Escapades

Life, or something like it.

2009-11-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

So I'm going to attempt to make this as un-cliche as possible. Do we really need another "post-college-searching-for-meaning-in-my-life" post out there? Doubtful. I don't know if up until now I just didn't have time to dwell on it, or I was so busy focusing on the next box I could check off on the life-achievement list, that I never really sat down and had that whole talk with myself about what I want and what life means.

A lot of people run marathons after college. A) this is entirely insane to me and B) I kind of see it as a way to always be pushing, always driving towards that next box to check off-whether its grad school, a huge diamond ring, a marathon, whatever. Because if you're always pushing towards that next goal, you don't have time to sit around and wonder, "ok, what's next?". Usually, I would identify with the pushers, the seekers, the to-do'ers. In a sense, I guess I still do. I eventually want to go to graduate school...of some sort. And sure, that piece of bling sounds nice. But up until now I feel like I've always known what the next step was. I did the whole typical, vanilla, succeed in high school to get into a good college, then succeed in college to get a good job thing-now what? It almost feels like getting a "job" was a class project and I got an A on the final. The crucial catch is-now I actually have to go to said job...and it isn't an internship that is over after 3 months. I can't go back to Leo's and keg parties and sound really accomplished talking about all of the "research" I did at my internship in between rounds of flip cup (research = bitch work. shit does roll down hill).

The job thing is just one part of the equation that now feels somewhat lacking. I work all week, I am social on the weekends with my friends, I go to the grocery store on a Sunday night (always a horrible idea) and fight the rest of the yuppies for the overpriced greek yogurt and kashi cereal. I feel like I'm living this scripted life and I'm doing all the right things but I can't figure out why. It is because I'm single and I have horrific nightmares of ending up alone, eating lean cuisine by myself and talking to my cats? (Not cats-dogs. I hate cat people. But crazy dog lady doesn't have the same ring). I'm not exactly single by choice (no one ever is-if the guy/girl were REALLY that great, it wouldn't matter that you needed "time to yourself". If Tay Diggs ever decides to date me, no matter WHAT is going on in my life-I will not need "time to myself") but I am enjoying it. I love going out, meeting new people aka hopefully hot non-creepy guys (only been semi-successful so far) and not having to feel tied down. I work a lot and barely have time to remember my dry cleaning, nonetheless another person. I say this of course, secretly jealous of my friends in relationships where they have that "person", that other human to text when they wake up in the morning, or just to say hi, or just to say they miss them. I've heard it described in a number of ways-and I agree on the basic point that most of all, amongst the billions of people out there, we all just want to matter-and if we have that one other person in the world to which you are their "person", then you feel like you matter. Is this it? Will a relationship provide that solid foundation to this abstract notion of life? If that's the bottom line, then I'm offended on account of all of the feminist, independent sensibilities that were instilled in me through a disgusting amount of Sex and the City episodes.

It's complicated.

I was talking to a friend about relationships and the entire notion of "factoring in" the other person in a relationship. Especially at Georgetown, people turned up their noses and rolled their eyes when couples senior year would make plans around each other-both going to law school in the same place, both moving to New York, etc. My intuitive reaction that stems from a brutal breakup in which I was blatantly told that I was not worthy of being "factored in", is nausea and panic. Why would anyone, after working their ass off for 4 years, plan their life around a significant other after graduation? We all heard the jokes about girls going after their "MRS" degree .My inner cynic sneers and bitchily comments that those couples will probably break up, and then girl A would've made this huge life choice on account of guy B and then will be stuck, alone, with nothing. Apart from the sheer panic of making plans based on a relationship and then having that relationship fail is the self-centered mindset that has been drilled into us at Georgetown (at least in my opinion). Me, my life, my career, my job. Always looking out for number 1. I can't tell you how many times I would hear at school, from both guys and girls, "I don't have time for him/her, I have so much studying to do....I have my internship, my extra-cirriculars, my job, etc". Looking back its completely ridiculous-I've never had more free time than I did in college. All the little type-A, over-achiever kiddos just couldn't be convinced to leave the library.

At the end of the day though, as cheesey as this sounds, your job won't love you back (my sure as hell doesn't), it won't be there at the end of the day when you come home, and you can't cuddle up to your job (i've tried snuggling with excel in a desperate hour-it wasn't pretty). What's so wrong, if you ultimately want to be in a relationship with someone in the long run, with "factoring in" that person? Is it a generational thing? A preppy, East-coast, rich kid school thing? I don't know.

I guess it's TBD.

9/17 Life back in the Mothercountry

2009-09-17T06:42:00.000-07:00

So I definitely fell off the wagon in terms of my writing after leaving Thailand. The last 5 days or so of Thailand were a complete whirlwind, followed by another whirlwind of apartment shopping, couch hopping and life-beginning once I got back.

So the end of Thailand. Where to start? I hate how its only been a month and I'm already starting to forget things. Well the last week of school we taught for one day, and had English Camp for the last two. The last few days went by really quickly. I played "bunny bunny" with all of my classes instead of really teaching. Not that I was "giving up" on the last day, but honestly-due to circumstances out of my control (swine flu...) and poor planning on behalf of the program (who decided that it would be good for the volunteers to teach during a time period chock full of holidays and midterms?)I only actually taught 3 out of the 7 weeks. So frustrating. So yea that whole idealistic, "I'm going to make an impact" thing didn't really happen and instead of trying to teach one last grammar lesson that would go in one ear and out the other, bunny bunny was the next best choice. Not exactly sure how I feel about that being my legacy, but oh well.

Well originally, we had planned to leave on Friday morning for Bangkok, but because Crystal's host family wanted to take us to the beach for a party and celebration before we left, we ended up leaving Wednesday night. Getting the entire group organized and ready to leave for Bangkok ended up being a nightmare. Our program director (who was supposed to be in charge? right?) broke the phone that he had been borrowing (question mark) and all of a sudden disappeared for 2 days while we were trying to coordinate our departure. That was super helpful. We had to make sure that the other volunteers were able to get to Taphanhin in time to leave with us, coordinate with their host families, our host families, and everyone-and it was a huge mess. Especially given the language barrier. (Note to self: next time someone assures you that yes, you can teach English effectively even though you do not speak the local language at all-THEY ARE LYING). Ultimately, we left the program director behind and I got the girls all ready to leave. We went to Bangkok Wednesday night and we were dropped off at "Na Dau"'s house for the night.

Na Dau is the older sister of my host Mom and Crystal's host Dad (they have 9 siblings!) and lives in Bangkok. She was in charge of us for our time in Bangkok. She has to be the most hilarious woman I have ever met. She told us herself (complete with giggles in the appropriate places) that "I have nothing to do, so I always go shopping and go to yoga!" The woman is my hero. She literally does just that. Her day consists of driving her daughter to school, yoga, shopping and picking her daughter up from school. So we went to yoga on Thursday morning with her at the fancy California Wow gym. After yoga, we were picked up by Crystal's host family in the good ole family van to drive out to Hoi Hin, a beach about 3 hours south of Bangkok. After the requisite stops for snacks, we arrived at the resort and all had a collective sigh of happiness once we saw our little villa. While I was living in the relative lap of luxury all summer, the other volunteers were drooling at the real beds, hot water and Western-style showers. We laid on the beach all afternoon, and in keeping with Thai style, I stayed out of the sun and read instead of swimming. Somehow, the thought of squeezing myself into my bikini (damn those Thai desserts) and exposing my pastey whale of a body on a beach with mostly conservative Thai families really didn't get me going. Crystal's host sister, Bui Fai, was of course not allowed to play in the sun until about 5 pm when it was less strong, and by play, I mean she was followed around by her nanny, mother and father who all helped her with everything (shoveling sand, walking, sitting in sand, making sand castles...).

After a relaxing afternoon, we showered and got ready for our big dinner party. We went to this restaurant that was right on the water and it was absolutely beautiful. Crystal's host parents even brought wine! I ate until I was stuffed to the brim-delicious fried oysters, spicy Thai dishes-yummm, and thoroughly enjoyed my 2 glasses of questionable quality white wine-whatever, begger's can't be choosers. After dinner we went to the night market in town, then straight home to bed.

The next day, we headed back to Bangkok for our last couple days. Na Dau, in her typical fashion, showed us a fabulous time-completely unrealistic of real Thai life-but fabulous nonetheless. We went to her fancy gym downtown, had Thai massages, shopped all day, and ate fabulous meals. I kept thinking to myself, as we were driving around in her BMW-I could totally live here. This would be great. Umm yea, if I suddenly became independently wealthy, or married myself off to some Thai prince. I'll get working on that.

Time with Na Dau was great, but by Sunday afternoon, I was ready to get on the plane and be a few steps closer to home. One of the other family members picked us up on Saturday night, took us to Sizzler (yes, that was my last meal in Thailand) and then to the airport. Checking in and going through security was completely surreal. I kept feeling like I was going to see the other volunteers and my host family again, like I wasn't really going home. About 24 hours later however....there I was, arriving into Dulles in DC.

Side note: I have pictures of this toilet seat in Japan that I absolutely fell in love with. First of all, it cleans itself. Second, it heats itself according to your wishes. It ALSO plays sounds, and according to the other instructions could pretty much run your life. I LOVE the Japanese. Seriously.

So at this point its been what feels like forever since I left Thailand. I sometimes forget that it actually happened-it feels like such a blur. Overall-I have mixed emotions about the whole thing. Everyone asks me "Omg, how was Thailand?!" expecting me to exclaim, "It was AMAZING, the BEST experience ever!" and go on and on about how I helped "save" the locals and this and that. Not really. I'm not going to lie-it was really hard, and honestly-disillusioning. I don't think that besides giving exposure to American language and culture (which really-what does that do to kids in rural Thailand? In the long run? They know more from you-tube than from me), I didn't do all that much. I fault the program, I fault my inability to speak Thai, I fault my lack of training in any sort of teaching or ESL, I fault my attitude at some points (wow-taking responsibility for my actions-it happens sometimes) and all sorts of other things. Mostly I think I fundamentally disagree with a lot of the theoretical and philosophical justifications behind a lot of international volunteer and development work. Thinking that a few privileged college students could make an impact in 7 weeks is naive and self-righteous. Who are we to say we know anything about anything really? Anyways...I guess that's a muddled place to leave the trip, but c'est la vie. God knows I'd sleep better at night if life could be easily organized into lists and labelled.

Since Thailand, I have found an apartment, moved into said apartment, furnished said apartment (ouch, I hurt just thinking of my credit card bill....), started my job, gotten staffed on my first project, gone to training, and now.....well here I am. Real life is interesting (my favorite noncommittal word). I've been so busy that I haven't really had a chance to let it all sink in-and I think that's the best strategy. Musing on how this is what I'm doing for the rest of...eternity...isn't overly uplifting. My life consists of comparing savings at the grocery store with my roommate, discussing what we will make for our lunches, working 5 days a week, squeezing in a social life and doing it all over again. I like my job so far-despite the menial excel work (I'm starting to become a huge excel nerd-it's frightening), the bigger picture is interesting and the people I work with actually are great-it's not just a recruiting cliche.

I'd say the jury is still out...but it's looking pretty hopeful :)

PS-here it is Dad...the "epilogue". :)

8/1 Damn my American stomach

2009-07-31T22:30:00.000-07:00

So that bbq that I told everyone about? Yea about that. I must have eaten some meat that wasn't completely cooked, or something, because its pretty clear after 48 hours that I have food poisoning. Or some sort of bacteria. Looking back, the fact that the pork, fish and shrimp skewers were sitting out for over 2 hours before they were amateurishly grilled by myself and a bunch of 14 year olds, it doesnt come as a huge surprise that I am sick. Also, we are talking about Thailand here (although my French host family wasn't big about keeping raw meat refrigerated either... but I think that was just them though and their complete lack of hygiene in all areas of their existence). I am surprised its been this long already and this is my first serious incident. Refrigeration is not their strong point here, actually outside of the US it doesn't seem to have completely caught on (are we just paranoid germ freaks?) anywhere. A little bacteria will probably do my system good. I'm on anti-biotics now so I'm on the road to recovery. Seeing as I want to maintain some semblance of dignity after my host mother told everyone at my school, including all of the teachers who told all of the students, and apparently everyone who works in the pharmacy about my "issue", I'll leave the story of food poisoning to two words: squat toilet. 'Nuff said.

So since I've been, slightly indisposed, I've pretty much been laying around, bored out of my mind. The only thing to do here is eat, and while I can't do that, and really shouldn't given my ever-expanding midline, I'm at a complete loss. I've tried to get into reading Catch-22, I saw it at the English bookstore and I felt obligated to buy it and read it since its one of those books that "everyone" has read and I felt inadequate as a human not having read it. Yea not feeling it really. Luckily I'll be trapped on a plane for 16 hours so I'm sure that I'll get through a good chunk of it out of necessity.

So yesterday afternoon I got home from school to find a random man in our house reading palms. My host mom asked if I wanted mine read and I say sure why not? So with my host brother translating, this man wrote down all of these numbers relating to my birthday and read my palms. First he told me I need more vitamin C because my palms were spotty (must have had something to do with the food poisoning), but what he said was really creepy. First he decided that my number is 7, which means that I am always moving around and traveling and I'm happiest that way. Next he said that I worry too much about things I can't control, even as a small child I worried about things unnecessarily (definitely absolutely true. I am a serious control freak with anxiety issues!). Next he asked if I had a boyfriend at 15 and 19. Um yea those were the ages I started what I consider to be my "big" (if emotionally disastrous) relationships. How did he just pick those ages out of thin air? I don't usually believe stuff like that, but this random Thai man who has no idea who I am all of a sudden tells me this stuff. Makes you wonder.....but there is good news! I am apparently going to have a boyfriend at age 22 that will be wonderful. Bring it on! I hope he's fabulously wealthy and famous and the heir to a small country or something. Hey a girl can dream...

Well today I asked if I could help cook lunch, as I have been doing on the weekends, and I got to go to the market too! The cook came and picked me up on her motorcycle (motorcycles are the most ubiquitous form of transportation in Taphanhin. Everyone uses one to go everywhere) and we went grocery shopping-Thai style. Every morning and evening there is a huge market in Taphanhin where everyone gets their fresh veggies, fruit, meat, etc. There isn't a grocery store in the American sense in our town, and you have to drive 30 minutes to get to a Carrefour (American wal-mart). So, everyone goes to the market everyday and buys what they need for that day. My job was the basket holder and on the back of the motorcycle I hold a big blue basket that we put the food in. The cook has her master list of what she needs for that day's meals and we wind around the market on the motorcycle to the different vendors to pick out what we need. May is the cook's name and her English is rudimentary, but every time she would pick something out she would let me smell it and say the word in Thai. Works for me! I did however, decline to smell the kilo of chicken feet we bought Ikkkk. Everything is so fresh and looks so wonderful. Even better-its dirt cheap! I kept laughing looking at all of these fresh, "exotic" (in the American view) veggies that would be so pricey at a trendy, yuppie-filled Farmers Market whereas we are getting enough food to feed my host family, Crystal's and the people who work in the pharmacy (about 20 people) for multiple meals for literally, about $15. Crazy! Also, when you buy fish, you pick out the live fish from this huge tin basin and they kill it and clean it right there in front of you. Super fresh, although I have to use the I'm an American! card and say that I like my meat products already dead and wrapped in plastic and in the refridgerated section. Each to his own I suppose. Everyone in the market had a field day with the crazy white girl on the back of the motorcycle shopping for food. I am endlessly entertaining apparently.

This afternoon I hopped on the back of my older host brother's brand new motorcycle (which he is verrrry proud of-it looks like he won the argument between him and his parents about whether or not he should get one quite triumphantly) with my other host brother (the younger one was putting behind us on the older motorcycle with just a tragic look on his face. it was so funny and cute) to go to the opening of...wait for it....KFC in Taphanhin! This is the first time Taphanhin has ever had a fast food restaurant or anything like this so it is a BIG to-do. There were flowers, speeches, Thai dancers (The same ones we had at our party actually....they look like "baby prostitutes" with their make up according to Crystal) and the works. My host brothers were so excited to order, I even got a free "I <3 KFC" teddy bear with the amount of food they ordered. So pumped about that. I politely refused the KFC, luckily my stomach has been a great excuse to get out of eating less desireable things, like the shrimp burger they ordered. No thanks.

After an afternoon of laying around and organizing my room and suitcase, I went with the host fam to walk at a sports complex near the edge of town for exercise. Little did I know that when we all piled into the car that it would also be driving practice for my 17 yr old host brother. Ay dios mio, I can barely handle it when I drive, or when my little sisters drive (I recognize I am an awful, obnoxious and hysterical backseat driver) but this was beyond my ability to remain cool, calm and patient (as I have actually really learned how to do here! Sort of). Teng had only been driving for 2 days and was attempting to drive a manual transmission (we were stalled in the middle of a 4 way stop for I kid you not, 5 minutes) admist Thai traffic which includes motorcycles, bicycles, carts, animals, people...its a zoo! Also, my host mom's reaction to our close calls and brushes with death were the same as any other situation-hysterical laughter. So I'm squished in the backseat with the entire Thai family laughing and yelling in Thai while a 17 year old who has never driven before is in charge of the vehicle and therefore my life. Never again. I managed a weak smile but on the inside I was clawing at the windows begging to get out.

I did live to experience dinner though. At dinner, my host father inquired about my weight and whether or not it had gone up. My host mom volunteered the information that she had a scale in her room and that I could weigh myself. Right then. So we go up to her room and I step on the scale with her and one of my host brother's watching. She reads my weight, announces it to the family back at the dinner table and we discuss how it has gone up since I have been in Thailand. You can imagine how great I feel about this. How the hell is it NOT suppoesed to go up when I have to eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Also, after cooking the food myselfs, its hard to remain slim when EVERYTHING, including veggies, meat, whatever is seasoned with a tablespoon of sugar. Next, my host mom informs me excitedly that I was invited to a wedding and that I can wear a dress and wear "make up!". I said awkwardly, "Oh, I don't have any make up, do I need to wear it?" and she sort of gave me a blank stare and then said "Oh I guess you don't have to". Really? I look that awful? Great. Did a whole lot for my self-confidence and self-esteem. In Thai culture, discussing someone's weight and telling them they are "fat" is not looked up as rude for some reason. Are American's just hyper sensitive? I can't imagine anyone enjoys this!

I have 6 more days until I can choose when and what I eat. I can also choose when I go places, I can choose where to go and how to go there. I can be....an adult! Yippee! I love my host family-I could not have asked for sweeter, more generous people-and I love Thailand, but this whole innate individualism-thing Americans have going on is hard for me to shake. After learning in France that I do not really "mesh" well with a culture that is inherently rude (ok that and the following sentences are crossing the line. That is totally not true at all and a completely exaggerated and irrational judgement made from my one personal experience), I began to discover how "American" I really was. I like showering (French host family, not so much), I like saying excuse me when you bump into someone (French people, not so much) and I also enjoy not openly mocking people (French host family, again, not so much).

Allright I'll get off my soap box.

3 days and I'm off to Bangkok! Cannot wait to see someone and eat my cheeseburger in the land of the free and the home of the brave. xoxo

Stace

7/30 Awkward turtle

2009-07-30T06:09:00.001-07:00

Only 10 more days! I can't believe a) how quickly it has gone by and b) how long I've already been here. While sometimes the days are painfully slow and I want to rip my hair out, it doesn't feel like its been 6 weeks already.

Teaching at our temporary school has continued to be great, rewarding and a lot of fun. I have taken to playing the "Hokey Pokey" with my 6th graders to learn body parts, and they are endlessly entertained by watching me dance around. My 11th grade class is also absolutely adorable. They have requested continuously after many refusals that I sing them a song, so tomorrow I will don my best Taylor Swift hat and attempt to not massacre one of her songs. They brought me cute little snacks today and I am totally obsessed with them. At my other school, my students were great and the teaching was good, but I think I'm actually going to be sad to leave them. Its all downhill from here, 1 more day at the temporary school, then 3 days back at Taphanhin school, then a trip to the beach on the way to Bangkok (not sure how this will work out, Crystal's host dad has planned some sort of adventure), a weekend in Bangkok, and back to DC!

Mr. Pairoc is the head of the English Department at our temporary school who has essentially been tasked with stalking us, with only the best intentions of course. He insists on following us around everywhere we go, waiting for us after we finish teaching, walking with us to the bathroom (thats a little awkward...), takes us to lunch everyday (we said we liked noodles at one point and have eaten every kind of noodle available in our town thus far) and is like our shadow. At first I thought, oh how nice! Day 4 and I'm about to scream. I think one of the main issues with us in Thailand-that leads to the groping, the giggling at, the inappropriate conversational topics-is that everyone treats us like children. In their society, we still sort of are. I'm used to being a full-fledged (well almost...) adult in the US. I have my own job, I will have my own apartment (everyone pray) and I generally take care of myself. Here, everything is done and planned for us. We are treated as if we are mentally incapacitated and must have our hands held everywhere we go. I drink a TON of water since I'm in the middle of the freakin jungle and I went to the bathroom twice one day, and the second time I came out, he runs up to me and says, "Stacy! You have gone to the toilet a lot! Do you have diharrhea?" WHY oh god WHY are our bowel movements the interest of so many people? So yea, having Mr. Pairoc sit across the table from me staring on every single free period I have is getting a little old. He is also, how shall I put this, very open-question mark? We were discussing our students and he was telling us how some of the girls drop out early to get married, and asked us creepily if we were married (umm no?!) and then if we had boyfriends. We awkwardly laughed it off and said no no, and tried to change the topic of conversation. Ha. Next thing we know Mr. Pairoc (who is married, has two little daughters and a beautiful wife who works at the school) proceeds to tell us that before he was married, he was a "playboy" and he "made love with many women", but that when he knew he was to be married, he stopped "making love" and got tested for HIV every 3 months for a year.

T.M.I.

I sat in the front seat, mouth open and unable to speak. Crystal was able to mumble the appropriate "oh..." before I jumped out of the car the minute we pulled up to the pharmacy. So we are two young, female volunteers who he has known for approximately 3 days, and he feels the need to share his sexual history and health with us? Really? Is this actually my life? It creeped me out even more this morning when he said that I looked "Very beautiful today" because I painted my toenails. Cringeeeee.

Ok but he is a really nice guy. Lets just hope he stays happily married and HIV free. For all our sakes.

Last night, I had a Thai-style bbq. Kind of like a Barry Shelden bbq, except lacking the bbq pit, delicious meat, Kingsford charcoal, beer and an expert grill master...I'm not homesick or anything... My host brother finished his mid term exams and brought 8 friends home with him. 9 fourteen year olds...yikes! The bbq was so funny and completely different from an American bbq. We had these clay pots that had charcoal in them with grates over them, and we sat on mats around the makeshift bbqs and cooked kebab skewers. The kebabs were pretty good (minus the shrimp and fish ball ones. Shrimp balls....very chewy) but I got eaten alive. I haven't had this many insect bites since the first week here when I thought I had fleas. I am covered from head to toe, it is so miserable and I look like a leper.

Well I'm off to bed before my last day at Tessaban Song (the temporary school). I am sure the last day will be filled with awkward "Teacher! Picture?!" as the students will bombard me with their camera phones. I'm not going to know what to do when I get back to the US and people don't find me interesting enough to take pictures of. It will surely be a big blow to my psyche.

xoxo,

Stacy

7/28 Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous

2009-07-28T07:03:00.000-07:00

I had the most extravagant, ridiculous and wonderful weekend in Bangkok. After all of the drama surrounding the flu epidemic, schools closing, trips to the North canceled and "interesting" emails, it was exactly what I needed. We drove to Bangkok Thursday afternoon, and arrived just in time for a dinner boat cruise on the main river in Bangkok. I really should be able to tell everyone the name of aforementioned river, but everyone always says it quickly in Thai and I can never quite catch it and on the inside sometimes I'm a lazy American. Note to self: learn the name of the river in Bangkok and stop being an ignorant American like everyone assumes you already are (as well as lazy, rude and fat lets not forget!)

The dinner boat cruise is a must-do for tourists in Bangkok. You get to go on a boat which is exciting in itself, the poor servers are dressed in humiliating sailor outfits, there is delicious Thai food, and of course karaoke-painful, embarrassing and while horrifying, creepily entertaining. We ate our weights' worth of Thai seafood dishes, and set out on the cruise to see the sights. Everything was so gorgeous at night on the water. We saw the ancient cities, the old temples and all of the new fancy hotels. Some people bemoan the mix of the old traditional buildings right next to huge new skyscrapers-oh capitalism what have we done? but, I love the juxtaposition. It totally captures Bangkok. There are temples that are hundreds of years old and at the same time monuments to their growing economy and development. I was talking with an English teacher yesterday and he was concerned about what he saw as Thailand's focus on money and their move away from self-reliance. The way he explained it, in the past people would grow whatever they needed for food and only sell things if there were extra. Now, there are big farms that are only for export and sale, where he said that they "grow so much rice and corn that the price is cheaper" and that people were using banks and loans to do business. He seemed to be upset that the traditional way of life was being lost in his eyes, but I couldn't help but see the whole situation as a basic lesson in econ. Thailand is transitioning away from small, subsistence based farming towards a modern economy. Macro 101 came flashing back and I didn't say it, but I kept thinking-"yea! they should be doing that stuff!". I suppose my Western-liberal education in economics grounded firmly in the Washington Consensus totally clouds my world view, but I am always skeptical of the "oh we're losing our way of life" people-yea your way of life was small based farming where you had to work 16 hours a day just to survive...anyways enough of my self-righteous ramblings

So the boat cruise continued, and the whole family ate and ate and ate. After an hour, a woman got up on the makeshift stage and with a keyboard, started singing. It took me a few songs to realize she was technically teaching in English...I couldn't understand her at all. The song that gave it away was "Hopelessly Devoted" by Olivia Newton John-a total classic. She was pretty decent, I have to say. After a few songs, she opened up the karaoke machine to the passengers. Now I had been watching some of the other boat cruises as they went past, and some of them were packed with people, with a dance floor, drinking and it looked like a total rave. Our boat? Not so much. We were probably about half full, and the passenger makeup consisted of families, and old creepy guys and their young girlfriends (I wonder why they're with them?). Rave wasn't exactly how I would describe the atmosphere. It was more the we're at a dive bar that's really empty and kind of sad and its at the end of the night and the only people left are kind of weird-atmosphere. My experience with karaoke is that it is always better in a really crowded venue where people are intoxicated so that even if you're not Celine Dion, nobody really cares. This was not the case here. People, stone cold sober, went up in front of the half-empty boat of strangers and sang horrible old English songs off tune at the top of their lungs. I kept cringing and laughing quietly on the inside every time the speakers would squeal, and every time a verrrry drunk old man forced his cute young girlfriend to get up and "dance" with him to the karaoke (I use the term dance to mean he drunkenly groped her standing up).

The next day, we woke up early and went to Yoga at "California Wow", the American-import gym chain in Bangkok. Na Dau, who is my host mom's sister, is the queen of vouchers and coupons, and so we had a free pass to go with Crystal's host parents. The gym was great-definitely where the kept women of Bangkok work out, and it was so funny to see these tiny little Thai ladies working away on the cardio machines, in flip flops. At least half of the women were working out in rubber sandals, it was ridiculous! Hello shin splints! Yoga was fun and it felt good to get some good stretching in. After yoga, we raced home, showered and headed to the Shisedo salon in the Saim Paragon Mall (this is essentially the Rodeo Drive of Bangkok-LV, Gucci, the works!) where we got facials. Thanks to Na Dau and her awesome coupons, we all got 1 hour facials-for free! I had never had a facial before, but I am definitely a convert. I think I look younger, which is good seeing as I'm 22 and all. After our facials, we ran off to Oishi Grand, which is a really nice Japanese restaurant in the mall. We got the buffet-which was, one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to me. I couldn't stop giggling and smiling, it was like Christmas. I ate a TON of yummy sushi and dumplings and just went absolutely crazy. After lunch, we of course had to go get 2 hour Thai massages. My host uncle insisted that we must go through "the full course" as he calls it, the entire 2 hours. It was absolutely divine. Thai massage is interactive, but so relaxing. After our really stressful day of being pampered and rubbed and scrubbed, we went home and were supposed to go to a night market, but it was pouring down rain so we stayed in and ate noodle soup and relaxed. Essentially I thought that this was my perfect day. Little did I know that the next day...Na Dau and her love of shopping and coupons would rock my world.

So after a lazy morning, we headed off to what Na Dau kept calling "Pratinum", turns out its called "Platinum Fashion Center" and it is a huge, 10 story shopping mall that sells super cheap, trendy clothes, shoes, accessories and bags. It was ridiculous. We got the CUTEST stuff for so cheap, and it was even cheaper if you would buy 2 dresses instead of 1, for example. Ridiculous. We shopped for 4 hours straight and I now have cute Asian-trendy clothes that will make me feel more stylish. It was a little bit difficult since you weren't allowed to try things on, and everything was "one size fits all"-but although I feel like a giant compared to the tiny Asian girls, at just barely 5'4 I am lucky enough to be able to squeeze my big "falang" butt into these itty bitty clothes.

After shopping like crazy, we went to an English bookstore-yipeee! I now have real things to read and I am so grateful...it will make the 16 hour flight from Tokyo to DC hopefully a little less painful (maybe...). We again ate a delicious dinner, and then got to see Harry Potter! In English! On the IMAX! I am so spoiled it is not fair, but the movie was great. In Thailand before any movie, there is a mandatory 5 minute video that they play that praises the King, and everyone has to stand up. I was all settled in with my popcorn and snacks and 3D glasses on, but I had to stand up for 5 minutes while watching a video on how glorious the King is. Thats a monarchy for you I guess...in Thailand you can get put in jail for not standing up when the King's song is played every morning at 8 am, or for saying anything bad about the King. Note to self: Always praise the King.

Well that was my fabulous weekend in Bangkok! Only 11 more days. We have 2 more days of teaching at our temporary school, 2 days next week of teaching, 2 days of English camp, and then the whole group is off to Bangkok for the weekend before we fly out on Sunday night. Crazyness....I am going to be sad to leave my host family, but not at all sad to have a cheeseburger and a beer. My food cravings have only gotten worse and worse...I start to salivate at the thought of a steak. I can't even talk about it!

Can't wait to see everyone! :) xoxo

Stacy

7/22-28 So about that whole "teaching" thing..

2009-07-22T05:38:00.000-07:00

I have been incredibly lax in updating my blog recently. I do apologize and I would never want to keep my public waiting (Are all bloggers this narcissistic?), but the past week has been a complete whirlwind.

So remember how I said that we don't really teach because there are always random holidays and random activities that take precedence over education (scout day-super important. must dress up in girl scout and boy scout uniforms once a week and parade around for an hour or all will be lost)? Well, our school is all of a sudden closed this week for the flu pandemic that has been going around Thailand. Horray for the Swine flu! We had no classes last week for "mid term exams", we had a 3 day holiday the first week we started teaching, and now this. So our school will reopen on August 3 and English Camp has been moved to that week, August 4 and 5th (god knows we wouldn't want to cancel English camp). So now, I won't even see some of my classes again. Obviously the flu is a random inconvenience that couldn't be avoided, but I am really disappointed. All in all, of the 7 weeks I will have spent here, only 3 will be spent teaching at my original school. Que sera sera I suppose...

Well I drove myself crazy with boredom sitting around last week. I was so bored that I agreed to go to Pichit-desperate times resulted in some very desperate measures, as witnessed by my adventure to Pichit. Pichit is a larger city about 30 km away from Taphanhin, and is the capital of the Pichit province (imagine that). From our first week here, the dreaded teacher Tessani (from English Camp) offered (threatened?) to take us to Pichit to see the "crocodiles!". Apparently, and as we found out that morning, Pichit's mascot is an enormous fake crocodile named "Chalawan". This is for some reason a huge tourist attraction. Last Tuesday night, after a day of mumbling around Taphanhin, when my host mother offered to have us go to Pichit with her for work, I jumped at the chance ( I think I was delusional from the heat). Why wouldn't I want to see a large crocodile statue named Chalawan? Done and done. So last Wednesday morning, we jumped in the van, dropped my host mom off at her meeting in Pichit and Crystal, the driver and I picked up a woman named "Mon", who was a friend of my host mom and our host for the morning. We first stopped off at the local temple, of course, to pray to Buddha and all that good stuff. Then-Chalawan! I have to admit, it was pretty interesting. Chalawan sits on the edge of a large pond in Pichit that was quite pretty, and there was even an "aquarium" (I use quotations b/c there were about 20 fish) where we saw some fish, and got to feed popcorn to the vultures of carp-looking fish in the pond. Hey-it beats sitting around the pharmacy. I got some great Asian tourist pictures complete with peace signs-not a total loss. We got to go to lunch and eat super spicy and delicious papaya salad and make awkward conversation with our random tour guides for the day, always a good time.

Back in Taphanhin, we headed to school to help record sound bites for the English-computer game the teachers use. The two English teachers who asked us to help are these two adorable little old ladies that cannot for the life of them operate the recording equipment and giggle incessantly. Everything takes twice as long as it should, but they bring us yummy snacks and drinks, so I let it slide. We are doing the sound for all of the software, so it is very, very tedious-reading out sentences and vocab lists. This was our third, two hour session of reading "Vocabulary. 1. orange", over and over again. This is when we found out that school was canceled. No one contacted us or our host parents. No one contacted our director. These two little old ladies just casually mentioned that school would be canceled...so once we went home and told our host parents, they naturally jumped into hyper-planning mode action. They decided that we would go to Bangkok for the weekend, and then Llong Mink (Uncle Mink-Crystal's host father) almost died of happiness when he heard that we might be able to go to "Tilasu", which is a city wayyy in the North of Thailand. He has been talking about taking us there since we arrived, and despite our protests that we cannot just leave school and run off to Tilasu (we are technically supposed to be here to teach), he keeps insisting that it is totally fine and that we can just be "absent" because we absolutely must go here. Tilasu is apparently where the women put the gold rings around their necks...and I've only seen pictures in the stereotypical National Geographic article on "exotic" cultures...so I was really excited. I am also kind of warming up to car trips in the family van with our family. We get to watch English movies and they stuff us with yummy snacks, which of course I love.

Dum dum dum....once we told Daniel, our program "director", he nipped our whole adventure in the bud. After some "interesting" emails and phone calls back and forth, it was decided that we could not violate the "laws" ( I personally think that calling the loosely applied rules of a completely disorganized and poorly run volunteer organization laws is a bit of a stretch...) of Learning Enterprises and not teach for a week. So it was A-ok for us to sit around while the students had mid terms (which should have been found out beforehand in my humble opinion) and do nothing, but because of the flu, our mini-adventure planned by our gracious and adorable host families would violate some innate "law" of LE. Umm yea about that. Next time I sign up to go on a trip organized by a random non-profit run by college students, just shoot me. Whatever. Not a battle worth fighting at this point-

So the bright side of all of this is that we were lucky to be invited to another school in the area as guest teachers for the week. This school is where we should have been all along! It is a small, government school that takes students who cannot pass the entrance exam to get into our other school (I didn't even know there was an entrance exam!) and so it attracts the poorer students who have less opportunities. After long conversations with the head of the English Department there, I am so grateful to be teaching there and totally inspired for what feels like the first time this entire trip. The students in Taphanhin whose parents are wealthy have tutors and extra help and classes that enable them to be able to pass the entrance exams and go to the "best" school in the area. The students whose parents collect plastic bottles for a living, or who dump them with their grandparents and go off to Bangkok are the students at this school-out of 28 students who made it to 12th grade last year at this school (most of the students drop out early-the girls around 13 to get married...the boys to work), only 5 went on to university! So Crystal and I are guest teaching English there this week and absolutely loving it. First of all, nobody has treated us like a circus animal yet. Can you believe it? There was no song and dance, but the teachers and director of the school have been down to earth, sweet and so welcoming. We are teaching all different ages, and the students are definitely a little bit behind compared to Taphanhin school, but they are so eager to learn and adorable. I'm absolutely loving it! It's too bad that I only have one week with them, but for next year we are insisting that they send volunteers here.

More updates to come on my weekend in Bangkok which did happen and was amazing and totally ridiculous.

I miss everyone, only 12 more days until I get back to the land of cheeseburgers, beer and cereal. I would give a kidney for some Heart to Heart right now...soon enough!

xoxo

7/20 The Cupid Shuffle

2009-07-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

The past few days have been really weird. I haven't had anything to do really. Since the minute I stepped off the plane (and got 3 hours of sleep the first night I was here), it's been go-g0-g0. This past weekend, minus the one hour verrrrry informal volunteer meeting (that was supposed to take a day and a half...question mark) I had nothing to do. Saturday night I watched Confessions of a Shopaholic with my host family for my birthday and had birthday cake, then went to bed early! It was looong way away from last year's birthday (copious pitchers of frozen strawberry margaritas at Lauriol Plaza) but it was refreshing and relaxing. Sunday, I woke up and went to the English tutor with my host brother. He goes to an extra class on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I thought I was going to sit in on class, but I just had do the mandatory zoo animal routine-say hello, have everyone giggle and stare at you, then duck out the back. After that I just hung out at the pharmacy, and then I got to make homemade green curry with the cooks!

I have been asking to cook since I got here, but I haven't had time yet. I was put in the charge of "May", one of the young women who works in the pharmacy. All of the people who work in my host mom's pharmacy also have second jobs as our family's go-to people it seems. I'm not really sure of the exact relationship, but anytime we need to be driven anywhere, or anything needs done, Na Pet, my host mom, just calls on someone working in the pharmacy and they snap to it. We desperately tried to find fresh soymilk at the market on Sunday morning for the other volunteers, but had no luck. We asked where we could find it, and before I knew Na Pet had ordered someone to drive and go get it for us. So Na Pet told them I wanted to cook, and May put me to work! Her English consisted of hand motions and smiles, but we had a great time. I love cooking-the whole process is calming. I sat and peeled Thai eggplants (little green bell-shaped veggies) and picked fresh basil and had the best time ever just sitting and doing something with my hands. The curry was surprisingly easy to make and it was SO delicious. Much better than Bangkok Bistro, although our Americanized version noticeably does not add the kilo of chicken livers that we did to ours (which stayed floating in the bowl after I was done eating). I'm also going to need to find an Asian food market to get the green chilli paste, but I am so excited to wow people with my Thai culinary delights when I get back to the US. This week, I am going to learn "Tom Yum Gun", a spicy seafood soup with lemongrass and ginger. Its so yummy, I can't wait.

I had a serious case of the Mondays yesterday (speaking of which I need to watch Office Space asap, its been too long). I think knowing that we had 4 days off put me in a funk. Also, only about half of my classes showed up. Teaching has been pretty good so far, but also disillusioning. The teachers don't really take us seriously-they are the ones constantly joking and laughing at us-so asking the students to take us seriously is really out of the question. In the teachers lounge it is SO painfully obvious everytime they are talking about us, laughing and pointing. My favorite is when this Thai teacher, who I think fancies himself to be the sort of "Big Man on Campus", finds it absolutely hilarious to walk up to us, speak quickly in Thai and ask if we understand. Well lets see, lets think about this. We have been here for a month now. Everyone knows that our Thai consists of please, thank you, hello, and I'm full. You know this. Yet it still amuses you to the point of incapacitating giggles (and lets remember you are a full grown man giggling at young girls) to speak Thai to us when we clearly do not understand. Why? Really? Can I help him find that missing something in his life so that this little routine becomes unnecessary? Also, most of the teachers weren't even told that we were coming to teach. The first few days there were multiple awkward, "umm hi, can I teach your class" situations in front of the students- really helped establish that authority.

Anyways, my students show up about half of the time. One of my classes was supposed to write letters to the younger students in Phitsanulok where the other volunteers are teaching for homework (it was our original, misguided and ineffective "service project" that has since been abandoned). So Friday, when I ask where the letters are, an entire class says oops, we forgot and by the way, we have Friday games and activities, so see ya later and everyone just leaves. I'm left in the classroom with a full lesson plan and no students. Monday was frustrating because I had to have other classes quickly write generic letters for the students in Phitsanulok, I kept trying to explain the situation and how they were doing me a "favor"-it was totally lost in translation. I just had them copy the generic letter. Oh well. My last class copied the letter with confused looks on their faces, and after attempting to explain the concept of community service to them (I need to create a service project at some point before I leave in 3 weeks, whoops!) and getting completely blank stares, I gave up. I pulled out my laptop, wrote down the chorus of the cupid shuffle on the blackboard, blasted the song and made them get up and dance. "To the left, to the left...". They looked at me like I was clinically insane and should be locked up when I demonstrated the dance. I just had to dance it out tho-it wasn't even a choice. After repeated and desperate "Cmon guys!", some of them got into it. The 4 boys in the class hid literally in the corner, but then again so do most guys at Tombs when people get onto the dance floor. My students might think I'm primed for the looney bin, but after a long Monday, in my frumpy teacher dress, sweating like a pig in a classroom in the middle of East Jesus, Thailand, it was exactly what I needed.

After a nice jog with my host uncle, I settled in at home. I tried to figure out the DVD player in the family room, but after failing at that I decided to watch some Thai tv. For some reason, its endlessly entertaining to me. Mostly, I love the commercials. They are all either for whitening creams or hair products. They are absolutely obsessed with being pale. Its almost creepy-all of the celebrities and models practically look Western-they have eye surgery to make their eyes bigger, and they work so hard at being pale, with crazy whitening creams and wearing long pants and long sleeves in the sweltering heat at all times. Different standards of beauty I guess! Seeing as how my 46 yr old host mother looks like she is about 23, literally, they must be onto something. Meanwhile, I spent most of my highschool years roasting in the sun smothered with baby oil.

All for now, I'm off to start cooking again! xoxo,

Stacy

7/18 A Thai-style Birthday

2009-07-18T02:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like I'm 22 years old. 21 was so exciting. I couldn't wait to casually saunter into a bar, order a drink and whip out my legitimate ID like it was nobody's business. 21 opened up a whole new world in DC-happy hours, different areas of DC, senior year, the TOMBS (I so miss $7.95 pitchers of Busch light!) all sorts of stuff. 22 is, well, 22. I have a job, bills and a 401K. What the hell happened?

So far, my birthday has been wonderful! I didn't even want to tell people it was my birthday, because I didn't want anyone to make a big deal about it. Everytime I mention something, or show the slightest interest (like "what is that fruit?" at the market), it is delivered to me. I am so spoiled by my hosts and I feel incredibly guilty and I just didn't want any hooplah. After the adorable homemade cards at school on Friday and the sweet students wishing me happy birthday, I started to get more excited about my bday though. Last night, my adorable host brother "Tee" went out and bought Thai desserts and we had a little picnic in the kitchen, binge eating and talking. He is so kind and adorable, I just want to poke him. He is essentially an over-sized teddy bear-a little bit tubby (how can you not be with his mother? she is constantly feeding us!), very shy and a complete mama's boy. During one car trip, my host mother started cooing and applying acne cream to his face in front of the entire van-he is 14! I was appalled, can you imagine a 14 yr old boy in America allowing this? It would of course call into question his "independence" and "masculinity" (snort) and would never ever be allowed, but Tee just let her fuss over him like he was a 5 year old. Anyways I digress. Tee is awesome and I love helping him practice his English. We also share a common love of food-every time I take a bite of anything, he exclaims "Is it very delicious!?" with a little bit of a lisp. Loves it.

So in Thailand on your birthday, it is tradition to wake up early and wait for the Monks to walk around the village and give them food. I decided to go 100% Thai for this one so I set my alarm for 4:30 and went to bed early. 4:30 came all too early and I swear I saw wrinkles on my 22 yr old face in the mirror, but I hauled myself out of bed and Tee and I walked to the middle of the town with instant noodles, juice and water to wait for the monks. Every morning around 5 am the monks walk around the town and people give them food-its how they eat since they aren't allowed to buy anything. I guess the monks slept in this morning, because we sat on the steps of a building for close to 40 minutes, eagerly searching the streets for the sign of a monk (sort of like little kids waiting for the ice cream man...sort of...). Finally-monks! You approach the monks, put your offerings in their silver bowl that they carry around since you are not allowed to touch them, then kneel down and they pray and bless you. I gave food to about 8 monks so I think I'm pretty blessed-up for awhile. Good to know. At 6:30, Tee and I headed back home and back to bed for an hour before getting up and getting ready for my volunteer meeting, before which my family insisted on giving me a birthday present while Tee played "Happy Birthday" on the keyboard. I now have a traditional Thai dress that is absolutely beautiful...the spoiling continues! I hope everyone is ready for the brat I have become. Watch out.

This weekend is "mid-point break" (oooohhhh we're halfway there...ohhh oh! living on a prayer!) so the two other volunteers, Deven and Nhaca, are in Taphanhin for the weekend. We did some planning this morning and generally just chatted about our different experiences. Deven and Nhaca are in very rural areas and are having more of the romanticized, "help the poor villagers" experience that I imagined I would encounter when I decided to do this. The community is much less well off and mostly consists of farming families. Their students often drop out after grade 9 to work, or hardly come to school as they have to work on the family farm or help out at home. It's a different world from my students who prance about with their fancy camera phones, mp3 players and friend me on facebook (hooray limited profile!). They are loving their experience, but every school has its challenges. Their teachers seem even more unreliable than ours-they both teach almost all day since there are always unsupervised classes where teachers just didn't show up. Deven is also teaching 6 yr olds, who can barely write in Thai, nonetheless English and Deven is finding near to impossible to communicate with them not speaking Thai. The whole not speaking the local language but still teaching English idea is a little suspicious to me. I could be 100 times more effective if I spoke even rudimentary Thai. Oh well...lesson learned. I love my cushy little set up complete with A/C, wifi and students whose English is relatively quite good, but I am secretly a little jealous of their "real" experience. The little peace-corps wannabe inside of me is screaming to run off to the jungle and probably misguidedly "help" by imposing my Western ideals and perceptions of what development is upon them My family is great and I am so grateful, but I might as well be in the states some days.

Tonight I make my return to aerobic dancing in honor of the other volunteer's visit. I figure if we all go it will be a huge spectacle anyways and I might as well take advantage of it. I am also in desperate need of exercise after all of the delicious desserts that I have consumed. Our housekeeper made homemade sticky rice with coconut milk and rambutans this afternoon-very delicious. Time to burn some calories! There is also hope of going to Phitsanulok to watch Harry Potter (in English!) tomorrow afternoon since our volunteer meeting took about 1 hour. So excited for that!

I miss you all, thanks for the birthday wishes!

7/17 The Saga Continues

2009-07-17T06:02:00.000-07:00

Well after a full week of teaching, I feel more settled in, just in time for mid term exams-we are not teaching for 4 days next week! At the end of this whole program. we will probably only have taught about half of the days! We teach on Monday of next week, then have the rest of the week off (although we do have our extra classes and another English Camp), then two weeks of teaching, and then home!

A few highlights from the week:

1. Aviator Man. I keep seeing this one teacher around school and he cracks me up. As teachers, we are supposed to dress quite conservatively, with somewhat of an air of authority. I'm pretty sure this guy is a math teacher, and he rolls into school everyday wearing jeans, a big belt with a huge Western buckled, socks and sandals (note to the world: its NEVER ok), and big Aviator sunglasses that he does not take off. ever. As I pass his classes in the hallway I always sneakily peek in and he is there, teaching, with his sunglasses on. Now the classrooms aren't especially bright-certainly not blinding-and are even quite dark, especially the ones that only have natural light. Why I ask-does this man feel the need to wear Aviators while teaching high school math? He looks like a sad, 70's-era has-been. Maybe he had secret dreams of becoming some sort of Thai James Bond, or Thai Brad Pitt...and now as a teacher in rural Thailand is completely unable to let go of the "dream". Anyways, I always find a smile on my face when I see him explaining derivatives in his get-up.

2. Big Ass. This week, I tried to teach my students how to write a formal letter. Headings, dates, addresses, proper greetings and endings, the whole works. It was well received by others, and completely rejected by others. C'est la vie...somethings go over great in classes, and in other classes the same thing can be an epic fail. Anyways, I had my students practice writing letters to their "idols". Korean pop music is pervasive in Thailand. They are absolutely obsessed. If you say the word "Wondergirls" or "Super Junior", everyone, girls and boys alike, goes crazy. I had no idea who these people were-thank goodness that Crystal is Korean and can fill me in on this whole music phenomenon. Some of the students wrote to these boy bands, others wrote to random people-Britney Spears, President Obama. I was walking around looking at the letters when I see one boy writing, "Dear Big Ass". My mouth dropped open and I quickly scratched it out and tried to explain frantically that no, he could not write to "Big Ass" and that it was offensive. Maybe he really had no idea, but I think he totally did and was playing dumb. Aghhh teenage boys. They should all be sent away between the ages of 12 and...well...college guys really aren't that much better come to think of it (I've seen things in college that I've also seen as a pre-school aide)...25?.

3. Terrorizing young children. It was Tuesday afternoon. It was sweltering. I had already taught 3 classes that day, and had to run after school to teach my extra class. I'm in my last class, trying in vain to explain prepositions to my class, and completely failing because there are students in the hallway causing a complete ruckus. Supervision really doesn't exist in Thai schools. If the teacher doesn't show up (which happens all the time...) the kids just run absolutely wild. So this was the case with a bunch of 7th graders out in the hallway. I kept shouting in my class trying to be heard, and I finally snapped. I charged out into the hallway (I'm sure with an absolute crazed look in my eyes) and yelled in English "BE QUIET! YOU ARE BEING RUDE! BE QUIET!" The little rascals scattered into nearby classrooms, but kept giggling and shouting. I followed them into the classrooms and gave them looks of death (which I'm fantastic at) until they simmered down. Feeling much better, I composed myself and returned to my class where my students had looks of absolute terror and awe on their faces. Later in the hallway, the kids I yelled at literally ran around the corner to get out of my way. Good riddance! The teachers either beat the kids with a stick, or don't do anything at all. I'm not afraid to yell at a few brats now and then. I think it was cathartic.

4. Birthday Festivities. A bunch of 12th grade students have adopted Crystal and I. They come into the teachers lounge whenever we have free periods and we talk in English and they ask us adorable questions. Today, I was sitting in the lounge after lunch, trying desperately to summon up the energy for my afternoon classes, when Crystal comes in with all of them, bearing a chocolate cake (real chocolate!) and singing Happy Birthday. All of the students made these beautiful handmade birthday cards and they were so sweet! They had such cute little messages in them, "I hope you reach all of your success" and "I hope you enjoy always life". Ahhh I could just eat them up. We all ate cake and cookies together and it was exactly what I needed. I wish that they were my class and we could just sit and chat all day together.

All for this week! More to come next week. We got suckered into another English Camp, but I'm hoping this one will be better than the last. Its at our school, so at least we can escape to the peace of our host families at night. Tessani, the teacher who we went to English Camp with last time and who I have been successfully avoiding like the plague, was at the meeting when we were discussing the schedule, and asked if I would sing the "Oh English Camp" song (reference blog post on English Camp) with her dazed, wide-eyed look that haunts my dreams. In my head I screamed in agony, and barely muttered out "ummm maybe". Must avoid this. If anyone has any ideas of less morally, spiritually and physically offensive English songs, please email me.

xoxo,

Stacy

7/15 Teaching dot dot dot

2009-07-15T04:46:00.001-07:00

Between the adventures to Bangkok, Chiang Mai and everywhere else inbetween-I technically am here to teach English. This has been my first week of full teaching, sans holidays and I have really been trying to settle in (since I have a whole 3 weeks left...). I am finally getting to know my students and get a feel for the atmosphere and personality of each class. So far I've noticed a few things about my Thai students...

General Rules for Thai High School students:

1. No matter what I am explaining, how quickly, or slowly I go over it-when I ask the million dollar question-"Does that make sense? Do you understand?"-do NOT answer me. Do not give me any indication of your comprehension. Stare blankly ahead at me. Do not frown, or furrow your brow, or nod your head in agreement. Please keep me, the teacher, as clueless as possible as to your understanding.

I need to come dressed in a clown suit or a bikini (now THAT would scare everyone) to get some sort of a reaction from these kids! After a week of this from my classes-I have requested again and again that they at least nod their heads "yes", or shake their heads "no" when I ask a question. Apparently any verbal answer is just out of the question-but I am so frustrated! Their English textbooks are quite advanced, so I want to make sure that I'm not boring them or teaching them things they already know-but dear lord you would think I was either mute, or speaking in tongues.

2. Giggle at me when you pass me in the hallway 15 times a day. Everytime you see me-the white girl-PLEASE giggle. I need to know that you think I look funny. If you are really brave you can mock me by saying "Good MORNING!" in a sing-song tone back when I say it to you. If you are a Thai teenage boy-shout "I LOOOVE YOU!" loudly and giggle. This pleases me at 8 am when it is 100 degrees outside and I am sweating. I enjoy this. Especially 3 weeks in when you are well aware that there is a white girl running around your school.

3. Come late to class. Everyone talks about "Thai time", and truly-teachers and students alike stroll into class like they are promenading on the boardwalk. I usually end up waiting 10 or 15 minutes (out of my 50 minute classes) for everyone to show up. I have to start my lesson, and no one comes on time, but of course when they do decide to show up, they insist on asking, "Teacher may I come in?", disrupting the lesson and the rest of the students.

Ok enough of the ranting. Once everyone can get past the crazy white girl who has the weird accent and settles down, the students are great for the most part. There are always a few boys in my classes who try to be jokesters, or the "it" guy. What is up with teenage boys? It must be the hormones. How did I ever, EVER, find that attractive in high school? What was I thinking? Sadly I think the last question is something I'll be asking myself for the rest of my life.

Highlight of the day was definitely when a group of students came up to Crystal and I, with the lyrics to "My Heart Will Go On" printed out and insisted that we serenade them. It was 3:30 pm, it was deliriously hot, and I had been up since 5:30-why the hell not? We gave it our all-hand gestures and all. What a power ballad-I think we did Celine proud.

Not much else has been going on this week. My host brother is home for the week as his school closed for a swine-flu outbreak. Lets hope I don't start coming down with anything...Our school isn't closing, but a lot of the students have been wearing medical masks. It looks kind of funny to see people in everyday life wearing them to Americans, but in reality, and especially given my germ0phobia, its a great ida and I am warming up to it. Now if they could only put soap in the bathrooms so that people could wash their hands (out of the thousands of bathrooms I have visited in this great country, only 2 have had soap so far), they would really be on the right track. Note to future Thailand travelers: Hand sanitizer. It has been my saving grace.

All for now, miss everyone and keep those emails coming! :)

7/12 Grand Theft Auto: Thailand

2009-07-13T02:44:00.000-07:00

Another weekend spent in the family van! I have yet to come up with a good name for the big van, which unfortunately broke down an hour outside of Taphan hin on our way to Chiang Mai, so we took the other family van (there are a lot of vehicles...) after a good hour and a half at the Toyota dealership in Pichit. The car delearships are really nice here-maybe suggesting car trouble is a common occurence(?)-but they always have a computer, nice comfy seats and of course since its Thailand, a little woman who serves you tea and coffee. Not too shabby. I was happily submerged in a cheesey romantic novel and very entertained.

The new van also came with a new driver (complete with very Tom Cruise-esque sunglasses). After the weekend I am so happy that I spent a night on Khao Kho-the mountain that gives you another year to live-because after being in the car with this man, I lost at least one year of my life and I'm just hoping to come out even. Driving in Cairo, Egypt had been, until now, the most terrifying driving experience of my life. Lanes do not exist in Cairo. Traffic police? Very funny-they are all busy extracting bribes. But driving with this man-this was different. I am not a video game expert, but I've done my fair share of arcade games where you drive a car on a race track, or through a city and watching the road from our van was very similar to this. As we are zipping by the other cars, weaving in and out of the lanes (at one ponit, he squeezed the van in between a bus and a small car. It was a two lane road), we are passing tractors, motorcycles, cars, bicyles, cows-you name it. Given the differing speeds of all of these random vehicles (and animals!) on the road, passing is an absolute must-which is usually ok. This man however either really had to use the Hong Nam (toilet) the entire time, had ADD, or something...because we were constantly on the shoulder, on the median-or even just zooming ahead on the wrong side of the road. I wish I had filmed it. Once, we were trying to pass a small truck so we changed over into the other lane (where oncoming traffice was coming) and couldn't get back over in time so we had to use the shoulder of the wrong side of the road and even skidded through some grass. All of this doesn't seem to phase my host father. I might try to sedate myself for the next road trip.

After another long day in the car, we finally arrived in Chiang Mai, where we picked up my host brother, Teng, who is studying medicine in the university in Chiang Mai, and 7 of his friends at the local mall. It seems ubiquitous that teenagers hang out at malls, some sort of universal rule. We all piled into the family van and went to dinner at a local Thai restaurant. It was SO delicious! I especially liked the fried fish skin (sounds weird...I know) and the papaya salad. I was all proud of myself and I kept joking about how I was "becoming Thai" and could eat all of the spicy food until I came to face to face with what I thougth was fruit salad. Oh how I was mistaken. What looked like a delicious fresh fruit salad actually turned out to be fruit, with a chili lime sauce that was so spicy I felt like one of those cartoon characters-red in the face and steam coming out of my ears. I literally cried and I think I cleared out my sinuses for the rest of my life.

After dinner, we ended up at the night bazaar in Chiang Mai. Modeled after a real Thai night market, this has been morphed into the ultra-tourist trap. There was even a Starbucks-a universal sign that there will be white people nearby. All of the little vendors had all of the same touristy junk you can buy everywhere with jacked up prices-fake purses, fake watches, fake dvds, "traditional" Thai clothes, t-shirts with obsene sayings-very predictable. I was a little nauseated by the whole thing-way too many white people. I am so used to being the only "falang" in Taphan hin that when I see other white people I just look at them like "excuse me what are YOU doing here?". I did have a good time bargaining with this aggressive little old Thai lady and bought two nice pillow covers for my future apartment. The whole bargaining process is often daunting to outsiders, but it really is to be enjoyed if conducted properly. I would liken it to a dance or skit, where everyone has a role. I try to take lessons from my father-the ultimate entertainment bargainer. We STILL have t-shirts and sunglasses chains from his time spent on the beach in Bali over 10 years ago where he would bargain and buy everything the vendors had-literally. It's always better to buy in bulk says Barry-probably why he enjoys Costco so much :) (hi dad!).

My advice to amateur bargainers: Never act interested. Even if you see something you love and just have to have (which is questionable-do you really need eight small hand-carved elephants? The 5 fat, happy Buddha statues? alas I regress...) act like it is just "so so" and mediocre. Say you are "maybe" interested in something, and ask for their best price. After they quote you a price (which will, without fail be triple or quadruple what it cost to make it-) act offended. Act like they just kicked your dog, or back-handed your first born child. Oh the horror! It's all part of the game. Suggest half of the original price, or less. They too will play their part and act as if you have also just slapped their first born child-the better the drama, the better the whole charade. They will probably tell you it was hand-made, and point to some intricate details. Right-that's why all 200 vendors in the market have the exact same thing-lies lies lies. Some back and forth of this can continue-until! The crucial element-you walk away. Throw your hands up, say it is just TOO expensive (hey, $3 is a coffee at Starbucks) and walk away shaking your head. If they are serious-they will follow you, call after you or grab you (as the little old Thai lady did to me), draw you back into their store, and as if they were giving you top secret information pertinent to national security and terrorism and all that good stuff, tell you that, for YOU, for their friend-they will give you a discount-but only you! This is when you will get a good price. You can sigh, drag your feet a bit, but you will end up with a good deal. It takes a little creativity and acting-but if done properly, you can acquire all of the touristy junk you so desire, at a great price :)

$7 dollars and 2 really cute pillow covers later, we left the night market and got back in the van. We started driving (to where, we never know, as usual) and my host father said we were going to my host mother's house. No questions asked from the sleepy volunteers. After a very confusing phone call in which my host mother said something about a hot spring and a bath, and a 45 minute drive down windy, twisty roads where I was pretty sure death was imminent, we ended up at a resort by a hot spring! I love always being surprised. Turns out my host mom had been at a pharmacy conference and was staying outside Chiang Mai with the people she went to school with. We met everyone all at once, and due to copious amounts of green tea and whiskey they had obviously consumed, everyone was VERY friendly. So friendly that they erupted in laughter at everything we said. When we said we teach Grades 11 and 12-hilarity. Whatever floats their boat. We politely backed away slowly and let the party continue.

The next morning we took a bike ride through the country to see the hot spring. I am a converted early riser in Thailand. Everything so fresh and cool in the morning, it was absolutely gorgeous to see the sun rise. We ate breakfast with the ever so slightly hungover pharmacists, and were on our way. I was so excited to see the ancient city of Chiang Mai. There are tons of old temples and ruins from centuries ago that are world famous. I had my camera all ready and was pumped to go...

1 hour later and about 50 stops to ask for directions, we ended up at the information center. I assumed that we were going to stop in, get a brochure, and head on to the city. We got back in the car, and after 15 minutes my host mom giggled and said we were lost and couldn't find the ancient city, so we were on our way back to Taphanhin. Ohhh. So I can't show anyone actual pictures of all of these famous sites or describe them-but I do have a poorly translated informational brochure. Ehhh, what can ya do. I did get a diet coke at the info center-another great perk of tourist traps-Diet coke! It was my first since arriving-can you even believe it? I'll mark it up to a wash.

7 long hours later, and ALL three of the "Back to the Future" movies later (I had never seen them before actually! Less than impressed, although I guess the young Michael J. Fox is cute), we were back home.

We have our first complete week of teaching this week, so I hope it goes well! Monday is an easy day for me-only 3 classes. Hilarious moment of the day: So Crystal and I have been successfully hiding from Tessani (the teacher we went to English camp with), but today she caught up with us as we were getting ice cream from the little stand at school. Crystal's stomach was a little iffy during English camp and mostly the food was pretty gross. Refusing food is a complete no-no, so when she said her stomach wasn't feeling well, Tessani asked "constipation?! diarrhea?" and Crystal agreed to the latter just to make it easier. So today, more than a week after English camp, Tessani comes up to us at the ice cream stand and the first words out of her mouth are "Crystal, how is your constipation?". Crystal literally burst out laughing and I just stared with my mouth open. No hello, no how was your weekend-constipation. I'm sure she was just trying to be nice...but really? Does one always ask a relative stranger about their bowel movements as a greeting?

More stories after a week of attempting to teach the different between "R" and "L". I am not trying to be rude, but they really do say "flied lice"-it is not their faults, they have been taught the wrong way (Grrrrrrr) their entire lives. My mission of the week is to change this-when I made my students say "rrrrrrrrrr!" and growl like dogs this morning, it went surprisingly well. Fingers crossed...

7/10 Sweating like a whore in church

2009-07-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

Today was one of the hottest days so far. It was probably over 95 degrees, and 100% humidity. All day long I am dripping with sweat. When I sit down, it collects in pools. All around me my Thai students are cool as cucumbers. Like it's 65 and breezy. I am the agitated, hot, sweaty white person and my students giggle when I have to wipe the layers of sweat off my forehead while I'm teaching. It doesn't help that the chalk sticks to my sweat and after a day of teaching I look like I shimmied up to the blackboard and rubbed myself all over it. Another day in the life...at least I've really taken to swimming in my lap pool (hehe) for exercise, because its one of the few times a day I am not sweating.

We have yet to teach a full week of classes, but it always seems like there is some random holiday or event going on at school. There was the impromptu Buddhist ceremony, the random trip to an English seminar, and this afternoon all of Grade 11 and 12 had an "alumni day", where students who went to Taphan hin school come back to talk about their careers and give their students guidance. After lunch, we went up to the "hall", a big auditorium with NO A/C (thus the sweating like a whore in church), where there was a concert. Some of the alums must have formed a band, so bad speakers were turned up to full volume as these chubby old guys belted out the latest Thai hits. You would've thought that it was the Jonas Brothers (they're popular...right? I'm old). The girls were going absolutely insane. They were dancing and jumping around in their socks (of course they took their shoes off in the hall) and screeching and screaming in notes so high that only dogs could hear. It was a complete mess. Crystal and I just kept looking at each other, like "is this really happening?". Every song the girls would shriek and get up and dance wildly like they were 5 long-island iced teas in at a club in NYC. In reality, they are listening to random, middle-aged Thai men sing (complete with voice cracks and "ooooo yeaaaaa!"s). Ridiculous, and endlesslessly entertaining, despite the migraine I developed after 30 minutes of that.

Seeing as the concert was their "presentation", the "rockstars" finished up and the rest of the alums (with...how do I say this politely....somewhat more legitimate careers) spoke about their lives. Of course the circus monkeys had to get up and say something too, despite the fact that neither of us have a career so to speak (come September 22 I will!). They asked us the normal questions, "do you like Thai food?" and "why did you come to Thailand?" (that afternoon with the sweltering heat I was having a really hard time remembering why). All of a sudden, perhaps a gift from god, a breeze rushed through the auditorium, lifting up my flowy skirt that I hurriedly try to hold down-of course everyone caught it and laughed wildly. That will be awkward on Monday! C'est la vie-I think I actually AM more relaxed now-when things like this happen my response is, "Well it will make for a great blog post!". Anything for my craft.

In more exciting news, Crystal and I started talking with an alum who was a PhD physicist (my question is what does a physicist actually do? Seeing as addition stumps me I have no idea...) working in Germany. He did his masters in Germany and his PhD in Ireland, so his English was almost perfect and it was so refreshing to talk to him. Admittedly, he was very cute and 28, so I didn't mind it too much ;). Interestingly though, he was becoming ordained as a monk this week. All Buddhists (well the men-not the women, of course-why would they also be allowed to participate in an important religious ritual?) can become ordained as a monk once in their life. Men will shave their head, live in the temple for one week, and go through a ceremony. After this, the men can get married (he has a girlfriend...sad), and I think it's comprable to baptism or maybe even the Hajj. He invited us to come to his ceremony, but we'll be in Chiang Mai eventually. He did say that if I'm ever in Germany We will have to meet up! Oktoberfest anyone?

Side note: My stories on Buddhism are painfully uninformed and probably not completely accurate. I cringe at their possible inaccuracy. Next week, we are going to the temple to speak with a monk about Buddhism and help him with his English while he teaches us to meditate. This monk's English is quite good so I will make sure I clear up all of these details. Actually, the monk came to our extra class that we had this week. We are required to have 2 classes a week outside of school that are open to the community. We expected lots of people, and all of a sudden two monks walk in! It was so startling. They are such icons of respect and honor in Thai society and I was at a loss of how to treat them. They are not just students and I felt so awkward having them sit there. So, we developed a plan after class that instead of them sitting with a bunch of teenagers learning how to talk about what you like to eat, we would go to the temple once a week and just talk with them. Much better! Maybe I will end up learning how to meditate...question mark?

Off to Chiang Mai tomorrow morning! Lots of stories I'm sure when I return on Sunday.

xoxox

7/7 Life Rule # 73: Never order the Seafood Pizza

2009-07-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

After being home in Taphan hin literally for one hour after my trip to Khao Kho, we were back in the family van! I need to name it now that I think of it...hmmm this will be a project. Now, Crystal and I were going with her host family to Bangkok for 2 nights.

After a long drive, during which we watched a Barney DVD for 2 hours - I think the loudest possible volume setting (Crystal's host sister is 2) and I started to get a serious migraine (Barney is seriously obnoxious)- we finally arrived at Crystal's host Dad's house. Our host parents are 2 of 9 children, and most of the family lives in Bangkok. Mink, Crystal's host Dad, goes to Bangkok about every week and has a house there next to the Central Plaza, which is a HUGE shopping mall. It reminded me of America :) Oh excessive consumerism...So we unloaded ye old family van and collapsed after eating noodle soup (I love that you can run down to the corner street vendor andget good food at any time of night or day, it's the best) and got up super early the next morning to head to the temple!

The reason we had such a long holiday was that for Buddhists, these past few days have been the beginning of their "lent" period. Ages ago, Buddha (or someone...my Buddhist theology is really fuzzy) decided that because of the rainy season (which has just started), Monks had to stay at their home temples instead of traveling around so their food wouldn't get spoiled. So, this is a 3 day holiday to celebrate the beginning of that period, during which apparently Thai people try to correct something about themselves (if they're an alcoholic, they'll try to stop...etc). So essentially it's lent. Either way, we headed to the temple where there were literally THOUSANDS of people. Everyone brings the monks food and gifts, and the monks had a procession line set up, where you kneel down, bow 3 times, put your gift in their silver bowl, and they have helpers lined up behind them to organized the food into enormous bins. I have never seem so much food in my life! Everyone brings them something, and especially because its a holiday people were going crazy. Apparently they give the leftover food to smaller temples and the needy in the community, but man they were stocked. It's so funny to see all of these monks wrapped up in their orange robes, sitting on platforms and surrounded by modern stuff-toilet paper, washing detergent, Thai iced teas, rice, desserts...everything! They were all surrounded by mountains of food.

So we joined in the procession, knelt and gave our offerings, then listened to the sermon. Afterwards, we got to go shopping in the make-shift market that was set up outside the temple for people who didn't prepare food. I got my iced coffee-yessss-and we got yummy dumplings, corn and all sorts of stuff for breakfast. After having breakfast back at home, we took Crystal's host sister, Bui Fai to "Brain School". Of course, Bui Fai is subjected to "Brain School" at the age of 2 every week, one of the reasons their family comes to Bangkok. It pretty much looked like a normal preschool to me, but her parents kept calling it "Bui Fai's study time to become smarter". That girl will have all sorts of pressure growing up...she is already the quintiessential only child with a princess complex and a full time nanny running after her...i don't envy her parents when she is a teenager.

After Brain School, we ran around Bangkok doing errands with our host fam and met up with our host grandparents for lunch at Siam Square, a super busy and fun shopping area downtown. We went to Hong Kong noodle, and I got to have my absolute favorite dim sum-steamed pork buns! Ohhh they were fabulous. I crave these little wonders. Afterwards, we asked if we could get our hair washed and blow-dryed, b/c you can get it done for super cheap in Bangkok. Next thing we know, we are at the Shisedo salon having a hair spa because some relative had "free tickets". Ahhh that was the life. Nothing ever seems to be simple with our host families, they are always going above and beyond. Having someone massage oil into my hair and steam it, and then finally straighten it! I felt like a NEW person. I could barely even recognize myself. I finally felt less like a country bumpkin. The girls in Bangkok are all super thin, stylish and dressed to the nines. In my clothes, which would have put me way above the bar in Taphan hin, I looked like a mess. Too bad I left all my make up at home. Oh well...Crystal and I decided that we absolutely had to go back to Siam Square another time to shop!

After some more errands, we got in the family van again and we thought were going to get pizza (yay American food!). After 45 minutes of driving however, we show up at this "National Office of Buddhism" outside of Bangkok where there were again, thousands of people. Apparently we were going to walk around a huge statue of Buddha 3 times (part of the lent celebration). Of course, it was raining though, so I ended up getting soaked and of course my nice straight hair ended up a curly frizz ball. Sighh oh well. I guess I'll sacrifice my hair for Buddha. But just this once!

After our surprise side trip, we did end up going to get pizza. I warned Crystal that pizza outside of the states, especially in Asian countries, is never the same. They always come up with interesting combinations, and you see things on pizza that you would never expect (or ever want to eat). I stayed with the safe option-veggie, but Crystal decided to be bold and go for the Seafood pizza. Always a mistake-it came out with huge chunks of imitation crab meat, shrimp and fish balls with a spicy weird sauce as the base. Luckily, there were breadsticks and other things to snack on, and as with everything here, lesson learned. Crystal used our code word "interesting!" (meaning absolutely awful-don't try it) to describe it with a pained smile.

After dinner, our host Dad asked us if we would like to get a Thai massage-um of course! It was exactly what I needed after 4 long days in the car...so relaxing. I am so spoiled it's really unfair and awful considering I'm supposed to be a volunteer. I just justify it in my head that I will be a much better volunteer if I'm happy and comfortable :) Ok I secretly love it and am enjoying the royal treatment.

All for now, lots of love!

7/5 I am a bona fide Asian tourist

2009-07-08T07:04:00.000-07:00

I've finally nailed it-the certain je ne sais quoi of an Asian tourist. It's not the fanny packs, the huge expensive cameras, or the tour guides with colored umbrellas and coordinating hats and t-shirts. It's the pictures. The constant fixation on pictures. Pictures must be taken at all times, with everyone. Not one picture is sufficient. No, multiple pictures with multiple poses are required. Finally. After our family trip to Khao Kho this weekend and the sheer volume of pictures taken, I think I can qualify.

After being dropped off at home post-English camp (we were so grateful to be back!) we turned right around and hopped in the family van. Crystal and I are essentially staying with the same host family-we spend about 50/50 with each family and in each place, and the entire family has a HUGE Toyota van that they use for road trips-so reminiscent of many a Shelden vacation. So we piled into this big van, full of our rambuncious Thai family and were off. My host mother, father, two brothers as well as their family friend and her daughter, Crystal and I set off to Khao Kho, a mountain in Northeastern Thailand in the "Petchuburn" region. Story has it that if you sleep one night at Khao Kho, you will live one year longer than you were supposed to-so I'm glad I've got that in the bag. Our family road trip was a riot-my host mother seems incapable of travelling anywhere without an excessive amount of snacks. She had everything-fried seaweed (it sounds gross..but its so good), corn on the cob, chips (Asian flavors like spicy lime and bbq shrimp), Thai desserts, a tub of green curry (it's my favorite), fruit, juice, water, ice cream... I can't even remember. The entire trip basically consisted of eating snacks in the car, then getting out of the car to eat at restaurants. We also got to watch DVDs-in English!-in the car and pretty much just had a Thai rave in the car.

After driving a few hours up steep and windy roads (and multiple rest stops-we always stop for the "Hong Nam" or bathroom every hour it seems) we arrived at Khao Kho and had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the valley. It was so goregous and the food was amazing. We then went on to our resort, where we settled in and played cards. Cards are illegal to buy in Thailand if you are under 18 because gambling is illegal-it's so funny how taboo cards seem to the kids. We taught our whole group how to play spoons and it was hilarious-they absolutely loved it! Everyone had a great time as we rocked out to some 90's era American pop-surprisingly refreshing. The next morning we woke up at 5 to see the fog on the mountain, and were disappointed when it wasn't there, but no worries-there's always something to eat! We had yummy rice soup and went off to the new temple that they were constructing. We walked up a lot of stairs and took a million pictures of the amazing view. The view was absolutely breathtaking (look at my facebook pics!) After stopping by the King's palace (just the one in the Northeastern region, he's a baller...he has tons), we went to lunch (because of course we hadn't eaten enough) and then headed home. True to form, we took TONS of pictures. It is so funny-my host Dad has a huge fancy camera and acted as the group photographer, always taking tons of pics, complete with peace signs :) Gotta love it. We had such a great time-it was fun getting to hang out with my host brothers and their family friend, Mim. She goes to university in Bangkok so we are going to go visit her one Saturday and go shopping-I can't wait!

More to come on my travels to Bangkok soon! I am back in Taphan hin for 2 days of teaching at school, our first "extra" class tomorrow after school which is open to the entire community (it should be really interesting!) and then off to Chiang Mai this weekend!

Miss you all, thank you so much for all of the emails and messages-they make me less homesick :) I promise to reply soon!

xoxox

7/4 And this one time, I went to English Camp…

2009-07-08T02:10:00.000-07:00

Ah. English Camp. Where to start? It’s been 3 great days since I left and I almost forgot about it. I think my brain is suppressing the traumatic memory for my own wellbeing and mental health. Ok maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but if I wasn’t overly dramatic I wouldn’t be myself and life would be so boring.

English Camp had its pros and cons

Cons:

Location. My godfather asked me on the phone, “So where are you guys?” Great question. Wish I had the answer. After 2 weeks here, Crystal and I have surrendered to 1. the mosquitoes (I give up. Bite me) and 2. the fact that communication is so painful that it is infinitely easier to not ask questions and just be surprised. We always just get into cars when we are told and are always surprised when we arrive somewhere. The teacher who sneak attacked us into agreeing to English camp (she asked us within 15 minutes of our arrival to school on the very first day-how could we say no?) is an absolute sweetheart. She means so well, which makes me feel so awful for wanting to rip her head off. I think she is an English teacher (who knows?) but she is so difficult to understand I couldn’t tell you. If you ask her a question (slowly and clearly) she will smile blankly back at you and say “yes”. Even if you ask (I promise I haven’t…but I’ve been tempted), “So you are annoying?” So yea. We had no idea where we were. Apparently it was the farm/resort of the Assistant Prime Minister. We stayed in an old cabin, which was less than desirable, but I’ve stayed in worse.

Dancing. If you know me at all, you’ll be well aware that unless country music is blaring, or I’ve had a few cocktails, dancing really isn’t my forte. Especially when forced to do so in front of, oh, 80 or so strangers. The teachers running the camp had “English songs” and dances that took up most the camp. I was hoping that we would really get to teach English in an intensive setting. I was sorely mistaken. Most of the camp consisted of us singing along to songs such as, and I quote,

Oh English Camp! Oh English Camp!
Oh English Camp makes me HAPPY!
We enjoy being together!
Oh English Camp!
Sung to the tune of “When the saints come marching in”

IF and only IF, the students had been ages 3-9, this would have been enjoyable and cute. Our students, however, were adults. I was horrified. At age 5 I would’ve protested and insisted I was “too cool”. Weirdly though-they didn’t seem to mind. I could never imagine American adults sitting cross-legged in lines, clapping and happily singing these songs. (Oh little Firefly was a good one). Thai people are different and the contrast with Americans is so interesting. My students, even though they are 16 or 17, are so much more innocent than American teenagers. Thai teenagers are not allowed the same level of independence and freedom (I shouldn’t say not allowed…it’s just how things are), they stay close to their family and disobedience to your elders is completely out of the question. You won’t see an eye-roll or a heavy sigh or an “I’m SO much cooler than this” look, whereas in the states I feel like that’s the essence of teenagers. Thai teenagers giggle and enjoy things that we (speaking for jaded, cynical Americans) would just consider silly. Similarly, these Thai adults were perfectly happy to sing children’s songs. I wonder who’s better off?

Either way, I hate being subjected to this kind of stuff and every time the teachers would wave us up to the front we would have to fake a smile and sing along.

Being a fat American: I never really felt “American” until university. I was clearly culturally American, but I never felt that sense of patriotism and allegiance with American-ess. That is, until someone decides to criticize Americans. Criticize the questionable choices of some of our leaders (but don’t you dare think that all Americans think one way), go ahead, but it is just plain rude to point out, at a dinner table, the things that are “wrong” with Americans. Every meal, Crystal and I make the (sad and tired now) joke about how Thai food is so great that we can’t eat too much or we will get so fat to avoid eating things we don’t like or having more food stuffed down our throats. So we made the obligatory, “no no...thank you so much but…” joke the first night at the end of dinner, and the director of the English camp, whose English was quite good and who was the “authority” on English after spending a year in England, felt the need to inform us that Americans are just fat and all of our food is fat naturally. She then said that all Thai people are thin because their food is not fattening.

Ok. So I get that McDonalds and such is fattening, yes I am aware, but last time I checked, it was common cultural courtesy NOT to blatantly point out the things wrong with another person’s culture. To their face. And for the record-all of the Thai fried dough, desserts and sugary drinks (they drink sugar syrup, let’s remember) aren’t exactly slim-fast. This same woman also felt the need to tell me, while thanking me for helping clear the table, that she was surprised that I was helping b/c Americans don’t usually help out, and that in THAI culture, they help each other.

So yea, just FYI-Americans are fat and rude. Always. Write that down. She asked me to come visit her school…yea don’t hold your breath lady.

Improper English: Again the biggest problem with Thai students is the teachers. All weekend, we felt so awkward having to correct teachers (especially given the Thai obsession with hierarchy) and listen to them tell students wrong things. At the “shopping” workshop, where we worked on phrases about the market, I just kept cringing at listening to the teachers act out a scene, saying “I’m going to go to shopping! I want buy bag”. I feel so weird correcting them because I do not want to step on their toes, but isn’t the whole point of me being here to teach English-the right way?

Taking pictures with everyone and their uncle and their uncle’s cousin’s dog: Back to the circus monkey act. EVERYONE wanted at least 5 pictures with us-which includes lots of touching and grabbing (Grrr). I am just over being the circus freak. Yes. I’m white. I get it.

Ok and on to the pros. I promise I am not all negative

The ostrich farm and vineyard: Yea, you heard me right. Apparently close to where we were there was an ostrich farm which we visited. Random, but kind of cool. I like to look at funny animals, it’s always a good time. Also, apparently whoever owned where we stayed likes wine, and so decided to grow grapes (in Thailand. Yea…I guess nobody told him about the climate) and make wine. We saw the vineyard and then even got to taste wine! We had one glass each, and it was absolutely disgusting. BUT, on a happy note, it was exactly what I needed after English camp, so I drank it anyways.

The students: To my surprise, we were teaching young adults and older adults. It turns out that this camp was for students in the “informal” education system, meaning students who had to drop out of school because their parent’s couldn’t afford it and needed them to work, or for the older students, have never even gone to school. Seeing them learning even the most basic things was so rewarding, and at the end when we were saying goodbye to them, some of the women were tearing up and I felt like the whole weekend was totally worth it. My favorite and funniest memory of the weekend was helping at the “clinic” workshop, where we talked about going to the doctor and describing what was wrong. I helped pronounce all of the words and had the students repeat after me. After saying loudly and clearly “I have Dia-RRHEA!” 15 times in front of a large group, you can’t not laugh.

And that was English camp. My first, and hopefully my last!

xoxo, More to come on Khao Kho and Bangkok. It's been a busy and crazy past couple of days!

7/3 Buddhism 101

2009-07-03T02:43:00.000-07:00

So this morning, Crystal and I are sitting in the nice, cool teacher’s lounge planning our lessons for the day and preparing for our 8:30 class. All of a sudden, my phone rings and it is one of the teachers insisting we come down to the Buddhist ceremony. Every morning before school all of the students line up outside and sing the national anthem and raise the Thai flag. Usually, we try to sneak away into the air-conditioned teacher’s lounge, since it is the same every morning, but not today! Right now, it is a Thai holiday where all of the monks in Thailand will stay at their temples for 3 months without leaving. So, the school was having a ceremony with a young monk who gave a short sermon to the students. All of a sudden we are ushered into the front row of the teachers, where we sat and listened the monk. The monk was sitting on a raised platform, wrapped in his orange robes and speaking into a microphone. Next to him was the table with the offerings on it. There was a HUGE yellow candle, baskets of gifts and a big pot where people stuck money. Monks are not allowed to buy anything-food, amenities or toiletries, so it is the job of the people to give them food and everything they need. All over Thailand there are little stores with these gift baskets that include toilet paper, snacks, matches, candles and general goodies.

So after the monk is finished speaking, we got up and followed the “procession” to the temple. The teachers loaded the offering table into a flatbed truck, which was followed by the school band (playing some march I definitely think I heard in Grease), the teachers and us, and the rest of the school. We start off slowly down the road, heading straight into incoming traffic, marching to the temple. We finally arrived at the temple after trekking through the mud, and we all sat in front of the monks. After some praying and chanting (during which the two teachers next to me talked on their cell-phones…clearly whoever was calling was more important than Buddha at that moment in time), all of the teachers (us included) went up to the monks and gave them the gift basket. To give a monk something, you bend on your knees and they spread out a cloth that is part of their robe (sort of like an extra attachment) on the platform, and you slide the gift basket onto their cloth and bow. I think (the whole reasoning was lost in translation to me) it is because you are not allowed to touch monks…so to give them something you put it on their cloth. Either way, I gave my gift basket to the monk, bowed and then we all proceeded to march around the temple…around…and around…about 10 times, when we finally stopped, put our flowers near the statue of Buddha, and went back to school.

Here I was, thinking I was going to let my students listen to Bon Jovi’s “Living on a Prayer”, and the next thing I know, I’m at a Buddhist ceremony, giving offerings to a monk. Never a dull moment!

T.G.I.F.

Because of the impromptu parade and temple visit, I missed my first class, but I still got to teach 2 classes today. Yesterday, I was exhausted at the end of the day and decided to ditch teaching and just play a game, so I played Charades with my last period. You would've thought I was reinventing the wheel, they were laughing and clapping and just going crazy. SO much better than a grammar lesson where I speak at dinosaur pace and get blank stares back. Today after the regular lesson, I played some music for my students. Of course I had to have my country music shout out-and I played "Chicken Fried" by Zac Brown Band! I was dancing and singing along, and I think they kind of liked it too...I will spread country music, one convert at a time.

The past few days we have had tons of students come to the teachers lounge and chat with us. They are so fun and they ask us tons of questions and just want to practice their English. That is my favorite part of the day, just sitting and talking with them. I want to run and hide when the teachers come looking for us to drag us off to meet some other person or speak to some random group of people. I have never felt more like a pet monkey in my life. Thai's definitely do not have the same concept of personal space, so these teachers are constantly holding our hands and pulling us and putting their hands all over us. ARGHHHH. I barely like to be touched by people I know and like! I have to take many deep breaths everytime they decide to push and prod us somewhere. English camp should be...interesting tomorrow. I am dreading it actually, but we couldn't refuse, so here we go.

I probably won't have internet for the next 3 days or so. My host family is going to Bangkok so I'm staying with the other volunteer, Crystal, and then we are off to English camp until Sunday night.

More to come once I return from English camp. I am SURE I will have great, possibly horrifying stories.

XOXO

7/2 Taylor Swift is an International Goddess

2009-07-02T07:01:00.000-07:00

Almost 2 days of real teaching down, many many more to go! I am now
teaching grade 11 and absolutely loving it. The students are so much
more well behaved than grade 9 (agh I shudder at the memory of them)
and they are eager to learn. They can write and read quite well, but
their speaking is pretty poor. The biggest, underlying problem is that the
English teachers can barely speak themselves-and their pronunciation
is horrible. The students have been learning from them their entire
lives and so it's all they know-they don't even understand us when we
talk sometimes because they are so used to hearing things pronounced
improperly. So, my main goal is to work on their speaking and
pronunciation, which will be a challenge because the students are so
shy and they are used to only being lectured at.

Crystal and I were discussing the different roles of teachers in
different countries. In the states, Teachers are expected to be role
models, interactive, and creative. They are expected to motivate the
students and look after them. In Thailand, it's much more old school.
These kids are lucky to be at such a (relatively) good school and it
is their job to get the work done. The teachers go into the classroom,
lecture, and leave. There is no mushy gushy stuff. I secretly kind of
like it...American students have it too easy. We are all SO blessed to be going to some of the best schools in the world, and yet we complain, required constant praise and want our hands held the entire time. Corporal punishment is 100% allowed in Thailand and it could do us some good.

So this morning, I had a free period and was drug into a random 7th
grade classroom to introduce myself. There was a microphone, and I was
pushed into the room and told to just "talk". So I started chatting
randomly about myself, and the students started to ask me questions.
Their questions were really adorable-do you like the Jonas Brothers?
Do you like Thai food? And one girl asked me, "Do you like Taylor
Swift?". I almost dropped dead from happiness right there. My idol, my
girl crush, is famous in Thailand. Everything is right in the world.
So I smiled and said "yes of course!". Little did I know that next,
the students would insist that I sing an American song. After
attempting to decline politely, the teacher told me to "Sing!". So I
take the microphone, the kids start clapping (I swear it was like the
disney-channel) and I sang, "Love Story" by T-swift. Hilarious. Suddenly, flashbacks from Cafe Japone start popping in my head, when I "stole" (I still disagree) some girl's Taylor Swift song and proceeded to rock out to "Should've Said No" (despite some boo's from the crowd...). It was almost as epic, minus a few sake bombs :)

Lunch at school is interesting. There is a huge open air
pavillion-type thing with tons of picnic tables. Surrounding the
tables are a lot of different food vendors, where you can get noodles,
rice, fruit, etc. Crystal and I were trying to pick out our noodle
dishes and we asked one of the English teachers what a dark, rubbery
looking thing was. She replied "oh it is a noodle!". I was a little
suspicious, it definitely looked like liver, but hey, she said it was
a noodle so I didn't say anything. So at the table, Crystal puts said
object into her mouth to try it, and I whisper, "hey I think it might be
liver". Definitely was, as poor Crystal spat it out and asked the
English teacher, "is that liver?" and she replies "oh yes!" with a big
smile. Gotta love a good language barrier... Sorry Crystal :( I
should've gone with my gut instinct (CAUTION: LIVER). Everyone
keeps bringing us food, and it is so hard to politely decline. Today a
teacher brought over what looked like water, which turned out to be
sugar syrup, which everyone else was sucking down like nobody's
business. Sugar syrup! To drink! They already put sugar in literally,
everything. Noodles, rice, fruit, meat-everything has sugar. It's a
miracle the kids aren't obese and still have all of their teeth!

I am going to need to be brought back down to earth in the states.
Just because we look different, everyone always tell us "you are so
beautiful!", meanwhile I am dripping with sweat, wiping the grease off
of my face and trying to tame the uncontrollable fizz that used to be
called my hair (it has a life of its own with this humidity. it is
mutant.). Oh yea-real beautiful. The no makeup thing was a good idea,
seeing as it would just melt off my face anyways, but I am looking
pretty "rustic" these days. Thank god nobody notices.

I am getting really excited about this weekend and the upcoming
holiday. Next week we have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off. After
"English camp" ( I have yet to get actual details about this elusive
camp taking place somewhere at sometime) on Saturday and Sunday,
Crystal and I are going hiking to a nearby mountain (Hok Foh? maybe? I
am such a stupid American when it comes to the Thai words), where
apparently if you hike to the top you live another year longer (excited about
that), and then on Tuesday we are going to Bangkok. I am so pumped to
see Bangkok from a Thai person's perspective and see things that I
wouldn't normally as a tourist. Also, the food will be amazing! I
luckily swam laps in my lap pool yesterday (are you actually serious?
my lap pool? this is so surreal) so I am ready to EAT! :)

Well I have one more class today and then it is off to aerobic dancing
tonight! Last night, we got roped into going to see the ballroom
dancing class, which is another free activity for the community.
Neither of us really wanted to dance, but we decided to go see it just
to appease everyone. It was actually super intense, they were great!
There was the cutest old Thai man with a headset dancing around the
gymnasium and shouting instructions in Thai. Loves it.

Trust is the essence of being in Thailand. We met a random woman who
could speak English at the market, and since then she has been (a
little much perhaps) coming to see us every so often (ok its kind of
obnoxious. she shows up everywhere. at school. at aerobic dance. I
know she just wants to help and practice her English, but I'm not used
to people being so...over the top), and last night we just jumped in
her car with her to go to the ballroom dancing. We have no idea where
we are going, we didn't have our phones, but everything seems to work
out for the best...I would never do that in the states seeing as I'd probably end up on the next 20/20.

I have tried multiple times to upload my pictures to facebook, but the internet connection is pretty slow so it doesn't want to work. Stay tuned in hopes that I get it to work!

xoxox

Stacy

6/30 I am a circus animal

2009-06-30T06:38:00.000-07:00

Sa wa deet ka!

That is Thai for "hello" and "goodbye", which you must say while "wai-ing", or bowing and putting your hands together over your heart to literally, everyone. Thai's are all about hierarchy, so you have to do it to everyone you meet who is older than you, and everyone who meets you and is younger than you has to do it to you. I'm getting really good at it. The little tyrant in me loves having the younger kids do it to me, it's great for my inflated ego.

I am finally home after 2 long days at the school where I will be teaching. Of course, my schedule was wrong so it has taken 2 long, frustrating days to get it fixed. The first day, we showed up and were literally just pushed through the door into random 9th grade classes. 14 year olds-let me tell you. I am officially sending my children to boarding school between the ages of 12 and 18. They were a HANDFUL. So rowdy, talking non-stop, mocking me (awesome...) and refusing to answer any questions or listen to a word I said. After 3 hours with 3 different 9th grade classes, I was about to drop dead from exhaustion. Not to mention I was sweating more than I think I have ever sweat in my life. I know it's gross, but I was just dripping-I could feel all of the sweat rolling down my legs while I was standing in the classroom. So attractive. Ikkk.

Everyone at school stares, open-mouthed at Crystal and I. "Falang" means foreigner, so naturally everyone feels the need to shout "FA-LANG!" and point at us. Yes, I know. I'm white. It does happen. The 14 yr old boys are the absolute worst-they either scream " I LOVE YOU!", make cat-calling noises, or crude gestures. Sigh.

One of the head teachers is in charge of us, and she has been showing us around to- I'm pretty sure everyone she knows (thus the circus animal emotions). Today, she put us in her car, drove us to some random building, and made us introduce ourselves to a group of random people. Still not entirely sure who they were. I am so excited to start teaching, but having to trek around and meet a million random people is not really my style. Constantly smililng and agreeing to do everything is exhausting. Somehow-don't ask me how-we got signed up to teach at a random "English camp" this weekend in some town, somewhere in our province. It is so difficult to communicate, but before I knew it the teacher had my host mom on the phone and proceeded to tell me we would be spending the night at the camp and teaching. I must repeat my mantra ,"go with the flow", about every 5 seconds. Luckily, I am going to go hiking on Sunday afternoon with my host family, and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are off for some government holiday. That will give me plenty of time to plan some lessons, because...

I GOT A REAL SCHEDULE!

Can you believe it? I am pumped. It is a lot, but I will be teaching 7 different 11th grade classes, 3 times a week each. I teach 4 classes everyday, but luckily I can use the same lessons for each different class. I met a class of 11th grade (or Level 5 as they call it) today and they were SO much better than the 9th graders. They were attentive, mostly polite and their English was much better. I am excited about all of the stuff we can do with them. Their reading and writing is quite good, but their speaking needs a lot of work, so I am going to focus on listening and speaking as much as possible. It will be so much more fun than plain grammar-we can listen to songs, act out plays, give presentations (all on a very limited level, but still!).

In other news, I also attended my third aerobic dance session this evening. Still hilarious and a great workout-I'm serious about doing it all summer. Something to counter-act the wonderful food.

All for today,
xoxoxo

6/28, Aerobic Dancing

2009-06-28T17:45:00.000-07:00

I have found my new true calling: Thai aerobic dancing. The government sponsors an outdoor exercise class 6 times a week, where a tiny little Thai lady gets up on a platform with HUGE speakers that blast obnoxious Thai pop music while over 100 little old Thai ladies do Thai-style jazzercize for an hour. The class is held right by the river in the middle of the town, and we went on Saturday night. SO. MUCH. FUN. It was actually a GREAT workout-I love classes and jazzercize stuff! It's cheesey, and if I was really "intense" I would run marathons and do hot yoga and all of that trendy crap, but I love to do geeky moves to fun music! Crystal and I, the other volunteer staying in Taphan hin, have vowed to go at least 3 times a week if we can! It was ridiculously fun, and I need a way to work off all of the rice, noodles, dumplings and sweets. Thai food is NOT low cal at all.

I am not at my host family, which I am infinitely happy about. Sharing a bathroom with 9 people and a bed with 3 others was fun for about 15 seconds, but I now have my own room, bathroom and huge bed all to myself. I am so spoiled and I love it. They keep pushing as much food as possible down my throat and I'm not complaining. I had been craving ice-cream and last night they opened up the freezer and voila! My host family is adorable, and their English is actually great! My host father works in Bangkok during the week, and my host brother who is 14, "Tee", goes to a private school in another province Monday through Friday, so it's just me and "Na Pet", or "Auntie Pet" during the week. We will be good roommates I'm sure :). They also have the holy grail of travelers in developing countries-Wireless internet! I am living the life that is for sure.

On another note, I think I have fleas. Or something. I am COVERED in large red welts. I can't believe they are all from mosquitos, I have been wearing bug spray and trying to stay covered. I literally have 43 (I counted) red bumps on my right leg. I am covering my body with itch cream every few hours...I'm hoping that maybe I'll develope an immunity, question mark? I feel like a junkie in withdrawal as I'm constantly clawing at myself. Very attractive.

Off to school for the first day! Unfortunately, my schedule needs to be re-done, so I am going to try to work with the Thai admins and teachers...wish me luck! Patience and smiles...must remember!

Miss you all thank you SO much for the emails!

6/27 Orientation/Eating/Random Adventures

2009-06-28T06:36:00.000-07:00

Our first day of “orientation” (term used loosely), we got up at 5:30 (Thai people wake up really early), and headed out to the market to hunt for breakfast. First stop-Thai iced coffee and tea. We went to Supa’s favorite stand, where they make fresh coffee and tea and put it over ice in plastic bags, which you hold and drink out of a straw. The coffee and tea are super sweet and usually have condensed milk in them. Everything in Thailand has a crazy amount of sugar-I worry about their teeth and cavities! I asked for “ooliang”, which means iced coffee without milk-which is really yummy. It’s almost like a strong espresso with TONS of sugar poured over ice. I love hanging the bag over my wrist and just sucking it through a straw-close enough to the coffee IV I so long for. Thai breakfast is just like other meals-rice, veggies and meat. We bought tons of fruit, again, and had rice porridge, dumplings and soup. Low-card is non-existant here.

After breakfast, we finally got our SIM cards (Supa had them delivered-I love life outside of America), and did some service planning and Thai language lessons. Afterwards, we cooked Thai food with Supa and made papaya salad (eat with caution! I think I permanently numbed a few tasted buds), rice, stir fried veggies and mushroom soup. I thought of my cousins Shelly and Brian when I went to the mushroom stand at the market-they had so many types of fresh mushrooms that looked so amazing, it made Dean and Deluca look like a cheap grocery store! We got pounds of fresh, exotic mushrooms for a couple of dollars that I’m sure you would spend over $30 for in the states.

After lunch we set off to the market, walking in the heat at 2 pm. Sweaty is just a way of life here I’ve decided. We went to the bank (there are plenty of ATMs, of course, thank you American capitalism), got some toiletries, and I bought some closed-toe shoes. They are awesome-black rubber croc-esque shoes that were 160 Baht, about $5. I plan to wear them at school and only at school and then will only wear them as a joke after this trip. After shopping we went to Supa’s friend’s mobile phone shop to use their internet (She knows everyone, everywhere it’s crazy). I went in the back to get on the computer and as I was pulling out the keyboard tray, found a miniature poodle stuck on the tray underneath the desk. What?! I saw something moving on the tray as I was pulling it out and was praying it wasn’t any sort of insect, but when I looked down I came face to face with a little mini-poodle who was surprised as I was. I didn’t get to write any emails-just read them, but thank you thank you for the emails I love them and they are my saving grace!

After the market and internet, we went to the town temple to go to the daily service. We sat in a huge, open air temple on our knees behind the monks as they chanted. The monks began their chant, which was monotonous but relaxing and for the first few minutes I felt very "zen" and all that crap…1 hour later, I was about to shoot myself. I have never felt so neurotic and Western in my entire life. An hour of chanting? An hour of sitting still and just closing your eyes and listening? Once was more than enough for me. I cannot meditate. I don’t enjoy it. Anytime I get the idea in my head that I need to be more “zen” or centered and think that maybe meditating would help me be less anal and try it, I go crazy. Immediately my brain goes to ok what do I need to do, I start making lists and planning. It’s instinctual! I can’t help it. So after an hour, I had run out of things to think about, I started watching the other people (one of the volunteers fell asleep) and counting down the minutes.

Apart from the Buddhist service, this entire experience has been a lesson in patience (which I recognize I sorely need). Planning and communicating is excruciating. According to Daniel, in Thai culture when you make a plan, everyone needs to be consulted and put in their own opinion. Not one person can make a decision and then have it implemented. No no no, it takes back and forth and discussion, add in translation and you have what is in my opinion one of the antechambers to my own personal hell. I really do want to work on that though-and this is clearly the correct environment to test my patience in. Maybe after this I’ll return to the states calm, easy-going and with the ability to “go with the flow”…

Don’t hold your breath.

After dinner, we ate noodle soup at a street vendor, and headed home for the evening. Sidenote: Supa’s mother is this crazy old Thai woman who is just always around and laughing and yelling things in Thai at us-it’s hilarious.

So, I start teaching in less than 2 days. Our orientation has been less of an actual orientation and more of hanging out and getting to know the area. I have yet to actually have a real lesson in how to teach, and I still don’t know what grades I’m teaching. My schedule that the school sent is in Thai, and only has a bunch of numbers in time slots so I have no idea where to go. Also, there doesn’t seem to be any one person at the school that I am supposed to report to, or talk to. Nobody is supposed to show me around or introduce me to the school. Literally I think I am going to show up randomly on Monday, ask someone where the classrooms are and just hope that somebody recognizes the lost-confused looking white girl and knows where to send me.

On a happy note, my host family is getting more ridiculous and awesome by the day. My host mother, who I call “Na Pet” (meaning Auntie Pet), is the most adorable person in the entire world. She has been by the house a few times helping with certain things, and she is ridiculously sweet. She is at her tallest 4’9, super bubbly and cannot stop smiling. Also, she keeps bringing me things and offering to get me whatever I need. The guilt is getting to me! I told her I needed to get a phone charger and today she showed up with 5 different phone chargers and snacks for my day. It’s like elementary school again ☺ Also, they do have maids so although I want to have the real Thai experience and go “rustic”, let’s be honest-I secretly cannot wait to get to her house and unpack and have someone clean my laundry and sleep in my own bed.

I seem to be constantly tired, and I have been sleeping at around 9 pm every day, seeing as we get up at 5:30. I am really missing my large black coffees in the morning, but I will have to survive :)

Off to bed, xoxox, EMAIL ME!

6/26, Showering with a Bucket

2009-06-28T06:24:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am! 2 days in Thailand has felt like an eternity already it has been so busy.

I arrived in Bangkok exhausted and disheveled, and found the rest of my group thanks to a large green sign entitled “LE THAI FAMILY”. Not easy to miss. The rest of the volunteers, Daniel (the program director) and myself hopped into a van and headed to Daniel’s grandparent’s house. Daniel’s stepmother is Thai and so that has been his connection in establishing this project. The van stopped on the side of the street, and we wheeled our rolling suitcases (I felt very awkward and girly) through an old market into a windy back alley where the house was. We all dropped our bags, completely exhausted and after showers (with buckets of course), slept on mats on the floor for a good 2 hours.

Showering with a bucket is the Thai version of a shower. Instead of a Western showerhead, tub and curtain, Thai bathrooms are typically one room, with a toilet, faucet, large tub of water and a small bucket-dipper-esque thing. Holding your breath and taking the plunge, you dump a dipper full of cold water over your head, soap up, and repeat. At first, it’s a little awkward, and frigid, but after 2 days of the heat and humidity it feels amazing to dump a cold bucket of water over your head first thing in the morning. Also-you have to shower before bed and when you wake up-if not, Thai people think you’re gross. Given the pit stains and sweatiness that is me in Thailand, they’re absolutely right. I am constantly damp. It's really unattractive.

Unbeknownst to me, we had to wake up at 5 am to get our first day started. After 2 hours of jet-lagged, dreary sleep, we drug ourselves out of bed to meet our van. On the way, we picked up fresh fruit off the street, and Thai iced tea and coffee, which they serve in plastic bags with straws instead of cups-so much fun. We bought an excessive amount of fruit, but it was the perfect van snack all day. We hopped into the van and headed off to the main temple in Bangkok-where the King apparently frequents, and saw the “Emerald Buddha” which a huge jade Buddha house in an intricate, ornate temple. My shorts were too short, so after renting a long Thai style skirt, we headed off into the temple. The temple was amazing, looking back I’m glad we went so early because it was still cool and not crowded.

After the temple, we headed out of Bangkok on the way to Taphanhin. After a few hours, we stopped at an open-air market on a riverbank and had lunch. Walking through the market our country coordinator, Supa, bought a ridiculous amount of fruit, insisting we try everything. For lunch we ate fresh steamed fish with basil and garlic, rice and stir-fried veggies. So delicious! After eating, we got back in the van, and after a few hours we started on a detour because Supa had a “surprise”. After 2 hours of sleep and already 9 hours in the van, I was so aggravated. I was exhausted, I just wanted to get to our final destination and I didn’t have the patience for a scavenger hunt/Thai adventure. When we pulled into a massage parlor, however, I started to feel incredibly guilty, because Supa had given us all full-body, 1-hour Thai massages. It was exactly what I needed after such a long trip. Thai massage isn’t the typical muscle rubbing, massage oil massage, but instead it focuses on pressure points and stretching-it’s very interactive (kind of like Kim ;) ) and involves lots of pulling and pushing. It’s not as relaxing as laying and having somebody rub you with aromatherapy oils (ah I’m pining for my time in the Maldives where I got massages while my family was adventurous and went scuba-diving like real people) but afterwards your body feels so much more “in place”. Supa also brought along her friend who was a chiropractor who practiced on all of us. I was little sketched out when he was pushing on my neck and making everything crack-but I’m still standing so I guess no harm done.

After the massages, back to the van! It felt almost like a Shelden family vacation with all of the van time ☺. Our next stop was the former capital of Thailand (hundreds and hundreds of years ago) that was burnt down in a war a long time ago (I’m very historically accurate in my descriptions). There were tons of ruins of old temples and buildings and it was really gorgeous. Inside the main temple there was an enormous gold Buddha-it was probably at least 30 feet tall. Of course, there was also a market where we bought the Thai version of cotton candy. They take sugar and spin it into these long ropes that they roll up into sweet crepe-like pancakes. So yummy! Essentially all we have been doing is eating constantly. It’s awesome. I have to keep reminding myself of how chubby I was after a summer in France and all of the pastries. Must not repeat that! Self-control! I wish…

After the ruins, we finally drove straight to Taphan hin, another 3 hours from where we were. I thought Taphan hin was going to be 4 hours north of Bangkok, but it’s actually about 6. We arrived at Supa’s house in Taphan hin, where we will be staying for orienation until Sunday, exhausted and starving. Of course there was more food-noodle soup. The noodle soup was the Thai version of fast food-Supa sent someone on a motorcycle to the market where they bought soup in plastic bags (one bag for the broth, another for the noodles-you combine in a bowl) from a street vendor. So much better than McDonalds.

After another bucket shower, finally, we headed to bed. Instead of typical beds, Thais have raised wooden platforms that they put mats on. All four girls are sleeping on one wooden platform in a room-it’s definitely cozy. Luckily, Supa’s house is sort of in an adobe style with lots of ventilation so even though we don’t have AC, it’s cool (at night at least).

I can’t believe all of that was one day!

6/24 I wish I were Japanese

2009-06-23T23:18:00.000-07:00

Hi from Tokyo!

I have always wanted to visit Japan and it is absolutely at the top of the list of places to visit next, but for now, 6 glorious hours in the Tokyo airport will have to suffice. Immediately once de-planing, I'm loving the extreme cleanliness of the airport, the easy to read signs, all of the terminal maps (color-coded, spaced at least every 20 feet), the efficiency of the workers and how friendly everyone is. To top it all off-SUSHI. I am officially in love and cannot wait to come and spend time here. Clean, organized, efficient-I must've been Japanese in another life. I hope I was super tiny and stylish.

My 14 hour flight was long, but ok. I watched 6 movies, including Marley & Me which I loudly sobbed to the entire time. It's a good thing I have no filter or shame in public. The worst part of the flight was the small child in the row in front of me who projectile vomitted during most of the flight. Smelled great. I just felt awful for the sweet flight attendent who ran to help and got sprayed from head to toe. Ik. Reminds me of food poisoning in the St. Louis airport (thanks Mom). I've said it once, I'll say it again. Parents take note! On long flights-please drug your children. You will be happier, they will be happier, and everyone around you will thank you. Just do it. I recommend codeine if possible.

After getting some exercise (kind of- question mark?) by walking up and down the entire terminal, I decided to brave the food court. I really wanted to get a bento box (I've only heard amazing things) or sushi, but I got into the food court and everything was in Japanese and I got super stressed out and felt a lot of pressure (all imaginary and self-imposed of course) so I quickly decided on some Chinese noodle soup by awkwardly pointing to a picture and communicating via smiles and head nods. Yummy, familiar, comfort food. I'll try to be much more authentic on my way back to the states.

I have also been in all of the little stores. There is a plethora of dried....stuff. Dried fruit, dried vegetables, dried fish...dried unidentifiable objects. Interesting. I need to put on my eating boots and get ready to try whatever comes my way. As long as my Thai host family actually feeds me, they'll have a step up on the Frogs (as my father would call them), so I'm not too worried.

All for now, I'm going to try to get a little bit of sleep so I'm not a complete zombie when I arrive. Hopefully I will be able to exchange money quickly and buy a sim card so I can be reachable :)

Lots of love,

Stace

6/20 2 days left!

2009-06-20T16:38:00.000-07:00

Well, here goes nothing!

After a wonderful week of tanning, boating, skiing, and most importantly, eating at my lake house in Missouri, I am starting to pack and get ready to leave. My mom, sister and I are driving to St. Louis tomorrow, and I'm flying out on Tuesday morning. Luckily, my amazing cousin Shelly has volunteered to drive me to the airport at 6 am. She's my hero :)

So packing has become an issue. Why do I have so much stuff? Why is it all so heavy? These are my questions. It stresses me out first of all, that at the end of this summer I will have belongings in Houston, Missouri, Thailand and DC. I should've put more stuff in storage...oh well. Packing for Thailand shouldn't be that difficult-I just need to cut back. Also, all of a sudden we are supposed to have closed-toe shoes (when the "playbook" said we should bring only sandals). Well-that's not going to happen. All of my closed-toe shoes are in storage in DC, or in a duffel bag in Houston. Not happening. I do have appropriate length skirts and dresses and conservative wear for teaching. Other than that I'm just bringing shorts and t-shirts and hoping for the best. I have printed out all of my documents, I have my passport, itinerary, and after a delightful trip to Target in St. Louis, I will be ready to go.

All of a sudden I'm realizing how long my flights are. 1.5 hours, 13 hours and then another 6.5 hours. Wow. I just need to keep telling myself it was the cheapeast flight and I can spend the extra money on new clothes once I get back to DC. I am praying for on-demand movies, I've learned after years and years of super long flights that that is the only way to survive them. That and red wine and tylenol PM.

More information came in on my host family. My living situation is now being described as the "lap of luxury". Apparently there is a lap pool, an exercise room with machines, and I have a huge room and bed to myself. During training a volunteer who had participated in the China program last year told us how he had to share a bed with 2 host siblings! I am definitely not going to be "roughing" it. Two of the other volunteers will be living in what I had imagined-a rural area, on a farm. Part of me is a little disappointed, this whole experience is after all about trying new things and pushing myself out of my comfort zone, while the other part of me remembers that I loathe camping (ikk) and will probably be much happier in the long run. I hate to admit it but I am totally dependent on my creature comforts. I am however, not bringing a blow-dryer (bring on the curls!), not planning on wearing any make up at all, and going au-naturale. Don't worry-this does not include hair removal (I remember my French host sisters-cringe).

No more planning has been done on our service program. I haven't gotten a single response from the professors I emailed at different universities, asking if they would help us with our mentorship program between high schoolers and college students. I'm pretty sure that very little of what we planned will actually work out, and that we will have to be super flexible once we arrive and tailor our program to what is actually feasible. I did receive a teaching schedule-so I know what times I'll be teaching, but wasn't able to decifer any other information from it. Sigh. I know I need to "go with the flow". I promise I'm trying.

I will probably not be able to write again until after I'm in Thailand! Wish me luck :) I miss you all, and I expect email updates about your summers! No excuses.

xoxo

6/11 T-minus 2 weeks!

2009-06-10T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well, the final count-down has started!

Despite some logistical difficulties, everything is mostly set for the trip now. I fly out of St. Louis on the morning of the 23rd, and arrive in Bangkok late on the 24th. It's going to be a long trip-I'm flying STL, to Chicago, to Tokyo (I really want to eat a bento box), then Bangkok. The plan is that Daniel, the Program Director (PD) will pick us up at the airport, we'll spend the night in Bangkok, then head off to Taphanhin the next morning! We have orientation for a few days, then on the 28th at night, my host family is picking me up! Scary, but exciting.

So, for those of you who know me, I am (I admit!) a teensy bit OCD, anal-retentive, and I do like to have a plan. Ok so its more of an all consuming, incessant need to plan and organize-details, details. Unfortunately, the people in charge of this program don't seem to share these same tendencies. I can't fault them, it's a "pilot" program, meaning it's the first year they have done this program in Thailand, so it's really difficult to get all of the details hashed out beforehand. Also, Daniel, the PD, is relying on his contacts in Thailand to give him information, so a lot of it is out of his hands. I still do not know how many classes I will be teaching, when I will be teaching, how many students I'll be teaching, or what. I have no information about the school, the community. Needless to say, this has resulted in excessive teeth grinding on my part and some serious anxiety. I keep trying to tell myself to "go with the flow", which is obviously difficult being me, however-I'm going to try :). Or...I'll just try to snag some xanax. Joking...joking...

On a positive note, one of the volunteers, Crystal, who is a rising Junior at Georgetown, is going to be staying in the same community as me and teaching at the same school. Her host father is actually the brother in law-of my host mother. Very cool! She is super sweet, and I am excited that she is going to be working closely with me. Our personalities seem to mesh well-we are on the same page in terms of not wanting to hold hands and sing kumbayah all summer (damn tree-huggers), but work hard and try to do our best given our limited information and resources. The other volunteers are great too. I think (question mark) that they will be staying about 45 mins away from us, in a much more rural community, but my hope is that we will be able to get together often and help each other lesson plan, hang out and de-stress together.

I've received another letter from my host brother, Tee, who is very enthusiastic about meeting me! The family seems so great, and I know that this host family experience will make up for and replace the horrific memories of my French host family (haven't been back since!). I have already mentioned that I would love to learn how to cook Thai food, so look out for some Thai meals a la Stacy in August.

I am excited about Thailand, but at the same time I'm anxious to get back to DC and (imagine this) get everything organized and set up for September. Accenture should be calling sometime in July to tell me my specific start date in September. Once I get back to DC on the 10th, it will be crunch time to find an apartment, buy furniture, move in and everything! Luckily I'll have my madre to help for a few days, and then I get to stay with a Ms. Carolyn Kolb until we move in :) Looking forward to the aerobed and hopefully some trips to Tombs back in my old stomping grounds.

All for now, I will write again either before I leave or once I'm in Thailand!

Miss you all :)

5/30 Getting Ready for Thailand

2009-05-30T14:58:00.000-07:00

Copying my darling friend Amanda who just spent 6ish weeks teaching English in Indonesia, I thought it would be efficient to set up a blog for everyone to read while I'm away in Thailand, instead of emailing everyone the same details of my daily life there. I will send emails too tho :)

Right now, I am still in the preparations stages for my trip. Plane ticket, check. Visa, check. Thai phrase book, check (its daunting. and scary. there are tones!) Service project, semi-check. As part of my program, I will be teaching English 5 days a week at a school in my community, but I will also be in charge of setting up a "sustainable" service program. Right now, the other volunteers and I are still brainstorming and trying to come up with something actually useful and helpful, but it's difficult seeing as we really have no idea what the needs of our communities will actually be.

I just got information about my host family! Yay! I am going to be in Taphan hin, in Phichit province, Thailand. Phichit province is in the North-centralish part of Thailand and is about 4 hours by car north of Bangkok. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phichit_Province).

My host family has two teenage boys, ages 15 and 17 (I think) and seem really nice. I thought I would be "roughing it", but they said their house has a swimming pool, internet, and 3 white poodles. I don't think this is going to be a typical volunteer experience at all. I am going to be teaching grades 7-12 at the school, which I think will be a good fit for me. Hopefully, these kids will have a basic grasp of English, since my Thai is completely nonexistant. People keep asking me how I am going to teach English when I don't speak a word of Thai. Good question...I'm hoping that will all work itself out. dot dot dot.