Farang and Frisbee in Thawangpha

Sawatdee Kraub (Hello)! Some random and hopefully coherent thoughts in this second blog post:
 

A view from my apartment

Despite the prior knowledge of my placement in a rural setting 12 hours north of Bangkok up in the mountains, I was still surprised to discover the extent of Thawangpha’s remoteness.  It’s pretty far out, literally and figuratively.  Thawangpha is in the province of Nan and off Facebook’s location map.  Luckily, I was placed with another frisbee and outdoors aficionado named Josh.  “Farang” is Thai slang for “foreigner,” and upon our arrival, Thawangpha’s “farang” population increased from 0 to 2.   

Our teaching coordinator at the Thawangpapittayakom School (still learning how to pronounce it) picked us up from the bus stop and graciously helped us settle in.  We received a dose of reality, however, when she informed us that we each would be teaching 20 classes a week to around 45 “naughty” students with low levels of English and WITHOUT the guidance of a teaching course book.  With my lack of teaching experience, I felt a little like Daniel being tossed into the lion’s den; hopefully I can tame the Thai students.  My coordinator also told me that male Thai teachers do not have beards, because it may “scare the children” (or perhaps because Thai men can’t grow them).  Even though I only hadn’t shaved for a week, I reassured my coordinator that I would lose the “beard” and make sure not to scare anyone (good thing she didn’t see my recent 3 month long beard…).  She then added that male teachers also don’t have long hair, to which I kind of just smiled and nodded, because that doesn’t fit my GAP YEAR plans... (similar to “the ringer” scene in “The Big Lebowski” when Walter wants to make the handoff with the self-proclaimed nihilist kidnappers and find out the whereabouts of “Bunny” Lebowski by “beat[ing] it out of them.”  After the nihilists inform the Dude that no handoff will be made in person, Walter says, “We can’t do that Dude, it fucks up our plan.”).  I don’t want to sound too unreasonable and stubborn, but I’m in Bumblefuck, Thailand for goodness sake!  I deliberately left working for “The Man” in Manhattan so that I could explore the Unknown, and that partially entails growing my hair out to unprecedented lengths (kinda ridiculous, I know).  So my plan is to forget that she mentioned anything and see what happens…

The Thawangpapittayakom School has a nice big soccer field that Josh and I play frisbee on each day.  The field is right next to our apartments, which are behind the school grounds, surrounded by lime green rice patties and grey and blue looming mountains.  It’s pretty epic.  On the first day we arrived, a local Thai army division was using one part of the field for basic training, including shooting practice.  The Thai men in uniform laughed at us “farang” wearing bandanas and tank tops and they were amused by our frisbee throwing.  It reminded me of the numerous times I would watch the Kenyon swim team rigorously practice, as I lazily lounged in the hot tub in my beach bathing suit.  “Mai pen rai” man, “it’s all good.”

Was ecstatic to see the school's field- perfect for frisbee

Contrary to the information we received during orientation, we are expected to speak some Thai in the classroom, especially to the lower English level classes (Josh and I know minimal Thai at this point, although we plan on learning as much as we can).  Thai has 44 consonants, 32 vowels, and 5 tones, so it’s kind of a bitch, but we’ll be practicing every day.  Often words with opposite meanings sound the same to the untrained ear.  For example, the word “klai” means both “near” and “far” and only differs by tone.  Similarly, the word “pa” has 5 different meanings based on tone!  So far I only know a few basic phrases and once embarrassingly said “hello” when I meant to say “thank you…”

                  Some Like it Hot

Not just the weather, but also the food!  If you ask for your food a little bit spicy, it’s the equivalent of spicy back West.  If you ask for spicy, prepare to cry.  Even if you ask for not spicy, it still can be spicy.  The majority of our meals, including breakfast, have consisted of some rice dish.  They got that sticky rice, man.  That sticky icky.

I’m looking forward to my first day of school AS A TEACHER tomorrow!  Josh and I have to give a short speech in Thai to the whole school.  That should be fun.  Mai pen rai, mai pen rai…

Short Enlightening Video from the Grand Palace

The Beginning in Bangkok

Yeaaaaaaah! My first blog post on my first blog! I'm a fan of bogs and logs, so I figured I'd give this blog thing a shot... I was hoping to post something a week ago at an internet café in Bangkok, but I spent half the time figuring out how to change the website’s language from Thai to English… 

Thailand has been really cool so far.  Considered “the land of smiles,” Thailand naturally has that southern Asian vibe to it, in terms of the lush landscapes with palm trees and coconuts and the humid heat that often calls for multiple showers a day.  The Thai people embody the sentiment of their popular phrase “mai pen rai,” meaning “no worries” or “it’s all good,” as they exhibit an easy going, laid back attitude, which partially seems like a result of the widespread Buddhism (95% of the country).  My first reaction was that Thailand is much less intense than India (not as polluted, chaotic, nor overwhelming), although you can similarly experience a thrilling ride on a tuk-tuk (auto rickshaw) or practice your bargaining skills at the local market. 

Thought I was in a Dr. Suess story at The Grand Palace

The 2011 CIEE/OEG teach abroad program has about 140 really chillll participants, so we had a fun orientation week getting to know each other.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much we all had in common: another participant also recently graduated from Kenyon, two others studied abroad at the same university in New Zealand as me, and, as anticipated, everyone was really DTE (down to earth) and shared a serious case of the travel bug.  We played a bunch of Frisbee (I thought it was cool that I wasn’t the only one to bring a disc to Thailand), partied in downtown Bangkok (not quite any “Hangover 2” experiences, although we figured out that “ping pong show” has another meaning… ), did some sightseeing at  The Grand Palace, hung out at a really hip art bar, played guitar on the beach, and yes, we actually learned some teaching strategies for the next semester.  Some of our classes were certainly helpful in teaching us how to prepare lesson plans, especially for teaching rookies like me, but it was difficult being cooped up inside when you’re in such an adventurous place like Thailand!  At the least, orientation helped me brush up on some doodling and hangman skills. 

We left Bangkok a day early in order to avoid the approaching flood, which apparently has been one of the worst in decades.  After we climbed onto the ark two by two and locked up the woodpeckers and termites, we headed down south and found shelter from the storm at a baller beach resort by Chonburi and Pattaya.  There, we begrudgingly sat through orientation lectures until we finally jumped into the ocean, pool, and made use of the pool’s tiki bar… actually IN the pool!  I can’t remember how many times I expressed how sweet it was that we’re all finally in frieken Thailand and that instead we could be sitting behind a desk somewhere…!  But I was preaching to the choir as everyone shared my enthusiasm to start exploring.

At night, we hopped on the back of a taxi truck and went to Pattaya to check out the party scene, but were too disgusted by the blatant prostitution.  It was mostly middle aged and older gross European dudes with NO SHAME and it was everywhere… and to make matters even more sickening, the sleaziness occurred in the midst of poor and crippled beggars sitting in the gutters, sometimes even with their children.  I agreed with a shirt that read: “You either go to heaven or Pattaya.”  So we quickly took a taxi back to the hotel and bought some beers and went back to the beach.  In just one week in Thailand, it became pretty evident that there are many different sides to the country that combine to produce an illogical mix of beauty and filth, exploitation and integrity, peacefulness and chaos, degradation and modesty, regulation and lawlessness, and superficiality and substantiality.  The Thai experience includes the juxtaposition of zen gardens and Buddhist monasteries against sex shows where women perform the most unimaginable “vaginal tricks.”  The sex trade is rampant, yet one can get a life sentence for smoking weed.  It has been challenging to reconcile the “yin and yang” of Thailand, although it seems that there is a significant distinction to be made between the tourist culture and the authentic Thai culture.  I look forward to learning and experiencing more of the latter.

Thawangpha is a small village 5 hours northeast of Chaing Mai

Orientation ended and I left the comforts of a 4 star resort on the beach and a fun group of fellow teachers whom I plan on traveling around Asia with during and after the semester.  Most teachers are placed within a few hour radius of Bangkok, while others are scattered down the peninsula in the south by the beautiful beaches or up north in the misty mountains and more rural settings.  I took the 12 hour bus ride from Bangkok to Thawangpha and was ready to embrace the real Thai experience, which quickly smacked me in the face upon arrival…