Bar Scene

In an effort to distract myself during the Christmas weekend, I went out to two very cool, very Thai bars on Friday and Saturday. Friday night I met up with a fellow farang teacher at a live music bar called “Parking Toys”. It is pretty close to my apartment (30 minute walk or 45 baht cab ride). Little did I know the place is AWESOME! The Manhattanites of Central Bangkok taxi out to Queens to hang out in this bar. It was filled with men with long hair, women with short hair and heavy-rimmed, black-framed glasses. You could feel the “coolness”.

A modest place, Parking Toys consists of a main room, a loft and a lively patio. Rustic wooden stools crowd around simple tables, comfy couches frame the corners of the room and vintage chairs hang from the ceiling. Your eyes are immediately drawn to the simple stage where local Thai bands are jamming to familiar tunes. That night it was Gwen Stefani. Or a tiny Thai woman who sounded exactly like her. I settled into a wooden stool with my Leo and enjoyed the music. I will definitely be heading back to Parking Toys.

On Saturday, I headed to RCA with 5 other teachers from Satriwittaya 2 – Thai and Farang. RCA is a street filled with bars and clubs all for different tastes. We headed to the “Cosmic Café”, a laid-back place, with a party atmosphere. Upon entering, we were given a choice between the Tiger Ya Dong or the Horse Ya Dong to drink. Ya Dong is a herb-infused alcohol that will knock you on your ass. I impulsively choose “The Tiger”. Needless to say it did not go down smoothly. Quite the opposite in fact.

Comic Café is known for its unique “spinning.” (I am trying to use the lingo.) The place mixes traditional Isan music of the Thailand of Old with modern hip-hop beats. The blend results in the perfect mixture of Old Thai and New Thai. Young Thai hipsters delighted in the ancient songs- raising their glasses and singing along- while also jamming to the modern beats that us, digital-age kids, are growing to love. So when Isan songs show up on the new Girl Talk album, I can say I liked it before it went main stream. Sorry hipsters.

Christmas

Thailand is a Buddhist country, but Thai people love Christmas. At the beginning of December, businesses in Central Bangkok started stringing up lights and decorating tinsel trees around their offices. At school, the students hung tinsel and put up a small tree in the English Program office. Every morning Christmas music blares from the school speaks before classes begin. Despite the Thais effort it definitely doesn’t feel like Christmas. At first I thought it was because it was so hot outside. But being away from home as taught me that Christmas is synonymous with family. I can’t help but think about all the sappy Christmas movies where the moral is about the importance of family and blah, blah, blah. Well folks, it is all true. Christmas isn’t Christmas without your family! So who better than to spend the day with than my Thai family?

My Christmas festivities started on the 23^rd with a Christmas party at the school. The English Program had a full Thai lunch for us to celebrate the holidays. No Thai celebratory meal would be complete without some tom yom (spicy seafood soup), fried rice, chicken wings and some chicken thing. In Thailand I am always wary of any food that is red. Red usually means spicy. This particular chicken thing had visible chilies. I steered clear of that. And for dessert? Green noodles with a very sugary syrup covered with ice. I tried my hardest to get out of the party before dessert came around. I have not been very impressed with the Thai sweets. Fortunately, I had an out. Class at 11:30. At 11:25, I started to make my exit when the other teachers stopped me. “Teacher! Where you going?” “Class for 5^th period.” “It’s ok! You can be late. Have some Thai dessert.” I choked down those sweet, green noodles and rolled into class 15 minutes late. The students didn’t mind.

Ajan P.E. (I actually know her name. It is Sujet. But she epitomizes the classic PE teacher. Short hair, sweat pants, polo and really tanned skin. The students love her. And so do I) gave me a little present for Christmas. She has been my mentor thus far since I am the health teacher for the entire English Program. She gave me the perfect gift- coconut water and chocolate cake. How did she know? I have been raving about coconut water since I got to Thailand. Anyone who knows me knows about my feelings for chocolate.

On Christmas Eve, I treated myself to Korean barbeque. Basically you order several different types of meat and you cook it yourself on a portable grill. You can order pork, beef, chicken, shrimp, bacon, squid, mushrooms, fish, everything. The meat is marinated and served with a SPICY and GARLICY sauce. I love it. Unfortunately, what I can order is limited to what I can say in Thai. Muu, gai and bla it is! (Pork, chicken and fish). Later in the evening I went out to a bar with some of the teachers from Satriwittaya 2. It was a fun, relaxing evening.

At 12:00 am, (according to June, not what she meant) I was picked by my Thai family on Christmas Day. We went to the tallest building in Bangkok. I think there was like 1 million floors. Or 84. The plan was to eat Christmas lunch at the international buffet. But many people had the same idea. The restaurant was filled to the brim so my host Dad made the executive decision to move the family down a floor. To the Chinese buffet. In true “A Christmas Story” fashion I dined on Chinese duck on the 79^th floor of a hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. Turned out to be just like the movies after all!

Picture: Sign at the front of my school

Parents' Day

On Friday afternoon around 3:30 Aj. Oi said that there is Parents' Day on Sunday and we must attend. Cool. Thanks for the notice. So I rearranged my plans and walked into my office at Sattriwithaya 2 School on Sunday morning at 9 o'clock sharp. Right when Aj. Oi told me to show up. I arrived at an empty school and an empty office. Not surprising because this is Thailand and no one is ever really sure when things will begin.

So at 10:15, I headed to my homeroom where I waited with most of the students and their Thai homeroom teacher for the parents to arrive. I wasn't exactly sure what to do but the students had me pose for pictures all around the room. Some of the early arriving parents took my picture as well. 45 minutes later all the parents were sitting in their students' seats respectively. Aj. Homeroom gestured to me to stand and introduce myself. Which I did. "My name is Mary. I am from America. I will be teaching Art, Health and English Club. It is nice to meet you." (Most Thai people won't understand United States or USA. So I have to say 'America') The parents clapped, then bowed to me. Some mumbled "Good Morning". Then Aj. Homeroom told me, "You are free." She keeps saying that.

I always enjoy seeing my students' parents. (Maybe that will change once I am a full blown teacher with all the responsibilities. I love how the students look like their parents. All of the kids were so proud to show their parents around their classroom, guide them to where they sit and point out their work on the walls.

I headed back to my office when Aj. Sito/Grandma grabbed my arm and gave me some information about what would happen next.... all in Thai. All she said was lunch in English. Lunch turned out to be a container full of rice and chicken and a bag of soup. Not sure how I am going to eat it. Normally best to just wait until someone who speaks English shows up. I am getting the feeling that my presence at Parents' Day has more to do with showing off than meeting the parents. Your students go to prestigous, highly academic school. Look at all of our foreign teachers. Whatever. I got a free lunch and pictures of me will be blowing up the newsfeeds of the students of M 1/5 at SW2.

Photo: Mary at her desk.

Sanuk

Thais love a little fun. Sanuk is what they call it. If it can be made fun it should be. My students are always goofing off at their desks, giggling behind their hands, gaming on their smart phones. No job in Thailand should be boring or tedious. Everything should be fun. Thai people turn even uninteresting, unpleasant, tasks into something enjoyable. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? Well coming from a culture where “work” and “play” are two very different things, where the former, most certainly, comes before the latter, Sanuk can be frustrating. Because of the “fun and games” of Thai students, I have found myself teaching some very non-engaging lessons. Power point with notes, then answer questions at the end. But I can’t control the class otherwise. Cooperative learning strategies lead to chaos. Hands-on activities lead to madness. Discussions lead to unruliness. I am baffled at what to do. While sanuk can drive the ajan farang up a wall (What does this English idiom mean class? Angreeeeeee, tea-SHAAA), sanuk is the very thing that makes Thai people so likeable in the first place. The constant smiles and laughter can make anyone fall in love with this country. So what’s a girl to do? After a bang-your-head-against-the-wall type class, the very same students who sat at the back talking and laughing and playing, still greet you with the utmost respect the next day by bowing and chanting, “Gooooood MORninggggggg Tea-SHAAAA” with the biggest smiles on their faces.

Photo: Students at their morning assembly. On Fridays they wear colorful shirts representing their class. Notice the sanuk.

Kanchanaburi

Traveling has become much easier. Saturday morning I headed to Bangkok's Northern Bus Station- Mochit- via taxi. Got on the bus and headed northwest. Getting out of the capital city is the hardest part. Felt like we sat in traffic for hours. It took four hours to get to Kanchanaburi on that bus. Pretty sure it takes two in a car.

I stayed at Sam's River Raft House. It was literally sitting on a raft on the river. Not the nicest place in the world but better than the guesthouse in Lopburi. I am moving up! Kanchanaburi is small, quiet town that sits on the Mae Nam Kwae river. Anyone remember the film, "The Bridge over the River Kwae"? This is the place! But the river is actually pronounced k-way, not k-why. Kwai means buffalo. Thais laugh when you say it wrong.

Since I am in Thailand, I feel like I have to try new things and do things that I would not do at home. So I rented a bicycle to ride around the town. If you knew little Mary, you may remember my father forcing me to learn how to ride a bike. I am pretty sure that I learned at the same time as Stephen. As a child I was plenty content playing with my American Girl dolls and reading my books. But back then I knew I had to forced myself to get out of my comfort zone so on Saturday afternoon, I mounted that 20 year old bike that was a little bit too big and definitely too wobbly and hit the streets. Well, the man I rented the bike from walked along with me and held the seat for about 100 feet until I got steady. Then I hit the streets!

As steered the bike past food stalls and stray dogs trying to stay clear of the motorcycles and cars, all while staying on the left side of the road I viewed field after field of corn, tapioca and bananas. The fields were framed by the mountains. It was relaxing just riding along taking in all the sites along the countryside. On my stroll I stumbled upon the famous, "Bridge over the River Kwae". During WWII, the Japanese forced POWs to build a railway connecting Siam (now Thailand) to Burma (now Mynmar) Thousands died. The bridge that I viewed was not the actually bridge but special still. You can pay 100 baht to take the "tourist train" across the river or you can spend the money on lunch and dinner and a coconut water and just walk across. The view of the river was spectacular.

On Sunday, I headed to the famous Erawan National Park. There I hiked up to see the "7 tiered waterfall". Basically, there are 7 different waterfalls as you go up the mountain. They were incredible. Level 5 looked like something created at a beach resort. The water was clear and cool. You know how the latest craze are those fish spas? You stick your feet in a tub of water full of little fish that eat away at the dead skin. There is a free fish spa in the waters of the waterfall. I wasn't into it. After swimming, sliding and slipping through the different waterfalls, I headed back to Kanchanaburi to enjoy a Western meal and a beer.

Monday morning, I donned the ancient bike once again and headed to a temple inside a cave. The ride was a little treacherous. I had to walk my bike up one huge hill but I made it in one piece. As I descended into the temple cave I was immediately brought back to Israel. Several of the churches I visited were actually caves or the holiest parts of the churches were underground. Seems that perhaps several different cultures believe that caves are scared, holy places. After the visit to the cave it was time to head back to a very cool, breezy Bangkok.

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." -Lao Tzu (Or a couples pedals on a bicycle!)

Top Photo: Mary on her bike. Bottom Photo: Mary at Erawan National Park, Waterfall Five.

Urban Jungle

When I walked out of my apartment this morning I thought to myself. "Man, I can't believe I am in Thailand." After being in the country for over 2 months it still feels so new and different. Especially when I wake up in the morning.

It would be hard to sleep in here. I wake up to the big city noise of cars, trucks and motorcycles zooming down the narrow streets. There is always noise. Dogs barking, children yelling, whistles blowing. But early in the morning I hear strange bird sounds never heard before. I feel like I have awoken in the jungle. An urban jungle.

Before school starts uniformed students swarm the streets. Dodging cars to buy snacks before school from the many street vendors. There are stalls selling meat on a stick served with a spicy sweet sauce. Stalls selling sweet drinks with flavors like coconut, lagan fruit, chrysanthemum and green tea. Stalls selling steaming bowls of noodles. Fruit stands. Vegetable stands. Pen and Paper stands. Anything. Everything. Next to the school there is a temple. Early in the morning the monks walk the streets collecting donations and food for the day. The streets are brimming with the white and navy uniforms of the students and the bright orange robes of the monks getting ready for the coming day.

After school is pandemonium in the market. Students are everywhere. Everyone is buying the dinner for the night from one of the food stands or scrutinizing over raw meat to cook themselves. You can buy some Tupperware, pineapples and a dress without walking 30 steps. Everyday I have picked something different from one of the "food on a stick" stands. I have had a hot dog, a pork ball, a squid, and a hard boiled egg wrapped in puff pastry then deep-fried. And of course my new favorite- coconut water. The perfect thirst quencher has just the perfect amount of sweetness. Coconut water contains electrolytes so it is ideal for replenishing the body after a day sweating under the tropical sun.

Sometimes I have to take a step back and think about how different this place really is from Kentucky. Some of the differences are strange. Some are difficult to understand. And some are just flat-out annoying. But I have to remember:

“When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.” – Clifton Fadiman

Day 2

Day 2 at Satriwittaya 2 School has gone much smoother.Scheduling issues have been resolved and now I understand the layout of the school. I have decided that I really like teaching English for the little bit that I get to do! The Thai teachers told me to “Speak English” during homeroom. Today we practiced some tongue twisters. The Thai students think it is hilarious getting there tongue twisted trying to say all the words as faster as they can. Even funnier when TeeeeSHA MaEEEEE messes up the words. I started small. Unique New York and Yellow Leather. Go ahead try it. Say Unique New York five times fast. Then yellow leather. It is hard! Then imagine saying it in front of a bunch of 11 year olds who expect you to speak perfect English. I was quite proud of myself. The Thai homeroom teacher said, “Good!” as I left the classroom. First compliment!

My office is with the other foreign teachers in the English program-Jenna, Matt from Boston, and Nathan from England. Matt, Jenna and I are all new and still getting used to everything. In the adjoining office are the Thai English Program teachers. I am not quite sure of all their names yet. Just Aj. Oi, our coordinator, who we go to for everything. The rest I have given nicknames. There is Young Ajan, Part-time Ajan and Ajan Sito/Grandma. Ajan Sito/Grandma is an older lady and she worries so much about us, new farang teachers. The other teachers are constantly translating for her, “Have you eaten?” “Is everything ok?” “Do you need anything?” After giving her the proper respect by bowing with my hands in the prayer position, she grabs my hand and rubs it, speaking in Thai to me. She is very kind. The students really respect her. Like more than the normal respect they give to teachers. I can tell she is an excellent educator. She seems like one of those very soft-spoken teachers who can motivate her students by making them feel wanted and welcome. I would love to watch her teach. I think I could learn a lot in spite of the language barrier.

Almost Day 3!

First Day of School

The first day of school. Hectic already. But the first day of school in the biggest school in Thailand after the worst natural disaster in 50 years is more than hectic. It is chaos. The day started off with the assembly. Literally thousands of students were all sitting in neat rows under a pavilion. They began the day by raising of the flag, by singing of the national anthem and by praying to the Buddhist shrine. Ajan Oi (Ajan means teacher) introduced me to several other ajans. Most could not speak English. I bowed to them and they said “Good Morning”, then giggled away to avoid speaking any more English to me. Apparently, if other teachers refuse to meet your eyes it is not out of disrespect but because of their lack of English speaking skills. They would not want to embarrass themselves by not being able to speak to me, so they will avoid speaking at all.

I share a homeroom class with another Thai teacher. The students stay in their own classrooms and the teachers move from class to class in this school. I walked into the classroom after the assembly and there was no teacher. The students all looked at me and starting calling out, “Teacher! Good Morning! Teacher! Hello!” Not sure what to do I stood and waited. One of the students then yelled, “Please stand up!” All the students stood up and chanted together, “Good Morning Teacher.” Then they stood there. Not sure what to say I said, “Good Morning. You may sit down.” Then they all said together, “Thank you teacher.” Every class begin this way. Finally, the teacher arrived. She told me, “You are free.”

I headed back to my office. Alone. Not sure what to do next. Not sure when the next period started. Turns out no one knew the schedule for the day. Every Thai teacher I talked to told me something different. The head of the health department hunted me down to tell me I was 10 minutes late for class. Another teacher asked me to leave a classroom because I had taught too long. Hopefully tomorrow everyone will be on the same page. Literally. I hope all the teachers will be looking at the same schedule.

When I left for the day the students yelled out to me, "Good Afternoon! Hello! How are you!". Even students from the high school who I will never teach. They all greet their Thai teachers with a bow and "Sawasdee". I am definitely in a very different place.

A Thai Pizza Party

We celebrated the end of the two week American Culture class in the most American way possible. A pizza party! But even something as familiar as a pizza party is different in Thailand. What type of pizza does every pizza party have? Pepperoni and cheese, right? Not in Thailand. We had Hawaiian pizza (with fresh pineapples, of course) and seafood pizza. Yes, seafood pizza. Pizza with crab, fish and shrimp. It wasn’t bad. We didn’t have packets of parmesan cheese or crushed red peppers. The condiment of choice for pizza in Thailand is ketchup. You heard me right. I delicately explained to the Thai teens that Americans will find it very strange if you put ketchup on you pizza. And don’t ask for seafood pizza either.

If I had 1 million baht...

Every day something happens that reminds me that I am living in a country completely different than my own. Not that I forget I am in Thailand. Everyone looks different, speaks another language and it is 90 degrees at the end of November, but there are some cultural difference that resonates with me.

When I was riding on the "hot bus" to the bus station on Friday a monk boarded the bus. As he stepped on a middle-aged woman got up and gave him the front seat of the bus without hesitating. He didn't pay. No one asked him for money. After the middle-aged woman gave up her seat a young man gave her his seat. There is a hierachy in Thailand. I witnessed it on the bus.

Age and status are very important in Thailand. Those that are older have a higher status than the young. When Thai people greet each they do what is called the "wai'. You place your hands together in a prayer position and bring your hands to you head. The higher your hands the more important the person. For images of Buddha, monks and the royal family the base of you thumbs go to your forehead For people older than you the base of your thumbs goes to your chin. For people the same age or younger than your fingertips go to your chin. The younger person does the "wai" first. When I met my coordinator for the first time I was very nervous that I would do it all wrong. But perhaps to make me feel more comfortable or to show she knew something about my culture she shook my hand.

Since showing respect to people older than you is so important, many Thais ask me how old I am as soon as I meet them. Their response is always, "So young." However, being a teacher commands respect on its own. Teacher are addressed as Teacher _______, much like we call doctors Doctor_____. It is very refreshing to be in a country that appreciates their educators.

Respecting your elders is particularly noticable with the way teenagers treat their parents. I have been spending a lot of time with teenagers and I have noticed that mostly Thai teens are the same as American teens. They like junk food, facebook, and Twilight. But the Thai teens seem to be much more respectful to their parents than their American counterparts. Not that Americans are disrespectful though. (Some parents may disagree) Here is an example. Today I had the students finish sentences with their own thoughts to help them practice speaking. One of my sentences was "If I had 1 million baht I would..." "I would give it to my parents", the students responded. I laughed. They told me they would give it to their parents because their parents buy them everything they need and then some. It would only be right to give the money to their mom and dad. Would any of us say that? Maybe give some. Not all of it. Especially not when we were teenagers.

Lopburi

This past weekend I visited the quiet town of Lopburi. It is just 3 hours North of Bangkok and this weekend the town hosted their annual Monkey Festival. (Yes, you read that right. Outside of the cities, Thailand is just one big jungle. And what lives in the jungle? Monkeys.)

I will start with the "getting there" part. I think they say that travel broadens the mind because most of the time it is unpleasant. I left the OEG office at 4 pm. I walked down the road about 15 minutes to catch the MRT or the subway. Took the MRT to the Hua Lampong train station. So far so good. I tried to buy a ticket for the 6:10 train to Lopburi. But there is no train. The only explanation I received from the ticketing staff was "We have flood." Ok. A kind employee who spoke English well told me to take the number 49 bus to Mochit to catch the bus to Lopburi. So I adjusted my backpack and quickly walked to the crowd of people waiting for the bus.

The #49 bus came and I jumped on. For the next hour I sat on the bus (no AC of course) stopping throughout the capital city during rush hour. By the time I made it to Mochit the sun had set and I had no idea where to go next. Fortunately, Thais near bus/train stations know that when they see a farang with a backpack walking in circles that probably means that she doesn't know where to go and most likely is thinking of every single Thai word she knows before she asks for help. A kind man asked, "You go?" I said "Lopburi". He laughed because I said it wrong, of course. Then he pointed me toward the station and told me platform 96.

Well he meant 6. But there was no bus. Because we have flood. So I was told to take the wan. "The what?" "The wan". Oh right. The van. I boarded a 15 passenger van on the very bumpy, bumpy road to Lopburi. It was a good thing I had no time to eat dinner because it all would have come up on that journey in the back of the wan.
On Saturday morning, I explored Lopburi. The old town is very small so I was able to walk to all the famous ruins. (No taxis! Yay!) I have always enjoyed ruins and learning about the history behind them. Lopburi was the home to a former Thai king and many of the ruins are left from old palaces and temples. I also visited a museum full of 12th century smiling Buddhas found in the Lopburi province.

After lunch I headed Prang Sam Yot. A shrine that is over run with wild macaques. The closer got to the shrine the more monkeys I saw. Climbing on telephone lines, hiding under cars, inching closer to the noodle stands. At the shrine the monkeys ran about the grounds, scurried up the walls and laid in the shade of the temple's shadow. Some of my friends let the monkeys jump onto their backs or eat food out of their hands. The Thai people keep 3 foot poles on their person at all times so that the monkeys cannot get too close. If the Thais, the Buddhists who would never harm a living thing, do not touch the monkeys, then I am not going to touch the monkeys. The monkeys pulled hair and nibbled at legs. They are smart enought to open a water bottle or a bag of chips. It was absolute insanity.
Later I went with all the other English teachers to the sunflower fields and bat cave outside the town of Lopburi. We all piled into the back of a truck and took off. I can't even imagine all of the jokes that must have been told when the Thais saw us farang all squeezed into a truck bed together. The sunflowers have just started to grow, no where near their full height. We arrived at the bat cave just after sunset so we say the thousands of bats zip out of the cave to go find their dinner. That night the English teachers gathered at a bar and swapped classroom stories. I was eager to hear about all of their experiences since I have yet to start teaching yet.

Sunday was the day of the monkey festival. Thais and Westerners alike gathered at the Prang Sam Yot to watch the monkeys devour the banquet so experty prepared for them. The food was on plates. The plates were on tables with table cloths. The feast included tropical fruit, candy, sweets, Coca-Cola, juice. Everything a monkey could want. The banquet serves as a thank you to monkeys for bringing them success. Now don't get me wrong. Thais find the entire situation ridiculous. But it seems to me that they would rather celebrate these unwanted pests once a year than exterminate them. The festival was full of light-hearted fun. A day to laugh with family. A day to come together as a community. A day to celebrate our furry little cousins.

Photo: One of the tables from the monkeys' feast and Mary at a ruin site.

Other things I have noticed...

June informed me the other day that Americans are direct. And she respects that about us. I was a little taken a back. I have felt like I have been walking on eggshells around her and her family for fear of offending or worse, being seen as a burden. She said, “You tell me when you are hungry or thirsty. You tell me when you are not hungry or thirsty.” Interesting. From what I can gather, Thai people never want to inconvenience others. So if they are asked if they are hungry they may say no to avoid putting someone out. This conversation shed some light on something else that had been puzzling me. I mentioned before that we had two maids making us food and doing out laundry, but now the maid service has become more awkward than a luxury. If I ask June, “Can I get some water?” She always responds, “I will tell my maid”. I can't just grab a bottle from the fridge. (The tap water is safe to drink in this area but it tastes so bad.) When making cookies in the kitchen I pointed to some of the bottle water and asked, “Can I get some water from here?” June ran to get her maid from another room and who then poured me some water. Totally strange right? Maybe the maid service is so that I don’t ever have to inconvenience myself. Wish they would just let me grab a bottle of water when I am thirsty though.

Outside most business and homes there are Spirit houses. Spirit houses are elaborate shrines dedicated to the “spirits” that dwell the area. At first, I was confused. I saw these beautiful, detailed structures with fruit, water and juice sitting on a table before it. Food was arranged on plates. The bottles of juice were opened with a straw delicately placed inside. Near a mojito drink stand, (yes, they sell alcoholic drinks on carts on the street) I even noticed a spirit house with an offering of a mojito. The belief comes from ancient Animism. Thai people offer food and drink to the spirits. In return for the food offerings, the spirits will provide good fortune. Most Thais do not believe in spirits; they keep the spirit houses out of tradition and perhaps out of superstition as well. Keeping the spirits happy is good for business.

Thai people seem to realize the parts of their culture that Americans find strange. Breakfast is the big one. Without asking, Thai people know that squid or shrimp or noodle soup is probably a bit to much to swallow early in the morning. That is why we get eggs, hot dogs, spaghetti, salad, garlic bread and sandwiches for breakfast. In the office, I was make some coffee when one of the woman asked me, "Are you used to instant coffee yet?" First thought was, "How did she know I find this absolutely disgusting but I am desperate for caffeine" You can even taste the horrible-tasting tap water through the coffee. A cultural difference. I, as an American, find instant coffee offensive. Thais find it bizarre that I don't fill half my cup with milk and sugar. A insignificant different, yes. But I have noticed more significant differences which mainly have to do with Thailand having more community-based beliefs and the United States having more individualistic beliefs.

During a conversation with some of my students, I noticed that they students would describe their 3 houses or 4 houses. Now from what I can gather it isn't that these teenagers are filthy rich, but they consider the houses of their aunts and uncles and cousins to be houses of their own. I think. I tried to get the students to elaborate but shyness and limited English prevented me from getting the entire story. I was reminded of a conversation with Gift, June's older sister, who has studied in America. She explained that, "My family is a little different from Thai families. We don't live with everyone. So we have dinner together a lot." It seems to me that this cultural difference- community versus individual- is the hardest difference to understand. On both sides. Both cultural views has their shortcomings. Individualistic cultures foster success and independence. But de-emphasizes the importance of working together for the good of the whole. Communal culturals work together towards harmony between everyone, but at the expense of individual success and individual improvement.

On a lighter note, I interviewed two students today for the United States Exchange program. One was named Earth and the other Army. Thai nicknames are all over the map.

Lastly, I have noticed that many Thai people have a not so hidden talent of playing the ukulele.

Thai Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I first arrived June asked me many standard "get to know you" questions straight out of her English Language textbook. "How are you?" "Where are you from?" "What is your age?" "What do you like to do?" And for that question I answered, "Well, I like to cook." And June responded, "You can cook cookies." She meant to ask, "Can you bake cookies?" to which I responded "Yes." And then she said, "You can cook cookies for me." She meant to ask, "Would you bake cookies for me?" Thai people struggled with our question words. In Thai the question part goes at the end of the statement, putting it at the beginning is strange to them. Even harder is remembering to raise you voice at the end of your question.

It has literally taken 1.5 weeks to gather all the necessary supplies for baking cookies. Thais don't bake. In fact, the "kitchen" in this mansion is separate from the house and the main cooking area is outside. My host family has an oven but I believe it is really more for show than for cooking purposes. But eventually we gathered all purpose flour (hidden in the aisle with rice flour and tempura flour), sugar (easy to find here!), brown cane sugar (no brown molasses sugar unfortunately), butter (no prob), salt (got it), baking soda (very difficult to track down), eggs (in the fridge), chocolate chips (in the candy aisle) and vanilla extract (impossible. had to substitute for almond extract). Fortunately, my host family realized their baking shortcomings before I did. They had no measuring cups, or measuring spoons. No baking trays. But somehow they tracked all of those necessary parts down. So tonight we baked cookies.

The brown sugar was a little different. It was hot as Hades in the kitchen. Eager June throw in the butter before it had fully softened. But the cookies turned out great. My host father was very keen on learning how to make the cookies. He hovered over me while I was measuring, mixing, and scooping. He asked questions like, "Why no milk?" "You stir slowly?" "Have need everything?" June pranced around the kitchen in an apron, occasionally helping me mix the dough, but mainly playing DJ on her blackberry. Both were content on letting me bake. However, when I pulled out the gooey, hot cookies from the oven June and her father were disappointed. "Too soft! Can't pick up!" I was shocked. Not only would they not eat the raw dough, now they wanted hard cookies. I smiled and slide them back in. 3 to 4 minutes later I pulled harder, crispier, going to be dry cookies from the inexperienced oven. They loved them. I encouraged them to eat them with milk but my advice feel on deaf ears.

I ate 4 cookies. With milk. Soy milk. But it was close. Nice to have a little bit of home over here in this strange place :)

Thai Students

I started teaching a 2 week class about American Culture and History to 15 to 17 year old students preparing for a year studying abroad in the States. It has been my first experience teaching Thai students. And I have to say they are a little different than American students.

We were warned that Thai students can be a little "naughty". They are not like the diligent, hardworking, respectful Asian students that we have always imagined students in this part of the world to be. Thai students chit-chat, text and goof around like American students. They love to play around. Remember this is the Land of Smiles. And giggles. And laughs.

Today I reviewed the highlights of American History. Not surprisingly some of my students talked the entire time. No matter what I did to get them to stop. I like to think that were talking about the history content. I mean, they could be, I can't speak Thai. But they probably weren't. Phones went off. Girls giggled. Boys tried to avoid my eye contact. But at the end of class I did feel that they had learned something.

Of course, every student redeemed their naughty behavior by bowing to me and saying, "Thank you, Teacher. Good bye" as they left the classroom. Every single one of them. Can you imagine if American students walked out the door saying thank you. Every time? You may forgive texting during class too!

"Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater." ~Gail Godwin

Our Common Ground

Tonight for dinner my host family took us to a seafood restaurant. The 7 of us piled into the van, Dad drove, Bank the 16 year old son jumped in the front (sound familiar), Mom, Gift, June, Jenna and I climbed into the back. Once we arrived we decided to eat outside. It is “winter” now in Thailand and the evenings are quite nice. Thais eat everything family style. They order several dishes, some rice and some soup for everyone to share. So our host family selects our food for us. They want us to try everything. Thai people are so proud of their food. And they love to eat. It is a very social experience for them. There are very few small tables at the restaurant. Most are made for 5, 6, 7, 8 people to eat. I have also learned that they may order around 15 dishes for the entire meal. You have to really pace yourself because the food comes out at all different times. Very difficult to do when you are sitting in front of brand new dishes that you are dying to eat.

We all sat down and immediately the waitress (who was a lady boy) poured me a Heineken, Bank’s choice. He seems to justify ordering beer to drink because the “special guest” (me) drinks beer. The two of us split a liter of Heineken, which somehow turned into 2 liters. Tonight it seemed that we ate every type of animal that lives in the ocean. Mussels, Clams, Oysters, Crab, Fish, Shrimp, Scallops. Most of which still looked pretty much the same as when it was alive. The shrimp had a head and tail and legs. The crab was still whole. And the fish. It looked as if it was swimming just minutes earlier. But man was it delicious. There are so many sauces to dip and spread all over our tasty sea creatures. It was hard work freeing our meal from their hard shells but well worth the work. When I come home I will be an expert with a spoon and fork. (No knives in Thailand!) The waitress kept bringing plate after plate and by the end of the meal I was completely satisfied and a little drunk. I explained to my host family that Kentucky is very far away from the ocean and we don’t eat fresh seafood like this. Or this much of it!

Then the dessert came. We were served taro root in coconut milk. Surprisingly it was not too sweet! It was delicious. During dessert the conversation shifted back to the English language. Gift asked how to you say the sweet things you eat after dinner. “Dessert”, I said. Then she asked, “How do you say the place with all the sand, like Egypt?” “Desert,” I said. The table laughed. It sounds the same to them. We explained the word sounds different to us because of the emphasis of the stressed syllable. (We are back to this again!) In “dessert” the stress is at the beginning of the word. In “desert” the stress is at the end of the word. A very subtle difference.

At the end of the meal, (no it is not over yet!) we had juicy papaya, pina colada pineapples and the best watermelon I have ever had in the middle of November.

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” James Beard