Beauty?

Yesterday in class, we were reviewing comparative adjectives and my Thai counterpart used one of the students as an example.

"Kawnpawn is the fattest student in the class".  

This was met with smiles and giggles by the students.  Kawnpawn is a big boy.  

Often, the Thai teachers make comments about students like this, also saying things like, "oh, this is the stupid group, and thats the smart group," in front of the students.  The terms fat, lazy, and stupid are thrown around quite freely and nobody seems to mind.  It is just culturally accepted, and even those being described don't seem to care.

I thought about it and decided that if I said the same thing in an American classroom, I would probably get fired, if not severely reprimanded.  

Many questions come to mind.  Are the words lacking negative connotations here?  Are people just less sensitive about them?  Does Thailand have the same body image issues that we do in the US?  Does it affect Thai students' performance to be labeled as stupid or lazy?  

I do know that one of my American teacher friends has been told repeatedly by the Thai teachers and students that she would be prettier if she wasn't so fat,  so there must be some aspect of beauty being equated with thinness.  

If I look to the media to give me an understanding of the Thai idea of beauty, I notice three prevalent themes, light colored round eyes, pale skin, and of course, thin.  Almost all of the people in movies, television, commercials, and ads have these things in common. You can't walk five feet without seeing an add for whitening lotion.  In fact, its difficult to find lotion that isn't whitening.  Diet products are also very popular, and color contacts.  Bangkok is media crazy, there are giant billboards and televisions everywhere, and I mean everywhere.  Advertising is a big deal here, and its all broadcasting the same aesthetic stipulations.

Which brings me back to the beginning.  If the media bombards the public with this very specific image of beauty, why then, is it so acceptable to publicly label people as not fitting this image?  Are we just overly sensitive in the US?  Why not call an apple an apple?  An apple wouldn't be offended if you called it an apple right?  Even if society says its cooler to be an orange.  

I'll have to ask some of my Thai friends about this and see what they have to say.

Hallelujah!

So I joined this big choir called the Bangkok Combined Choir.  

Most of the members are Thai but some are Farangs.  

We are going to perform The Messiah in December.  

I'm just happy to be singing anything!  

The director speaks perfect English, so I understand what's going on.  

That was a nice suprise, I have grown so accustomed to being in a constant state of confusion. 

Teaching rots your brain.

Yesterday, after running around frantically trying to prepare materials for class, I rushed up to the door to my office, stopping to set all of my stuff down so that I could search through my purse and find the key.

I couldn't find it, and panicked when I realized I had left it in the office.

I tried the knob and sighed with relief when it turned.

Then, I realized, I don't have a key to the office.  There is no key to the office.  They don't ever lock the office.  

I am officially losing my mind.

Ice cream sandwich?

Thailand has managed to retain its unique cultural flare despite outside influences.  Even when a non-Thai element is embraced by the Thais, they make it their own.

Example:  You can walk down any street and find a vendor selling "ice-cream sandwiches".  

But probably not in the way that you are thinking.  

From Italy, we have ice cream, from Portugal, we have sweet bread.  

The obvious combination: ice cream sandwich!

Mmmmmmm!

The Land of Smiles

The other day, we were picked up in a tuk-tuk by a driver who was wearing a shirt that said, in large print, "f*#! you Round-Eye!  (his shirt was uncensored)

Nice.

Young love

In P5, we're learning about comparative and superlative adjectives.  I decided to have them write a sentence and draw a picture, then read their sentence to the class.  

Most students wrote things like, "Bam is taller than Om," or, "This car is faster than that car."

Then, there was Gam.

Gam is a nice kid.  He's very quiet in class, so I figured he was shy.

My tutoree, Na, recently informed me that Gam is in love with Noon, one of the smartest girls in the class.

When everyone was finished drawing, I went around the room and had the kids read their sentences.

Everyone sitting around Gam seemed really excited about his sentence.  He stood up, took a breath, and read, "Noon is the most beautiful girl in the world."

The classroom erupted into cheers as Noon held her paper over her face.

Gam just grinned from ear to ear.

Smooth.

English Camp...out

In May, when we started work, we were informed that we would be responsible for planning "English Camp", which is a day of activities meant to inspire the P5 students to become more English Proficient.

I can safely say that we were all horrified and disgusted at the prospect of planning and implementing such an event.  

The plot thickened when we discovered that we were also expected to include all 120 students in a two-hour long talent show, and that we would also be performing a little number to welcome the students in the morning.

True to the Thai way, we were given virtually no explicit instructions on how to perform this daring feat.  The planning process included several utterly befuddling meetings with the Thai teachers.  

Finally, we came up with a  firm idea of what we would do and how we would get there.  

In the months leading up to English Camp, we brought procrastination to a whole new level.   

We lacked inspiration.

Almost daily,  Simone would look up from her work and say, "you guys, have I mentioned that I hate English Camp?"

But we trudged on, pulled it together, and somehow arrived on Saturday morning, fully prepared to face disaster.

We had decided on performing a rap for our introduction.  I use the term "we" loosely, as I was talking on the phone when this decision was made, and my objections were not taken into consideration.

The rap went surprisingly well, I'll bet you didn't know that I can flow.

Our theme was "An American Campout", and the six stations we set up were all pretty damn awesome.  My station was a campfire singalong, complete with a very lifelike faux campfire constructed by yours truly.  

The other stations: Making Dirt n' worms(the snack), Scavenger Hunt, First Aide, Tent Building, and Fishing.  

A "sidenote" about Dirt n' Worms:  Jello Instant pudding is not sold in Thailand.  So Lauren, with some help from us, had to make 120 servings of chocolate pudding from scratch, in tropical heat.  It was hard work, but it was DELICIOUS.

I spent the day doing what I do best, singing and acting the fool.  The kids' favorite song ended up being Tooty Ta, which, if you are not familiar, is a delightfully entertaining number.  Remind me to teach you.

The morning passed without any major glitches.  I even had fun.   

But, our biggest challenge was yet to come.  Giving all 120 kids speaking parts in the performance had proven to be a logistical nightmare.  We were terrified that the afternoon would be catastrophic.

 We planned to have groups of ten kids perform alternating skits and songs.  The three winning groups would compete in "Camping Jeopardy".  

Here is how I imagined "Camping Jeopardy" would play out:

"Name two parts of a fish"

silence

"How about one part of a fish?"

silence

"How about just say, fish?"

silence

Luckily, I was wrong.  The kids did a great job with the skits and songs, and they were able to answer most of the questions correctly.  

Sunday was spent recuperating.  I woke up sore, its amazing what wildly jumping about singing "The Banana Chant" all day long will do to your body.

All day today at school, students came up to me, commenting on how much fun they had at English Camp and singing different songs I had taught them.  

One student said, "Teecha, I want English camp to be every week!"

I am sure that all of the color drained out of my face.