ONET English Camp

I have to admit I had romanticized the idea of teaching in a poor, small, village school, but the experience of teaching “camp” last week revitalized the optimism I had before I started teaching. My school hosted an ONET (the national standardized test) prep camp for our students and 8 other schools in our district. My responsibility was to create and manage a station that reviewed “getting to know you” vocabulary and basic introductions. 

The revelation I had happened once we started to play the games, and I was shocked by how far my students have come. Having other students at the camp reminded me how timid and shy my students first were when I arrived. I am the first foreign teacher in my school, and it has taken my students (as well as myself) a long time to understand each other, my expectations, how to listen, and how to have confidence when speaking in English. With the students from other schools attending the camp, I was able to compare the vast difference in my student. I finally understood the rewards of being the first foreigner and working at a poor, community school.  

I know that part of my student’s confidence is an effect of being comfortable with me, but I could also see the difference in how my students listened and could follow English directions.  For example, when I said “make a circle”, “listen”, or “find a friend” I could see how quick my students understood these English directions. During one of the games I had a student stand in the middle of a circle and call out something they either liked or had (Ex: I have a brother) while the other students crossed the circle if they retained that trait.

 As a group this is a very easy concept, but asking a Thai student to speak on their own can be a very difficult task (stems from loosing face and being afraid to be punished for mistakes. Students are often hit for incorrect answers given in class or on a quiz). On average the confidence in my students to speak on their own differed greatly from their peers in other school.

I am not writing this to brag about my students, but I have never been so proud to be a teacher and especially a teacher in a small, poor school.  Being the first foreign teacher in my school, I have struggled with communication and knowing my responsibilities.For example I learned 3 months into the school year that my teacher wanted a grade for each student. Originally I was told my only expectation was to practice English through fun games and lessons, and the skills they were leaning would help enhance their English class taught by a Thai teacher.  After today I realize the cost of being the first is over shadowed by the reward of seeing my students overcome the learning curve. My students are far behind in terms of the national standards, but compared to where they were 3 months ago their accomplishments are massive. 

The Thai Field Trip

Yesterday was my first experience with a Thai field trip. The teachers have been talking about this trip to Chaing Rai for almost a month now, so I was expecting some well planned out exciting day( and yes it was exciting but in the Thai kind of way). We left from school at 4 in the morning. At first I thought my teachers had played a funny joke on me because when I walked around school in the dark, crisp morning there was not a person to be found or a sound to be heard. After a few minutes I heard the engine of the bus and saw that the teachers and students had gathered outside of the school gate-luckily it was not another poor translation mishap.

We picked up several of the teachers along the way and stopped about an hour and a half into the trip to use the restroom and get a quick breakfast from 7-11 or sewen-elewen as my students say because they can’t pronounce the V sound. Five hours later I see the arch welcoming us the city of Chain Rai, but for some unknown reason at the time our bus continues to drive for roughly an hour. We finally stop at Mae Sai, the last town before entering Burma, and go…. Shopping.

I love shopping, but in Thailand I can feel very shopped out. At every town there is a cute little outdoor market, or in Bangkok’s case a gigantic market known as JJ market, with cheap clothing, knock-off designer bags, colorful fruit, handicrafts, and a plethora of food. Mae Sai is known for being even cheaper than all the other markets that are abundantly available. For an hour and half my students and I meandered through the maze of shopping. I purchased some prunes and “open mouthed nuts” (we don’t have this nut in the states, but the direct translation for it literal is open mouth bean because when it cooks it looks like it has an open mouth.

What I really wanted to do, however, was climb a staircase to the top of the hill overlooking the market and stare out over Burma while drinking an iced cappuccino (Thailand has made me addicted to this drink because it is the best substitute for coffee. The drink they call coffee is horrible!). From my low location in the gorge the market was located in, I was unable to see much of adjacent country, but my host teacher wouldn’t let me leave her side, and I didn’t want to deprive her of her shopping. I am always the lost western soul who needs guidance in my teacher’s eyes.

We ate lunch in the market. Thank-you Leah for introducing me to Koa Soy- red curry noodles with tender chicken and crispy noodles on top. We drove another hour back into the city and to the school competition, the reason we were actually in Chang Rai. Luckily after much phone troubles and lack of service I was able to meet up with another Fulbright ETA. Those thirty minutes of seeing a familiar face and not having to worry about misinterpretations are enough to keep me sane, and the shared coconut ice cream was a bonus!

So after spending only hour at the school competition and two hours shopping my students and teacher loaded the buses to make our way back to school. The six hour bus ride was lessoned only by one roadside stop: dinner! It was noodles and meatballs, of course.

The following day the craziness only continued. I went to the second floor of the Bprathom(primary school) building only to find the halls deserted and the air silenced. I waited in the outdoor hallway looking around to see if my students were anywhere in sight. Sometimes they are late because they are brushing their teeth or still with the previous teacher-don’t ask me why because I don’t know. I just accept the fact that my students come 5 minutes late to class because that is how the Thai school system is.

Today something felt different, so I only waited five minutes before I started venturing around school trying to discover the reason for the absence of my students. The answer I found: “it is nurses day.”

Apparently 4^th year nursing students were at school to teach about health. This included brushing your teeth, not smoking or drinking, and washing yourself. By yourself I am referring to the delicate subject of health education. I found myself staring at student nurses teaching my 10 year olds about the depths of their bodies using small balloons. I decided it would be best if I just took the rest of the morning to lesson plan.

“I give my boyfriend a banana” Christmas lessons

This week’s lesson dove into the topic of Christmas. I pondered how to present this subject. I wanted to be sensitive to my Buddhist students presenting the subject as cultural awareness rather than indoctrination. With my M1-3 students (7^th-9^th grade) I presented a role-play in which Santa was explaining to a Thai student the Christmas holiday.

I first presented vocabulary that was in the role-play through flashcards I had drawn because my school has very limited printing abilities. The vocabulary included: symbol, holiday, ornament, on top (the star), gift, under (the gifts), birth. After about the second time teaching this lesson I realized my students didn’t understand birth of Jesus, so I made the concept even simpler. I said “Me: Jesus. You :Buddha .” and wrote on the board Christmas = Jesus Birthday . This still elicited some odd stares, but I was at least able to rationalize a holiday somewhat.

For those of you who may question the political correctness I want to admit this is not an aspect I focused on, but decided it was at least worth mentioning. I wouldn’t be offended learning about Buddha’s birthday (which I think is celebrated in July) if I was taking a Thai course, and I noticed that on one of the bulletin boards there is a picture of Jesus with Thai subtitles explaining the origins of Christmas. As a teacher of American culture (as a whole) I have to be very careful in explaining that not all people celebrate Christmas, but I wish I could say that I was able to communicate this aspect. Unfortunately my students with such limited English would not comprehend such deep subjects; therefore, my M1-3 students think that Christmas is a unanimous holiday. (I didn’t even approach the religious aspect of Christmas with by B4-6 students. I only explained it is a time to give gifts and share with family.)

The role-play continued with Santa explaining about the Christmas tree, gifts, and celebrating at home with family- the very commercial aspects of Christmas. This made more sense to my students. Thais give gifts all the time or at least that is how my experience has been for the last several months. I have a book case shelf collecting the random hair pins, notebooks, and pictures I have received from the kindest people over my time so far. The other big gift is food and Kanoms (snacks!). Just yesterday I was riding a bike when I ran into a woman I had met before Thanksgiving while on my daily run. We exchanged the limited Thai I have, and then she handed me a bag of oranges from her bicycle basket. Clearly she had bought these are these with the intention to take them home, but here she is just handing over her food to an almost stranger.

After several beautiful renditions of the role play by a variety of students, I asked my students to write 3 “I give my (who) a (what).” The typical answer was “I give my father a book” or “my friend a card”, but I have to admit one of the best aspects of teaching is reading some of the crazy things students write. I know to them this seems normal or maybe the direct translation is normal, but I must share (anonymously of course) the most amusing assignments I graded:

I give my father a salmon.

I give Jammie (Me) my love.

I give Jamie my heart.

And for those of you that enjoy slightly perverted humor

I give my love a hose

I give my boyfriend a banana

Every day is an obstacle and a new adventure in Thailand. I am constantly reminded that almost everything is different: the flow of traffic, the water buffalo in the river, the gigantic goats, the spicy food, the sticky,green snacks, the lack of self transportation, the baby powder on my students faces (sunblock?). But it is the funny moments like I give my boyfriend a banana that I am able to remember my “normal”. Balancing my normal and the deep entrenchment into Thai culture is the only way to remain who I am while still gaining and growing from this experience.

Christmas and New Years

The view from our rooftop MTS clay house

New Years: The main house in MTS - it was soo open!

The Fulbright group in the MTS for New Years

Our Christmas feast shared on a bed!

It has been awhile since I have written on my blog. This has not been due to the lack of activity in my life, but rather the lack of desire or energy to write about the past several weeks. Now seems like a perfect time to sit and reflect on the months adventures.

Christmas

It was strange experiencing my first Christmas away from home, but several of the other Fulbright and I gathered in a town about 5 hours south of me to enjoy some western tidings and joy. Since I didn’t have any time off for the holiday, I was very fortunate Christmas fell on a Saturday. That morning the four other ETAs and I gathered goodies to share over a Christmas brunch. When it was all finished we were able to feast on cheese, chocolates, pastries, Thai fruits, and cookies. Although now that I write about it the collection does not seem appetizing, but I must assure you the comforts of home were a wonderful Christmas feast. We finished the casual afternoon with Love Actually and walking by the river.

The main surprise of the evening was a baby elephant that was also enjoying a Christmas stroll by the river. He was accompanied by two young boys who were offering to let people pay to feed the elephant. I am not sure of anymore details because it is not very common to see a loose elephant walking in the city, but it is definitely an occurrence I will remember. This has happened to me once before in my hometown and from what I can gather there are people who will keep elephants while they are young and small as a way to earn money. After a couple of years the elephant will become unmanageable (they eat several hundred kilos of food a week) and will be sold to an elephant conservation, a tourism agency, or a zoo.

My school also celebrated Christmas, but the extent of their knowledge about Christmas was that 1) there is a Christmas tree with a star on top and 2) American gives gifts.

New Years

The following week the Fulbright ETAs were invited to spend the weekend in a the mountains with an Thai Alumni who had a Fulbright to America almost 20 years ago. She recently has become very involved in the Fulbright Alumni association here in Thailand and wanted to continue building the Fulbright family. Plus she is just an amazing, gracious, kind person!

We spent the weekend tucked away in a resort with the most scenic view. We were staying in the owner of the resorts unfinished guesthouse, but it was still one of the most wonderful places I have ever stayed. The building was extremely open – it has no doors or hallways, but rather seemed like a clay bungalow built into the side of a mountain. I can’t explain the feeling but will let the picture below do the talking.

For three days and two nights we spent the day relaxing in the mountains. I think the company of other westerners also makes for a very surreal experience. It is very rare I get to hang out with Westerners throughout the week, and it is very nice for a couple of hours to be able to have wonderful conversations and no cultural misunderstandings.

It has been awhile since I have written on my blog. This has not been due to the lack of activity in my life, but rather the lack of desire or energy to write about the past several weeks. Now seems like a perfect time to sit and reflect on the months adventures.

Christmas

It was strange experiencing my first Christmas away from home, but several of the other Fulbright and I gathered in a town about 5 hours south of me to enjoy some western tidings and joy. Since I didn’t have any time off for the holiday, I was very fortunate Christmas fell on a Saturday. That morning the four other ETAs and I gathered goodies to share over a Christmas brunch. When it was all finished we were able to feast on cheese, chocolates, pastries, Thai fruits, and cookies. Although now that I write about it the collection does not seem appetizing, but I must assure you the comforts of home were a wonderful Christmas feast. We finished the casual afternoon with Love Actually and walking by the river.

The main surprise of the evening was a baby elephant that was also enjoying a Christmas stroll by the river. He was accompanied by two young boys who were offering to let people pay to feed the elephant. I am not sure of anymore details because it is not very common to see a loose elephant walking in the city, but it is definitely an occurrence I will remember. This has happened to me once before in my hometown and from what I can gather there are people who will keep elephants while they are young and small as a way to earn money. After a couple of years the elephant will become unmanageable (they eat several hundred kilos of food a week) and will be sold to an elephant conservation, a tourism agency, or a zoo.

My school also celebrated Christmas, but the extent of their knowledge about Christmas was that 1) there is a Christmas tree with a star on top and 2) American gives gifts.

New Years

The following week the Fulbright ETAs were invited to spend the weekend in a the mountains with an Thai Alumni who had a Fulbright to America almost 20 years ago. She recently has become very involved in the Fulbright Alumni association here in Thailand and wanted to continue building the Fulbright family. Plus she is just an amazing, gracious, kind person!

We spent the weekend tucked away in a resort with the most scenic view. We were staying in the owner of the resorts unfinished guesthouse, but it was still one of the most wonderful places I have ever stayed. The building was extremely open – it has no doors or hallways, but rather seemed like a clay bungalow built into the side of a mountain. I can’t explain the feeling but will let the picture below do the talking.

For three days and two nights we spent the day relaxing in the mountains. I think the company of other westerners also makes for a very surreal experience. It is very rare I get to hang out with Westerners throughout the week, and it is very nice for a couple of hours to be able to have wonderful conversations and no cultural misunderstandings.