Sah wat dee kahp,
That's Thai for hello, and is almost the extent of my knowledge of this language. I hope all is well in Montreal, and the (potentially) many other parts of the world in which my readers are currently inhabitating.
Last Saturday night was what has become the weekly inter-school football match, which saw BHSOH (my school) get trounced 6-1.
On Sunday, I decided to take an impulsive day-trip to Sukhothai, which was supposed to be decently nice. Despite the moderate hastle in getting there (almost everything in Thailand is a hastle), and the fact that I actually spent less time there than I did travelling, I actually enjoyed it quite a lot. For those of you who don't know (which is probably all of you), Sukhothai is an ancient (13th-14th century) capital of northern thailand, and is packed with gorgeous ruins of Budhist temples. I'm normally not a huge temple fanatic, but I heard it was supposed to be decent, and I kinda wanted to get out of Mae Sot for a day, if nothing else, just to remedy the boredom. I actually really liked it because the area was really well-maintained and quite nice. It was touristy-enough to make it interesting (and worth going out of my way to see), but not quite over-run like Chiang Mai. Although I managed to get on a sorngthaew (pickup-truck taxi) which a whole host of attractive French girls.... but that's not wholly relevant to anything.
Astrid was due to leave this week, so on Monday they had a nice good-bye ceremony for her. Tuesday was her last day, and by Tuesday afternoon, she was gone. Karl also seems to have disappeared into thin air.... I haven't seen him since Astrid left. Also, out of nowhere, just during the time since my last entry, a pair of Australian volunteer teachers came and left. At the very least, they provided me with dinner company for a few days.
With Astrid gone, and Karl MIA, I have assumed the responsibility of the French teacher. The smartest kids learn French in an optional after-school class everyday. Although I do know quite a bit of French, I hardly feel qualified to teach the language... and I know I make grammatical mistakes all the time. But then again, most of the mistakes I make are minor, and I know they are probably never going to use the French that they learn. Besides, I don't feel any less qualified at teaching French than Astrid was at teaching English. One thing I try to do differently than them is to go directly between Burmese and French as much as possible (as opposed to between English and French), and they actually tend to learn words quite quickly. I actually kinda enjoy teaching French, as it is really low-key, I don't really have any expectations, and only the most motivated (and brightest) students come.
My other classes are going just fine..... grade 9, as usual, never ceases to impress me. I did a dictation on Thursday, and I told the class that I would be thrilled if we improved upon last week, where 7/13 people got 50% of the words..... and this week a full 10 people managed to pull it off, including 4 of which who got 65%, and one girl, May Dar of course, who got almost every word!! And the weekly essays, in which I asked them to write about their future lover (despite Thini's insistence, I was off-limits) were also quite good. Of course, before all of you say how wonderful of a teacher I must be, I feel as though I haven't paid enough attention to speaking. Sure, I have them read their essays out loud on a weekly basis.... but in terms of actually conversation/discussion, I haven't done so well. Besides the classic "what did/will you do this weekend?", I've been at odds for good conversation topics.... and my attempts to get them to talk freely about newspaper pictures hasn't really worked so well- as they would prefer to write it out and then read what they wrote- which isn't necessarily bad. Logisically speaking, practicing speaking is definitely the hardest part. Some of them don't speak very loudly at all, and it is impossible to hear them (combined with the fact that their pronunciation is often so bad, I cant understand them).... and we are surrounded by loud classes on either side.... and the noise makes it really difficult to hear even normal voice levels.
Grade 5+6, however, continues to frustrate me..... sure, a good chunk of the kids totally get pretty much everything I throw at them, but then an equal number just don't get anything at all.... and I really don't know what to do. I hate writing Fs on tests. I try doing a lot of board excersises, and making sure the "slower" students get a chance, but either they refuse to go up and try (note: loss of face), or they do go up, and get it so horribly wrong. Understandably, some of the material is rather difficult.... try explaining conjugation rules for simple past tense (speak = spoke; go = went; come = came; etc).... yet some of it is quite easy, such as making questions in the past tests (just add the word "did" and put the verb in the present).... yet, some of them just don't get it. Alas, I'm at odds to figure out how to get them to understand it.... and I absolutely can't stand writing Fs on test papers. Grades 3 + 4 aren't a whole lot better either.... although grade 4 is miles ahead of grade 3. I keep things quite simple.... teaching them a set of related vocabulary words (for instance... body parts), and a few relevant verbs (eg., My ... hurts), and I try to get them to recognise patterns... and for the most part, they don't. I don't want to say they're stupid, but they don't seem to learn quickly at all.
There's another thing that has started to bug me..... mostly because of the colour of my skin (and also perhaps because of a 20 000B donation I made on behalf of the BSC), people tend to think I'm a walking ATM, especially my friend Min Saw Thway (mae soe tway). I have no problem buying him lunch everyday, since they don't feed him at school and Stefan (or, as he says, S-Tefan), always used to buy him lunch. And I have no problem buying him beer, because I enjoy the company.... even cigarettes are so cheap that I'm okay buying them for him. But then Karl gave him an MP3 player, which he proceeded to break, and now MST (Min Saw Tway) wants me to buy him another one..... I relented into giving him my crappy FM radio (not my short wave) that I bought at the border for 100B). Then, he wanted me to buy him football shoes. I felt really bad because his old shoes broke, and he wouldnt be able to play if he didnt have any. I found a pair for 260 B, which is roughly 8 USD, so I decided to get them for him. I'm fully aware of the fact that he has absolutely no money, and compared to him, I do have money.... but I also have bills up the wazoo, and debts, and all those other horrible things. Also, if I buy too many things for him, then i have to buy stuff for everyone.... which will surely deplete my bank account.
I've also realised I've become quite cheap here. Part of it is due to the fact that I do have bills waiting for me in Canada, and Im not receiving any income this summer. But I've also adapted to see things in relative terms. For instance, in Canada, I wouldnt bat an eye at spending 10$ for a pair of football shoes, but here, that just seems too expensive. And I have yet to spend more than 3$ US on a meal, incluidng during my time with Jon, and even that seems to be quite expensive (as does 2$ ). I wonder how I'm going to feel back in Canada, when the cheapest grub is low quality Eaton Centre fried rice for 6$. Then again.... I really do miss cooking, and I look forward to cooking when I get back to Canada.
I suppose this shall suffice for another weekly entry. I have yet to share some exciting news with you all: it seems that my older brother Matt (whom some of you have met) and his wife Monica are going to be in Thailand quite soon! Two weeks from yesterday (3 August), I'm due to meet them in Chiang Mai for a long weekend. I'm quite looking forward to that (for obvious reasons).
I will try to have pictures from Sukhothai up within the next 3 weeks. Cheers, and blessings.
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