New Things

My observation of all the things I missed and have so kindly welcomed me back in their arms. As you can tell by the list below my re-entry in America has not led me to consider this vast rolling lands boring, but rather I appreciate the beauty and freshness of a culture that is significantly unique. I absolutely loved my travels abroad , but I equally venerate the John Deer hunting caps and the Thanksgiving-DIY-Soccer mom.   

Pandora
Commercials
Witty banter with hostesses
sweaters
top sheets
gloves
heaters
boots
A SMART phone
being in the same time zone
reliable, fast internet
the "types" of Americans
the over eager, Loud side conversations
cottage cheese
cereals
real coffee (NesCafe never grew on me)
Individual meals
No one commenting on my weight, skin color or complexion
leggings
hair dryers
no whitening cremes in lotions
Christmas music
Fall/Thanksgiving decorations

Too many options

P.S.I have not finished posting about the Cambodia and Vietnam of my backpacking trip, the interesting characters that could the protagonist of any adventure travel novel, or my final conclusion about this year but while the beautiful re-entry conclusions are fresh and funny they come first. 

I am back. I am H.O.M.E, I have to say it twice because I am still in disbelief that I won't wake up to the sound of roosters and screaming children. As I drive down the highway I still think there is going to be a motorcycle with a family of five weave past us at the red light. I still feel like I should the leathered, old man pushing his giant cart of cement bags up hill on the highway. It was so wierd being in my room with all my lotions still on my desk and more than three pairs of shoes to wear. My mascara was still in the bathroom drawer, and it was like have a whole new wardrobe as I rediscovered my closet. My sisters have had their way with her, but like a Thai lady boy prostitute, everything has been cleaned a return to its normal location in the corner.


So far my biggest reverse culture shock moments have come from the plethora of options. Everything fits, I can read everything, I can ask questions about what it is, is there another size, or alternate an order. I am overstimulated.There were so many options of salad dressings last night at the tex mex restaurant that I didn't get any because I couldn't make up my mind. The waitress looked at me and said are you sure? and I said " I think. Yes. Yes." (Double words in Thai is used in place of very. For example slow slow would be very slow). Fred shook his head knowing there are weeks of re-socialization to come.


I am also not used to all the small talk, this may be a southern thing or a I am in a country where they speak English, as I go shopping everyone wants to know how I am. One person asked "are you having a great day today?" Have service workers always been so ambitious about making sure I feel like I just bought a puppy or is that the new sales tactic in this "New Economy" as the KIA ad says.

I went shopping, and I was so excited to buy boots and tailored tops. I feel like my year wearing garden picking skirts, as the weather year round was 80-110, has made me allergic to anything that resembles a flowy  bohemian top. Unfortunately, some of that look is in especially in short dresses and brown boots. Maybe I will eventually give in but now every time my mom held up a multiprint top with more than three colors I twitched a little.

Our Forever 21 has tripled in size and added a second floor. The myriad of options, the sequence tights, and the bohemian, long skirts made my only use of the store as a walk-though to something less intimidating. I am still not doing well with all the options. I am so used to three options in Big-C, the Thai version of a walmart that catered to the 5 Asian girls above a size 0 and taller than 5'3'', only because that is in the the only shirt that fits my American broad shoulders, non-Asian chest size (even my 15 year old sister has a bigger chest), and hips bigger than a bed side lamp.

At the end of the day shopping was fun again, but a underlining sense of guilt couldn't be helped. After a year of convincing my students, Cambodia paraplegic beggars, Indonesia toothless mothers with three sleeping babies in her arms, the gaping, cratered skull Thai outside the Silom subway stop in Bangkok that I was not a wealthy farang, foreigner, I sure felt very,very privileged. In Thailand I learned how blessed I was to have an amazing opportunity to completely alter my perspective of humanity, but in Kentucky I am reminded how blessed I am to have such wonderful friends and family. I am not meant to be 9,000 miles away from this wonderful place.

Travelin'

October 25-29^th Vang Vieng, Loas. Nothing prepared me for the lack of infrastructure in Laos. The roads were so pot-holed it was as if a giant had taken a sledge hammer to the winding roads destroying the flat highway. At points the main highway in Laos was only mud and rock. Luckily we avoided ran as the doomful highway is notorious for mudslides creating laborers out of passengers who have to push their van out of the rut. After 6 hours, two stops for the driver’s sanity, and a peanut butter sandwich picked up from a road side stand, we arrived in Van Vieng. The town is mostly for young backpackers wanting to explore the valleys caressed in the Limestone Mountains or float in old inner tubes down the city’s main river stopping at river bars to catch a drink. In its own way VV is the Las Vegas of Laos with a rustic, spring break, island feel. The restaurants are lounge style displaying Friends or Family Guy on an endless loop. After a day trekking or tubing, the lounges are sprinkled with weary travelers indulging in hours of American TV over a bowl of fried noodles or a poor attempt at a Hamburger. 

The pot hole roads of Laos

Our Guesthouse in the the Moutians

View from our door

Walk to the other side of the river

I would like to say I was above the inner tubing, as nothing about the event is cultural or representative of a traditional Buddhist society, but I have to admit I loved meeting fellow travelers, sharing a bucket, and floating from one bar to the next. We shared a tuk-tuk to the river with a British couple who were traveling southeast Asia with hopes of ending in Australia, working for a year, and traveling off the money they earned, and a young 19 year old who after his first semester of college had decided to sell his call buy a round the world  trip ticket and “be poor traveling rather than poor in Oxford”. His journeys were ending in south America, Miami, and New York. There were amazing company sitting on bamboo rafts at the first few stops. After jumping with Leah off the high dive twice, we decide to float down seeing what else the river offered leaving our new friends behind. Unfortunately after the biggest bend in the river the attractions and the people dwindled. We stopped at one stop and took the giant concrete slide. The end of the slid curved up roughly 50 feet above the water causing its user to fly off the end of the slide and violently smack the water on your side- I am still feeling the consequences of the decisions. We floated the next 90 minutes down the cool river, as the sun set behind the Mountains and decided to take a tuk-tuk back into town. Exhausted from water and attractions, I turned in at 5pm that night. 

The following day, wanting to enjoy the gorgeous butterfly garden and the sun, I laid in the fields around our guesthouse finishing the end of my book. After feeling properly sunned I headed into town, a really cute walk along cow patties on the river crossing over a bamboo bridge to enter the “dark-side”, named after the debauchery of spring-break like activities. After a mango smoothie and lunch, I went for a long walk through rice paddies and to explore a cave. I came across a guided cave in I squeezed through narrow tunnels deeper in the earth with only a head lamp. It was the first time I have climbed through caves in which the walkways are bamboo poles. It wasn’t until I shinned my light below my feet to realize under the poles was an endless drop. I escaped the tunnels caked in mud from slithering through crevasses while my thin barefoot guide was spotless.  

November 1-3^rd: On November 3^rd we arrived in Bali at noon exhausted from our overnight stay in the airport. Due to our 3:30am check-in time for our 6:15am morning flight, staying in the airport seemed to be the most financially practical idea. Unfortunately metal benches and freezing air-con rooms don’t make for the best night sleep. We had arrived to Bangkok early that morning via an overnight train from Laos, spent the day in Bangkok at the Fulbright office checking mail, got a massage, and saw a cheap movie, “In Time”, in order to kill time before heading to the airport around 10pm. 

We are staying in Ubud, famous for Elizabeth Gilberts final destination in EPL. At the central part of the island there are no beaches, just two main streets of eclectic art shops, yoga barns, loose cotton boutique clothing shops, and tons of home stays. We are staying in a family compound with 8 separate homes on the grounds. The center building is the family’s shrine. Throughout the inner gardens the family has a collection of exotic birds. A myriad of ornate Balinese doors frame the courtyard. 

The ornate doors

Balinese statues

Third homestay in Bali- Inner courtyard

November 4^th-6^th

Due to our room not being available we had to go on a search for a new home stay. After searching in four very similar home stays- all have the decorated doors and a central courtyard with small brick bungalows facing inward – we found a decent place for 150,000 Rupahias or 15 dollars. After the hectic morning of lugging our stuff around, we found a luxurious pool tucked into brilliant green rice fields. It was everything I thought Bali would be. For lunch we enjoyed sweet Balinese tea and Gadu-Gadu, mixed vegetable salad with savory peanut sauce.

That night we all went out for rice wine and local dishes. The best by far is Nasi Campur, white rice served with will a sample of all the house specialties : bar-b-q chicken, minced meat on bamboo sticks, spicy salsa, fish cakes, marinated chicken, and boiled roots. We had to have a very decadent, nutrient-rich meal for our 2:30 wake-up call the next morning to climb a dormant volcano.

After an hour drive in the early morning, we met our two guides, put on our head lamps, and briskly headed to the edge of the ascent. After about a forty minute walk through flat, desiccated lava with greenery peeping through the 10 year old rock we reached the treacherous incline.  It was amazing walking to the mountain, not seeing the outline of the hill, but only the headlamps winding back and forth the path like fireflies buzzing back and forth. 

There were all types of climbers on the path, some robbed in North-face gear from Poncho to ankle high boots and some in short mini dresses and high heels. The later was unfortunate who I followed up the mountain, her black undies were not a relief as I struggled up the mountain. At every breathing spot, I would turn away from the peak and look Bbck at the sunrise slowly started to rise over the adjacent cliffs. It was hard to capture the pink reflecting off the top of the clouds in the pitch black morning.

Twenty minutes after reaching the top we watched the sunrise over the tallest mountain in Bali. After an exhilarating hike and a chilly morning, the sunrise was a perfect way to solidify the experiences. Wrapped in a sweater, something I have not worn in over a year, I enjoyed the Balinese Coffee, the boiled egg and the Pineapple Jam sandwich we were served for breakfast. The coffee was heated over a fire started from one of the steam pits seeping of the earth.

Reaching the top in the clouds

Sunrise... worth it

jumping on the volcano

After Breakfast we explored the rest of the dormant volcano trekking down paths carved by hardened lava. Our guide showed us where to dig for steam pits in which the molten rock crackled under the heat. 

Reflections on Muslims in Thailand

Yes, for those who have seen the news, there were bombings in the South that injured 60 people. In relation to my safety, Southern Thailand is almost 15 hours from when I am in now and not ETA are placed in the area. For further clarification, the Muslims groups on the border are separatist Muslims that believe in a more radical approach and the bombings were in retaliation of an insurgents walking into a mosque and opening fire. I just want to take a moment and clarify that these Muslim groups are the anomaly in Thailand and do not reflect the general attitude of all Muslims, analogous to violent attacks by radial  Christians against Black Americans in the mid-sixties. At this very moments I am sitting outside a Thai Mosque in a coffee shop while the elderly Muslim men sit outside playing checkers, and I had Lentils and Roti at an Muslin Curry restaurant with the most adorable, possibly Malaysian because she did not speak Thai, woman who wanted to know if her Roti was delicious. The full article is below.

Malaysia, Thailand: Bomb attacks kill three in Sungai Kolok District, Narathiwat province

North Star Travel Media, September 15, 2011

 From media reports: Reuters reported three people were killed and at least 60 others were wounded after three bombs exploded on Thailand's border with Malaysia on Friday. The attacks occurred hours after suspected insurgents walked into a packed mosque and shot dead two Muslims.

The first bomb, hidden on a motorbike, exploded outside an ethnic Chinese community organization in a border town of Thailand's Sungai Kolok District, in Narathiwat province.

That blast was followed by another motorbike bomb and a car bomb outside two hotels on a busy street lined with entertainment establishments.

Police said the dead included a tourist from Malaysia.

Earlier on Friday, a police officer and a defense volunteer were gunned down in a mosque in Yala province by four Muslims believed to be separatists.

Sook San Wangert (Happy Birthday)

Overall one of the best birthday I have had. Nothing epic, just filled with very warm, appreciative students and teachers. I started the morning with teaching my wonderful 5^th graders who are so eaqger to learn, and quiet each other every time another student talks out of line. I walked into class and the students started looking and each other waiting for someone to take the lead. Luckily I had to walk out of class because I forgot the roster, and when I walked back in they had gained the confidence to break out in “Happy Birthday” without any guidance, the second time a class has done that for me this week. I could then see they were working on Birthday cards, I am not sure if another teacher asked them to do this or if she just mentioned they should make me a card, but overall it was very touching to have the students walk up and hand me cards (even though sometime it distracted them from their work).  I finished teaching about family and places- we are working on “My sister is in the Kitchen” phrases- and the introduced birthday vocabulary. It is hard to go wrong when you a talking about ice cream and cookies, although “party” was a hard thing for them to conceptualize because I didn’t have a good enough picture. I finished the lesson with a Birthday crossword which they turned in to get Stickers and a birthday card. In Thailand it is tradition for the Birthday person to give gifts (and go give alms to the monks at the temple which I did not do) in order to make merit and have good fortune for the upcoming year.  For my 5^th and 6^th graders who I was supposed to teach tomorrow, but like Thai education system school is closed with one days notice because it is sports day, I had them come up to my desk and say 5 English sentences in order to get their birthday candy. Because 1) candy was involved and 2) the students are so concerned about being fair once 1 student got candy I didn’t have to do any more work, but let the work trickle though out the  students. It always is really rewarding to look into 1 students eyes and have them speak to you. Sometimes so many faces get lost when you are in the front teaching to a whole class, that you see a student in a totally different lens when it is one on one.

We had a big pot-luck lunch, but I accidentally broke a plate which was an "auspicious" sign according to my teachers.....One of the teachers had to tell the others that Americans don’t have those types of signs and that I am not doomed to a year of loneliness and misfortune. It was so amazing to have all my teachers come to the potluck especially because in Thai culture the birthday girl buys lunch for everyone else. My director, the principal, even came which means a lot in a society where the director is highly revered. He sat at my table and kept making the teachers try to practice their English, which is great for gaining language skills, but no one wants to be pestered during lunch, so overtime my table’s numbers slowly dwindled. 

After lunch I went back to the Student teacher’s office where I sit to be surprised with a birthday cake. The funniest thing was I had to teach and one of the teachers was trying to stall, but this requires in-depth language skills, so I was asked random question like “Today you teach what story ?” or pointing to my desk and asking “what is this?”. It was funny because I knew what she was doing, and the questions were just so funny. After I was given the cake I was given very serious good luck wishes, which I assume are translations of Thai birthday wishes-“I wish you good strong, and very suckseed, and long life, and happiness.” It was touching, but awkward because I was already 10 minutes late to class. I know the concept fo time is much different in Thailand and I should of slowed down and enjoyed the moment, but I find when I come to my 4^th class too late someone is crying, someone is hitting someone, one student has run off, and someone has spilled ink or a white out pen

 I finished the day with my 4^th graders. Who are extremely adorable, but need so much attention. Every time they write their name or finished their work they run their notebook up to the teacher to show me. I have to tell them “Bpap nueng” (wait a minute) and Sit down. They also enjoyed the birthday which was mostly vocabulary drills and games and the crossword. The hardest part is when the band started practicing for sports day tomorrow and 1) it was so loud they couldn’t hear me and 2) they all ran out of class to watch…  The highlight of this class was the ten minutes I looked up and they were all sitting down working on their crossword, no one was talking, no one was crying, no one was standing up, and I hadn’t lost my patience. At the end of the class my class came up and asked me to sign all their notebooks with my signature. I am not really sure why?

Back to school.... but not back to teaching

The crazy thing about living in a Kindergarten building is I get to wake up to the sound of screaming children being pried from their parents every morning. The way I start my day is only an analogy to the crazy way my entire day will be. For example my director told me, in my broken Thai and his broken English, the English ONET scores dropped and then continued to ask if my skin was darker because of the air pollution. The thought that I could get a tan from being in the sun is utterly appalling in a country that worships light skin. However irregular my morning was, the beginning of the new school year looks bright: My students tried to communicate in full sentences, and I don’t start “real” teaching until next week (although I took off three days to pick up MOLLY at the airport and Monday and Tuesday National Holidays, so I may not be in the classroom until May 23rd).  The task of asking when I was supposed to start teaching was actually a really difficult process. The students had to come to school on May 9^th, but for now the students are at school to help prepare the school, receive new books, and basically socialize. I have seen the students going to classes, but I am not really sure what they are doing? My Middle school (M1-3) host-teacher was very clear that I do not need to start teaching this week, but the elementary teacher told me very vaguely to start teaching this week although she did not give me a schedule, a roster, or a room number of who I am supposed to teach. This confusion and lack of organization is very hard to describe to anyone who has not taught in a Thai school system, but I hope I have loosely explained my confusions.  

So I am back but not back in the classroom, and I have all next week off! I am not complaining but the transistion is making it very hard to get back in the "work like hell" mindset I thought I would have in my last semester as I try to make the most impact possible. Even if I am not in the right mindset, I have to admit I am much more confident and knowledgeable about how to work this system in my favor, and I understand reasonable expectations of my students.

ASEAN update

There was an interesting CNN article today about the future of ASEAN,  Association of Southeast Asian Nations, who met in Indonesia on Saturday for a two-day summit expected to focus on efforts to achieve economic integration by 2015.

ASEAN summit starts amid cloud of Thai-Cambodia border row

Leaving Ko Chang

For the last three amazing days I have spent my time relaxing by the pool and exploring the beaches of Ko Chang. I am leaving the island mentally ready to go back to Lampang, my home base, for a second semester of teaching. The above picture is a shot from the breakfast table at our guest house on Hat Kai Mook (Pearl beach), a really rocky beach and not the recommended beach for anyone who will visit Ko Chang but the price in this location was perfect.

Cambodian Labor in Thailand

I am currently in Ko Chang, an island about 5 hours Southeast of Bangkok, and I have noticed a really interesting trend in the employees in the service industry- they are mostly Cambodian. In lieu of this recent observation and the news of renewed fighting over the Cambodian-Thai border, I found some interesting articles that helped clarify the bilateral relationship.

Thailand and Cambodia clash again along border (BBC)

Living Conditions Of Cambodian Illegal Migrant Workers In Thailand
 This is a recent Thesis from A Chulalongkorn University, Thailand's best university 

Malaysia: Small taste

 I am leaving Malaysia with the feeling that I only got a small taste of a large meal. From Singapore we flew in to KL, the capitol city of Malaysia and small city compared to Bangkok of only 2.6 million people.  A piece of advice for anyone who wants to go from Singapore to Malaysia: take the bus! It is cheaper and about the same amount of time to fly considering how far both airports are from the main city. We chalked up the use of taking a flight to “live and learn” and it was very nice to be treated to the creature comforts of flying international. With a pool, various gardens, and cultural artifacts on display- all efforts to create a swanky stopover hub- the Singapore airport is spectacular. 

We flew into Malaysia at night, so there wasn’t much option to see any of the city; however, taking the taxi offered a great view of the twin towers light up the night sky. We ate at Jalan Basar, a street with food vendors lining the street. As soon as we sat down at a table we were swarmed with various vendors shoving menus in our face all trying to persuade us to buy their specific dishes. I settled for a noodle soup. Unlike Thai rice noodles these were wheat noodles, the broth was much less sweat, and contained more green vegetables.

The next morning we explored the National Mosque, one of the largest Mosque in Southeast Asia. Visitors were welcome from 9-12PM, although we had to wear hooded robes to cover our heads. We started just walking around the mosque observing the architecture, but we were treated with a English speaking volunteer who explained more about Islam. She explained some of the fundamentals of Islam, the misconceptions of Islam, the layout of a mosque, and the methods of prayer. She was one of the kindest women we have encountered and extremely open to our questions, and after our tour she had great recommendations for lunch options. 

We ate up the hill from the mosque, in outdoor covered seating. The meal was a plate of white rice, and then you could add different curry dishes on top for various prices. I found Malaysian curry very creamy, similar to Indian. After lunch in the heat we walked to the Murdecka square to observe more Islamic architecture across the street from colonial architecture from the years of British control. We strolled around China town and a Hindu temple, but had to head back to the hostel to escape the heat. 

The next day we woke up early to get tickets to the skybridge in the Twin towers. We waited for an hour and half  for  a 10 Rinkets  (about 3 dollars) ticket to go to the 41^st floor to look out over the city. Unfortunately, there are only 400 tickets issued and you have to wake up very early to avoid the line.  While waiting on our ticket we walked to a the telecommunication tower, the fourth largest in the world, to see another symbol of the city. Again we ate in a hot food stall, but again the food was amazing. The fresh cucumber salad and fish curry was a great break from walking.

The Twin towers skybridge offered a decent view, but the highlight of the day was going to a Hindu temple nested 272 steps up a hill in a cave.