Free Bird

Last week I attended a party. A party here in the Isan region basically means that one sits around on straw mats on the ground and drinks whiskey sodas or a beer with ice, cooks meat on a fire and listens to blaringly loud music. This party was a goodbye party for a teacher leaving Wangasae to teach at a new school. The party was being held next door to my house and when I arrived I was handed a big bowl of “moo” (Thai for pig) that had just been pulled off the fire. They then gave me a glass of beer, with no ice per my pleadings, but seemed to think it was strange I did not want my beer on ice and kept offering it to me. I proceeded to eat my “moo” and pantomime/ talk with my friends. Loud Thai music was playing and occasionally someone would jump up and dance or enthusiastically start clapping and going “uh uh uh” to the beat. It was a fun time, everyone was relaxed, things were good and bellies were full…or so I thought.

I then heard a horrible shrieking, screaming noise by the fire. There is a baby, named Telephone, who lives with her parents at my school and I thought perhaps it was her, restless at being held for so long. Yet when I turned around it was a chicken, being held upside down by the flames having its feet tied together. The bird was shrieking and clucking, objecting fully to what was happening to it. My fellow teacher, who was holding the poor creature, looked at me and said,

“Kate! Fried chicken!” He looked incredibly pleased with himself. He then placed the chicken upside down in a plastic bucket at the edge of the gathering and put the lid on. The chicken continued to shriek and scream in the bucket. I told people that this was somewhat hard for me as in America we never really see the meat before it is meat.

Fifteen minutes passed and the chicken grew silent. I assumed he had suffocated and said a little chicken pray to myself for the poor bird and tried to think of an excuse to walk away so I wouldn’t have to watch them pluck it, drain it of blood and chop it up to put on the fire. I thought that putting the thing in a bucket to kill it was pretty inhumane and contemplated briefly becoming a vegetarian as I nibbled on my remaining “moo”, which was delicious!

Next thing I know the bucket EXPLODES! The chicken somehow kicked the lid off and threw itself out of the container. Everyone had had their fair share of alcoholic beverages so at first no one could do anything but look on in surprise and make shocked exclamations. The chicken madly kicked around on the ground and somehow got its legs untied and took off, running faster than I have ever seen a chicken run, into the night. People started yelling and trying to catch the bird, flailing wildly at it as it ran past them towards the woods. I started screaming “wing ghai, wing!” (Which translates to“run chicken run!”) I seemed to be the only chicken cheerleader of the group, as everyone else was running after it or getting flashlights to try and find it in the woods. They looked for that chicken for the rest of the night, but never found him. Needless to say we did not dine on fried chicken. That was one free bird and one unforgettable party.

New Year, New Adventures

It was a great adventure. Ten days off with good friends to explore a new part of Thailand. It started off with a bang. Patricia and I headed into town together to catch our Bus to Pattaya. Usually it’s fairly easy to catch a ride into town. One can either flag down one of the large buses that travel between provinces or wait for a baht bus; often time’s people stop just because you are white, or they are the friend or a friend of someone who knows you so therefore by extension they know you, and give you a ride. However, Tricia and I walked along the side of the road for 45min to no avail. Eventually two old men grew bored watching us wait and decided to offer us a ride on their motorbikes. Worried we would miss our bus if we didn’t take the ride we said yes and each jumped on the back of a bike and took off. We wore our packs on our backs and let the wind whip our hair as the men whipped in and out of traffic, beeping at everyone we passed so that they could show off how fortunate they were to have young white girls on the back of their motorcycles. Twenty minutes later we arrived at our bus stop safe, though a little upset the men decided to charge a ridiculous amount upon arrival at the bus…but it was well worth it for the story…

Pattaya was a whole crazy, different story. It wants so badly to be like Las Vegas, yet it only is similar in its neon signs. During the day the city is full of shoppers or those just back from the beach. At night it transforms into a giant brothel. Go-go dancers show their best moves in windows on the street, prostitutes stalk the hordes of tourists for their next customer and men try to convince you to go see “best ping pong show”. One bar advertised “lady drink specials”, being innocent and naïve I assumed they were having a ladies night sort of thing, or having a special on a fruity cocktail with umbrellas. However, when I enquired it turned out the “special” was a discounted rate for “working girls” who wanted to come in and take a break with a cold one. Needless to say we spent our days on the nearby islands that were just a ferry ride away, and as far away from the sex tourism as possible. One day we also went to nearby Jamtien Beach, a more family friendly area, with little shops and the best bakery I have seen in Thailand thus far. It was heaven to float in the water and lie in the sand. The ocean is gorgeous here and I cannot wait to explore the more secluded beaches and islands in the south.

On the Streets of Pattaya

ahh..the beach..

Bangkok was a giant after living so long in our sleepy Nahkon Phanom. It was almost shocking to see so many giant buildings and so many people, plus the city stayed awake! In NKP the city is dead by about 9pm, but Bangkok was never quiet. Plus there were many, many foreigners there so no one pointed, stared or shouted at us as we walked by. Our first day there all us girls searched for fun dresses to wear for New Years, we wanted to embrace the freedom of a city that didn’t shudder at the sight of shoulder, after which we went dancing on Khao San Rd. Khao San Rd. is an area that caters to the back-packing crowd and penny pinchers. The street is lined with small merchants, restaurants, cafes and bars. We found ourselves lost in a sea of other white travelers out on the dance floor and almost forgot we were in Thailand for a few minutes.

On New Year’s Eve we splurged on an Italian restaurant and it was delicious! We then went to a big Club to dance the night away and ring in 2010 (or 2553 if you are Thai!) and were among only a handful of other foreigners and had a really good time. However, there was no real dance floor! Shin height tables littered the floor and people danced in place around them. The bar (in typical Thai fashion) only sold with full bottles of whiskey or vodka, or bottles of beer, that was it! The bar also had about ten people standing behind it, but only one person working; I guess the others were there for moral support. It was a fabulous evening and it was thrilling to get dressed up and be out on the town. Getting home was a little crazy though, no cab was willing to turn on their meter (a common scam to get more money) so we ended up all having to cram into one cab. Eight people in one cab was ridiculous but luckily we all though it was hilarious, especially the cab driver who bumped american pop music, giggled the whole ride, and posed for pictures with us.

New Year's

Our crazy cab ride

The next day I settled into the New Year by going to a movie! It was my first time at a Thai movie theatre and it was spectacular. The seats were amazing; I almost feel asleep they were so comfortable. For a few extra baht you can also sit on giant, plush sofas in the back row…hilarious! Before the movie started there was a slide show of the King, pictures of him at all ages, and everyone in the theatre stood to sing the national anthem. The movie was in English so for two hours I soaked in the sounds of my native tongue and left the theatre rejuvenated and ready…to eat a giant burrito! Yes that’s right...we found Mexican food...and it was amazing.

Saturday the 2^nd we took a boat ride down the river to see the sights, such as the Grand Palace. It was beautiful! We also took some time to stock up on little souvenirs to bring back for our fellow teachers, as it is Thai custom to bring small gifts to friends when returning from a journey. I only wish I had more time to explore Bangkok, but I will be back. We headed back to NKP that evening and arrived on the morning of the 3^rd.

Since returning home I have been settling back into my teaching routine and have be scolded many times by my roommates and fellow teachers for letting my skin get black and “ugly” while at the beach. Ah, good to be home!

Merry Christmas!!

I had a very Merry Christmas in Thailand! I taught my students Jingle Bells, and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. We decorated a wall of the class room with paper snow flakes, I had a white Christmas!

The spirit of Christmas can be anywhere if you have the right attitude, and I am grateful for the fun I had with my students and their excitment to celebrate the holiday with me.

I am on my way to the bus station right now to spend a few days at the beach and then ring in the New Year in Bangkok. I am looking forward to swimming in the ocean and playing in the sand. I also cannot wait to find a pizza in Bangkok and see a movie! I wish you all a happy New Year and will post again when I get back next year!!! Happy Holidays...

"No Worry"

My roommate is getting married. This should be happy news, it should be cause for celebration, but I find myself yet again trying to accept a cultural difference that makes me upset. Pe Pom is not marrying for love, because “love no eat.” She is marrying a man who was able to give her family enough money for her hand in marriage that they can now buy a farm. Pe Pom says,

“No love him. He old man, ugly. I love mother, I love money."

I find myself biting my tongue and nodding, saying I understand. Everything inside me wants to tell her she does not have to do this, everything I learned in “Women’s Studies” in college runs through my mind and I fight the urge to spout American feminism to her, the urge to tell her to assert her independence and self worth. It’s hard to remember that she accepts this as normal; this is what is expected of her and what she expects of herself. While her marriage may seem shocking to me, it is normal to her. When I try to explain to her that in America this does not happen she simply says,

“America no poor. All rich.”

I have given up arguing with this statement, for though every American may not be rich in monetary ways we are all rich in other ways I am only just now beginning to understand, and used to take for granted. To Pe Pom the idea that people in America would not get married if they did not love one another is just as shocking as her marriage is to me. I ask if she is nervous or frightened about her pending nuptials and she simply says,

“I know worry”.

This is the Thai motto. I am constantly told to “no worry”, to accept what is happening and trust that things will be as they should, and that the act of smiling through fear, angry, sadness and confusion helps to diffuse any situation. So I take a deep breath, wish her happiness, give her a big smile and “no worry” anymore.

The little things..

It’s the little things that make you realize you feel at home that are the most important while living abroad. Its not the big trips or wild adventures that matter most but the small moments that make you smile and bridge the culture you are from to the culture you now live in.

Last week I allowed students to play with and braid my hair. It sounds like nothing, but this simple act, this girly activity, finally connected me to the students I spend everyday with. Letting them brush and braid my hair made me somehow more real to them, less scary and intimidating. Plus it was comforting to me as anyone who knows me knows that having my head “petted” is my number one comfort. After finishing my French braid the students stayed gathered around me to talk and giggle. They tried harder to communicate with me than they ever had and followed me around for the rest of the afternoon. Everyday after classes students now come to talk to me, they sit near me during extracurricular activities and run to help me when I am carrying my things to school, greeting me in English with smiles and waves. Students now approach me without the shyness and fear they previously had. They now take the time to communicate with me, to learn new words and phrases while we are not even in class. If I had known that letting them play with my hair would have had such a dramatic effect I would have done it weeks ago!

I also introduced my roommates to American music the other night as well. I plugged my I-pod into its speaker and danced and sang to music while helping to prepare dinner. Before I knew it my two female roommates were dancing along with me and we were having a full blown dance party. We laughed and sang together, and made up silly dance moves. The atmosphere of my house completely changed and we had the most carefree and fun evening I have had thus far in my new home with my roommates. Plus they gave me the greatest compliment of all, they said I danced like Michael Jackson!

It was important for me to realize that I can implement parts of my culture into my home. I do not have to completely ignore the parts of American culture that make me feel comforted and happy, I can bring them into my new life here as well. It’s this act of sharing and learning from one another that makes each day exciting and new and connects me to my new Thai friends and students. It just took me a little time to see that I had to look at all the differences as possibilities to connect rather than reasons to be separate.

Elephants, Girl Scouts and Turkey

It has been an exciting ten days! On November 20th the other volunteers and I headed to Surin, a city on the border of Cambodia, for the annual Elephant Roundup. It was amazing! One of our former Thai language teachers and her friend came along with us to act as guides. We headed down Friday after school and arrived at about 10pm. We met another former teacher at Surin where we stayed in one of the dirtiest hotels I have ever seen in my life. The sheets and towels were stained, there was a used prophylactic in one room, holes in the ceilings and mysterious scuttling noises through out the night. Yet the next morning we headed to the "Elephant Show" and all the misery of the previous night melted away and seemed a fair price to pay for such an amazing experience.

Upon arriving at the stadium we found our seats and then wandered around the many vendors. A few of us went to the "back stage area" where we met some of the elephants! It was the highlight of my trip to Thailand thus far. I received a hug and a kiss from an elephant!

me getting an elephant hug!

Me getting kissed by an elephant

Elephant kiss evidence!

After that we headed back into the stadium to watch the elephants preform. They were amazing and very talented. They painted, played darts, danced, played a game of soccer and re-enacted epic battles. They even played tug-of -war with a few lucky people (one of whom was me!!!) It was a magical day and I loved every minute of it.

This past week I finally received my girl scout uniform! Its pretty funny...it is complete with all the trimmings: beret, green socks, scarf and epaulets.

this is how a scout salutes

Me with some other teachers...or should I say scouts!

It was hilarious to wear the uniform all day. They students really seemed to like it and kept telling me how pretty I looked which always made me laugh. I think it was just fun for them to see me in something that is so familiar to them . When I first put on the outfit my roommates yelled "Not fat!" so I think they were surprised that such a big scout uniform could look nice.

This past weekend I celebrated Thanksgiving with my fellow volunteers. We even managed to find a turkey. (OK my Field Director found the turkey, God bless her!) It really felt like a holiday, even if we did eat our feast on mats on the floor. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, salad, green bean casserole, french bread, stuffing (it was a creative effort) and cake. It was a very fun evening and being together really made it seem like the real thing though we celebrated a few days late. It is wonderful how close we all are and how much I value the time we spend together, they truly are my family here and it is them I feel most thankful for. This experience would not be the same with out their companionship and support.

Off to start another week of teaching and adventure, see you next post!

Another Update...Finally!

Again, I am sorry that it took me so long to put up a post! Internet works rarely where I live, I am lucky if I have it for an hour everyday. However, that is no excuse and I will do my best to write AT LEAST once a week.

I am settling into my routine and finally beginning to feel like a real teacher. I no longer feel so shocked at my surroundings or the things going on around me, though I have to say it does feel as though I have been in Thailand longer than a month and a half. I now think of my house and bedroom as home and am learning to handle my isolation from the other volunteers quite well. I don’t even think twice about bucket showers anymore and am getting the hang of doing my laundry mostly by hand. I love going to the local market with my new Thai friends to pick out dinner and see students and their families. I am usually driven around in the “school bus” which is a pick up truck with a cage around the back with two benches along the side, its pretty funny. I have been on a motorci (what they call a scooter) twice but they think I am too big to ride on the back…

I consider the other teachers at the school my family, everyone calls me Nong Sao (younger sister) and I am always cared for. Every day after school the teachers all mingle around the teacher housing cooking, eating, talking, singing and playing the Thai version of Bocce Ball, Pah Dong. The other evening we all went out to dinner and had a lovely time and laughed for hours. Last week they took me to Karaoke in a small hole in the wall bar in the local village, however I was unable to join in because I cannot read Thai! So instead they insisted I dance and taught me some more Thai dance steps. Every Thursday after the students leave all the teachers get together and have a sports day, we play soccer and more pah dong and basket ball, it is very fun and extremely entertaining, no one is particularly gifted in sports!

In the Thai schools there are certain days that you must wear very specific things. On Monday the teachers wear their teacher uniforms (the look almost like military uniforms) and the students wear a school uniform of white oxford shirts and blue shorts or skirts. On Tuesday everyone wears a pink shirt in honor of the King of Thailand. On Wednesday everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, wears a Thai Boy Scout or Girl Scout uniform. Here everyone must participate in the scouting program; it does not seem to be an option like in the U.S. On Thursday teachers wear shirts from whichever province they are from, I wear a Nakhon Phanom shirt, and Fridays people can choose what to wear.

It has been pretty interesting figuring it all out. Last week I was given a special pink polo shirt to wear on Tuesday’s and I was measured for my very own scout uniform for Wednesdays! I was measured in front of all the other teachers (the tailor would then yell out the measurements for his assistant to write down…very embarrassing!) and afterwards the other teachers said to me “Big Scout!”, but I had to laugh at it. I think it is funny that they want me to be included in the Scout Day, they felt badly that I was the only person not in uniform and they did not want me to feel left out. One less day to stare in my wardrobe wondering what to wear and it will be an instant Halloween costume for years to come, plus its custom made!

I am starting my third week of teaching and it is going slowly but well. I have had a few problems with fellow teachers, from witnessing some corporal punishment to them telling me that a class is “problematic because they are stupid.” Yet I love the students! I can tell they want to learn, they are just scared. I am trying to work on getting them comfortable speaking but it is like pulling teeth! Last week I did a listening activity in my upper level classes to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” and it was a hit. I printed out the lyrics and then pulled a few words out so that students had to listen to fill in the blanks. They loved the song, and come into my office often to tell me “Teacher! Enjoy song Dancing Queen, sing?” I give them the song to listen to and they stand in the hallway with my Ipod and speaker and pull out the lyrics and sing along, it is awesome and hiliarious and always makes me think of family vacations where Dad would play ABBA all the time…

I am still getting used to many aspects of being a teacher here, it is so different than the US! Students line up every morning for the raising of the flag and teachers walk down the line checking student's fingernails and hair. If they think a student's hair is too long they cut the student's hair, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The student is forced to allow the teacher to chop their hair, which usually comes out patchy and uneven and is obviously very embarrassing to the students. Teachers also use the students to do everything! Students carry teacher's lunches from the school building to the canteen, carry bags, and even do all the dishes and other cleaning that needs to be done. No janitors here, all students! I just keep reminding myself that it is just cultural differences...on the plus side students are very respectful, they always offer to help you, never talk back, and always greet you with some sign of respect.

This coming weeked of November 20^th the other volunteers and I are headed to the town of Surin, boardering Cambodia, for the “Elephant Roundup”, and I am so excited! It will be an amazing once in a life time experience, trainers and their elephants come from all over to show off their skills, there is even a morning when the elephants serve breakfast. Elephants will also be painting pictures and t-shirts, and I am hoping I get the opportunity to ride one!