Washing Dishes in the Bathroom Sink

Our apartment doesn't have a kitchen.  Since it's cheaper to eat out than cook at home (seriously...) most modern Thai apartments come with a water hookup on the deck for an optional sink set up.  Well I'm cheap.  And, at this point in time, we'll only be here for a year.  So I don't want to invest in an outdoor sink set up.  Instead, we wash our dishes in the bathroom sink.  It's fine until we also want to use our bathroom sink for, ya know, bathroom stuff like washing our hands or brushing our teeth.  Here's what we dealt with last night as we were trying to get ready for bed after a night out of beers and fried pork: 

Motorbike Madness!

Stylin

For those that don’t know, I decided to get a motorbike while here in Thailand. I wasn’t planning on getting one before the trip. I had heard about the horrors on the road here, but after being in country for a few weeks, I decided that it wasn’t that bad. I just didn’t want to walk 30 minutes everywhere I go (or take an expensive Tuk-Tuk or taxi). Everybody drives motorbikes here and it makes life so much easier. Plus, it would give us the freedom to explore as we pleased and not be constrained within our little bubble. One week ago, we had an experience that made me re-think my decision.

My buddy was in town and we were on our way to go check out some waterfalls in the area. Jody and I were leading the way on my motorbike. After driving about 30 minutes north on the Highway, we were approaching the turnoff up into the mountains. Out of nowhere, a young woman on a motorbike to the left started swerving into my lane. She was picking up speed trying to merge into traffic without even looking! I didn’t have much time to react because I was going a good 40-50MPH. I slowed down as much as I could but contact was inevitable. She smashed directly into my motorbike.

What ensued was a whirlwind of chaos. The bike hit the ground and we started skidding along the concrete. We must have skidded for 20-30 feet in a few seconds and finally came to rest down the road. Now, I’ll have you know that I haven’t even really been in a legitimate car accident, let alone a motorbike. I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty. Expecting the worst, I managed to compose myself after we stopped skidding and tried to assess the damage. Luckily, Jody seemed to be OK though thoroughly shaken up. She had pretty bad road rash on her arms and legs from the sliding on the concrete though. I had similar wounds to my elbow, ankle, forearm and toe. I was really hoping that we didn’t have any internal damage like broken bones. I popped my shoulder out during the roll but it turned out to be very minor and popped right back in. We were extremely lucky that there weren’t any cars around during the accident, let alone traffic barriers. We simply slid along the concrete for 30 feet without any significant damage. YES we were wearing our helmets so any head trauma was quelled.

After we figured out that we had no significant injuries, we thought of the women. Turned out she had her brother on the bike with her! I had no idea. She was not yet in high school so probably 13 or so. They didn’t have any visible cuts on them, but the little boy did look very scared and dazed. They weren’t wearing helmets. During the whole ordeal, she didn’t say a single thing. Just stood there holding the boy and looked out of it. An ambulance came and they rode away. We decided it was best to not go since our injuries seemed to be minor in nature.

It was very nice of some local people to stop and help us out. They poured iodine and saline over our wounds to clean them out and stayed with us for a good 15 minutes while we composed ourselves and assessed what had just happened. They kept asking us if we wanted to go to the Hospital and we agreed it was best not to go. A policeman came and looked pretty disinterested in the whole thing. He must see this type of thing every day. He asked what happened, we explained that it wasn’t our fault. Then, he asked if we wanted to press charges. We declined. They recognized the school where Jody said she taught, which made them realize that we live here and made the situation go a little more smoothly. We came out relatively unscathed and therefore, decided to drop the matter entirely. Like us, the bike still functions properly. Despite some damage to the outer shell, the engine and all the electronics still work fine. All the damage was purely cosmetic. I’m planning on re-selling it later so I’ll have to fix some of the damage.

Toe Trouble

Everywhere you look, there is blatant disregard for safety on the roads. The stuff we see is unbelievable! Nobody rides with their helmets on. Some drive the opposite way on the freeway. People blatantly run red lights (making a left turn into oncoming traffic). Whole families including animals are packed into one motorbike. I’ve seen people texting while driving a motorbike one handed! These things happen everyday and it’s terrifying when you feel the brunt of what can go wrong as a result. We hear of tragedies on the road all the time. It’s a very real danger. In fact, Thailand is the world’s second most dangerous country for tourist-related road accidents after Honduras.

Chalk it up to a different-way of life, lack of regulation, lack of education, lack of enforcement, whatever. It’s just the way things are here. There are countless wonderful things about Thailand but unfortunately, riding a motorbike isn’t one of them. I hate to say it, but I don’t think this craziness on the roads will change anytime soon. There’s little chance of the locals changing their driving habits. People are so used to accidents & fatalities on the road that they assume it’s just the way life is. It’s commonplace to have someone you know die in a motorbike accident. Case in point:  a few weeks back, Jody was taking attendance during one of her classes. She called one girls name out multiple times to no response. One of the fellow students raised her hand and said “Teacha…she dead! Motorbike accident”. It was so nonchalant and not a big deal at all. In the States, it would be a HUGE deal.

As I sit here and mend my road rash (It’s healing quite quickly BTW), I can’t help but think what I could have done differently. There’s really nothing I could have done. That’s the scary thing. No matter how prepared you are, no matter how safe you drive, you are still prone to the same danger. From here on out, I will drive more cautiously and expect people to do the dumbest things on the road. Red lights don’t mean stop, people will drive the wrong way and drivers will merge into traffic without looking. I really hope that the young girl and little boy ended up OK. We realize we got very lucky and things could have been much worse. Not the best experience, yet a very Thai experience indeed.

Chiang Rai Is Home

Wow I can’t believe we’ve already been here for 2 months! Time is absolutely flying. Seeing as we’ve been here for a little while now, I think it’s about time to give a little insight into the city we call home. Slowly, we have adapted to life in Chiang Rai. We are very grateful to end up in such a unique city.

Main Street

First, a little about the interesting history of Chiang Rai. Inhabited since the 7th century, Chiang Rai wasn’t established until 1262 when King Mengrai founded it as the 1st capital of the great Lanna Kingdom. Mengrai further expanded, conquering neighboring cities and eventually moving his capital to Chiang Mai (about 3 hours Southwest) which remains the Northern Capital to this day. Chiang Rai was conquered by Burma subsequently and remained under Burmese rule for 200 years. It wasn’t until 1786 that Chiang Rai was proclaimed a Thai Territory and in 1910, under the Rule of King Rama IV that it was declared a Province. There is evidence of this city’s past everywhere from the Lanna style temples, to King Mengrai Monuments to the Burmese influence on everyday life.

Kok River at Sunset

Chiang Rai Province is the Northernmost in Thailand. You can fly here in 1 and ½ hours from Bangkok, or take a 10 hour bus ride (overnight is quite comfortable actually). The scenery is spectacular. Rolling green mountains surround us here although the city itself lies on a fairly flat plateau.  We can drive 5 minutes outside of town and be completely lost in lush, forested mountain terrain. There are waterfalls, hot springs and secluded temples scattered throughout the region. Chiang Rai is on the Mae Kok river which is a tributary of the mighty Mekong (worlds 12th longest river) that flows through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. A quieter neighbor to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai is one of the best spots to do trekking in Thailand. Most visitors stay for a few days and use the city as a base for exploring the neighboring mountains, jungles, hill tribes as well as Myanmar to the North and Laos to the East. Many people also come here to escape from the deafening heat of Southern Thailand. While I wouldn’t say it’s cold by any means (I am on a mission to wear sandals every single day this year!), it can get a bit chilly at night during the winter months.

Jody and I at a nearby Waterfall

The pace of life here is definitely slower and more relaxed. Nobody seems to be in a hurry and that’s taken a while to get used to coming from America. Most people here eat at least 6 times a day and their meals often consist of 2-3 hour family and friends affairs. (More on the food later) Thai’s have their priorities straight let me tell you! It’s inspiring sometimes to see the everyday value they place on interaction with loved ones and friends. There’s always time. They often say “Mai Pen Rai” (which means No Worries or Don’t Worry About it). I think this sums up the attitude well.

One of the most refreshing things I find about this city is that it hasn’t lost its small town charm. Around 200,000 people live here, so it’s by no means a small city. Yet, it has a small town feel to it. It’s stayed off the tourist radar for many years, the local people enjoying very leisurely development and mostly traditional, rural lifestyles. Until this day, entire clans live together in bamboo houses and each village has its own individual character. Not many people speak English in town and everybody is unbelievably nice and welcome. Little children often yell hello to us randomly on the street. Chiang Rai definitely has a charm to it that has gotten lost in many of Thailand’s cities such as Chiang Mai and Bangkok. That being said, the city is expanding rapidly and there are warning signs everywhere! A brand new western mall was constructed a few years back and there are buildings going up left and right. Trekking offices, brand new hotels and resorts, and restaurants/coffee houses are starting to cater more towards the tourist population. A highway is currently being built that will link the city directly to China (through Myanmar). This influx of influence and ease of transport will most definitely transform the town in the future.

Fresh veggies from the hilltribe vendors

I worry that 10 years from now, this small-town charm will be lost and there will be McDonald's and Starbucks littered throughout the ancient streets. In a way, it’s good that we get to experience life here before it becomes a modern metropolis. I wanted to absorb myself in traditional Thai culture and there isn’t any shortage of it here. We really enjoy exploring the old side-streets and posting up at noodle shacks for a quick snack. Or wandering the local daily market and buying fresh produce from the Akha hill tribe women who come down from their mountain villages to sell vegetables. There are night markets on Saturday and Sunday where tons of people come out to display their local crafts, food, dances, etc.

We love it here so far! Chiang Rai offers laid-back Northern Thai authenticity along with modern western comforts if we need them.  Come check it out for yourself and we'd be happy to show you how to live like a local!

Teaching: A Rollercoaster filled with 40 Thai Kids

As with any job, teaching has its ups and downs.  There are days that I feel almost drunk off the amazing interactions I have with my students.  I get a new surge of energy after a class goes really well, and I talk Scott's ear off about this funny thing a student did, or another student who did really well, or a lesson plan that the students really seemed to respond to.  However there are also days that don't go so well, and I experience the same intense emotions, but on the other side of the spectrum.  A class that misbehaves, seems uninterested or comes completely unprepared really gets to me, and I find that I have to remind myself to go into the next class with a renewed sense of energy so I don't foster the same lackluster attitude.
Luckily, most of the time I have great classes that participate, try hard, and love playing games.  Last week however, was not one of those weeks.  I had some great classes, but I find that they were completely overshadowed by 2 of my difficult classes.  (Difficult is putting it nicely.)  I came out of those classes so frustrated and upset and actually angry, that I asked for some advice from one of the senior Thai teachers in my department.  I felt, at the time, that I completely lost control of the class and looking back I realize that I kind of gave up toward the end.  I was dreading going back to that class today and having to introduce a new unit with new vocabulary and grammar structure, something that the students are definitely not interested in.  I got quite the surprise, though, this morning when my troublesome class from last week shuffled into my office after taking off their shoes outside the door, knelt neatly in 3 rows and said in unison:  "I'm sorry teacher."  They gave me a beautiful hand-folded flower wreath and a card.  I was so taken aback (I'm sure I turned bright red) but moreover I was really moved by their apology.  I learned later that the strictest Thai teacher in our department went into their class the next day and told them that if they misbehaved again she would be their teacher for the rest of the year.  I think that changed their minds :) 
More than just an apology, it reminded me that one bad class is not the end of the world, and that as hard as it may be, going into each class (and each day) with a fresh energetic perspective could be all that's needed to really turn things around.  I hope I can remember that as I continue teaching.

A Temple Surprise!!

This morning, Jody and I decided to head up to a nearby hilltop temple.  It's not one of the most popular wats in town - in fact, it took us a while just to look up the name online:  Wat Phrathat Doi Khao Quai.  We headed a few kilometers out of the city and passed by a lake with grazing water buffalo on our way up the hill.  Once we got there we started exploring the grounds.  Although it was a little hazy, we got great views of Chiang Rai and even spotted our apartment!  The Chedi, or pointy top of the Wat, was covered in colored glass which reflected beautifully in the sun.  We ventured into the temple and saw the usual sights - candles, gold Buddha figures and offering dishes - along with some interesting new ones:  cut tree branches with old beehives attached (no live bees), a mountain of multi-colored candle wax overflowing like lava and several monks working around the grounds. 

As we were about to leave, a man working in the temple started talking to us and invited us in again.  We chatted for a few minutes in broken English, and explained that Jody is a teacher at Damrong School.  He was really excited to hear that, and continued to tell us about his life.  Then he invited us to eat lunch with him in the temple!  Though we weren't planning on it, it isn't exactly something you turn down you know? We weren't sure exactly what he was trying to say at first, so we waited around for a couple minutes, and all of a sudden there was a huge spread of food in front of us.

Our Traditional Lunch!

He laid out a couple mats and we just sat there on the floor, conversed & ate for the next 30 minutes or so. During our meal, people came in to worship. We really felt so welcome the entire time. So much food for 3 people! I felt bad when we couldn't even make a dent in the meal. There were 7 or 8 different stews, noodle dishes, and stir-fries all over rice. Our favorite was this roasted squash dish. Some of the things didn't exactly suit our palate if you know what I mean. There was this fermented condiment that was raunchy but we did our best to be polite and try everything. For those that know me, I love to try all kinds of different foods and it was definitely eye-opening to see and eat what the Monks eat every day. The old man explained that he had been a monk for 36 years but we were never able to figure out why he wasn't anymore. When we were finished, the nicest women came to clear our dishes. We seriously only ate about 1/5th of the food. We felt bad that the women were cleaning up after us after not eating with us, but they insisted. The old man explained that his boss was sitting over on the other side of the room and he wanted us to meet him. I assume he was the most senior monk at the Wat because he definitely seemed to have some authority and respect.

Our Bracelets and Amulets. Good luck is on the way:)

We exchanged introductions and explained that we were from America. He seemed intrigued by California and through translation, I explained that I was born there. I thought we were just going to talk to him and then leave, but he decided to bless us! He gave us each amulets engraved with a black bear creature with 4 ears and 5 eyes and explained to us that this creature symbolizes good luck. Then, he wrapped white cloth bracelets around each of our wrists (making sure not to touch Jody as monks can't touch Women) and chanted. Such an elaborate prayer. He spoke so quickly as if he were almost mumbling and every few seconds, he would blow on the bracelet. After one final blow, the blessing was complete and all the temple staff bid us good luck. We were so grateful for the unexpected memorable experience and vowed to visit again soon.

We didn't feel right taking pictures during the blessing, but we did manage to snap one with the Monk right after it.

You don't have to go to the most well-known places to have such cool experiences. Sometimes, the off-the-beaten-track places prove to be the most memorable. We were lucky to both get to see and experience such an intimate part of Buddhist life.

Happy Birthday King Rama IX

Yesterday was King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 85th Birthday!  The King (more commonly known as King Rama IX as he is the 9th reigning king in the Rama dynasty) is actually really loved and respected by the Thai people.  Nearly every Thai house will have a picture of the King, and my school has many many images of the King scattered throughout the school.  He is revered by the Thai people, and is known for being very active with the people (more so in his younger years.)  He was very active in agricultural and land development, and was known to get out of the palace and visit the areas under development, conversing with the people and "working with his hands."  He is often portrayed with his binoculars or camera around his neck in the fields surveying the land. 

His birthday is a national holiday in Thailand, and also happens to be Father's Day.  Every day of the week has a designated color in Thailand, so the day of the week that you were born is very important.  The King was born on a Monday, so his color is yellow.  The whole town is decked out: shops are selling yellow clothing, yellow banners line the streets and every flower stand at the market has been selling yellow flowers.  Parades and ceremonies are held for His Royal Highness, often praying for his health and well being.

This Is The Day, This Is The Day of Our English Camp!

This past weekend Scott and I participated in Damrongratsongkroh School's English Camp.  What an exhausting but memorable weekend!   Each year my school has a 2 day English camp for a selected grade level and all students in that grade are invited to participate.  This year the camp happened to be held for Mathayom 2, which is the level I teach, so it was pretty special to get to spend 2 days with kids that are enthusiastic about learning English.  The 2-day long camp was held at a "resort" just outside of town, and a total of 120 students participated.  Scott was invited to join as a Facilitator, along with several other teachers from my program that are teaching in nearby cities.  There was a teacher from Ghana, and several from the Philippines, along with the Americans and an English guy that works at my school.  Too bad Scott got food poisoning Friday night, got no sleep and was up bright and early to entertain kids all weekend.  He was such a trooper!  It was a weekend full of corny camp songs, games and skits performed by non-native speakers in an attempt to create a comfortable environment in which students can work to improve their fluency. 

The Facilitators enjoying an adult beverage after the campers went to bed.  The man in the orange in the middle is my boss, the Head of the English Department.

It started bright and early at 7:00 am when all the teachers and students met at the school to check in, and then headed 20 minutes out of town to the site. 
Upon arrival we jumped right into English fun.  There was no shortage of sugary snacks all weekend, and we were greeted with doughnuts and strawberry flavored milk upon arrival.  The opening ceremony included camp songs that will be stuck in my head for the next several weeks, and introduction to all the Facilitators.  All of the students know me, so they recognized me when I was introduced.  But when Scott got up to introduce himself the entire hall, mostly the girls, erupted in "oooohh!" and "awwww!"  We were each assigned a group to supervise during the camp, and we got right underway making group names, group cheers and group flags.

Mathayom 2 students at the opening ceremony.

Not that I have favorite students, but some of my favorite students were in my group, so we had a lot of fun.  The theme of the camp was "Intensifying English Learning Towards the ASEAN Community."  Personally I think that's quite a mouthful for 8th grade non-English speakers, but they definitely understand ASEAN and the importance English has in Thailand's future.  Each group was assigned a country in the ASEAN community, and had to come up with a name, cheer and flag based on that country.  Scott's team was the Malaysian Bumble Bees and my team was Cambodia: The Best of ASEAN. 

Part of my team brainstorming cheer and flag ideas.

Saturday consisted of songs and games led by the Thai teachers, and stations with listening, speaking, and vocabulary activities led by the foreign teachers.  Each group of 12 students rotated to a different station and got to do each activity once on either Saturday or Sunday.  Scott did a great vocabulary activity introducing different animals and played a highly competitive matching game that the students really enjoyed.  I used one of the vocabulary words later in the day when I asked one of the students about a rhinoceros.  I put my finger on my forehead and pretended to headbutt her and she said, "Ooh!  Teacher Scott!"  She had remembered learning that animal at his station.  The students seemed to really respond to him as a teacher, which was great, but it may have just volunteered him to participate at all the upcoming English camps!
My station involved bargaining with fake money, which proved to be very entertaining.  Some of the most timid, soft-spoken kids came out of their shells and bargained harder than the market women in South America!  Those kids will do well later in life for sure!

Students learning to haggle.

We had breaks for lunch and a snack in the afternoon, but other than that, we were working the entire day.  It was really exhausting being outside, constantly thinking of new games when we had extra time, and always putting on an excited face.  By the time dinner was done, all the Facilitators were ready for bed, but the evening proved to be one of the most entertaining parts of the camp, when students performed the skits they (or mostly the Facilitators) had written earlier that afternoon.  Scott's group performed a game show skit called "What Animal Is It?" largely based on his activity that afternoon.  Two teams competed in a 20 questions style game and had to guess the other team's animal after getting clues and asking questions.

The skits went by pretty slowly.  Students got embarrassed speaking in front of their classmates and started giggling, which got the rest of the room giggling, so you can imagine a 4 minute skit dragged on for quite a bit longer, but it was really fun to see what the students came up with.  Their levels of speaking vary greatly, but it was fun to see students that don't participate much in class getting up in front of their peers.

My group came up with the skit idea on their own, and I had never heard the fairy tale so I just went with it and let them do their thing.  They wrote out the dialogue in Thai and translated most all of it themselves, only asking me a few technical questions along the way.  Granted the dialogue consisted of really simple sentences, I was really proud of their efforts.  They performed really well, and the whole crowd went crazy when the boy playing the prince got down on his knee to ask his princess to marry him.  They had practiced before, but when they actually performed it he said, "My Princess, I love you."  which caught the princess by surprise, making her blush uncontrollably and got the whole room hooting and hollering.  This is 8th grade, so you can imagine.  Anyway, my team ended up winning the skit competition, so they were all very excited, and got super hyped up on the sugary prize that they won.

Part of my group after winning the skit competition.

Other groups performed English songs, including one rendition of Bruno Mars and another rap in English.  By the time Lights Out came around at 11:00pm, the students and teachers were all exhausted.  6:30 am breakfast came really early the next morning...
Sunday included the second set of stations and closing ceremonies.  We were asked to name a Best Camper award, which was really hard for everyone.  There were obviously some members of the team that were stronger English speakers than others, and some students participated more than others, but even so, I really didn't like the term "Best Camper."  Scott and I both felt that there were several really strong people in our groups that contributed in different ways:  some participated a lot in the group stations, others really contributed to writing the skits and team cheers, but others who weren't as strong were just really enthusiastic.  How do you choose?  We ended up choosing one and asking them to share with their team as everyone participated to the teams' successes.  The Vice Director of our school gave the closing ceremony speech, and it was actually one of the best speeches I've heard.  She delivered it in English, although the other teachers liked it so much that they translated it to Thai to post on our school's website.  Hopefully it will inspire other students to work on their English and come to the camps we put on in the future.  The students left happy, and all in all had a great time at the camp.  It definitely gave them an opportunity to speak English in a much more relaxed atmosphere without worrying about being docked points for making a mistake like in the classroom.  It was also really exciting for them to meet so many new teachers from different parts of the world.  The students really enjoyed meeting Teacher Scott and having him at the camp, and he really enjoyed meeting them as well.  I talk about them all the time, so it was really nice for him to not only meet them but to also participate in teaching them.  It was also nice for him to get a taste of what I go through everyday, and experience how exciting it is to see a class go really well and the buzz you get after really connecting with your students. We will both need a break before the next camp, but it was a really fun weekend and I really enjoyed getting to know my students more.  Below are a few more pictures from the camp:

Scott awarding his Best Camper award to Fon.

My group performing their team song to the tune of "I Love You Baby" (totally their idea.)

 Scott and I receiving our camp certificates from the Vice Director.