Teaching in Thailand

I know that there are a few teachers that read this so this one is for you…

The Peace Corps volunteers in Thailand are divided into two groups there are the TCCO volunteers who work in the classroom & teach English and there are the CBOD volunteers who work in the local government offices & work in community development (I am a CBOD volunteer). The TCCO volunteers have a pretty set plan as to what they are supposed to be doing (teaching English & providing teacher training), but the CBOD volunteers have a wide open plan. I can pretty much focus my work on anything I want…if I want to work at the health clinic, work on HIV/AIDS prevention, work with youth, work with small business, work with the farmers, or work at the schools…pretty much anything. During our training, they told us that we are supposed to spend the first year “getting to know your community & their needs & wants” and then the second year is typically when we are to start our projects. They also told us that our community will probably want us to teach English at the schools but that it was up to us if we wanted to do so or not.

Now, I have noooo training whatsoever in teaching, and while I have thought of going back to school to become a teacher, I am a long ways from that point right now. So when my community asked me to teach for an hour at the grade school I reluctantly said yes. I figured that I wasn’t doing anything else (you can only read an issue of Newsweek so many times) and it would be an excellent way of getting out into the community.

I was terrified the first day of class. I had no idea what to expect…the only thing Peace Corps really told the CBOD volunteers about teaching in the classrooms is that the Thai teachers will ask you to come & help out & then leave you all alone with a bunch of students while they go to run errands. But that first day was wonderful. The kids were terrific, we had fun, and the teacher even stayed in the room with me (to act as translator & disciplinarian). I taught at that school for a few weeks before they asked me to teach at another school for two hours, and I couldn’t say no because I still had nothing else to do & I had said yes to one school so I can’t say no to another.

This time it was two classes for one hour each. And again, that first day, the students were wonderful, we had tons of fun, and the teachers stayed in the room to help out. So I was excited, things seemed to be going well, and I wasn’t sitting around with nothing to do. That is until the second week.

When I went back to the second school, the teacher pulled a disappearing act…which wouldn’t be a problem in the schools in America…I can handle those kids no problem! No, I am not talking about the language barrier – I was doing ok with my limited Thai – it was the discipline. These students were little shits!

I was breaking up fights. Students would get up and walk out of the class for no reason, but I also had random students come into the class to listen to me teach (they were actually supposed to be in the next class). I had students climbing up on the furniture. I had students playing games. I had students hitting & kicking other students. I had students sitting along the side of the room completely ignoring me. I think during the worst class, one student bit another student (hard enough to leave deep bite marks) and of the 32 students, only 6 were participating…the rest were sitting in corners or along the side of the room talking.

And there was nothing I could do about it. I tried yelling…they just talked louder. I tried sending students out of the room…they just walked in the other door. I tried not saying anything until they quieted down…it took 15 minutes before they noticed. I guess I shouldn’t say that there was nothing I could do, because there was…in Thailand they hit the students. I have seen teachers hit students along the side of the head. I have seen them slap them, hit them with sticks, pull them by their ears, you name it, I’ve seen it. And I refuse to hit a student.

I was near tears. I had no idea what to do. I hated going to that school & honestly it was pointless because I didn’t get to teach. Finally, I asked my counterpart at the government office to call the school & tell them that Peace Corps will not let the volunteers teach without a Thai teacher in the room…I played it off like there were translation issues & that the students couldn’t understand me, but it worked. I now love these kids too (I now let the Thai teacher deal with the bad kids). We play games, we sing songs, and we joke around…it’s great!

They have asked me to teach for two hours at the high school and again I said yes. I have taught twice now, and neither time had a Thai teacher in the room but so far, the students seem pretty good (other than the one student who videotaped my entire lesson on his cell phone – but that was more odd than anything else). So keep your fingers crossed.

Now I think I have mentioned that the kids in Thailand love foreigners. I have definitely gotten a feel for what it’s like to be a celebrity. At school number 2, the students have started to stop me after class to ask for my autograph. It started with shaking of the hands (they get a big kick out of that here) and then one student asked me to sign my name on their notebook & then all the other kids wanted the same thing…but some of them didn’t have paper…so I was signing hands and arms. Then, one student asked me to write my sister’s name…so I wrote my sister’s name on notebooks, hands, and along arms…then my brother’s, then mother’s, then my father’s. There are little kids walking around with the names of my entire family scrawled across their bodies. The worst was when one student asked me to write my name across her forehead!!!! I’m not joking!!! Her forehead!!! And she wouldn’t leave…so I looked over to the teacher and he just laughed and shrugged…so I signed a girl’s forehead! Luckily her face was a little oily & the pen didn’t write very well. Another kid brought a big black marker and asked me to write my name up his forearm (luckily the girl who wanted her forehead signed had already left).

So if any of you want to know what it’s like to be a celebrity, come to Thailand & teach English to grade school kids!

Oh, and some of the students can’t say Kellie…so I am known as Teacher Harry in one of my schools.

Yummy!!!

It may not look like much, but this is one of the best dinners I have had in Thailand & I think the best bbq chicken I have ever had! A lady down the street from me has started grilling chicken. So now I get to eat bbq chicken and sticky rice "served" on a banana leaf. Yummy!

In other news, I have not been having the best luck with electronics lately. I got back from Chaing Mai (we had a 3 day weekend) and bought this tennis racket that is electrified & you swing it around & it zaps the mosquitos...well, I can't get it to work and I think the mosquitos know what I'm trying to do because they are showing no mercy right now. Then, while in Chaing Mai, I purchased some dvds & can't get them to work (the whole region thing sucks), then I went to take a shower & I have no hot water! Apparently they are cleaning the water tower & now my water pressure is too low (which makes rinsing the shampoo out of my hair very difficult because my shower is just a dribble). I head off to Chaing Rai tomorrow so hopefully they will be done cleaning by the time I get back (it shouldn't be too dirty right?!?)!

Just when you thought it was safe...

As Thai Mother’s Day was on a Sunday, I didn’t have to go to work on Monday. I decided to spend the day doing laundry. I had about 3 weeks saved up because I hate doing it (it takes forever, it is hard, it is hot, and it takes 3 days for your clothes to dry). I did a load in the morning then ate lunch and read for a bit and had just started another load when there was a knock on my door.

It was the two ladies that had come over asking me to “help” with their English homework. They wanted some more help. As I had just started the wash, I asked them if they could come back in an hour as I was doing laundry. When they left, I hurried & got a really large load of wash done.

Now, as I have mentioned previously, we are in the middle of the rainy season, and even though it is not raining as much as it normally does (I’m told that it usually pours in sheets of rain), it still rains quite a bit…so I have strung up a line in my kitchen to hang my clothes to dry (and I will place a fan in front of it so that they dry faster). Well, I was in the process of hanging my clothes when the rope breaks and all of my clean clothes fall to the floor. Luckily they didn’t get dirty so I looked outside to see if I could hang them out there, and it was cloudy & looked like rain. So I retied my rope (it was just quite a bit shorter) and started re-hanging them when the rope breaks again! (Now remember the ladies were coming back in an hour). I had no choice…I had to hang my clothes outside to dry…and if it rained…well, my clothes would still be wet.

The ladies showed up a few minutes after I finished hanging my clothes up to dry (for the third time). While I “helped” them with their homework, they were snooping through my house, looking through my books, looking at my pictures. They stayed for about an hour (it was about 4:30 when they left) and I did some more cleaning until there was another knock on my door. One of the ladies had come back and brought me food! She brought sticky rice & some sausages…which I had for dinner & it was delicious.

When it started to get dark (about 7:00) I went outside to get my clothes…and they were still wet. So I had all of these wet clothes and nowhere to hang them! I looked around my yard, and saw this really long bamboo pole that the Thais use to get papayas out of the tree…it took it inside & propped it up on some boards in my house and hung my clothes from the bamboo pole (I was so proud of myself) then I stuck the fan in front for it to dry faster.

I usually take a shower at 9:00 (when it is this hot you need two showers a day), then turn out all of the lights in the house, and sit in my room and read…and Monday night was no different until I realized that I forgot to put my soda in the fridge. Now ever since reading that scorpions were nocturnal, I have been terrified of walking around my house in the dark. If I have to go anywhere, I grab a flashlight and turn lights on as I go. When I got back to my room, I went to shut the door and saw a scorpion sitting in my doorway. It looked odd…like it had already been smashed so I watched it for a few minutes until I noticed its tail moving. I looked around my room for something to smash it with and only saw books…so I grabbed an empty box and tried to smash it with that but it wasn’t heavy enough & it ran away. And that is when I saw the babies running around! (Scorpions carry their babies on their backs & that is why it looked “odd”). I killed 3 babies but still could not find the adult.

So I would go back and forth between jumping up on my bed and then back to the door to look for more scorpions (I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep without killing the big one). I finally found the adult sitting in the corner of my room...and what was the first thing I did? I grabbed my camera of course!

The "momma" scorpion.

The dead "momma" scorpion.

One of the baby scorpions.

Thai Mother's Day

We had another holiday on Monday (and I am told we have another one next week). This last Sunday was Thai Mother’s Day. It is actually the Queen’s birthday & they also “use” the day to honor their own mothers. They told me that I had to go to an event on Sunday morning at 8:00 (which means they picked me up at 8:50).

When we got to the site, there were a couple hundred people there…the kids were sitting with their school & each school was wearing matching costumes (they had to put on a performance later in the day). We sat toward the back & it seemed like we spent an hour watching people sign a guest book and make “donations” of these weird egg-like things (you see them all over at the temples and around pictures of the King & Queen but I’m not sure what they are).

Then some monks led us in a prayer & then the Mayor got up and said a few words. It was actually very brief considering that I have been to some very long events! When we finished we walked around & some groups had set up booths & were welling different things (baskets, snacks, drinks). Then they had a brief parade & then the kids started their performances.

I’m told that they do spend the day honoring their mothers, but that they have to honor the Queen also as it is her birthday.

I have 23 mosquito bites. On one leg.

Not Rocket Science

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (or even an electrical engineer) to know that it is not a good think when sparks shoot out of the electrical outlet whenever you plug your laptop in. It the snakes, spiders, centipedes, scorpions, dengue, malaria, bird flu, or other parasite/disease doesn’t get me, I will probable get electrocuted.

Note: I have taken to plugging the cord into the outlet first and then the cord into my computer to at least save my computer if anything should happen.

Another note: Bird flu is a big risk here in Thailand. The Peace Corps has issued each volunteer Thamiflu in case there is an outbreak in our area. (Thamiflu is the medicine used to treat bird flu & it is very expensive & fairly hard to get…I have more of the medicine than the local health clinic).

Soggy Tissue

About a month ago, I went into Nan to do some grocery shopping. Now, the family that takes me has a truck and when I finish my shopping, I usually keep a bag of “perishables” up front with me and then tie the rest of the bags shut and stick them in the bed of the truck…which is exactly what I did on this day. Only, on this day it decided to rain. And I mean it POURED! One of the hardest downpours I have seen!

Now I wasn’t too worried about my stuff in the back. I had the important stuff up front with me (bread, milk, and lunchmeat) and the toilet paper, laundry detergent, bottled water, and boxes of tissue were in the back. Yes, I said boxes of tissue…when we got home they were soaked through!

I set the tissue out and hoped that it would dry, but it has been a month and I find that if I use more than one sheet at a time they are still wet…and starting to smell of mildew. I hate to throw out a box of tissue, but the stuff is not drying and I don’t know what to do. I could take it out of the box, but then the bugs will get into it & I foresee it becoming a mess. Does anyone have any suggestions? (I never though I would ask someone how you get a box of tissue to dry!)

The Post Office & The Mop

I FINALLY got to go to the post office by myself! How did I convince my coworkers to let me go you may ask…I didn’t ask them. I totally pulled a teenager move and “snuck out.” I had to ride my bike to the school to teach in the afternoon (from 1:00-3:00) and when I finished I just went straight to the post office (even though my office is between the school and the post office). The entire trip took me about an hour and I was completely sweaty and disgusting by the time I got home (it was 95 outside)…but I did it by myself! I’ll probably let my coworkers go for me for now on as it is very hot out, but I just wanted to show them that I could do it myself – that it wasn’t too far! *Side note: The guy at the post office told me that he had a Peace Corps volunteer teach him English years ago at his school.*

When I got home, a couple of ladies that work at the day care came over and asked me if I would help them with their English homework. Which meant that I pretty much did it all. Even though my Thai is pretty good, it was still very difficult trying to explain that they needed to draw a family tree and that you needed to put your parents’ name here, your name here, your husband’s name here, etc. They also had a section that had to do with syllables…the worksheet had Italy listed as 2 syllables and unless I completely misunderstood that lesson in school it only has 2 (right?!?)

Anyway, as I was “helping” them with their homework, one of the ladies gets up & walks into my house (we were working on my front porch). She goes into my kitchen, gets my mop, and starts mopping my floor!!! Now I’ll admit that I don’t sweep my floor EVERY day like the Thais do (I just get too bored with it), but my house is far from dirty! I also felt bad because the Thais do not put things on their floors & I have stuff all over…stacks of books, shoes, my suitcase, a pile of laundry that I was sorting.

Anyway, I have never had to deal with random people (I have met them once) coming over to my house and just grabbing a mop. They are coming over again tomorrow & I don’t know what I should do…maybe it’s a sign that I should mop before they come over (hmm), but I have a feeling that then they will go on to something else (like maybe my stacks of books sitting on the floor).

Wait a minute, why am I complaining here…someone other than me just mopped my floor for me!

Another English Camp

I feel like I have been away from my site quite a bit recently. First there was PST II (training) and then last week I went to another volunteer’s site to help out at an English Camp. I left my site on Wednesday and got back on Saturday, but Monday and Tuesday were holidays so I did not make it to the office at all last week! And I am going to be out of site even more…in a couple of weeks, a volunteer’s sister is coming to visit so we are all heading to Chaing Mai to meet her (we will be there for the weekend), then my counterpart just told me that she wants to take me to Chaing Rai the weekend after that for a conference with the daycare teachers, and then in early September a volunteer in my group is getting married to a Thai woman & we are all going to try to go to the wedding. But anyway, let me tell you all about the other volunteer’s site…

Melanie’s site is in Jangwat (kinda like a state) Lampang which is a 4 hour bus ride from my site (in the direction of Chaing Mai though Chaing Mai is 6 hours away). She picked us (there were 2 other volunteers helping out) at the bus station and then we had about an hours ride to her village. Her house is totally cute & I am completely jealous. It is on stilts and is about a third the size of mine (which is perfect because cleaning a large house here is a pain!) She has two bedrooms & a bathroom (with western toilet & shower). Although, I am glad that I have a “kitchen” (even though my stove doesn’t work) & I don’t have to wash my dishes in my bathroom sink.

We stayed the night at her house & again my reputation is in ruins as gasp I slept in the same room as two males. Her landlord was shocked that people of the opposite sex were sleeping in the same room & commented on it repeatedly. We woke up early in the morning & left for the national park (which was where the camp was being held). The park had a waterfall (which we did not see because we were too lazy to hike up there) and some hot springs (which we did see & they were not the kind you could swim in).

There were about 140 students ages 10-12 at the camp and 40 Thai teachers helping out. The camp was surprisingly well planned out (I say surprisingly because it is common to be told that everything is planned and then told that you have come up with a 2 hour event in 5 minutes). But they broke the kids into 7 groups and had different stations for the kids to go to. We just had to do some large group activities which involved playing games with the kids & then we were free to “help out” at whatever station we wanted to.

They also gave us stickers to give to the kids if they spoke English. I was a bit “mean” in that I would go up to the kids and start asking them questions like “How are you?” or “How old are you?” and if they could answer then I would give them a sticker (but most commonly they would look at me with sheer panic and run away). One time, I was heading to the restroom when I came across a group of girls that I knew could speak pretty good English so I stopped to ask them questions & they all received stickers. Then one of the girls stuck out her hand for me to shake (they get a big kick out of this) and then they all had to shake my hand…when I got to one little girl she just smiled at me and then “leapt” into my arms to give me a hug. After that a few other girls also gave me hugs and did the sniff (the sniff is a bit like a kiss on the cheek except they sniff you…I have no idea why). I then went to the restroom & when I came out I found another group of kids to ask questions and as soon as I pulled out the stickers I was mobbed by kids…I seriously had at least 75 kids all clamoring for stickers. I ran out in like 5 minutes & headed back into the building to get more (and I also told the other volunteers that they needed to get out there to start handing out stickers). As soon as I stepped outside I was again surrounded by kids (I can only imagine that this is a bit what celebrities go through). Finally one of the teachers made the kids get into a line so that it was somewhat orderly. When I ran out of stickers (again) I looked over & two of the other volunteers were also outside with long lines of kids waiting for stickers. I headed over there & as soon as some of those kids saw me they handed me their name tags for stickers. I explained that I was out & they asked me to sign their tags…so I stood out there & probably signed all of the kids’ nametags/books (again I felt a bit like a celebrity giving autographs).

As the camp was two days, we stayed the night in a really nice guesthouse that was near the park (this time the females were in one room & the males were in another). We ventured out into the village (looking for ice cream) and came across a really neat Wat (temple) and by the time we got back they had dinner ready for us – which I have to say was excellent.

At the end of the camp, a driver took the guys into Lampang to catch a bus to Chaing Mai & I went back to Melanie’s (if I had taken the bus that night, I would have gotten into Nan at 10:00 at night and would have had no way to get to my house). Mel & I went and got our hair blown out at her neighbor’s house (she runs a salon) and then watched a movie on my computer…very relaxing after all of the activity of the previous two days.

All in all, it was great…my only complaint would be the number of mosquito bites I got…I swear I am going to get dengue at least once before my service is through. (You can get dengue more than once because there are different strains of the virus.)