One of the best classes I did was when we were learning words for houses. I had them draw and/or write a paragraph about their dream house. I told them to be as creative as they wanted. Then in class they were like real estate agents, trying to sell their dream house to one of their classmates. They had a really great time doing this activity and I didn't have to walk around and remind them to speak English! I took pictures of some of the ones I really enjoyed. I think writing in Thai script helps their drawing skills!
http://drake.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16392&l=75332&id=512610984
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Ubon Candle Festival
Last weekend Annie, Aaron (a boy from Germany who works at KKU), and I went to Ubon Ratchatani for the infamous Candle Festival. This festival is to celebrate the start of Buddhist Lent. The festival was Sunday and Monday and we got there Saturday afternoon. It was awesome and unlike any other festival I have ever been to.
The pictures are here:
http://drake.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16376&l=f9445&id=512610984
Annie was the photo documenter for the trip and her pictures are here:
http://princeton.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043716&l=37571&id=1100413
http://princeton.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043644&l=a7d52&id=1100413
http://princeton.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043644&l=a7d52&id=1100413
So we got a bus to Ubon on Saturday morning after having some language issues and finally figuring out that a bus is never full, we got on a bus to Ubon but the seats were harder to come by. Annie somehow got a seat right away while Aaron and I leaned against chairs for 30 minutes. All of a sudden a woman and her son moved over and motioned for me to sit with them. Wow! That's the kind of thing most people wouldn't even think to do. Maybe because most people can't actually share two bus seats with three people but that's never a question with the small Thais. Aaron had to stand for most of the way...being a man is sometimes tougher as people expect everyone to accommodate women, not men. This is true for Thais and not just us farang. We made it alive and actually met another woman who spoke English. She is from Korea and is teaching Korean at a nearby University. She spoke Thai pretty well too so she was a lifesaver at times!
We were staying with Annie's landlady's (Busha) friend. Busha is from Ubon but ended up not coming with us. Her friend, Addy, still hosted the three of us. I have never been hosted so well by someone I didn't know. She and her friend (I would say boyfriend) drove us all over town to see the different places they were still preparing for the festival. Then they drove us to this wat and eventually to the Khong River (known incorrectly as the Mekong River which actually means Kong river river) that separates Thailand and Lao. So I have now seen Lao! It was beautiful to be out in the countryside. The King had even stayed at this lodge near the river that we saw. Very special. I unfortunately overheard that all the tree stumps in the water was not from a natural disaster. Addy was telling Annie (and Annie was trying to make sure I didn't overhear!) that the Ubon province cut down 20 MILLION trees so they could make furniture and make more money for the province. The very negative impacts of development. Addy's English was just ok so my only hope is that she mixed up her numbers!
Addy and her friend were leaving for a financial conference the next day but they still allowed us to stay at their house with her 15 year old daughter. We were so grateful for their kindness...it's hard to know how to express that especially with a language barrier. I said many times how good this was, how happy I was, etc. In English, we have so many different ways to say we are enjoying something but it's very hard for non-native speakers to learn all the different ways. So I end up feeling like I am repeating myself because I am only saying good instead of saying special, fantastic, great, interesting, etc. Annie's Thai really helped us get across our gratitude.
The next day was the start of the Candle Festival. It was amazing to walk around and look at all the intricately designed sculptures and floats. There was an International Artist's competition of wax sculptures, a high school competition and then the enormous floats themselves. Our pictures don't really do it justice. It is amazing to work with wax and not something I have seen many artists do. I have no concept of how long it would take to design and produce all of the pieces. I was amazed by the final products. I didn't think it would be as amazing at it ended up being. Wow!
Many of the students in Ubon had an assignment to talk with English speakers so we were constantly being stopped and asked questions. The typical questions:
What is your name?
Where are you from?
First time in Ubon?
Do you like the festival?
Can we take photo with you?
Some of the students had pretty good English and others just laughed, shoved us a piece of paper and pen and had us write our answers. I am totally the Julia Roberts of Thailand. I think all the attention will totally go to my head. I'm already thinking I should dress trendier, get a new haircut, get some fake nails and start wearing make up. I'll send you pictures. But then you should send me home.
We saw everything having to do with the festival. We eventually met up with the Korean woman we met on the bus, Sooh. While we were walking and looking at the floats for the parade that would take place the next day, some Thai women came up to us and invited us to a dinner. We were skeptical but finally followed them just to see what exactly was happening. The women (who are college aged and spoke English) grab our hands or link arms, but not with Aaron as it's only something you can do with the same sex, and take us to this tent with a buffet of food. It was delicious and absolutely free. We even got free rice to take home! This was the first meal that there wasn't vegetarian so I just picked out the big chicken pieces...I couldn't taste it and I'm not sure if it's because I don't remember what chicken tastes like or because I didn't eat any. Either is fine.
I'm going to make a small reference to the 2 hours after dinner when we were trying to find a specific bar to meet some people at except we were lost and never made it. I think we walked most of Ubon and somehow we could not find it. The next day Sooh texted me to say she walked by it! Sometimes maps aren't even helpful.
The next morning was the actual parade of the huge wax carved floats. It was a similar kind of parade that I saw in the small village when I first came here. Each town had it's float and it's dancers and band. Definitely on a different scale than in the village! It was incredibly hot and I sported the umbrella over my body for shade. When you are here you will totally understand why people do that. The parade was at least 4 hours long! We stayed for 2 hours I think, then went to get lunch, it was still going on and we left the area. It was really just the floats we had gotten a close look at the day before but now they were moving and had music! Not really worth the heat and the crowds. At one point Annie turned to me as we were walking and said "this is how people die in crowds". So true Annie. The close quarters makes it even hotter, people not really pushing (except one woman who flat out was straight arming some people, as Annie found out!) so you are not really moving. Then all of a sudden you are through. Yuck!
By that time we had had enough of the festival, heat and the hordes of people. We had seen everything we wanted to see so we set back to Addy's house. I got that exciting feeling when I noticed we were back in Khon Kaen. It really does feel like home. Good to travel away from but it feels so comforting to be back here.
The pictures are here:
http://drake.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16376&l=f9445&id=512610984
Annie was the photo documenter for the trip and her pictures are here:
http://princeton.facebook.
http://princeton.facebook.
http://princeton.facebook.
So we got a bus to Ubon on Saturday morning after having some language issues and finally figuring out that a bus is never full, we got on a bus to Ubon but the seats were harder to come by. Annie somehow got a seat right away while Aaron and I leaned against chairs for 30 minutes. All of a sudden a woman and her son moved over and motioned for me to sit with them. Wow! That's the kind of thing most people wouldn't even think to do. Maybe because most people can't actually share two bus seats with three people but that's never a question with the small Thais. Aaron had to stand for most of the way...being a man is sometimes tougher as people expect everyone to accommodate women, not men. This is true for Thais and not just us farang. We made it alive and actually met another woman who spoke English. She is from Korea and is teaching Korean at a nearby University. She spoke Thai pretty well too so she was a lifesaver at times!
We were staying with Annie's landlady's (Busha) friend. Busha is from Ubon but ended up not coming with us. Her friend, Addy, still hosted the three of us. I have never been hosted so well by someone I didn't know. She and her friend (I would say boyfriend) drove us all over town to see the different places they were still preparing for the festival. Then they drove us to this wat and eventually to the Khong River (known incorrectly as the Mekong River which actually means Kong river river) that separates Thailand and Lao. So I have now seen Lao! It was beautiful to be out in the countryside. The King had even stayed at this lodge near the river that we saw. Very special. I unfortunately overheard that all the tree stumps in the water was not from a natural disaster. Addy was telling Annie (and Annie was trying to make sure I didn't overhear!) that the Ubon province cut down 20 MILLION trees so they could make furniture and make more money for the province. The very negative impacts of development. Addy's English was just ok so my only hope is that she mixed up her numbers!
Addy and her friend were leaving for a financial conference the next day but they still allowed us to stay at their house with her 15 year old daughter. We were so grateful for their kindness...it's hard to know how to express that especially with a language barrier. I said many times how good this was, how happy I was, etc. In English, we have so many different ways to say we are enjoying something but it's very hard for non-native speakers to learn all the different ways. So I end up feeling like I am repeating myself because I am only saying good instead of saying special, fantastic, great, interesting, etc. Annie's Thai really helped us get across our gratitude.
The next day was the start of the Candle Festival. It was amazing to walk around and look at all the intricately designed sculptures and floats. There was an International Artist's competition of wax sculptures, a high school competition and then the enormous floats themselves. Our pictures don't really do it justice. It is amazing to work with wax and not something I have seen many artists do. I have no concept of how long it would take to design and produce all of the pieces. I was amazed by the final products. I didn't think it would be as amazing at it ended up being. Wow!
Many of the students in Ubon had an assignment to talk with English speakers so we were constantly being stopped and asked questions. The typical questions:
What is your name?
Where are you from?
First time in Ubon?
Do you like the festival?
Can we take photo with you?
Some of the students had pretty good English and others just laughed, shoved us a piece of paper and pen and had us write our answers. I am totally the Julia Roberts of Thailand. I think all the attention will totally go to my head. I'm already thinking I should dress trendier, get a new haircut, get some fake nails and start wearing make up. I'll send you pictures. But then you should send me home.
We saw everything having to do with the festival. We eventually met up with the Korean woman we met on the bus, Sooh. While we were walking and looking at the floats for the parade that would take place the next day, some Thai women came up to us and invited us to a dinner. We were skeptical but finally followed them just to see what exactly was happening. The women (who are college aged and spoke English) grab our hands or link arms, but not with Aaron as it's only something you can do with the same sex, and take us to this tent with a buffet of food. It was delicious and absolutely free. We even got free rice to take home! This was the first meal that there wasn't vegetarian so I just picked out the big chicken pieces...I couldn't taste it and I'm not sure if it's because I don't remember what chicken tastes like or because I didn't eat any. Either is fine.
I'm going to make a small reference to the 2 hours after dinner when we were trying to find a specific bar to meet some people at except we were lost and never made it. I think we walked most of Ubon and somehow we could not find it. The next day Sooh texted me to say she walked by it! Sometimes maps aren't even helpful.
The next morning was the actual parade of the huge wax carved floats. It was a similar kind of parade that I saw in the small village when I first came here. Each town had it's float and it's dancers and band. Definitely on a different scale than in the village! It was incredibly hot and I sported the umbrella over my body for shade. When you are here you will totally understand why people do that. The parade was at least 4 hours long! We stayed for 2 hours I think, then went to get lunch, it was still going on and we left the area. It was really just the floats we had gotten a close look at the day before but now they were moving and had music! Not really worth the heat and the crowds. At one point Annie turned to me as we were walking and said "this is how people die in crowds". So true Annie. The close quarters makes it even hotter, people not really pushing (except one woman who flat out was straight arming some people, as Annie found out!) so you are not really moving. Then all of a sudden you are through. Yuck!
By that time we had had enough of the festival, heat and the hordes of people. We had seen everything we wanted to see so we set back to Addy's house. I got that exciting feeling when I noticed we were back in Khon Kaen. It really does feel like home. Good to travel away from but it feels so comforting to be back here.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Midterms Are Upon Us
As anyone could guess, midterms as an ajarn is much easier than as a student. I feel no stress and actually get to take a vacation. It's totally unfair to see my students freaking out about their midterms and to know I'll be relaxing in the mountains while they cram in the last few vocab words. I think I already paid my dues though. I feel a little bad though because most ajarn don't get a break next week. They will be here administering the tests, grading the tests, posting grades, etc. The difference is they get paid and I don't.
On that note, I was FINALLY paid this week. No, not an early payment for July, this was payment for June! The late pay day was something I was warned about so I wasn't too worried. The worst part was when I kept being told tomorrow, then Monday, then tomorrow, then they are just waiting for a signature, then 4pm, then they just went to the bank so I should check back in 30 min., then tomorrow...you get the idea! I could deal with the money situation if they didn't keep getting my hopes up! It was awful and I felt like I was just blowing through so much money. It made me feel better to remember that I am really not spending that much in dollars. But I need to focus on the positive because at least I got paid! So now that it is the end of July it's time for July's pay check...haha, I'll be happy if I get it before September.
PS-aerobics are awesome! I love doing them. And not just because I get to wear a tank top.
On that note, I was FINALLY paid this week. No, not an early payment for July, this was payment for June! The late pay day was something I was warned about so I wasn't too worried. The worst part was when I kept being told tomorrow, then Monday, then tomorrow, then they are just waiting for a signature, then 4pm, then they just went to the bank so I should check back in 30 min., then tomorrow...you get the idea! I could deal with the money situation if they didn't keep getting my hopes up! It was awful and I felt like I was just blowing through so much money. It made me feel better to remember that I am really not spending that much in dollars. But I need to focus on the positive because at least I got paid! So now that it is the end of July it's time for July's pay check...haha, I'll be happy if I get it before September.
PS-aerobics are awesome! I love doing them. And not just because I get to wear a tank top.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Major Catching Up
Oops...it feels like it's been awhile. Midterms are coming up in a week and I have had more work than normal to get through. Anyways, here's what's been going on...
1) We hosted a 4th of July party the weekend after the 4th. No, it wasn't your typical hot dogs, hamburgers and beers but included a wide array of food such as: macaroni and cheese, no bake cookies, Special K Bars, blueberry pie, deviled eggs and fancy drinks. A hilarious assortment of food but it was all sooo good. And all decorated with toothpick flags I had brought from home. I think this 4th of July was the most patriotic I have ever felt, and it was probably more just a longing for fireworks and family. I found this recipe for no bake cookies online and they turned out phenomenal. Jordan even made them this week and I think the three of us ate all of them within two days. Mmmmm. I didn't know no bake cookies would be so good. The party was fun just to have a bunch of people we know get together and hang out. The worst part was waking up the next morning with so many mosquito bites, which are more like mosquito bite welts. They itch like crazy and get much larger than a little Minnesota mosquito bite. It is just the start of the mosquito season too!
Pictures
2) I started doing aerobics at night and it is awesome. How couldn't 30-some Thai women and a sprinkling of Thai men punching, kicking, and then shimmying be awesome!? The aerobics seemed so violent the first couple of times I went because I see Thais as so peaceful so it was awkward to see them all intensely kicking (even with added noise for emphasis!) and punching. It was really hard to follow the directions the first time because it's in Thai and I just have to follow someone's lead. I probably looked like a deranged monkey the first time but now I am getting the hang of it. Some of my most favorite parts of aerobics include: English dance songs (remember Venga Boys "Boom boom booom boom, I want you in my room" AND also Aqua singing "Barbie Girl", you better believe it!), there is no Thai word for uppercut so I always get that exercise right, when we go from punching to shimmying and some dance moves and mastering my Thai numbers up to sip (10).
3) Joey and I have started up a Literary Club at KKU. Joey's idea that I get to tag along with and be the organizer, because we all know that that's what I do best. We wanted to make a little literary journal like Periphery at Drake but the students seemed a little intimidated by that. Also, our first meeting only had three students so that'd be a lot of work for them. By the way, I was happy three students showed up as our advertising wasn't up to even the first notch. But now we know there is interest in having a place where students can share their writing, read other people's writing, etc. It seems like it will be a laid back club to just allow students to work on their creative writing skills. I'm excited to be apart of it and give the students an outlet that wasn't there before.
4) I was in Bangkok last weekend for an Asian Cup game (soccer, futbol, or futbon as Thais call it-see Jordan's blog for more info). We got tickets for the Australia vs. Iraq game and I was pumped for crazy fans and an intense game. The crazy fans were present except in very small numbers! The stadium was maybe 10% full which was not what I expected at all. I guess how many Iraqis and Australians are really going to fly to BKK? I estimate there were 25 Iraqis and almost 100 Australians. Iraq won which was cool to see the underdogs beat Australia, even though Australia was flat out playing poorly. So the whole point of the weekend was this game but it ended up being just a side activity in the craziness of BKK.
We stayed with Chris who is another PiAer in BKK and it was fantastic to stay with him. He's a great person to have so close (is 6 hours really that close?!) to visit, host and travel with. He was so generous letting Meredith, Liz and I stay with him for the weekend...point being, he rocks. So on Friday night we at some of the spiciest food I have EVER had. Liz is convinced that the cooks did it on purpose which I am inclined to agree with. It was insanely spicy and the northeast already has the spiciest food in Thailand...so to find this in Bangkok was not normal. My fried eggplant was littered with chiles. We had met up with one of Meredith's friends who was traveling through with three of his buddies and also one of Chris' friends who was visiting BKK from China for the weekend. We all had a fun time going out in different areas of Bangkok and we were out until 5am. When do you get too old to do things like that?! It was just nice to be around so many different people. And it didn't stop there as Chris had a different friend traveling through BKK on Sunday. I went with them to the Jatujack Weekend Market (Meredith and I went last time we were in BKK too) while Meredith and Liz went to see the Harry Potter movie. It was a really fun and tiring weekend.
The sex tourism in BKK was everywhere and obvious. The bars are on the same places where the brothels are so it's sort of weird. From what I have read, some of the prostitutes are there because they want to (for the same reasons in the U.S., it's good money) but others are kidnapped or sold from their smaller towns (usually in the northeast) and forced to be prostitutes. Prostitution is illegal here but it is not enforced at all. There are whole clubs of girls standing on stage with numbers on them and people can walk in and say their number, and that's that. I tend to avoid any male that I didn't know anywhere in Thailand and especially on the "sex streets". There are many "sex-pats" as Chris calls them in BKK and "patricks" as we call them in KK. One time when a bar was closing I had this white man come up to me and say "how much?". I was shocked and I think I just said no and couldn't even look at him and was automatically searching for Chris to help me. Turns out this guy was just joking and started laughing and saying how I'd probably never be asked that question again in my life. Sorta funny but not funny at all to me at the time as I had just been inside one of the brothels to use the bathroom. Sex tourism is rampant here and I don't think joking about it has any positive effects. A pretty uptight opinion but I wasn't even sure if I wanted to walk down the streets that are the known touristy sex streets. As we walk down you are attacked by people trying to sell you girls or a sex show. Doesn't matter if you are male or female, they will ask you again and again. To be fair, there is a street for males but I'm not sure if it's the same type of thing. I would definitely call it "gay street" but I don't know about "gay sex street".
The best part of Bangkok was the kindness of so many people. We ate at street stands quite a bit and people would bend over backwards to make sure I was getting a vegetarian meal. That's the kind of thing that happens all the time and I don't want to start taking it for granted. And once they know you can speak even a little Thai they want to speak with you. It's just awesome and it makes you feel so good when you can understand a little bit of what they are saying! Not everywhere is like this with food as I have never been turned down for food in Thailand and in other travels I have had to leave restaurants because they wont' make me something (remember Mom!).
5) Still tackling the Thai lessons. Just like everyone said, once you master the tones and the different vowels you can say almost anything. Our teacher said we are her favorite class and that was very special. She goes pretty fast but she answers so many of our questions.
Today I am off to hang out at John and Anne's neighborhood pool...I don't know how to explain how excited I am to be going to a pool today! Then after that, dinner and a movie at Karl's with all PiAers and Jordan. Life is good.
1) We hosted a 4th of July party the weekend after the 4th. No, it wasn't your typical hot dogs, hamburgers and beers but included a wide array of food such as: macaroni and cheese, no bake cookies, Special K Bars, blueberry pie, deviled eggs and fancy drinks. A hilarious assortment of food but it was all sooo good. And all decorated with toothpick flags I had brought from home. I think this 4th of July was the most patriotic I have ever felt, and it was probably more just a longing for fireworks and family. I found this recipe for no bake cookies online and they turned out phenomenal. Jordan even made them this week and I think the three of us ate all of them within two days. Mmmmm. I didn't know no bake cookies would be so good. The party was fun just to have a bunch of people we know get together and hang out. The worst part was waking up the next morning with so many mosquito bites, which are more like mosquito bite welts. They itch like crazy and get much larger than a little Minnesota mosquito bite. It is just the start of the mosquito season too!
Pictures
2) I started doing aerobics at night and it is awesome. How couldn't 30-some Thai women and a sprinkling of Thai men punching, kicking, and then shimmying be awesome!? The aerobics seemed so violent the first couple of times I went because I see Thais as so peaceful so it was awkward to see them all intensely kicking (even with added noise for emphasis!) and punching. It was really hard to follow the directions the first time because it's in Thai and I just have to follow someone's lead. I probably looked like a deranged monkey the first time but now I am getting the hang of it. Some of my most favorite parts of aerobics include: English dance songs (remember Venga Boys "Boom boom booom boom, I want you in my room" AND also Aqua singing "Barbie Girl", you better believe it!), there is no Thai word for uppercut so I always get that exercise right, when we go from punching to shimmying and some dance moves and mastering my Thai numbers up to sip (10).
3) Joey and I have started up a Literary Club at KKU. Joey's idea that I get to tag along with and be the organizer, because we all know that that's what I do best. We wanted to make a little literary journal like Periphery at Drake but the students seemed a little intimidated by that. Also, our first meeting only had three students so that'd be a lot of work for them. By the way, I was happy three students showed up as our advertising wasn't up to even the first notch. But now we know there is interest in having a place where students can share their writing, read other people's writing, etc. It seems like it will be a laid back club to just allow students to work on their creative writing skills. I'm excited to be apart of it and give the students an outlet that wasn't there before.
4) I was in Bangkok last weekend for an Asian Cup game (soccer, futbol, or futbon as Thais call it-see Jordan's blog for more info). We got tickets for the Australia vs. Iraq game and I was pumped for crazy fans and an intense game. The crazy fans were present except in very small numbers! The stadium was maybe 10% full which was not what I expected at all. I guess how many Iraqis and Australians are really going to fly to BKK? I estimate there were 25 Iraqis and almost 100 Australians. Iraq won which was cool to see the underdogs beat Australia, even though Australia was flat out playing poorly. So the whole point of the weekend was this game but it ended up being just a side activity in the craziness of BKK.
We stayed with Chris who is another PiAer in BKK and it was fantastic to stay with him. He's a great person to have so close (is 6 hours really that close?!) to visit, host and travel with. He was so generous letting Meredith, Liz and I stay with him for the weekend...point being, he rocks. So on Friday night we at some of the spiciest food I have EVER had. Liz is convinced that the cooks did it on purpose which I am inclined to agree with. It was insanely spicy and the northeast already has the spiciest food in Thailand...so to find this in Bangkok was not normal. My fried eggplant was littered with chiles. We had met up with one of Meredith's friends who was traveling through with three of his buddies and also one of Chris' friends who was visiting BKK from China for the weekend. We all had a fun time going out in different areas of Bangkok and we were out until 5am. When do you get too old to do things like that?! It was just nice to be around so many different people. And it didn't stop there as Chris had a different friend traveling through BKK on Sunday. I went with them to the Jatujack Weekend Market (Meredith and I went last time we were in BKK too) while Meredith and Liz went to see the Harry Potter movie. It was a really fun and tiring weekend.
The sex tourism in BKK was everywhere and obvious. The bars are on the same places where the brothels are so it's sort of weird. From what I have read, some of the prostitutes are there because they want to (for the same reasons in the U.S., it's good money) but others are kidnapped or sold from their smaller towns (usually in the northeast) and forced to be prostitutes. Prostitution is illegal here but it is not enforced at all. There are whole clubs of girls standing on stage with numbers on them and people can walk in and say their number, and that's that. I tend to avoid any male that I didn't know anywhere in Thailand and especially on the "sex streets". There are many "sex-pats" as Chris calls them in BKK and "patricks" as we call them in KK. One time when a bar was closing I had this white man come up to me and say "how much?". I was shocked and I think I just said no and couldn't even look at him and was automatically searching for Chris to help me. Turns out this guy was just joking and started laughing and saying how I'd probably never be asked that question again in my life. Sorta funny but not funny at all to me at the time as I had just been inside one of the brothels to use the bathroom. Sex tourism is rampant here and I don't think joking about it has any positive effects. A pretty uptight opinion but I wasn't even sure if I wanted to walk down the streets that are the known touristy sex streets. As we walk down you are attacked by people trying to sell you girls or a sex show. Doesn't matter if you are male or female, they will ask you again and again. To be fair, there is a street for males but I'm not sure if it's the same type of thing. I would definitely call it "gay street" but I don't know about "gay sex street".
The best part of Bangkok was the kindness of so many people. We ate at street stands quite a bit and people would bend over backwards to make sure I was getting a vegetarian meal. That's the kind of thing that happens all the time and I don't want to start taking it for granted. And once they know you can speak even a little Thai they want to speak with you. It's just awesome and it makes you feel so good when you can understand a little bit of what they are saying! Not everywhere is like this with food as I have never been turned down for food in Thailand and in other travels I have had to leave restaurants because they wont' make me something (remember Mom!).
5) Still tackling the Thai lessons. Just like everyone said, once you master the tones and the different vowels you can say almost anything. Our teacher said we are her favorite class and that was very special. She goes pretty fast but she answers so many of our questions.
Today I am off to hang out at John and Anne's neighborhood pool...I don't know how to explain how excited I am to be going to a pool today! Then after that, dinner and a movie at Karl's with all PiAers and Jordan. Life is good.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
First Teaching Freak Out
It's true, today I am freaking out! I found out a couple of hours ago that one of my classes only has two more classes until the midterm. Keep in mind that the midterm in August 1st!! All semester I have stuck to a calender and really scheduled out the time I needed to get through the necessary chapters...and now it feels like it was all for nothing. I should have known not to be organized! I was warned but I chose not to listen. So I am not left trying to figure out how to squeeze six classes of information into two classes. Of course it is not that bad for me, I just have to give them lots of homework. But you know me, I feel it is unfair for the students to have to have so much homework near the midterm. I feel bad but there's really nothing I can do. I told them what was going on as soon as I knew. I then had to assign them around 25 pages of grammar to do for next week. Maybe they don't care though. So next class period my plan is to do three days worth of listening activities into one class period. I have to do this because they don't even have the listening CD (still trying to figure out why that is). My poor 105 class. Good thing they are all very good students.
On a funnier note, these are sentences that were read out loud my students while practicing writing sentences using make, let, and allow
My girlfriend does not allow me to look at other ladies
My boyfriend lets me love him
My husbandssssss don't let me look for other husbands (said by a talkative, effimnate male)
-Each sentence is followed by laughter and clapping because this class (106 Denstistry students) loves to talk and laugh together. It's one of my favorite classes because they always want to do speaking activities-even in English!
On a funnier note, these are sentences that were read out loud my students while practicing writing sentences using make, let, and allow
My girlfriend does not allow me to look at other ladies
My boyfriend lets me love him
My husbandssssss don't let me look for other husbands (said by a talkative, effimnate male)
-Each sentence is followed by laughter and clapping because this class (106 Denstistry students) loves to talk and laugh together. It's one of my favorite classes because they always want to do speaking activities-even in English!
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Weekend Pictures
http://drake.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12832&l=d0fe6&id=512610984
So we had quite an exciting Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning last weekend. The whole started with a trip to the Buddhist wat (or temple) that overlooks a pretty lake. We got our own personal tour guide from a monk who videotaped us experiencing the wat and he especially wanted us to ask him questions so he could answer in English. Even though some of our questions were not answered (think: "Who is this a statue of" and he answers "Yes, ok now walk") it was nice to have someone teach us about Buddhism in Isaan. Well...not totally good because it turns out that this monk is in love with Annie. Lots of drama since how do you say no to a monk. We have been assured that we can definately say no to a monk because he is being inappropriate. Thai culture 1 us 0
After the wat, we walked around the lake and my most favorite part was watching people breakdance. Like I've said before, I like Thai music and I like watching people breakdance, so I have now found a fool-proof thing to do on any weekend night. The guys were pretty good and I plan to spend many hours there watching. Perhaps they will teach me some moves. Watch out Des Moines floorspiders!
Eventually we ended up at the KK nightlife scene and we found a table, ordered drinks and french fries, and relaxed with some live music. Keep in mind you are always being watched but I don't really notice much anymore. But tonight was different, we were not only watched but we were hit on-twice-by men and women. I guess farang in Thailand appeal to both sexes...I think this is a skill. The point is, two roses, two sexes for all of us. Luckily the whole Annie and monk incident had taken place so I knew not to give our phone numbers to the men. I have now found out that it is a sign of affection when a man calls a woman he likes ALL THE TIME for the first week you are dating (or even want to go on a date). Seriously, like 5 times a day. I think I might "not have my cell phone" a lot since it's impolite to say just plain old no.
So we had quite an exciting Saturday afternoon into Sunday morning last weekend. The whole started with a trip to the Buddhist wat (or temple) that overlooks a pretty lake. We got our own personal tour guide from a monk who videotaped us experiencing the wat and he especially wanted us to ask him questions so he could answer in English. Even though some of our questions were not answered (think: "Who is this a statue of" and he answers "Yes, ok now walk") it was nice to have someone teach us about Buddhism in Isaan. Well...not totally good because it turns out that this monk is in love with Annie. Lots of drama since how do you say no to a monk. We have been assured that we can definately say no to a monk because he is being inappropriate. Thai culture 1 us 0
After the wat, we walked around the lake and my most favorite part was watching people breakdance. Like I've said before, I like Thai music and I like watching people breakdance, so I have now found a fool-proof thing to do on any weekend night. The guys were pretty good and I plan to spend many hours there watching. Perhaps they will teach me some moves. Watch out Des Moines floorspiders!
Eventually we ended up at the KK nightlife scene and we found a table, ordered drinks and french fries, and relaxed with some live music. Keep in mind you are always being watched but I don't really notice much anymore. But tonight was different, we were not only watched but we were hit on-twice-by men and women. I guess farang in Thailand appeal to both sexes...I think this is a skill. The point is, two roses, two sexes for all of us. Luckily the whole Annie and monk incident had taken place so I knew not to give our phone numbers to the men. I have now found out that it is a sign of affection when a man calls a woman he likes ALL THE TIME for the first week you are dating (or even want to go on a date). Seriously, like 5 times a day. I think I might "not have my cell phone" a lot since it's impolite to say just plain old no.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
