Bubbles

I have been volunteering on Saturdays at a Refugee Center in Bangkok.  The Center provides training and classes, financial aide, and medical services for refugees.  

The Saturday program includes Adult English classes, and organized games or activities for the kids.  Sometimes its the only time the kids are allowed to go outside of their homes, as their families are illegally in the country and must hide to avoid the authorities.

This Saturday was Water Day for the kids.  First, we gave the kids a bucket of soapy water for bubbles and some bubble wands.  You would have thought it was raining candy.  Four cement walls, nothing but cement, a bucket of soapy water, and some bubble wands made from paper clips.  Those kids were so excited about the bubbles.  About forty kids ranging in ages from about two to thirteen were running around shrieking with joy, blowing and popping bubbles.  I'll never forget their smiles and laughter.  It was a beautiful sight.

Kanchanaburi

This weekend we were invited to go to the Principal's estate in Kanchanaburi.  It was a school trip, so we were all a bit skeptical about going.  

Usually, the school drives us around in big vans, but when we departed for the trip we were instructed to board a really cushy tour bus.  The drivers loaded our bags into the van and we didn't have to carry a single thing for the rest of the trip.  Spoiled!  

We arrived at the estate, and discovered that yes, estate is an appropriate word. The extensive grounds were lush with tropical greenery, fruit trees, and exquisite orchids.  

Part of the house we stayed in

The traditional Thai house that the boys stayed in.

Part of the grounds

The View from the Yard

We were served a scrumptious traditional Thai meal sitting under the stars.

The next day we embarked for Erawan National Park where we visited the waterfall again and I was brave enough to try the rock slide!  It was so fun!

Then we rode elephants.  The "Elephant Farm" we visited seemed to treat the animals well at first.  The area was tropical and the elephants roamed free amongst the trees, no chains.  Then after the rides, we watched a man force a baby elephant to perform tricks by stabbing it with a pin.  That was when I noticed the big hooks that the mahouts carried, hidden in their folds of clothing.  It was really upsetting, quite the tourist trap.  One elephant had a big hole in its ear, no doubt from one of the hooks.  The elephants were so sweet, they had beautiful big brown eyes.  Asian elephants are very docile and easily trained.  It was so sad to see them being mistreated, and I felt really really bad that I was contributing to this abuse.  I definitely will not be participating in any other activities involving animals.  We also saw a baby tiger and a baby lion, chained to a table with heavy links.  the chains could not have been more than a foot long.  People were paying 100 baht to take pictures with them.  Ugh.  HORRIBLE.

We rode this cool old train down the "death rail" that POWs built during WWII.  If you have seen the movie "The Bridge Over the River Kwai", its about this railway.  We also saw the actual bridge, well actually a remake because they blew up the real bridge for the movie.

On Sunday we went to a private island on a boat and were served lunch on a raft floating down the River Kwai.  Quite an experience!  Wonderful weekend!

Shhhhh

The english word quiet, a useful word for teachers, cannot be used in Thai classrooms because it sounds very much like the Thai word for cow.  For some reason the students find this hilarious and if you say "quiet please" you just cause an eruption of laughter and this has no effect whatsoever on the volume of said students.

A few weeks ago, some saintly Thai teacher let us in on a secret, the Thai word for "no talking", which sounds something like, "nee-EB".  One utterance of this word and the class quiets down a little, while several of the students correct my pronunciation, or just outright make fun of it.  

Today, I watched as my Thai co-teacher stood in exasperation while the students screamed, stood on furniture, hit each other, and threw things.  I picked up the microphone and said, in my very best Thai accent, "nee-EB!"  

Silence.

And then, the students broke out into applause, cheering and clapping.  I finally said it right.

:)

Dancing Machine

A couple of weeks ago I was sitting in the back of one of the Prathom 5 classrooms while a Thai teacher was teaching class.  About halfway through the class, a student got up, walked deliberately to the front of the room, and started dancing.  I'm not sure what to call the type of dancing, there were definitely some Michael Jackson moves thrown in(all the kids here moonwalk).  

The teacher decided to ignore the dancing, which spurred the boy on.  He danced more wildly by the second, arms waving and feet shuffling.  The rest of the class(and I must admit myself) were thoroughly amused.  The teacher didn't seem to want to back down, so this continued, and I am NOT exaggerating, for about twenty five more minutes, until the end of class.

Just another day as a teacher in Thailand.

Now I call the student Michael Jackson, which always elicits big smiles.