gel desserts), and coconut ice cream with peanuts.
- picking what you like and cooking it yourself
- staying warm by the firepot on a cold night with the whole thai family.
- awesome restaurant atmosphere
- live music
Why its incredibly stressful:
- placing raw meat on the fire with the same chopsticks you remove cooked meat with.
- soaking said chopsticks in boiling water every time you touch anything with them...in an effort to stave off salmonella.
- being just about ready to pull off a wonderful piece of bacon, when someone plops down some raw liver right on top of it.
- you never know when someone is going to put a questionable item on your plate. maybe its a little undercooked, maybe its boiled blood, maybe its an entire squid. you've picked your own food from the buffet, but somehow you're expected to taste "chim" whatever is placed on your plate.
- No one else seems to have the same concerns as you.
That being said, I can't wait for the gamble that is my next Korean barbecue meal. (knock on wood) I haven't been sick yet!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Nong Khai
This past weekend was another 3 day weekend (or 4 day because of a WorldTeach meeting in the city on Thursday). Although I would have been happy to stay and relax in Kut Chim, I felt a need to wander and explore. Rita, Ben, Peter, and I made plans to travel to Nong Khai to do just that.
After our meeting, we thought it best to crash at Jes’ house so we’d be able to leave early Friday morning. It was nice to relax in such a cozy setting. We went to an amazing restaurant for dinner, and even baked M&M cookies for dessert. Ovens are few and far between, so when Jes acquired one, we were all pretty excited to use it! Pi Nok helped us with the bus schedule and we were set to leave at 5:30 to catch an early bus. Sure enough though, we found out that the earliest bus wasn’t running so we’d have to leave at 9 instead. Mai pen rai, a lazy morning sounded nice, and we’d still get to Nong Khai with enough daylight to find our way around. The next morning, Pi Nok went to the bus station before we woke up just to ensure we’d get tickets and the right information. She came back with tickets (just 2 for the boys…) for 11:30 am. Turns out something happened to the 9 am bus and we’d have to leave even later! Such is life in Thailand.
The bus was pretty uneventful, except that it stopped quite often to let people on and off the bus – making the journey much longer than it needed to be. We arrived in Nong Khai right after sunset and needed to find a place to stay ASAP. After spotting a farang couple on the bus, Peter, in typical fashion, started jabbering at them in English. Turns out they spoke French, woops. Mai pen rai, Peter speaks French too! They told him where they were staying and gave us directions and we were on our way! They turned out to be staying at a hostel that was raved about in our Lonely Planet guides, so we knew we were in for a lot of tourists, which wasn’t exactly what we wanted, but we just needed a place to call home for the next few days.
What we neglected to think about though, was that it was a holiday weekend, and even Thais would be traveling to Nong Khai because it is one of two cities with a friendship bridge to Laos. So the cool looking hostel was booked, and so was the next one, and so on all the way down the riverwalk. We started to get a little nervous that we would be sleeping on the street, and I could sense Peter’s dad instincts setting in. No chance he’d let us be both hungry AND homeless. But once we reached the end of the walkway we saw a little shop with a sign “wanna guest house.” Well in fact, yes, we do wanna guest house. There was one room left, on the third floor, with its own private balcony overlooking the river, AC, hot water, and 1 king sized bed. What luxury, especially at about 4 dollars each a night. Being used to sleeping on rock hard mattresses, the boys graciously let Rita and I take the bed – Thanks guys!
Despite our sleeping predicament, we immediately fell in love with Nong Khai. It had a riverwalk just like NKP, but shops separated it from a busy road instead. It’s a quiet, and clean, and also has everything you’d expect to find in a city. We were, of course, taken a back by all the tourists and giant ex-pat population, but we took the opportunity to meet some of them. We met a guy, Ryan, from Oregon, who’d just finished a month of teaching in a small village in another Isan province. He was then taking the opportunity to travel around a bit, and was paying for his stay by playing guitar at the hostel’s restaurant. He had similar stories to share, and it was fun to converse with someone outside the WorldTeach circle. He even led us to an awesome sidewalk restaurant away from the fancy dancy riverwalk where we feasted on som tom, sticky rice, and rotisserie chicken. It was so much fun to wander this beautiful city!
On Saturday, we spent a few hours at a sculpture park. We’d read about in the guidebook, but we weren’t expecting much at all. We pulled up, and were blown away by the sheer size and number of all the bizarre sculptures. Unfortunately all the explanations were in Thai, so we didn’t really understand the purpose of the sculptures. We started out taking normal pictures, but then we decided it would be fun to pose in the same positions of the statues. And thus began a hilarious photo shoot. We probably made quite a scene, but we enjoyed it immensely.
One of the best parts of the weekend was surprising all the locals with our knowledge of the Thai language. Being a pretty large tourist town, people would just start speaking English with us. We'd try to reply in Thai as much as possible, and everyone was so impressed with what we knew. It was definitely an awesome feeling.
One of the best parts of the weekend was surprising all the locals with our knowledge of the Thai language. Being a pretty large tourist town, people would just start speaking English with us. We'd try to reply in Thai as much as possible, and everyone was so impressed with what we knew. It was definitely an awesome feeling.
This weekend reinforced what I LOVE about traveling. Finding yourself in a new place without a plan and just wandering around for a while. Meeting new people, seeing new sights, and enjoying whatever happens.
For pictures of the crazy sculpture park:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2072718&id=1326450028&l=a9f5e654e1
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
The Perfect Week
This past week has been incredible. I’ve been experiencing such highs and lows lately that its been kind of frustrating not feeling in control of my emotions. This past week, however, I gained some control of emotions and was able to really enjoy the week.
First things first, I was able to convey the importance of me needing to bike/run alone everyday after school, if only for 20 minutes. Nit understood and now allows me this freedom. It’s incredible what this has done for my happiness in general. It certainly helps that by the time I can go for a ride the sun is setting over of the rice fields and Kut Chim is absolutely beautiful. I’ve also felt so much more a part of the community here because of the rides. Everyone is out and about and I say hello to everyone I see. They always ask where I’m going “bai nai” or tell me that I’m strong “kang lang.” Nit has even allowed me to go for short runs alone (she thinks biking is much safer, so I was pleasantly surprised at this). As I started my run, all of my students were leaving school and started to follow me – I felt like Forrest Gump! Although many of them couldn’t keep up (exercise doesn’t really exist here) it was just a hilarious feeling. Just running through the village and saying hello to all the people has really helped me feel more at home here.
Another event that really brought me into the community was a string-tying ceremony for a newborn baby. The English teacher at my school had a baby the day before I moved in, so all my teachers headed to her home after school one day last week. String tying ceremonies are always special, but this one just felt really significant. The only attendees were teachers at my school, so it was much more intimate that others. As I tied a string around the infant’s wrist, I spoke in English all the things that had been wished for him in Thai. It was a really special moment that I’ll never forget.
After meeting up with my fellow volunteers every weekend since we went our separate ways, I knew I needed to not make plans for the weekend. It was a 3 day weekend because of the King’s Birthday and I was sort of worried about how I would fill my time. I thought about going into NKP to meet up with friends, but I felt like I needed to stay in my village to prove to myself that I could spend all that time alone. It’s definitely nice to look forward to some fun on the weekend, and now I’m so happy to know that even if I don’t make any legitimate plans, I can still have fun right in my own village.
I woke up Saturday morning to some girls giggling outside. I opened the door and found a group of students from That Phanom. Their English teachers had given them an assignment to find a foreigner and interview them. I’m not quite sure how they knew I was there, but word travels pretty fast. I’d met a South African teacher from their school a few times, so I’m sure he told them that I lived in Kut Chim. Once they got here, all they really had to do was ask anyone in town and they could direct them straight to my home. I’m not sure how I feel about being so easily accessible (my phone number has been passed around as well – in the middle of the school day I get calls for “small talk” from people I’ve probably never met before) but I’m getting used to it. Anyway, I sat through the interview – it was filled with questions like “Until you have been to Thailand travel to when?” and I managed to come up with answers that I thought might be the right ones. I thought about editing their questions, but I didn’t really know what they were even trying to ask. I asked about the South African teacher, and they told me that he only teaches the VIP classes (larger towns and cities have leveled classes – my village is too small). This explains the fractured English from the interview.
That afternoon I was reading on my porch and four of the neighborhood children came running down the driveway carrying hula hoops. They started hula hooping and singing the ABC’s which I took as my invitation to join them. They giggled at teaching me how (hula hoops are much bigger and heavier here and kinda hurt your sides) and we spent the afternoon taking turns hooping and singing and even practicing some numbers. They even stayed and helped Nit and I make dinner (summer rolls – yum!) and I really enjoyed their company.
Monday morning J called me up and said he was going for a long bike ride and that he would come down to Kut Chim if I wanted to join him. J is in his second year of WorldTeach Thailand and has had ample time to explore nearby villages. Living alone and being an older guy he never really experienced the independence issues the rest of us have faced. We ended up spending about 2 hours on dirt roads around my village just seeing where the path would take us. I was worried about Nit being upset that I’d been gone so long, but she didn’t say anything about it when I returned. It was really nice to be able to feel so spontaneous. That afternoon, J, Gen, and I headed into That Phanom, where we were dropped off and allowed to explore on our own a bit. Again, more freedom! We went to the temple, wandered the markets, and found a real café!
Back at school, I’ve really been enjoying my students. I taught pictionary last week and they love it! I also broke out a word card game, Scrabble Slam (thanks mom!), to practice making words with them. Playing cards is actually illegal here (maybe it’s just gambling) so when they saw how proficient I was at shuffling they squealed with delight! Through some miming and “tenglish” they explained about cards being illegal and I just gave them a little smirk and said “mai pen rai,” which I think really made their day.
I’ve also taught them the word “rules.” We’ve had classroom rules since day 1, but “rules” is currently a vocab word. Rs, Ls and ending consonants are difficult for Thai speakers…so imagine how this word really threw them off. Discouraged, they seemed to almost give up. Instead of letting them, I wrote a thai letter on the board, ง, and asked them to pronounce it. They perfectly pronounced the Nga Ngu. And then I tried…and failed. This letter is really hard for English speakers. Sure we make this sound at the end of words like sing and thing, but making this sound at the beginning is nearly impossible. It seemed to be a really meaningful learning moment for them and they were more motivated to say the word “rules.”
While not without some typical frustrations, there it is, the best week in a nutshell…no crazy festival, no traveling adventures; just small, unplanned, perfect moments.
For pictures of my hula-hooping friends:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068466&id=1326450028&l=068b9d4011
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