Kids before Holiday

Oh I had to post this before my holiday pics:
So today is the day before the five day New Years' break. (Despite the fact Thai New Year is in April.) Classes have been relatively slim the past few days - four days between two breaks - I had a class of 11 yesterday and one with 5, except they'd all escaped to the computer room.
But these were M6 kids, seniors. It's easy for them to skip. M4, 10th graders, were still in a reasonable number.
I showed up to my first class this morning to find 3 students. I gave them stickers - and then one disappeared. Turned out she was just hanging out with her friends. One of them was busy on what looked like math homework, but the other read the Thai nativity story I have and I got to explain the trinity (Jesus as the gift of Christmas), New Years Resolutions and and 'spend' time. So all's good.
My next class I already knew had students. Yup, a full-ish class. I walked in and found: all the chairs pushed to the side, a group of students with a guitar, some on the phone (Thais love their cell phones), at least one girl absorbed in manga, some cooking a plate of fishballs, French fries (I think), and even an ice cream machine!
The only reaction when I arrived was I was immediately given ice cream. I distributed my holiday stickers after I finished - and then they started setting up a Mongolian-type barbecue with lots of raw meat to cook.
They must have all come simply to have a party. They'd taken over class - and what could I do but leave them to it?
So now I am back in my office, being warned it'll probably be a half-day. 'But I have classes in the afternoon - M4 and they might be there.' 'No, I think all students go.'
Oy.

Palooza 5

Finally - pictures of my 2 week country tour: Chiang Mai and then Bangkok.


Ahna's office, actually pretty similar to mine - but less crowded.



I had to take a picture - they follow her like little ducklings!



Ahna directs them in a 'give directions' game - the kids have a blast!






Ahna and I with her Friday night guests - students who like to try some English and just have fun. We played spoons!

Ah, about to embark on our 40 kilometer, 8 hour bike trip - oy! I was sore for days after... (Meanwhile, they're not wearing jackets because it's cold - no they really, really don't want to get dark.)






Random girl I kept running into at the Chiang Mai Zoo (which was awesome by the way).


Sings praises - real Italian food!!!!


Katie Lehman and I - we finally got together for a fantastic Indian lunch in Chiang Mai!

And then I spent two fab days with my totally awesome old roommate Cartoon in BK!

Palooza 4

School and Church - a study in contrast

A ceremony performed near the King's birthday - a reminder of the fact 'church' and state are definitely not separate here.


In the foreground is my school director working on his speech - he speaks very little English, at least to me.


That is a picture of the Queen - she is almost as highly revered as the King, especially here as this school has (had?) royal backing.


The school board presenting the officiating monks with gifts.


Thai students love to draw! And I'm rather flattered by their chosen subject...





My Thai church! Hope of Phitsanulok with a packed sanctuary, easily seating 500.

Pictures from my small group - we meet at someone's house. Everyone's somehow connected to Naresuan University. Everything is in Thai, but some of the students will speak some English with me after group - and I do have a guy who will help me through the lesson. Between church and small group, I'm actually getting the hang of singing in Thai!

Palooza 3

Random pics...


My apartment building!

Thanksgiving break:


The girls get a crash-course in flower folding while...




...the guys get a 10 minute crash course in how to fake a weapon fight.


Ah, grilled seafood - and you can even tell exactly what it is...

Palooza 2

More Loy Kratong!

Picture Palooza

So begins my plethora of pictures, beginning (finally) with Loy Kratong - a festival in November when I went to Sukothai.


Setting my Kratong in the river.






Karen (one of the Fulbrighters in Sukothai) and I - she was walking in the city's parade with her school!




Me with Doraemon - all of my students' favorite anime character. I have caught some episodes/movies - but only in Thai.


Pin and I posing by our school's Kratong submitted for competition.

Merry Christmas and Holiday Tidings

Merry Christmas for those of whom it is still Christmas Day, albeit late.
It's funny - in the last 24 hours, I talked to just about everyone: my relatives on my mom's side, my sister, my parents, my brother (oy and of course we immediately got in to how we are 'really' doing), my sister-in-law and Eli!!!! (of course he had only said 'ba, ba' and other random noises but still!)
I knew Christmas was going to be hard here, being so far from home for the first time during this holiday, but it hasn't been as rough as I expected.
During my travelling, I got to spend good time with Ahna, Katie Lehman (an old Taylor friend - three lunch at an Indian restuarant in Chiang Mai, it was awesome!) and Cartoon, my old Taylor roomie. (Now here's an irony - we spent over 17 hours together, almost straight - more than we ever spent without sleeping in our Taylor time!) Oh and I might be going with her family to Vietnam for New Years'! That would be very cool - though it does look like those two weeks free in January wouldn't be off after all. (The parents are complaining too much time off!)
Mai bpen rai...
Other than recovering from a cold, I'm doing fine here. I spent Christmas Eve at a small group party, sang Christmas carols for my school yesterday, currently direct the students through the Christmas story for class, and attended a karaoke dinner last night with fellow teachers. (Yes I took requests - they did try to get me to do a Thai song, but I can not read that fast!)
For today, I have lunch with P'Tip, Fulbright head, and Derron, my fellow Phitsanulok ETA. Haven't seen him since break so it should be nice. Then there's a 'country' party at my church tonight - I was told to break out the cowboy gear. I told them I didn't bring any to Thailand, but I don't think I even have any at home!
Lol.
Pictures will be posted later!

On the Flipslide

So yesterday marks the beginning of a two week break for me.
Why? I'm actually not positive. Something about 'national' sports taking place in P'lo for the next few weeks.
I went to lunch with Phi Nun at her very, very nice house. She displayed her Chinese and Korean artwork (there wasn't enough space for the European and Japanese).
Then I went to small group - last week I attended church for the first time. I was invited by a student - I had recognized the Thai Daily Bread on her desk and told her.
She brought me to church, at 6:30 in the morning! on motorcycle! (And guess who said 'mai bpen rai' when told I might need a jacket?) That began my five-hour long stay at Hope of Phitsanulok church. It wasn't bad - it just figured my student was one who attends everything: 7:00 prayer service, 8:30 Bible Study, 9:45 church service. (Thankfully I got some help from a partial English-speaker during service, otherwise everything was in Thai.) And of course everyone thought I was a student.
From that, I was invited to university (Naresuan) small group on Wednesday nights. It is fantastic. We open up with praise music, then pray that what we are singing would be true in our lives and the world around us. Then, there's sharing (praise, new believers, news, etc.) and prayer requests. Finally there's the 'message', which I get some help from a partial English-speaker (he's spent time in Australia).
It's amazing!
So I attended that yesterday and now, I have headed up Chiang Mai, with little mishap spending the next few days with Ahna.
Sawatdii kah!

Thanksgiving

I meant to put this up earlier, but didn't feel well this weekend. (That means lots of bedtime, lots of Tom & Jerry in Thai [and at least part of one horror movie on the one channel that shows movies in English] and lots of eating yogurt.)

Right before leaving for Bangkok, I finished up four horrible M4 classes before I finally switched the format from majority written & sharing, to a timed team event. It worked beautifully after that and I used that for my next classes as well. (You simply can't straight teach in another language, not without speaking the host language as well. The kids are too unconfident of their English to fully write and share. But they just looooove competition.)

My train got in a little late, but at least I was able to miss sharing in any of the airport horror stories as they began to shut down. (For those who sent me enquiring e-mails about that, thank you!) It was weird being back in Bangkok - I felt more confident, more able to deal with walking around and interacting with people, even by myself... I found where we were staying for the night with only a little trouble: a YWCA (not YMCA - my taxi took me to it, but I was like 'hey it's not a YMCA!'). Nice rooms though! Hot water, airconditioning, and a room with two beds for EACH of us! Snazzy. Also TV with a French channel (got to watch a game show fun) and English news.

So Thursday (Thanksgiving) all of us Fulbrighters went to the Rose Garden in Nakhon Phanom. Does that sound familiar? Nakhon Phanom is where Mahidol University is - and the Garden is where I went for 'orientation' two years! Surreal huh? Anyway, so I got to watch the 'cultural show' again - but this time I got to see all the hands-on exhibits and chat with Ahna.

Then, for dinner we went to a boardmember's house (a high-up with the Embassy), complete with turkey buffet. Mmmm, I think my favorite part was the pecan pie. While there, we talked with some of the other Fulbrighters and board members - it was weird to talk about my future after Fulbright. It's been awhile and it seems eons away right now. One of the boardmembers works with Transportation Authority and reassured us all airplanes were safe - they were all grounded. 'But we need them in the air to get back to our provinces!' 'Oh.'

Then we got kicked out of the apartment, even with martial curfew in place, and had to walk back to our place. I guided! Thanks to my map and very handy compass watch! (This dinky, cheap thing I got at JJ market - but the compass does work!)

Friday we met with a former Fulbrighter, a radio host (along with a whole plethora of other press associations), and discussed the whole situation in Bangkok, along with press bias and free speech. He was rather cynical about the whole matter. Then after lunch we finally all discussed our experiences.

I won't lie. I can't say it was a great Thanksgiving. I missed my home. I missed my friends, real friends I could talk to and enjoy. My fellow Fulbrighters, -sigh-, sometimes it's so hard to talk to them. I'd forgotten that. I know that they'd most likely enjoy my more liberal sister's presence (yes, you Jessica) than my own. There are so many things that can't be said or discussed, things they oppose so deeply and won't even countenance an alternative.

At Taylor I brought up the liberal views so many times, in order to analyze and contextualize and find answers. I'd forgotten how close-minded liberals could be as well.

I don't quite fit and it hurts to feel. And I am too opinionated, too firm to not be torn as I am ignored or 'gently' edged out.

There's also the fact I don't feel needed. All the others talk about how they're paraded around, the token white person. They're asked to do this, go there; given treats and smoothered. I'm not. And yet I have an ideal position:
I have hot water.
I have a TV with some English channels.
I live off campus.
I live within walking distance of: Tesco/Lotus (with western food and ice cream), many places to eat, 7-11, the major attraction in Phitsanulok, and the train station.
I have wireless internet in my room.
I am the third ETA at my school, two others before me.
I have three other native English speakers in my department.
But this only reinforces the feeling that I'm not needed. Not necessary. My school didn't even want an ETA this year. But if they hadn't taken me, they couldn't get one next year. They also thought I would be here for a year.

It is hard to stay optimistic.

But I am here, as Ahna reminded me, and it is my job, my priviledge, my adventure. Oh God, just show me how and why.

The Camel's Back

And "with a whimper", Somchai has resigned. The airports hope to re-open on Friday. Is this the end of the crisis?

All I can say is: that is what they thought after the coup.

Making Headlines

No one usually knows what's going on in Thailand. That was something I understand when I left home - I didn't feel the need to brief anyone before I left.
Now, of course, it's making headlines around the world.

THAI PROTESTERS SHUT DOWN AIRPORTS

Both Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi, the internal and international airports in Bangkok, have been seized and occupied by anti-government protesters wearing yellow. (Yellow is the king's color, as the color of his birth day.) These protesters are part of PAD (People Allied for Democracy).

They are not the only protesters though. So to give a little clarity on the subject:

When I was last here in 2006, there was a military coup. The prime minister was overthrown (conveniently when he was out-of-the-country) and the military took over in order to write a new constitution. They promised to return civilian rule shortly. Everyone at home was shocked and called/e-mailed me to make sure I was a) okay and b) how this would affect my study abroad. It didn't. I was shocked by how casual everyone was over the whole matter. One of my professors even said someone he talked to described it as "a classic coup": no bloodshed, very neat and tidy, monarchy approval.

In the last 76 years since Thailand became a constitutional monarchy in 1932, there have been 18 attempted coups (12 successful), 18 constitutions and 25 national elections. While the king is the head of state, a prime minister and parliament run the government with the military watching. The cycle has roughly been a coup/coup attempt and a new constitution every four years.
Civilian government is elected -> Civilian gov’t messes up (either by economic mismanagement and/or corruption) -> People (particularly the educated middle class) complain -> Military coup -> Military redrafts the constitution -> Civilian government is re-established
The military sees itself as the keeper of stability and check on corrupt governments. However, if it gets out-of-hand (a bloody crack-down on protesters after the last coup in 1992), the king could step in. That time, he berated the general in charge on international television. The coup basically evaporated after that.
But the king is over 80 years old and has made no statement about the current protests.

Okay, so to return to the last coup. The key to the issues now and then can be summed up with a name: Shinawatra Thaksin. Turning from business to politics, his Thai Rak Thai party (Thais love Thais), he won the 2001 election with a clear majority. His platform was populist, combining international trade openess with massive public projects, resulting in considerable lower class rural i.e. north and northeast (where I am) support. This is where the majority of the country lives. After serving a full term (the first publically elected Prime Minister to do so in years, if not ever in Thailand), he was re-elected in 2005. Shortly after, protests emerged.

There were allegations of vote-buying and corruption. The first, I have heard, is a common complaint of all Thai political parties - and can be linked with Thaksin's public works that directly gave money to villages. The second is specifically linked to a single incident: Thaksin sold his company for an astronomical sum to a Singaporean firm, which he had made possible through signing a specific law four days earlier. These were the reasons cited by the Democracy Party for the need to remove him from power. As the oldest political party, it is based in Bangkok and is mainly made of urban, educated, middle class voters. (The PAD draws much of its support and funding from this group.)

The military, feeling itself threatened by Thaksin's popularity, initiated the military coup in 2006. The Thai Rak Thai party was banned from politis and the constitution was rewritten to greatly reduce the powers of the prime minister. However, upon returning civilian rule, the next elected prime minister was Somchai, Thaksin's brother-in-law and head of the People Power Party (the reconstituted Thai Rak Thai).

Obviously, the Democracy Party and subsequently PAD were very upset by this and have staged mounting protests, culminating in the airport seizures. PAD has even gone as far as to state that rural voters can not be trusted, since their votes can be bought/they vote for such corrupt candidates. They have instead put forward a plan to insure that only 30% of the Parliament is elected, with 70% appointed. (By whom? is a lingering unanswered question.)

Obviously, this has greatly offended the rural voters. So there are now red shirted protesters at Chiang Mai and other airports, loudly giving their support to Somchai and pressuring him to remain in power. As Chike, a fellow Fulbrighter writes, "Rural voters dismiss the complaints about corruption as an ideological patina for middle class anger that the poor, instead of the educated rich, are benefiting from government largess and power."

So what is the solution? If you can figure it out, let the Thai know.

Please.

Pics of my Scrabble party last week

The pink clothes are gym clothes.

Weekending

Well I finally got off my lazy bum and got around - a little.

Phi Nun took me to a massive Tesco/Lotus (basically like walmart), which still only had one brand of granola bars and small chocolate (yum!). We ate lunch at the food court - the Thai have this cool system of coupons/cards. You hand over around 100 baht a piece (which should cover dinner, drinks and dessert, i.e. $3), and then you can buy from any of the little food booths.
For dessert, both of the teachers with me ordered this ice thing and I got roped in as well. It's basically jelly cubes, etc. with syrup and shaved ice on top. You can pick around 4 things to go in the bottom. I picked pumpkin and pineapple rather than red beans or jelly cubes; my teacher said those were too sweet for her, lol!

So last night, I finished decorating my room (so nice and colorful now, instead of four hospital walls). I also finally ventured out the other side of the soi (small street) that I live on and went for a long walk to find the night bazaar. I don't know how long it took, but I did pass by the exercise 'park' (basically this place with bright colored metal equipment that can be used as steppers and such, also has people doing aerobics!)
It was so weird though, it was only 6:45, but of course with how the sun just sets here, there's no real light difference between that and 11 o'clock. I got stopped by this guy on my soi on a motorbike. He was heading the opposite way, but he stopped to tell me, in broken English, how it wasn't safe here and asked where I was going. In hindsight, he was probably going to offer me a ride, but hey, stranger hello! I didn't tell him, but just reassured him I would be fine. The walk was a little sketchy, but still, it wasn't even 7 so I just kept walking confidently. Ooh, it's all in the attitude. ('I know where I'm going, I know how to get there and I'm so secure I don't even have to notice you...')

So eventually I arrived at the night bazaar. My first time! - I am such a slacker. It was nice; I really was just looking for a yellow shirt to wear today. We have to wear yellow on Mondays (the king was born on Monday and that's the day's color), and my other bright, bright yellow shirt is in the wash. (Yes I am surviving on bi-monthly clothes washing, so?) Out of three reasonable possibilites (I couldn't get anything too trendy - just too awkward and it needed a collar), only one fit! -pout- And it gaps just a little, so I had to use my Sukhothai pin to make sure it stays together!

I picked up some strawberries on the way in - they looked moist and there was some brown powder mixture they were being tossed in. Me being me, on top of American, thought - hey frozen strawberries, dunked in brown sugar no less!
Silly Audra.
They turned out to be air-tempture barely ripe tiny strawberries tossed in, dum dum dum, a spicy sour mixture. Anyone who's eaten anything in Thailand would not be surprised. At each Thai table, there are always five containers to cover the basic tastes: chilies and chilies in vinegar (spicy), chilies in an orange sauce (sour), sugar (sweet) and fish sauce (salty). This spicy+ powder is also available everywhere - they give you little packets with your fruit and add it into shakes - unless you're obviously a farang, like me. Then they take pity and usually ask or only add if you do ask.
But, yeah good food adventure - I got 6 sushi rolls for 50 baht (like $1.20), very sweet.

Anyway, so leaving the food, I was totally spotted by a student! (Hi ajarn Audra!) It was so weird; it was just in passing, but the boy was taller than me, I recognized him vaguely, I was wearing shorts, and his arm was wrapped around (I'm guessing) his girlfriend. And I just realized, it was like all those times, you know, when you'd see a teacher out of school and think woah! They exist outside of school! Except I was totally on the opposite side this time.

Finally, walking out from the bazaar I ended up passing Thai massage. I still hadn't gotten one at all since I've arrived and this was 100 baht per hour (very sweet considering most places charge about 400). So I succombed and got a foot massage. And of course, I ended up cobbling a conversation with my masseuse and some others. She spoke enough for us to get by and I 'taught' english to another woman. Basically 'a moment' and 'very' - shop talk. Of course, 'v' is a really hard sound for thai speakers so I tried to get her to bite her lip and make the sound, just like I would couch me kids. Nothing doing.
Two guys came by and spoke to me briefly, (like no one recognizes my school!) and I even got both some iced tea and water for free. Sooo pampered! (I have got to learn the thai word for coconut though...) And get this, I started to ask how I could take a taxi (still haven't seen one, but i'd settle for the back of a motorbike) back home. One of the men strictly told me I couldn't walk (mai dai, mai dai - can't) and my masseuse drove me home on her motorbike!!!! No extra charge!!! Soo nice.
I've got to say looking young sometimes comes in handy.

Teacher of Teachers

This is so Thailand - I was invited to join this English Teachers' Association on a Thursday. So I said yes, obviously. The next meeting seemed to be Saturday, when the woman inviting me turned and asked what worked for my schedule. Worked for me? 'Shouldn't it be the other way around?' Nevertheless, I shrugged and said 10 o'clock. The woman beamed.
'So Ryan will teach at 9 and then you at 10.'
Wait, teach?! The woman was gone before I could protest. Apparently, I signed up to help teach at a seminar weekend for Thai English teachers.
So Saturday, I set out for school at around 9:45, getting there about 5 minutes early. Realizing I didn't even know where the seminar was meeting (and telling myself it had to be at our school), I started to head to the English department. Thankfully, I stumbled upon it - in a conference room in another building.
So I arrived, tried to slip in quietly at the back when veritable flares went up - I could see the signal pass to the front. 'Au-dra is here!'
I was sent forward and had to introduce myself. It turned out they hadn't started yet. (Oh yeah, this is Thailand).
So Ryan was up to teach, going through songs and how they can help teach: below is the 'Ensy, Wensy Spider' (which I explained meant very little - apparently Ryan thought it was the spider's name) and I think the Hokey Pokey.



I ended up helping either sing the song, show motions or explaining meaning. So at the end, they took thirty (I'm not exaggerating) of us and thanked us.
'Wait, aren't I supposed to teach?'
'Oh, no more time.'



I did come back the next day though and gave some games/strategies to practice English, as seen below.

Dinner & Dancing

This was a charity dancing event that apparently my school bought ten tickets for. Almost no one decided to go, so I was invited as well as Pin.


The dinner was like six courses, with all different kind of tastes. So good!


We decided to go up and dance on the main dance floor. We used Thai hand motions (fingers splayed and such), but the footwork was surprisingly all rhumba, chachacha and other ballroom steps. (which I know due to my last stay in Thailand & dance class at Mahidol, ironic I know)


And yes, that is a plate I'm holding. Apparently if you were brave enough to go up and dance, you were given a little present. I got the plate, two tubes of travel toothpaste and a little kitchy bag with Chiang Mai on it.


For some reason, there was this one eight-step (more like 7 & 1/2) that I just could not get! So one of my Phi gave me some special tutoring - which cracked up the table next to us.


Finally, I got it! (You do notice though that my eyes are fixed on her feet)


And we started a conga line!