So I just had the worst class so far. They were a class of my 4s in which half were absent to begin with. Of the other half, about half spent the time trying to goof off. One boy in particular spent his time trying to pick on one of my ladyboys (named Bambi), and I eventually had to kick him out of the class after Bambi asked me for about the 10th time for help. I say ask, really he would just say "Ohhhh! Teacherrrr!" and look at me pleadingly with big brown eyes as Palm sat there poking his sides, or trying to copy off of his paper, or steal his eraser. I tried to give Palm a chance. I had him move seats, and when he kept moving back, I moved the desk beside Bambi forward. When he would crane around to reach towards Bambi, I stood in between. That just wasn't practical, I needed to move around the class to see what they were doing, and now that I think about it I'm really not sure what prompted me finally just saying "OI! You! Sit outside!"
I had to fuss at the class hardcore, too. I was trying to go over family members, and I drew mine. When I got to asking about various ones (the daughter of my uncle is my...?), they would not say a word. I must have asked the same question about 10 times in a row, obviously looking for a response. Nothing. So I laid into them for about 10 minutes. "I am not here for me to speak, I am here for YOU to speak! I know you're not stupid or mute, but you don't speak! If you don't want to learn, get out of my class!" All of which I said as slowly as possible while I was angry so that they might understand. They at least understood I was angry, and some of them began to respond. As they were working on their in class assignment (drawing their family trees), Bambi called me over. "Teacherr! Um... The, um... information is, you are popular!" Later he also told me I was smart and beautiful. Not sure if he was sucking up or if he actually meant it. My other ladyboy in that class, named Song, told me I was beautiful later, too. They get extra credit! The best part about both of their family trees? They drew themselves like girls, one with long hair and the other with his stomach hangin out and a big bow. Song called me over specifically to show me his. "Is me, teachaa, is meeeee!" So cute!
So last weekend passed pretty well. The weeks are seeming to fly by. I can't believe that I've been here a month already.
We went to Bangkok for a concert by Stanford Chorale and Stanford Taiko. Ben, Alli, Char, MC and I got on the train Thursday evening at 430. We got to leave school early! We bought beds on the train because we knew it would be a long trip.
Our ticket said the arrival time was 630am Friday, but we learned the hard way that train is a very time-consuming way to travel. If you think Europe is bad, oh boy. When we told people that we were taking the train, they laughed and didn't bother asking our arrival time. For good reason: we got in at 930. To top it off, Char's iphone was stolen from the table in our berth as we slept. She got on a tuk-tuk for the Railway Police station, and the policeman came shortly after to get the rest of us. That didn't take long, and the men at the station helped us get a taxi to our hotel.
We stayed at the Florida Hotel on Phaya Thai Rd. After the hotels in Lampang I was nervous, but this was really nice! Kushy duvets, big bathroom, the works. The only down was that Nirund didn't pay for wifi this time. Can't have everything.
We checked in around 1030 and decided to go exploring, as we weren't expected at the concert until 4. The BTS Skytrain was just outside of our hotel. We climbed up the stairs and headed to Siam Square. We explored the malls for a bit, just kind of wandered around. We thought the Bangkok Art and Culture Center was a museum, it was not. More a mix between an office building and a set of galleries. There were two interesting exhibits, one a series on pollution awareness, and the other a schools-wide art contest for dengue fever awareness. Some of the kids, in about 5th grade or so, were crazy good artists. I regretfully got no pictures of their work.
We ate lunch at a massive buffet in one of the malls. There was so much food it was really hard to choose: Japanese, Chinese, a Korean grill, Indonesian, Greek, American, seafood... there was more but I think you get the idea. It was expensive but worth it. After we ate we found our way to Jim Thompson's house. It was a pretty cool place. He was a fashion designer in the early 1900s that went missing in 1967 on his 61st birthday. He was responsible for reviving international interest in the Thai silk trade, and his house was very traditional. He collected antiques and some of the pieces that made up his house were over 200 years old.
We got back to the hotel around 330 and started getting ready to head to the concert. Since nothing has ever been at the time they have said ("Thai time" is a very real thing, and it is at least an hour after the time they say), we decided, rather wisely it seems, to be late. We got there around 5 and still waited around with nothing to do. The concert itself was alright, I could have done without the chorale. I don't mind a capella music, but I was not a fan of their set. In addition, a stage light shone almost directly in my face so I spent the whole time looking down in my lap, hoping it would go away soon.
The Taiko, however, was really, really cool. They're an entirely student-run group. They write their own music, build their own drums, even sew their own costumes. It was impressive. I'd never seen taiko before, but I definitely want to again. I was an old lady when everyone else went out to the club after, I just stayed at the hotel and went to bed.
Saturday after breakfast, Junior, Ryanne, Alli, Jessica and I set out to explore and sightsee around Bangkok. Alli and I had thought the plan was to be back in time to go to the second concert, that day at two. Apparently that was not the plan. We saw Wat Pho, which is a massive temple next to the grand palace. It houses the Reclining Buddha, which was really huge. It was a really interesting statue, and Alli and I got lost in the rest of the Wat trying to find our way out. Wats here are so intricate and decorated everywhere. There were rows and rows of Buddhas lining the walls. In addition to the Reclining Buddha, there were little buildings with other Buddha statues, like the Buddha of Saturday and others.
After Wat Pho, we tried to go to the Grand Palace. I had on a tank top and we decided it was for the better that we just skip it for the time, because renting a covering was 200 baht and on top of that it would have been 500 baht just "to thank the King" for us to get in.
So instead, we found a ferry across the river to Wat Arun, the Wat of the Dawn. We could climb about halfway up and see great views of the city, it was really a beautiful place. There was a lot of tile work and it made me feel like Gaudi must have been to Thailand at some point for inspiration. The coolest part, to me, was that you could tell that most of the flower designs were made from old saucers or dishes.
We went to the mall after that because we were going to watch Man of Steel, but since the soonest showing was in 3D, Alli and I decided to skip it. We had an extra luxurious dinner from McDonald's (don't you judge me!) and went back to the hotel. Everyone decided to party it up that night, so we got ready and headed out with Pong, Ong, Jane and a couple other Thai assistants to a dance club. It was super fun! I had a great time dancing with all the fellow TTC peeps.
Sunday, Alli and Char and I decided on a girl's day. We went to Chatuchak Market, which is the biggest market I have ever seen. I'm talking a market the size of Mercer campus, maybe bigger. It was so overwhelmingly huge. We found a little booth with 100 baht dresses. They had just about everything you could think of, with so many twists and turns and ins and outs... cannot wait to go back.
We ended up taking a bus back to Lamphun, it left Bangkok at 830. Definitely the way to go as far as punctuality. We were scheduled to get in at 630 and were in Lamphun an hour early. Just in time to get ready and go teach! I got decent sleep on the bus, too. The seats were pretty roomy and actually comfortable. So here I am, back in Lamphun. Still not a "normal," week; I havent had any of my 4s because they're all involved in "activity." We think it's an anti-drug assembly/competition kind of thing.
Anyhow, bedtime now. More later.
I had to fuss at the class hardcore, too. I was trying to go over family members, and I drew mine. When I got to asking about various ones (the daughter of my uncle is my...?), they would not say a word. I must have asked the same question about 10 times in a row, obviously looking for a response. Nothing. So I laid into them for about 10 minutes. "I am not here for me to speak, I am here for YOU to speak! I know you're not stupid or mute, but you don't speak! If you don't want to learn, get out of my class!" All of which I said as slowly as possible while I was angry so that they might understand. They at least understood I was angry, and some of them began to respond. As they were working on their in class assignment (drawing their family trees), Bambi called me over. "Teacherr! Um... The, um... information is, you are popular!" Later he also told me I was smart and beautiful. Not sure if he was sucking up or if he actually meant it. My other ladyboy in that class, named Song, told me I was beautiful later, too. They get extra credit! The best part about both of their family trees? They drew themselves like girls, one with long hair and the other with his stomach hangin out and a big bow. Song called me over specifically to show me his. "Is me, teachaa, is meeeee!" So cute!
So last weekend passed pretty well. The weeks are seeming to fly by. I can't believe that I've been here a month already.
We went to Bangkok for a concert by Stanford Chorale and Stanford Taiko. Ben, Alli, Char, MC and I got on the train Thursday evening at 430. We got to leave school early! We bought beds on the train because we knew it would be a long trip.
Our ticket said the arrival time was 630am Friday, but we learned the hard way that train is a very time-consuming way to travel. If you think Europe is bad, oh boy. When we told people that we were taking the train, they laughed and didn't bother asking our arrival time. For good reason: we got in at 930. To top it off, Char's iphone was stolen from the table in our berth as we slept. She got on a tuk-tuk for the Railway Police station, and the policeman came shortly after to get the rest of us. That didn't take long, and the men at the station helped us get a taxi to our hotel.
We stayed at the Florida Hotel on Phaya Thai Rd. After the hotels in Lampang I was nervous, but this was really nice! Kushy duvets, big bathroom, the works. The only down was that Nirund didn't pay for wifi this time. Can't have everything.
We checked in around 1030 and decided to go exploring, as we weren't expected at the concert until 4. The BTS Skytrain was just outside of our hotel. We climbed up the stairs and headed to Siam Square. We explored the malls for a bit, just kind of wandered around. We thought the Bangkok Art and Culture Center was a museum, it was not. More a mix between an office building and a set of galleries. There were two interesting exhibits, one a series on pollution awareness, and the other a schools-wide art contest for dengue fever awareness. Some of the kids, in about 5th grade or so, were crazy good artists. I regretfully got no pictures of their work.
We ate lunch at a massive buffet in one of the malls. There was so much food it was really hard to choose: Japanese, Chinese, a Korean grill, Indonesian, Greek, American, seafood... there was more but I think you get the idea. It was expensive but worth it. After we ate we found our way to Jim Thompson's house. It was a pretty cool place. He was a fashion designer in the early 1900s that went missing in 1967 on his 61st birthday. He was responsible for reviving international interest in the Thai silk trade, and his house was very traditional. He collected antiques and some of the pieces that made up his house were over 200 years old.
We got back to the hotel around 330 and started getting ready to head to the concert. Since nothing has ever been at the time they have said ("Thai time" is a very real thing, and it is at least an hour after the time they say), we decided, rather wisely it seems, to be late. We got there around 5 and still waited around with nothing to do. The concert itself was alright, I could have done without the chorale. I don't mind a capella music, but I was not a fan of their set. In addition, a stage light shone almost directly in my face so I spent the whole time looking down in my lap, hoping it would go away soon.
The Taiko, however, was really, really cool. They're an entirely student-run group. They write their own music, build their own drums, even sew their own costumes. It was impressive. I'd never seen taiko before, but I definitely want to again. I was an old lady when everyone else went out to the club after, I just stayed at the hotel and went to bed.
Saturday after breakfast, Junior, Ryanne, Alli, Jessica and I set out to explore and sightsee around Bangkok. Alli and I had thought the plan was to be back in time to go to the second concert, that day at two. Apparently that was not the plan. We saw Wat Pho, which is a massive temple next to the grand palace. It houses the Reclining Buddha, which was really huge. It was a really interesting statue, and Alli and I got lost in the rest of the Wat trying to find our way out. Wats here are so intricate and decorated everywhere. There were rows and rows of Buddhas lining the walls. In addition to the Reclining Buddha, there were little buildings with other Buddha statues, like the Buddha of Saturday and others.
Buddha of Saturday, also called Healing Buddha
So instead, we found a ferry across the river to Wat Arun, the Wat of the Dawn. We could climb about halfway up and see great views of the city, it was really a beautiful place. There was a lot of tile work and it made me feel like Gaudi must have been to Thailand at some point for inspiration. The coolest part, to me, was that you could tell that most of the flower designs were made from old saucers or dishes.
We went to the mall after that because we were going to watch Man of Steel, but since the soonest showing was in 3D, Alli and I decided to skip it. We had an extra luxurious dinner from McDonald's (don't you judge me!) and went back to the hotel. Everyone decided to party it up that night, so we got ready and headed out with Pong, Ong, Jane and a couple other Thai assistants to a dance club. It was super fun! I had a great time dancing with all the fellow TTC peeps.
Sunday, Alli and Char and I decided on a girl's day. We went to Chatuchak Market, which is the biggest market I have ever seen. I'm talking a market the size of Mercer campus, maybe bigger. It was so overwhelmingly huge. We found a little booth with 100 baht dresses. They had just about everything you could think of, with so many twists and turns and ins and outs... cannot wait to go back.
We ended up taking a bus back to Lamphun, it left Bangkok at 830. Definitely the way to go as far as punctuality. We were scheduled to get in at 630 and were in Lamphun an hour early. Just in time to get ready and go teach! I got decent sleep on the bus, too. The seats were pretty roomy and actually comfortable. So here I am, back in Lamphun. Still not a "normal," week; I havent had any of my 4s because they're all involved in "activity." We think it's an anti-drug assembly/competition kind of thing.
Anyhow, bedtime now. More later.
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