I'm Nearing the End....

I've finally reached that point where I had to start saying goodbye. And let me tell you, it's breaking my heart. I know I've only been here a month, but the love and support everyone's shown me has been incredible. Today was my last class with my Level 1 students. I might've taught them the English language, but they taught me a whole new culture and way of living. They taught me everything from how to get around Bangkok by myself to where I can eat near where I live. So without them I'd be both lost and hungry.

Truely though, they are some of the nicest people I've met. It's so hard to leave them. Mamay is going to come see me off at the airport when I leave, and all the others are already asking when I will be returning. Oh, and they also asked if I had Skype, because they want to see live snow. I told them I'd do one better, that I'll Skype them from my iPhone and hold it when I go sledding so they can vicariously see what all the fuss is about. I honestly can't wait to show them snow.

Class photo!

Oh, and they even got me thank you gifts for teaching them! (As my Pre-1 students phrased it, "for sharing your knowledge".) The four girls who are friends together at KMIT got me a handmade bag. They want me to wear it around in the US and show them pictures. I can't wait! And one of the boys gave me a little handmade doll keychain. Oh, and funny story, Thai's don't hug. They have a very specific cultural stigma of personal space. They just don't do it. But all of the girls hugged me before they left today! I felt very honored. The guys just shuffled out after asking if I would tell them when I was coming back so they can take another class with me. I'd call that a success.

The keychain Kim gave me. 

I adore this purse. It's even cuter on the inside!

(A gift from May, Mint, Nes, and Chompu.)

A Lesson in Thai Cooking

One of the things I wanted to do while I was in Thailand was learn how to cook Thai food. Well Thai cooking classes are crazy expensive due to the whole take-advantage-of-the-foreigner philosophy. I mentioned this plight to my students and they enthusiastically responded with the desire to teach me themselves. So today, five hours before their English class, they showed up psyched and hungry. We attacked the kitchen with fervor as they demonstrated how to make tom yum kung and kowpat (fried rice), while other students prepared kaijiao (Thai omlette) and some noodle dish. Then, we feasted.

From the left: my student's Por, Chompu, and Mamay in the kitchen. 

May and Chompu

An interesting fact I learned was that citrus cuts the spiciness from food. I, against my students' suggestions, decided to try and eat one of the Thai peppers on its own. I regretted it rather quickly. However, one of the student's came to the rescue as she told me to take one of the slices of the lime we had been cutting. It really did cut the burn almost immediately. So now you know.

All of us in the kitchen. 

Chompu applauding me as I do the very hard job of transfering rice into the pan. 

Making fried rice. The tom yum kung is on the left. 

Chompu making the servings look all professional. 

Fried rice and the noodles. 

All of us right before enjoying our meal.

One of my best meals in Thailand. And the fact that we made it ourselves was all the better. Aroy!

Welcome to Class

Curious how a typical English class goes with me as the teacher? Time to find out!

4:30 – Class starts in 15 minutes so I wander into the classroom to turn on the A/C, lights, and drop off my materials. Often I then scurry off to fit in one more snack before class because I’ll be teaching until 9:00PM.

My classroom, pre-students.

4:45 – I usually have 3 or so of my 10 students. Still, I get the process going. Take attendance, check homework, etc.

4:50 – Students have arrived. I get pleasantly flustered as they wai me apologetically. Class continues, often with me teasing them for being late.

4:45 – 5:30 – “Sentences” – Every night 10 new words are assigned from the list of most commonly used English words which was compiled by Dr. Edward W. Dolch (I don’t really know what that means, it’s just what the course material says). A typical day includes a word list like, “who, what, where, good, well, better, best, drink, eat, ate”. During this portion we go around and students read all their sentences. It’s my job to correct grammar and pronunciation. Some days it’s fun and easy, other days are excruciating. Still, it’s the portion of the class I get to be the most creative so I really enjoy it. And if I don’t get my students laughing during some portion of this section there’s something wrong. I want to pump up their enjoyment of the language during this section as much as possible.

5:30 – 5:55/6:00 – “Sound of the Day” – During this portion I give a 20 question quiz on the previous day’s “sound” and then move on to the new list. Today’s lesson was Z or S. So I gave a word list including words like “zero, zinc, zoo, zipcode” etc and they have to learn to pronounce these correctly as well as learn to differentiate from their S counterparts such as “sink” and “sue” for “zinc” and “zoo”. We get to make funny sounds and they just repeat after me a lot. At first this section was tedious, but I actually enjoy it now since I can tell a HUGE improvement since the beginning of the session only 9 classes ago.

6:00 – 6:45 – “Bookwork” – Here’s where they finally open the course materials. In every session after Pre-1 they cover 4 chapters. In my Level 1 class they are expected to complete chapters 1-4. Each chapter has 20 sections including things like pronunciation, reading, questions, grammar, games, and essays.

Some of my students working on bookwork.

I used to be worried about filling up a full two hour class, but time actually flies by. I adore my students. They’ve already much better than when we started. By no means are they fluent, but we’ve come to understand each other and know how to circumnavigate each other's language barriers. Besides, they’re great at teaching me (and mocking my) Thai. Besides, now that I’ve provided them with the space to come out of their culturally-shy shell, they do. And it’s entertaining (and educational) for all involved.