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Published: January 4th 2007
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Our teaching adventure in Thailand started with becoming students again. Our classroom was the covered outdoor terrace of Open Mind Projects, a Swedish Thai NGO that places volunteer in local schools to teach English and computer skills. Over one intense long weekend, the Thai staff drilled us on key phrases including greetings, numbers, directions and basic classroom commands. We were also introduced to Thai history and Thai etiquette (never point your feet at anyone when sitting on the floor, always bow your head when walking in front of an older person). After our lessons, we used our new vocabulary to shop for and cook an Isaan-style banquet. The cuisine of the northeast is influenced by both Thailand and Laos, including dishes like grilled marinated chicken, sticky rice and spicy green papaya salad.
The last day of our orientation coincided with Loi Krathong, a full moon festival held in November to give thanks for the monsoon rains. Thai people throughout the northeast construct lotus shaped boats from folded banana leaves, decorating them with candles, flowers and incense. Our group of international volunteer discovered that folding the banana leaves wasn’t as easy as it looked (!) but after some help from our
Completed Kratongs
Ready to be offered to the river god, Naga, these Kratongs have candles and incense sticks (as well as many fragrant flowers). Thai hosts we got the leaves secured with toothpicks and joined the evening procession to a nearby temple. Here our boats joined the candle-lit flotilla already making its way down the Mekong River, each with an individual wish for a blessing from the river god.
From their headquarters in the city of Nong Khai, OPM staff drove us east along the Mekong to the village of Bung Klah. On the far side of the river were the forested hills of Laos, while on the Thai side we could see fields of rice, sugarcane and bananas spread out along the river bank. Our host family for three weeks consisted of one of the school cooks, her older sister, her mother and her eleven year old son. None spoke more than few words of English, but they welcomed us with sign language and quickly helped us to expand our Thai vocabulary.
Though the village of Bung Klah is relatively small, the junior high/high school where we taught has 700 students bused from all the surrounding villages. Our best friend and guide was an English teacher named Tep, who introduced us to the other staff members, helped us buy lunch and
generally made sure that we had everything we needed. Overall Thai schools are much more formal than their American counterparts. Before school begins each class cleans its designated area of the school grounds, picking up trashing and raking fallen leaves. Then the marching band plays the school song, and rows of uniformed students assemble in front of an outdoor stage to sing the national anthem and ask for the blessing of the king.
Each lesson starts with the students rising and greeting the teacher in unison, always in English for the classes we attended. With 30-40 students per class, English teaching tends to focus on grammar and memorization. As volunteers we gave the students a chance to practice daily conversation, though some were too shy even to answer a direct question. We did our best to make English more memorable and more fun at the same time, with games of Hangman and songs like “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.” Computer lessons focused on Microsoft Word and Powerpoint. The school actually has more computers than they have electricity to run, but students worked in groups to create projects like a table with a set of columns.
When we weren’t
busy with classes, a biology teacher named Utt (rhymes with fruit) took us out to explore the countryside. We camped in the nearby wildlife sanctuary, swam in a waterfall, and scrambled to the top of Wat Phu Tok, a spectacular 7 level monastery built in, on, and around a giant sandstone outcropping. Each level represents one of the seven factors of enlightenment in Buddhist psychology. One evening we also rode a long tailed boat along the Mekong, watching the sun sink below the forested hills as the fishermen rolled up their nets.
The night before we left, Tep and some of the other teachers drove us to a neighboring town for all-you-can-eat barbeque. This is like a combination of Korean barbeque and fondue, with bowls of pre-cut meat, seafood and greens waiting to be grilled at the table or dunked in boiling broth around the edge of the grill. The teachers didn’t know that it was actually Thanksgiving in the United States, but appreciated when we explained the importance of sharing a celebratory meal with friends.
Our more formal farewell to our school was the next day’s bai si ceremony. Isaan people believe that each person has 32
National Anthem at school
Every morning, almost everywhere in Thailand, the world stops for a second and the national anthem is played. At school in Bun Kla the school anthem is also sung and anouncements are also made. guardian spirits. These spirits may stray from the body over time, but need to be called back for significant events like birth, marriage or traveling. This is done when each guest ties a string around the honoree’s wrist, giving them a short blessing at the same time. We left Bung Klah with wishes for happiness, safe travel and a return visit to Isaan in the not too distant future.
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kim hammers
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such beauty and peace
Thanks so much for sharing these life fullfilling ahs, ohs, oohs, and culture step stones!!! How lucky you are to be a part of such incredible community and humanity!! Party on.....love, mike and kim