Taste of Thailand: ISSUE 3!!!
TASTE OF THAILAND ISSUE 3 DEC 12 2005
POTATO CAUSES RUDE AWAKENING.
Every morning is a beautiful struggle. A great debate of epic proportions. Goony and I usually choose to postpone the suffering, some would call it the easy way out, but regardless, as cold-man winter is settling in, our delays are getting longer and longer.
At 5 AM, we are awoken by the sounds of exotic bugs, who chirp, scratch, and psshhh the minutes by. Then it comes. The Potato blasts through our windows, piercing our eardrums and shaking us awake. Goony growls through the walls while I moan and plug my ears. Despite such blastings, everyone in Thailand loves the Potato. During the day (even night), I would say Goony and I love the Potato too. But not at 5 AM.
The Potato is one of the, if not the hottest rock/boy-band hybrid in Thailand. At school they play different Potato songs to mark activities, such as meals, flag assembly, or the ‘time-to-wake-up—at-the-crack-of-dawn-whether-you-like-it-or-not’ alarm. They carry a good tune and currently provide the soundtrack to my life.
But back to the great debate.
After a good dose of Potato, I’m faced with two choices: 1. Attempt to reach a new career-high for consecutive days without a shower (or) 2. Do 1,000 jumping jacks, bite the bullet, and dump several buckets of arctic freeze water over my naked body. Granted, going 3+ days without a shower is downright gross, but for those of you who have never experienced an arctic freeze splashing, you don’t know how painful the experience truly is. Goony, who is definitely the strongest man I know, man-roars after each bucket-full, and I, well, I let out mini-man-roars.
“CONAN-LIKE BATTLE CRIES” WAKE UP THAI BABIES.
In the flat below us, resides the school baby. A cute little pooper who enjoys peek-a-boo and crying to the Potato drum. We of course hear this cutie clear as a bell and he acts as a reliable second alarm. So what does this mean? It means that our humble abode, complete with an arctic freeze bathing basin, 14th century Roman stone mattresses, and a porcelain white no-flush toilet also comes with 1-inch sound enhancing walls.
…
But then we go to school and remember what it’s all about. Teaching continues to be a blast – the kids too cute for words.
Last week, one of my classes was canceled due to a Cubs Scouts assembly (yes, the troops are hoppin here). Of course I was slightly disappointed but continued to teach the other classes as normal. Throughout the day, three teachers approached me at different times, and asked if I was free after last period. Apparently, the students from the canceled class actually wanted me to teach after school. Crazy.
So sure enough, I walked into the classroom at 3 PM, and before I could even ask if they still wanted to learn, the kids cheered wildly. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I got a wee bit emotional.
Most weeks, Goony and I teach 22 classes each, plus the weekly “English is Fun” club. Once in a while The Thong will give us an awkward Thai lesson or we’ll teach the Thai English teachers new phrases (i.e. I’m as happy as a hippo). After school, we usually work out or play sports with the kids; soccer, basketball, golf, volleyball, rugby, bocce ball, ping-pong, karate, tae kwon do, takraw and footsall are the choices. I’ve played with most the students - except with the golf team; they swing literally with only their arms and it weirds me out.
On that note, I think it’s safe to say that Thai people are not made for athletic competition. They do however play with an incredible amount of field awareness. During all sports, students wear the same colored jersey regardless of team. And not to offend anyone, but since all the boys are required to maintain a military hairdo, 90% of these Asians look the same. This makes it really really difficult for Goony and I, so we usually end up just being teachers who are also ball-hogs.
THAI TEA TIMES.
On the weekends we go traveling around northern Thailand, most of the time with students. Our first field trip was to Wawi mountain and village, known for producing the finest tea in Thailand. I didn’t think the tea would really taste that different, but boy was it amazing.
We picked tea leaves with the freshman, who for two days also taught Goony and I. We danced, we sang, we practiced Thai language, and we listened as they showed us dozens of constellations in the star filled sky.
…
One weekend a month, the students are allowed to leave school grounds and go back home to stay with their families. And since our school started hiring foreign English teachers several years ago, no teacher has ever been invited to go home by a student.
Until now! Mwhahaha.
Since the first day of school, teachers told me I looked just like one of my freshman students, I was definitely skeptical, but the moment our eyes first met, I knew we had a winner.
Wikrom is a crazy little rugby player who likes to pick on girls and believes Nicole Kidman is the “most beautiful woman in the world”. Shortly after our first face to face meeting, the Thong told us Wikrom wanted us to go back home with him and that we should go, not because it’d be a great opportunity to experience some Thai family culture, but because “he is very rich”.
So we went with pleasure. Note his family was indeed very rich (his father is a Thai senator). His mother was incredibly sweet, and his 10 year old sister spoke better English than most of our high level students. Touring around the Pan District, we attended a traditional Thai Wedding, went shopping near Burma, and visited some northern villages.
But my favorite excursion thus far had to be our trip to an elephant camp outside Chiang Mai. Never in my life did I think I would see an elephant play soccer or run a relay race, let alone paint in various styles (abstract, nature, portraits). Thinking back on it, the whole thing still boggles my goggles.
And finally, I’m pleased to say that Cinderella is still at large, warm fuzzies are flying high, and I think to myself how lucky we are to be here each and every day.
FACTS OF THE WEEK:
• During a staff lunch, one of the teachers asked Goony if he took a shower that morning. He appropriately asked, “why? Do I smell?” at which she said, “No, because I no hear you screaming.”
• My digital SLR camera stopped working last week. The pain is worse than 100 arctic freeze splashings. And I don’t think I can get it fixed in Thailand
• Before we arrived in Chiang Rai, Goony and I both wanted to learn Thai. It’s a simple language, as far as sentence structure goes (only one tense), but the catch is, there are 5 different tones (high, low, mid, low to high, high to low). And if you say the wrong tone, Thais will not understand what you are saying. For example, moo, moo, moo, moo, and moo all mean different things. The only “moo” I know means “pig”, and I think it’s the mid tone. I wrote a list of 40 plus verbs the other day and read them off to a Thai friend, out of all of them, she could only understand 5 of the words I was trying to say. Ouch.
• Elephants know how to taunt. May I repeat, elephants know how to taunt. Who’s your daddy now?
FUN OR NOT SO FUN CULTURAL DIFFERENCES:
• Thai names are super long. They are so long that everyone uses a nickname, and it’s given to them at birth by their parents. Most nicknames are simple, like Yam (means jam), Tangmo (watermelon), and Lek (small). Many nicknames, we are finding, are English words too, like Milk, Cake, and Prince.
• Physical appearance in Thailand is huge. When you meet someone, for example, they will comment on their own appearance or yours, no matter how blunt. A few times, before we have met someone, we recieved a little background on their looks, i.e. “my son look like buffalo.” My favorite goes to the teacher who’s daughter heard about my English classes (she has friends at our school) and wanted to learn with me during the night. So logically, her mom posed the question in the following manner: “My daughter want to learn English with you. She is very fat.”
TOP 5 STUDENT NICKNAMES:
5. Beer
4. Tömás
3. Dodo
2. Gold Deer
1. Turbo
AWKWARD MOMENT OF THE WEEK:
CURRENT MUSIC, READINGS, MOVIES, ETC:
• (Music) George Michael. Song – Last Christmas
• (Book) Ernest Hemmingway. Book – The Sun Also Rises
• (Movie) Will Smith. Movie – Bad Boys
• (Food) Peppered Ostrich with Bangers
ON THE MENU. FOR THE NEXT TASTE:
• McNugget Found in Land of Moo.
• Sports Weekend Promotes Safe Sex.
• Eggs-plosion in Paradise!
• Students Celebrate Drug Day with “Arabic Dancing”.
POTATO CAUSES RUDE AWAKENING.
Every morning is a beautiful struggle. A great debate of epic proportions. Goony and I usually choose to postpone the suffering, some would call it the easy way out, but regardless, as cold-man winter is settling in, our delays are getting longer and longer.
At 5 AM, we are awoken by the sounds of exotic bugs, who chirp, scratch, and psshhh the minutes by. Then it comes. The Potato blasts through our windows, piercing our eardrums and shaking us awake. Goony growls through the walls while I moan and plug my ears. Despite such blastings, everyone in Thailand loves the Potato. During the day (even night), I would say Goony and I love the Potato too. But not at 5 AM.
The Potato is one of the, if not the hottest rock/boy-band hybrid in Thailand. At school they play different Potato songs to mark activities, such as meals, flag assembly, or the ‘time-to-wake-up—at-the-crack-of-dawn-whether-you-like-it-or-not’ alarm. They carry a good tune and currently provide the soundtrack to my life.
But back to the great debate.
After a good dose of Potato, I’m faced with two choices: 1. Attempt to reach a new career-high for consecutive days without a shower (or) 2. Do 1,000 jumping jacks, bite the bullet, and dump several buckets of arctic freeze water over my naked body. Granted, going 3+ days without a shower is downright gross, but for those of you who have never experienced an arctic freeze splashing, you don’t know how painful the experience truly is. Goony, who is definitely the strongest man I know, man-roars after each bucket-full, and I, well, I let out mini-man-roars.
“CONAN-LIKE BATTLE CRIES” WAKE UP THAI BABIES.
In the flat below us, resides the school baby. A cute little pooper who enjoys peek-a-boo and crying to the Potato drum. We of course hear this cutie clear as a bell and he acts as a reliable second alarm. So what does this mean? It means that our humble abode, complete with an arctic freeze bathing basin, 14th century Roman stone mattresses, and a porcelain white no-flush toilet also comes with 1-inch sound enhancing walls.
…
But then we go to school and remember what it’s all about. Teaching continues to be a blast – the kids too cute for words.
Last week, one of my classes was canceled due to a Cubs Scouts assembly (yes, the troops are hoppin here). Of course I was slightly disappointed but continued to teach the other classes as normal. Throughout the day, three teachers approached me at different times, and asked if I was free after last period. Apparently, the students from the canceled class actually wanted me to teach after school. Crazy.
So sure enough, I walked into the classroom at 3 PM, and before I could even ask if they still wanted to learn, the kids cheered wildly. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I got a wee bit emotional.
Most weeks, Goony and I teach 22 classes each, plus the weekly “English is Fun” club. Once in a while The Thong will give us an awkward Thai lesson or we’ll teach the Thai English teachers new phrases (i.e. I’m as happy as a hippo). After school, we usually work out or play sports with the kids; soccer, basketball, golf, volleyball, rugby, bocce ball, ping-pong, karate, tae kwon do, takraw and footsall are the choices. I’ve played with most the students - except with the golf team; they swing literally with only their arms and it weirds me out.
On that note, I think it’s safe to say that Thai people are not made for athletic competition. They do however play with an incredible amount of field awareness. During all sports, students wear the same colored jersey regardless of team. And not to offend anyone, but since all the boys are required to maintain a military hairdo, 90% of these Asians look the same. This makes it really really difficult for Goony and I, so we usually end up just being teachers who are also ball-hogs.
THAI TEA TIMES.
On the weekends we go traveling around northern Thailand, most of the time with students. Our first field trip was to Wawi mountain and village, known for producing the finest tea in Thailand. I didn’t think the tea would really taste that different, but boy was it amazing.
We picked tea leaves with the freshman, who for two days also taught Goony and I. We danced, we sang, we practiced Thai language, and we listened as they showed us dozens of constellations in the star filled sky.
…
One weekend a month, the students are allowed to leave school grounds and go back home to stay with their families. And since our school started hiring foreign English teachers several years ago, no teacher has ever been invited to go home by a student.
Until now! Mwhahaha.
Since the first day of school, teachers told me I looked just like one of my freshman students, I was definitely skeptical, but the moment our eyes first met, I knew we had a winner.
Wikrom is a crazy little rugby player who likes to pick on girls and believes Nicole Kidman is the “most beautiful woman in the world”. Shortly after our first face to face meeting, the Thong told us Wikrom wanted us to go back home with him and that we should go, not because it’d be a great opportunity to experience some Thai family culture, but because “he is very rich”.
So we went with pleasure. Note his family was indeed very rich (his father is a Thai senator). His mother was incredibly sweet, and his 10 year old sister spoke better English than most of our high level students. Touring around the Pan District, we attended a traditional Thai Wedding, went shopping near Burma, and visited some northern villages.
But my favorite excursion thus far had to be our trip to an elephant camp outside Chiang Mai. Never in my life did I think I would see an elephant play soccer or run a relay race, let alone paint in various styles (abstract, nature, portraits). Thinking back on it, the whole thing still boggles my goggles.
And finally, I’m pleased to say that Cinderella is still at large, warm fuzzies are flying high, and I think to myself how lucky we are to be here each and every day.
FACTS OF THE WEEK:
• During a staff lunch, one of the teachers asked Goony if he took a shower that morning. He appropriately asked, “why? Do I smell?” at which she said, “No, because I no hear you screaming.”
• My digital SLR camera stopped working last week. The pain is worse than 100 arctic freeze splashings. And I don’t think I can get it fixed in Thailand
• Before we arrived in Chiang Rai, Goony and I both wanted to learn Thai. It’s a simple language, as far as sentence structure goes (only one tense), but the catch is, there are 5 different tones (high, low, mid, low to high, high to low). And if you say the wrong tone, Thais will not understand what you are saying. For example, moo, moo, moo, moo, and moo all mean different things. The only “moo” I know means “pig”, and I think it’s the mid tone. I wrote a list of 40 plus verbs the other day and read them off to a Thai friend, out of all of them, she could only understand 5 of the words I was trying to say. Ouch.
• Elephants know how to taunt. May I repeat, elephants know how to taunt. Who’s your daddy now?
FUN OR NOT SO FUN CULTURAL DIFFERENCES:
• Thai names are super long. They are so long that everyone uses a nickname, and it’s given to them at birth by their parents. Most nicknames are simple, like Yam (means jam), Tangmo (watermelon), and Lek (small). Many nicknames, we are finding, are English words too, like Milk, Cake, and Prince.
• Physical appearance in Thailand is huge. When you meet someone, for example, they will comment on their own appearance or yours, no matter how blunt. A few times, before we have met someone, we recieved a little background on their looks, i.e. “my son look like buffalo.” My favorite goes to the teacher who’s daughter heard about my English classes (she has friends at our school) and wanted to learn with me during the night. So logically, her mom posed the question in the following manner: “My daughter want to learn English with you. She is very fat.”
TOP 5 STUDENT NICKNAMES:
5. Beer
4. Tömás
3. Dodo
2. Gold Deer
1. Turbo
AWKWARD MOMENT OF THE WEEK:
CURRENT MUSIC, READINGS, MOVIES, ETC:
• (Music) George Michael. Song – Last Christmas
• (Book) Ernest Hemmingway. Book – The Sun Also Rises
• (Movie) Will Smith. Movie – Bad Boys
• (Food) Peppered Ostrich with Bangers
ON THE MENU. FOR THE NEXT TASTE:
• McNugget Found in Land of Moo.
• Sports Weekend Promotes Safe Sex.
• Eggs-plosion in Paradise!
• Students Celebrate Drug Day with “Arabic Dancing”.
posted by Amandeep Singh at 7:58 AM
1 Comments:
Hi there, ##NAME##, now that's a different blog. That's the fun about blogging - everyone does it differently.Thanks. Rex ##LINK##
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