The Flautist

When I was a kid (ok, I was in high school) the trumpet really confused me.  You see, I always pictured a piano when I thought of all the different notes to play and I only saw 3 "keys" on a trumpet.  It didn't add up.  I knew it was ridiculous to 1. assume I knew anything about music, and 2. ignore the fact that not only was I proven wrong by every jazz song ever written, but the history of trumpet playing went far back before I was even born, but it, for some reason always bugged me.  I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it still kind of trips me up if I think about it too long and that a trumpeter can play as many sounds as a pianist is a fact that I merely tolerate and not fulling understand. 

Well, the Thai language is like a trumpet.  Sometimes, I feel like there are only 3 different syllables that make up the entire language; It's the order they are said in and, of course, the tones that are employed that give you different words. 

This beautiful (albeit, byzantine and perhaps baffling) analogy is brought to you by Piriyalai School Sports Day 2016.  For weeks now, since the beginning of the semester, we have sacrificed teaching our B-level important subjects like math, science, English, Thai, history, Buddhism, etc. so that the students could practice for this insane event whose magnitude I had not even pondered, let alone fully comprehended.  Basically, there was a mini-Olympics in the making, complete with opening and closing ceremonies, in the making and I had no idea.  

One of the Thai teachers explained to us that we had to come to "Sports Day" and, I'll admit, I was a little disappointed.  What I was expecting, you see, was not at all what we got.  For one, I anticipated unbearable boredom in the hot sun.  When we got a text asking us if we wanted to participate in a 3000m race among the teachers, "mildly irked" almost turned into "full-out panic mode."  I really need to learn that things that would normally be uncomfortable or downright miserable elsewhere, are actually made into completely magical wonderlands in Thailand.

The first thing to tip me off to something truly special, were the costumed students lined up in a parade.  

These are STUDENTS.

Again, STUDENTS!!!!

The best analogy of the event depends on which part you look at.  The beginning parade was Hunger Games.  All of the costumed kids were the tributes from each district.  After the parade, the ceremonial torch was lit (I kid you not)- the olympics.  And all of the teachers sitting righteously in the stands, lording over the peasants performing amazing physical feats for our enjoyment?  Straight out of "A Knights Tale."  I half expected them to announce the joust!

We have parades in the states.  Heck, he had parades in Mexico.  This was, somehow, not even a parade.  It was unlike anything I had ever seen or experienced.  I had a moment when I realized that even if I'd had the day off while the other teachers and students observed "Sport's Day," I could not have paid to have so much fun!

We arrived at 8am, but the event didn't start until 9:09.09.  I'm not being silly and I'm not exaggerating.  My Thai teacher friend, Rabbit and I were walking around the food booths (because what's a sporting event without fried food and more cotton candy than anyone can imagine?) and something said in Thai over the loud speaker made her giggle.

"What's that?"  I asked (I know you are all waiting for the blog post when I say otherwise but I still can't speak Thai).

"They just announced that they've decided to wait to start until 9:09.09.  Nine is a lucky number here..."

I'll say.

The best thing about watching a line of incredibly extravagantly dressed people representing their school, community and nation, was that I recognized a lot of them as my own students!  I felt like I knew celebrities.  The event was so big that thats how they all looked to me- olympic athletes or Hunger Games tributes.  The best moment was when one of my favorite students walked by making up a leg of one of the gestorial thrones.  I waved at him, not thinking about his huge responsibility to safely carry another student, and he casually readjusted the handle and waved back.  His teammates threw mini fits and yelled at him for throwing off their balance but the regal student atop his throne wasn't even perturbed.

You know how else I know Thailand is different from the states?  Temperatures reach 100+ degrees Fahrenheit and 12 kids (and those are only the ones I saw) pass out as a result?  You better believe things are reconsidered and perhaps even postponed.  Not in Thailand.  There was a quartet of uniformed high school boys who ran out on the field with a stretcher every time one of their classmates lost consciousness and they were whisked away so the remaining events could continue as normal.  A joke was even made (translated for me later) that the young EMTs in training could have won all of the running races themselves.   

Rabbit told me that it isn't uncommon for schools to spend 100,000,000‎฿ on one of these events.  See how the Olympic comparisons never stop?  It's like a school version of a wedding but it's private.  It's not even an inter-high school competition!  To be honest, although I was at first, I'm no longer curious about where that money went, (why is went, yes, but not what it was spent on).  Apart from fireworks, there wasn't a stop that wasn't pulled out.  The cheerleading competitions used dry ice for god's sakes and released birds.  Their human pyramids were 40 people high and their dances couldn't have been more in sync if the kids were literally robots.  The band and color guard performances could have easily been on battle of the bands.

Me and Rabbit!

All in all, Sports Day may be one of my favorite things yet!  I can't wait for the next time Thailand comes out of nowhere to put that ^^ crazy smile on my face!

Return to blogging...

There is a great Jim Gaffigan joke where he voices his frustration with Catholic Mass; "Ever been to one?"  He asks, "Well, it's still going on!"

The same, apparently, can be said about a Buddhist ceremony.  I would even go as far as to say that the one I went to a couple weekends ago would rival any religious service in any country on any continent when it came to length.  Remember how we wandered into a temple and met a great monk who spoke amazing English and invited us to a ceremony for the King?  It would be from 1-3pm he told us but, come early!  There would be food.  Well, lets just say I only left around 5pm and in the words of Gaffigan, "It was still going on."

Don't get me wrong.  The day was by no means wasted!  In fact, I am was very happy I went and it wasn't just the endless mounds of free food and delicious drinks (Thai, green, and honey teas to name a few, that were the most amazing things I've tasted in forever) that make me say that.  It was all in all, just the kind of cultural experience I love to stumble upon.  I would say that even as the service slipped well past the aforementioned 3pm end time, I remained super calm, sitting upright and proper with one end of a white string tied around my skull and the other end dangling from the ceiling of the tent we were all under.  My patience and apparent Buddhist behavior got me lots of approving looks from all the old Thai ladies seated around me.  Many began to outright grin at me after the 4th hour, but by the 5th, they could have threw Baht at me and I wouldn't have stayed.

The thing that was most frustrating about sitting in the heat, outside of the temple (no women are allowed inside during the ceremony lest the monks get distracted by our beauty and guiles), was the Return of the King number of fake endings that we all had to suffer through.  I understood not a single word that was said (I'm not even sure it was all Thai) but I haven't lived abroad all this time without learning how to comfortably and blatantly copy the behaviors of everyone around me to reach a certain end.  That being said, when everyone else started to unravel the yarn from their crowns and roll it in a little ball hanging from the tent, I didn't miss a beat, calming doing the same as if I was the one leading by example.  It did sound like things were wrapping up, anyway, the incessant chanting was significantly slowing.  No sooner had everyone successfully disentangled themselves, did the chanting recommence.  Minutes later, I noticed we were all returning to our former positions to continue listening, unloosing, once again, the white thread from where it hung.

The cycle repeated itself about 4 times, with an uncharacteristic zen attitude overcoming my generally restless self.  I was genuinely impressed with my ability to sit (and practically meditate as it's not like I was able to mentally participate in the sea of Thai) for so long.  Yes, I reminded myself that part of chi is not complimenting yourself on it, but I couldn't help notice how I was making some sort of break through.  When the clock struck 5, however, almost on the dot, I fell apart.  There is no other way to put it.  I couldn't get out of there fast enough and I haven't been back since.  I was next door at my favorite cafe a week later and it occurred to me to take a quick peak to see if the shriveled, sun dried corpses of the other partitioners (is this a cross-religious word that is applicable in this instance?) were still lined up around the temple, bodies maintained erect by the thin, white chord laced like a crown around their scalps.

A week ago, was the festival of lights, Loy Krathong.  It is actually something that I've wanted to experience even before I knew it was a Thai tradition.  The way you picture it, everyone gathers to let off a million fire lanterns over some huge body of water somewhere in representation of releasing private demons.  Well, maybe you weren't aware, but the king died?  So... there was not really a Loy Krathong this year. 😒  I think it is safe to say that a proper answer for, "Why Thailand?" at one point for me could have been; "There is this fabulous festival that I want to check out!  Looks like I'll even be there for it this year!"  There was a lite version, though, and if I close my eyes and pretend that I never saw the pictures online of the full blown out affair, I'd say that it was rather special, after all.  We bought mini floats made out of hollowed out coconuts and flowers and lit candles and incense.

One of the coolest things about Loy Krathong night for me though, was getting called out BY NAME  by one of my students!  There were a lot of kids there and it isn't completely random to see some from my classes out and about in Phrae (it's small) but to be called by my name was a more moving experience than I had expected it would be.  Walking between classes and around school, everyone says, "Hello, Teacher!" or, their personal favorite no matter what time of day it is, "Afternoon, Teacher!"  It always makes me smile and wave, of course, but I kind of took it for granted that none of them had bothered to actually learn my name, since my mere title could be applied to many.  I'm just "Teacher" because it's not something everyone has to relearn every semester and I can't say I blame them.  Needless to say, when I saw the girl who said "Hi" again in class, I made a point to remember her name too (a feat harder for me since I have over 800 students).  It's "Ning" by the way.

Me and my white string.

Here's my Loy Krathong.  Look, I'm wearing black.

This picture was chosen to be featured on XploreAsia's instagram!  Yay!

New favorite café.  Check out the awesome color of the walls.

At first she was unsure of me.  She yelled and yelled, willing me to leave, but I obviously don't take kindly to being disliked by wee puff balls.  I made her love me instead, and it's just as well.  I mean, we have the same hair...

Delicious Thai Milk Green Tea.

I've been really needing to employ the use of the panoramic shot more and more here in Thailand.  You can't really get the full impression of how amazing this country is through the lens of a camera, much less 2D... this is only a little better.   

New friends who wanted pictures with the fulangs.  It's the Saturday market! 

Found another dog.  I've completely stopped apologizing for these puppy pics.

  

http://www.bloggingabroad.org/?s=Jesi

กระแต

When we were kids, did we really think our teachers couldn't see us when we had our phones in our laps?  I mean, was that supposed to be sneaky?  We weren't even looking up at the teacher and it was obvious that we weren't paying attention... Oh man, you know what it is?  Haha (this is a natural progression piece, I'm just writing as I think) In high school, I don't think I even had a phone like these new fangled deals we have today.  Even if I did though, I hope I would have been a lot smarter about it.  Like, hands awkwardly fiddling under a sweatshirt on the table?  Really?  Is that the best you can do?   Whatcha got under there?  A kitten?  Or (and this might be my personal favorite) hiding the phone inside the desk at the very back part under sheets of paper and pens.  You honestly don't think I'm gonna come by and bust you, with your attention so focused downwards like that?  What other reason could you have for being so fascinated by the inside of your desk that your head is all twisted and bent on your neck?  That position can not be less uncomfortable than learning some English.  

Rant over.

Oh, nope.  Wait a minute.  Another wave is coming...  I'm staring right into your eyes and my hand is gesturing directly at your body, do you really think I'm talking to the person behind you?  Or the one behind ME?  And person behind you, STOP trying to help a buddy out, I'm clearly not talking to you so don't answer me.  How do you kids not know who I'm talking to?  I will not yield until the chosen one has chosen to respond so you might as well bite the bullet already so we can move on.

This past week, I taught 10 classes about social media.  The irony was not lost on me.  After just the first time I made my class repeat, "Did you like my status?" I had a sharp moment where I was floored that it had come to teaching narcissism in two languages.  I hate facebook, yet here I am teaching little Thai kids how to properly pronounce the social media website's name.  At least I got "Instagram" and "Snapchat" across to them as well.  Bottom line is that they are learning sentence structure and new words no matter what.  "Social Media" was the topic that my agency suggested to me, I'm probably going to finish out the unit but I was told that it wasn't totally required to use their material.  However, it is the world we live in and it's not necessarily all bad anyway.

Most of my classes are delightful, or if not delightful than at least manageable.  I feel like, if I get through the majority of my lesson plan I'm a success.  Really, they are all repeating after me and I'm being diligent about pronunciation, so what else is there that I can do?

However, just as there are good classes, some are just dreadful.  After one particularly terrible experience in which I didn't even get through 3/4 of the material because getting responses was worse than pulling teeth, I went back, defeated, to my office.  A Thai teacher friend of mine asked what was up and I told her such and such class was miserable.  She exchanged looks with another teacher and went, "Oh, you mean the ghost team!"  This class had literally received a reputation among the teachers for sleeping all the time and not participating in class. Great.  At least I knew it wasn't just me boring the daylights out of them.

Found out the other day that we'd been lied to and that the "wear whatever you want outside of school after only a month of mourning" was a little, well, freaking wrong.  It must have been merely premature, telling us that after only a week in the mourning biz, but nevertheless the black wearing is here to stay.  I'm afraid that the principle of the whole thing is really putting a damper on a lot of stuff and I know that sounds very petty and small-minded but no one has every told any of you reading this that they have to wear or do something in your free time that entirely shuts out your freedom of expression.  Dressing professionally at work or in a uniform at school is not the same as telling you, "Ok, for one year you have to walk around being SAD about the loss of something that you've only known to happy about for a few weeks."  I wear black wristbands that say, "I was born in the reign of King Buhmibol" in Thai, I wear black clothes and when I wear white or brown I still have my black ribbon on to show my continued loyalty.

As I was feeling down about this, a Thai teacher friend of mine told me that 100 years ago, it was white that people had to wear when the King died.  They also had to shave their heads, so... I guess things could be worse.

On Thursday, we had a marty (mini-party) to celebrate the new teachers (that's me!).  It was after school and we ate delicious Thai food in a private room at a restaurant and they had us introduce ourselves to the other Foreign Language staff.  We were sitting with a Japanese teacher who warned us that there would be obligatory Karaokeing for the new teachers.  At first I was HORRIFIED but I had actually come around to the idea and convinced myself that as long as the song was in English I was going to rock it... until we were reminded that the King was dead and there would be no singing after all.

That same night, my Thai teacher friend gave me a Thai nickname!  She gave me options but the one that stuck the best was "Kra tae" which means "Treeshrew!"  I think I just like the ridiculousness of the English translation.

Yesterday,  a friend of ours took us all around Phrae!  We saw some really, truly incredible sights.  Here is evidence...

In the Pha Nang Khoi Cave, there is an awesome shrine (if you haven't figured out by now, it is pretty common in Thailand to sprinkle a little Buddhism on nature).

"Spread a little Buddha..." (to the tune of Pippin).

Outside the cave!  We're all trying to make tiny hearts with our fingers but they didn't come out very nicely.  Throughout the entire walk in the cave, we just "blended" in with a group of Thai tourists who wanted photo after photo of the strange, random South/Westerners.  It was adorable, and one man even showed us what to d with the incense at the shrine.  It's not uncommon in Thailand but it was to me.  It was refreshing and nice, however, to be welcomed into an intimate group of people without any discussion or thought.  I like that about being here, it happens almost every day. 

It's P'Tan!  This is our friend who brought us on this great adventure!  Love her!

An outing would be a total loss without a dog, am I right?  Meet Bobo!!!!

Love at first lick.

Here we are at the Phae Mueang Phi National Park with some pretty famous and special rock formations.  I'm not sure why they are either of those things but they sure are pretty!  Phrae is basically known for these bad boys.

Please don't comment on my closed eyes.  I have a condition called Modelcerreojos in which photo anxiety and exposure to the bright, bright sun make it almost impossible for me to keep my eyes open when someone is taking a snapshot of me.  Selfies and I work so much better... I don't mention the fact that since I'm in charge when I notice that my eyes are closed I just delete the picture, thereby rejecting all acknowledgement of it's existence.

Looking good.  We're sweaty too, thank god you can't take a picture of a smell...

Awesome temple with a chatty monk who didn't seem to realize the whole time that none of us understands Thai except for our escort, who also seemed to forget that we needed some sort of interpretation.  It didn't matter, we figured it out.

This reminds me of the Secret Garden.  Shall we refer to it now as "The Secret Temple?"  Yea?  Good.

Another Phrae specialty called Khoa soi.  I have no idea how I've been here over 2 weeks having not yet tried this.  It will not be the last time though.  I've found my new "Pad thai."

So the eye thing... it's real, folks.  I'd appreciate it if everyone just ignored it.

Selfie=open eyes!

Just, LOOK at this temple.  It's the most beautiful one I've seen since I got here.  I can't get over how lovely it it.  The panoramic worked really well too!

Buddha.

This was right after we found out that mourning wasn't over on Monday... you can tell that one of us is better at hiding our frustration than the other, haha!

Another Note about Linguiphilia

Today, among other things, I would like to talk about language.  Maybe you all are groaning and thinking, "What ELSE is new?  Can't this girl think of anything else to talk about?  Where are all the elephants we were promised?  Must we sit through this yet again?" (the answer to the last one, by the way, is "absolutely not," I'm just flattered that my aunt thinks of me as one of her favorite writers, I don't care if anyone else reads my blog ever again).  However, assuming you've read enough of my stuff to be irked by "another blog about languages," you should know that languages really get me going.  Half of what I do as a traveler is marvel at and discover the wonders of cross-cultural communications.  So, yes, I'm about to geek out for a minute.  Consider yourselves properly warned.

I just had an entire conversation with ANOTHER random little old Thai lady.  There seems to be no end to these old biddies coming out of the woodwork and becoming fascinated with me; tottering over to thoroughly embarrass me, although I do greatly prefer them to the toothless old men who say the one word they know in English-"Beautiful"- and then lick their lips.  Once again I understood none of what she said and she understood none of what I said (even when I was "speaking Thai").  However, this time no matter how lost we were, we laughed and playfully batted each other's shoulders all the same as if we were long lost college roommates who had gone decades without sharing the same air.  This time, I didn't even tell her I spoke Thai nid noi.  Remember how I had decided to never make that mistake again?  It didn't matter that I was so very clearly out of my depth; she just kept jabbering.  I said, "Ka" every once in a while and nodded a lot.  When she paused, I told her what I did know how to say whether it's the information she asked for or not.  Occasionally I glanced over for support from the lady making my som tam, but the only thing she could help me tell the tiny octogenarian was that I was a teacher.  I offered the "Piriyalai School" part myself and the flicker of recognition and acknowledgment in her was eyes was enough to keep me there misunderstanding her much longer than I normally would have.

This time, when I started to feel super uncomfortable and idiotic, I didn't run away.  I opened myself up a little bit for a bit of learning; something besides, "Jesi Friedly, you may as well just give up on any non-Romance or creole-Romance languages."  If I'm honest that thought did occur to me as well, but what I learned that was actually worthwhile was something I've probably already known for a while, but just had never bothered to verbalize or write down.  Basically, what I learned was that I have never been in this situation before.  "This situation" being struggling through a language that I have 0 prior knowledge of.  Going to Spain as a snot-nosed 16-year-old was not the same as this.  It was different for so many obvious reasons, but what I never cared to admit at the time or since was that I went to Spain I knew a lot more Spanish than I thought.  I just had no confidence to go out and try and use it, which gravely stunted acquisition at the time.  It is certainly safe to say that the majority of Americans have more knowledge of the Spanish language than they realize.  I knew the basics (amigo/a, ensalada, zanahoria, gracias etc) like anyone else, I just had no idea of sentence structure and my accent, while atrocious I'm sure, was mercilessly understandable.  Although, the brutality of trying to come up with a way to communicate the word "suitcase" (maleta / equipaje) to my host mother is, for whatever, a stronger memory to me than the first time I walked into my first Spanish cathedral, I also knew so many more words coming in than I appreciated at the time.

Here, in Phrae Thailand, I could try saying the few words I have learned along the way, but saying them is not enough.  You have to say them right or you're not saying them at all- tones, and all that.  Besides, this is the first time I've heard any of these words.  I didn't come in with a lifetime of subliminal exposure to a sparse, weak version of the word I'm now living in.  Even a 3-month Peace Corps training of the language would have set me up better, although at the time I'll admit I was very loth to endorse the Spanish training we got in Mexico.  I don't even know how to order in Thai.  I say, "Sawatdee ka" and then my mouth just pauses hanging open.  Literally.  When people smile and are patient (they almost always are), I finally wrack up the nerve to squish my eyebrows together so they know I'm really concentrating hard, and spit out something that I know is technically correct but may not actually be comprehensive.

The other realization that I had today was the really ground-breaking one, and that is that... I don't care.  I mean to say, it doesn't matter how new this all is or how stupid I look floundering through it.  I don't care that I make a complete fool out of myself every time I go out into the world.  I don't get flustered and run like you would expect of someone whose ignorance might be borderline annoying.  I don't feel bad or guilty.  Sometimes I even push on way past when I should and sometimes I just laugh along with them (it's not being laughed at if you join in, right?).  Never do I feel judged, or looked at in any way short of admiration for merely trying (albeit failing spectacularly).

Everyone should experience this.  I'm not saying that throwing myself into a myriad of fail-is-the-only-outcome scenarios has led me to get over all fear of trying; It's hard to get out sometimes still, I just have yet to had a bad experience when I do.  Instead, I just realize that spectacularly sucking at something that is hard is not as horrible as you'd think.  I read an article once about this guy who training himself to not be afraid of rejection.  He made it his goal to be rejected somehow by someone every single day; asking a stranger for a ride, challenging the rando on the bus next to him to a rock, paper, scissor duel, etc.  After a while, he didn't fear it when he set out to get things for real, making the answer "no" or a strange look not the very worse thing that could happen to him.  I'm nowhere near this zen place when it matters, but it seems, that I have learned a little bit about turning awkward situations of tragic misunderstanding in my favor.  Either that, or Thailand just makes you feel good no matter how hard you crash and burn.  The latter could explain away everything I just postulated but... you made it this long on the hamster wheel in my brain, would it kill you to just humor me?

Just Say "No"

Do you speak Thai?

No.  Just NO.  Not nid noi, not "I try" just no.  Sometimes you get cocky.  You think, "I can tell someone 'Hello,' I can thank someone for bringing me my food, I can even ask someone's name and tell them mine."  Well that, my friends, is not being trilingual.  So, the next time someone asks me, "Kuhn puua Thai mai ka/krap?" (Or whatever that is in Thai) I'm just going to look them in the eye and say, "Mai puua" because if I don't, some little old lady may come over to me and start talking a mile a minute and look at me like I'm verbally assaulting her instead of what I'm really doing which is staring blank-faced and scared back at her.

I have just finished my first week of teaching English in Thailand!  This is a huge feat.  Although we've been groomed and prepped and trained and orientated for over a month, I never really thought the day would come when I would have not only my own school but my own students.  It's humbling and down right beautiful to say the least.

On Wednesday, the entirety of Piriyalai School performed a ceremony for king.  When I say a "ceremony," please picture Drumline with Nick Cannon; a field of marching people dressed in one of two colors in order for the inspirational words and adorable shapes to pop a little for the birds flying over.  We were told to wear black and I merely assumed that it was just a continuation of the world of mourning that I have been living in.  Little did I know that I was to be apart of the body spelling.  You know, for the drone cameras.

I'm not kidding.  There was a moment when all the kids were sitting on the pavement in front of a giant stage (complete with 30 x 50 foot painting of the king) and then all of a sudden they had moved to the soccer field.  I really didn't know what was going on until all the teachers (identifiable by our black attire) were lined up and parading through a small maze of students (the ones dressed in white).  I felt like I was reenacting a scene from Narnia- the one where Aslan (the late king of King Bhumibal) has died (must there be any more obvious parallels?) and all the animals gather and line up like they're loading onto the ark.  There was no apparent rhyme or reason to the lines, but I think they probably got some good pictures out of it.

After a week of teaching here are some things I have learned...

1. When you have 800 students, some of them are going to suck.  That is just the way it is.  But, the good news is, when you have almost a thousand students a lot of them won't suck!  Thailand is known for its kind, smiley citizens, but a high school student is a high school student is a high school student.  It doesn't matter where they come from, the biology is the same everywhere.  Of my 20 classes (I've only seen 18 because we started on Tuesday), there were some doozies, but it doesn't matter.  I can still technically do my job even when no one is listening to me or when they are laughing at me for some unknown reason.

2.  Ticky tac is not a teacher's friend.  You remember this stuff?  Whether you are a teacher or not, I'm sure you've used it or seen it in the past.  It is either sky blue or white and it's for posting pictures on your "Wall of Shame" if you were one of those cool college kids.  It's just a sticky puddy that, as an English teacher in Thailand, I unfortunately have to use daily to put the picture aids on the whiteboard.  Basically, I waste at least 10% of my class trying to unstick the shit from the inside of my bag or to pinch of a small piece without the whole clump tagging along in a stringy, nasty mess.  I hate it and I can't understand why there hasn't been a more convenient option invented for us.  How many people have to complain about this crap before the great minds of the world provide an alternative?  I can't be the only person who suffers from ticky tac tantrums.

3.  Thai kids don't like frisbees.  Well, I hope that's not entirely true, but from what I've seen, and maybe it's the novelty aspect, not only do my students dislike frisbees, they downright fear them.  For introductions this week, I had each of my classes get in a circle and throw the frisbee around, introducing themselves to me as they went.  This was theoretically meant for me to be able to take attendance in a fun way, but also for them to get up and play before we got down to brass tacks.  What ended up happening however, was that every time the disc was thrown (the only one I brought BTW) the students on the recieving end went into a tailspin panic.  Very few of them tried to catch it, choosing instead to either toss up their hands protectively or physically turn away.  This, clearly, resulted in many, many Thai teenagers getting beaned in the face.  I wish I could say that I felt bad but, COME ON! You know what is going on, so pay attention!  Too harsh?  It's like that T shirt though that says, "Sometimes I wonder, 'Why is that frisbee getting bigger?' and then it hits me."

4. To the same degree that Thai kids hate frisbees, they love the "Like/Don't Like" game.  Two of my vocabulary concepts for the introduction week were "like" and "don't like," obviously represented by the Facebook thumbs up and down.  To drive the point home, I made one side of the room the like side and the other the don't like side.  I then asked, "Do you like ______?" using vocabulary that they should already know, and then they had to move themselves to the side that corresponded with how they felt.  I then made them say it out loud as a group, "I like ______" / "I don't like ______."  The key to this game, is to offer really controversial options so the students have no other choice but to move from side to side.  The way to do this is ask, "Do you like Justin Bieber?" And then "Do you like Thailand?" in that order.  Here's why: the grand majority of the students at my school are boys (lucky me) and apart from the lady boys (this is a common, loving, non-offensive, totally acceptable sexuality positive term for gay men in Thailand), none of them want to be caught dead saying that they like Justin Bieber so they all end up on the "don't like" side.  However, not a single person in the entire country of Thailand would ever say that they didn't like Thailand itself (along the same lines as the Lése-majesté law) so asking that question next forces all of the students back to the "like" side.  It may be a cruel little trick to get them to bend to my will but sometimes my last question is "Do you like Enlgish class?" so they get me back.

5.  Thai students all have English nicknames.  Most of them are just random English words like Boss, Couch, Donut, First, Boat, Mint, but when they tell me I think I'm hearing Thai and try to pronounce it just like them and that just makes them laugh their butts off.  If 5 whole minutes of my class is spent fighting with the ticky tac another 5 minutes is spent waiting for the students to stop laughing at me.  The pattern is always the same-
Me: What. Is. Your. Nick. Name?
Student: Fjidoagnfudiasng.
Me: Ok. Fjidoagnfudiasng.
All students: Laugh*
Student: M-I-N-T
Me: ...What?
My favorite nickname so far is "Garfield."

6.  I am going to have to get used to being "waied" by all of the students all day long.  Everywhere I go I hear, "Hello, Teacher!" and I turn to see little faces half hidden by praying hands.  It's kind of sweet though.

7.  Settlers of Catan knows no world boundaries.  I have now played this game in 4 countries and 2 continents and it has become a bucket list item to increase these statistics.  Yesterday, a student came into our office mere minutes before I had to leave and teach a class, asking us if we wanted to play a game.  I was too taken aback and slightly confused to totally grasp the meaning of his request, but when I came back from my class, my entire world had realigned itself.  They were playing Catan!  I sat with them for over an hour (being Mathayom 6 students- equivalent to our "seniors" they have several open periods) and then when we finished, the leader-kid, Tam (I think), pulled out "The 2013 Edition of Clue."  Apart from having a blast playing familiar games that I love, I felt like a super awesome English teacher because not only was I interacting with students outside of the classroom (didn't matter that they weren't my students), but they spoke English about 82% of the time.  I have always fully supported the teaching of board games in a foreign language as a wonderful gauge of one's grasp of said language and these kids really impressed me.  

So Tam, the kid on the right, mostly covered by my co-English teacher's hand, said that he got the game online (he showed me the website) and that he really wants to play SPLENDOR (I swear I couldn't make this stuff up!!!!)  but he has to save up for it.  I'm thinking... first paycheck purchase?!?!  Oh hecky yea.

Look at the Thai letters on the card!  Are you freaking out as much as I am? Or is this another one of those weird things only a linguaphile would appreciate?

Needless to say, school is teaching me a lot.  I'm ok with gaining more knowledge than I'm imparting to be honest, it's Peace Corps all over again, but I do hope that I'm making some difference, obviously.  It's clearly too early to tell!

Today, we went exploring around Phrae.  What had started out just being a city with a mediocre apartment complex, a couple stores, cafe and school, has become a really magically place to live in only a few hours!  All we had to do was take a left instead of our normal right.  I'm not kidding, it was that easy. 

To be honest, although we found a public pool which we will surely be visiting soon, the best part of the day was the hour long conversation we had with a Buddhist monk.  

Allow me to set the stage...I hope I have established already just how abundant the Buddhist temples are in Thailand, and although Phrae comes off as this sleepy, boring place, as I said before, all you need to do is "make a left" to unearth some real gems.  Usually, the big temples have a compound that you enter before the temple itself.  These compounds are usually complete with many shrines as well as the main event.  I wasn't dressed for a temple today.  I unabashedly wore shorts because, well, IT'S HOT HERE, OKAAAAAY?!!?  So I knew going into this adventure that I was sacrificing any opportunity we might encounter to visit a Buddha.  When we came to one of these compound areas, however, I thought, I can just go into that part, surely.  We were wandering around in the open area when we were beckoned into a closed in temple area.  I quickly declined, gesturing to my offensively bare legs, but my concerns were immediately waved off by, Udong, an awesome monk with awesome English skills.

And so began a truly enlightening (pun not intended, I promise!) discussion about Buddhism in which I teared up, felt moved, and promptly made an internal decision to convert (although according to Amy I've always been Buddhist anyway).  

Udong started off by asking us what we knew about Buddhism.  He let us embarrass ourselves for a few seconds before diving in.  He talked about how in our world we all know how to take care of our bodies (eating right and doing exercise aren't really big secrets) but Buddhists believe it is just as important to take care of our minds and this is achieved through meditation, among other things.  It seems obvious, but I think mental health is not as sexy a concept as physical health in our world.  We were taught about the 4 Noble Truths which I still don't totally understand but intend to learn more about.  

What made my heart migrate to my throat was when Udong told us what Buddhists thought of the past, present, and future.  Basically, 2 of the 3 are abstract concepts that literally don't exist.  One guess which of the 3 is the only one that matters.  It was me and my co-teacher there with Udong, but when he got to this part of our Buddhism training, I felt like he spoke directly to me.  As he spoke, I had a startling realization that the exact opposite could be true.  Past and future could actually be the only ones that were real too, like the present so quickly becomes past that it can't really exist, right?  Clearly though, I prefer to accept the former option.  

Also while we sat beneath a giant Buddha statue, next to, but not too close to an orange-clad bald man, I realized that the conversation we were having could be considered evangelism.  But somehow, Buddhism has never seemed religiony to me and the more I learned about it the more I began to see how correct I'd been.  Sometimes, "religion" has a strict and exclusive connotation, but Buddhism is more about spirituality.  Everyone from any walk of life and, yes, any religion should hope to aspire to the universal kindness that the Buddhists do (kindness not just to people but to animals too, Udong told us) and the strife for peace of mind and healthy control of emotions and problem-solving skills.

Before we left, Udong introduced us to a friend of his who is a Thai English teacher at another high school.  He invited all three of us to come to a meditation ceremony next Sunday.  I can't express how overcome with relief and gratitude and love I felt at being included and accepted by this person today.  It totally and completely made my week.  

Me, my co-teacher Leoni, and Koin, the English teacher Udong introduced us to.