Reflections on Teaching

March 13, 2011

Well, I’m officially on vacation for about the next 2 months! Simply fantastic.  It was a long 5 months or so, but it was for the most part a great time and good learning and teaching experience.  I’m sure by the time school starts up again I’ll be eager to get back in the swing of things.  For now though, I’m happy to be on a break!

My last week of school was quite busy for it being the last week.  Other teachers in my program only had to report to school, sign their names, and sit around for a few hours and then they left.  I had a good amount of work to finish for the MEP- Mini English Program at my school, so that kept us busy.  We- me and the three other new foreign teachers- had to create an exam for Mattayom 1 and 4 students who wish to take part in the MEP program.  The MEP program is a more intensive English program- not only in conversation or grammar, but also content subjects.  Those who are a part of the MEP program are held to a higher standard and are expected to perform well in their regular Thai subjects, science and math classes taught in Thai, and biology, chemistry, physics, math, conversation and grammar classes taught in English.  It can be quite a tough program.  After we finalized this test and wrapped up a few loose ends for the MEP program, we were free to leave.  I was ecstatic.  I really enjoyed my work experience, and like I said, I’ll be eager to return after so much time off, but for now I was very happy to get a rest.

So I think at this point, I can share some general reflections on the past 5 ½ months living in Rayong and teaching English at a Thai School.  It has been such a rollercoaster to say the least.  The beginning was exciting and new, and then routines started to set in which was a blessing and a curse.  Then towards the end of the term I was able to look forward to the holiday and being planning my adventures.  With the routine came stability and comfort, but also homesickness and some anxiety.  My joy and happiness ebbed and flowed in the middle and sometimes I found it hard to find the motivation to enjoy my work.  Luckily, I’m not a quitter so that was good motivation.  To be honest, some days I counted the hours until lunch, then counted the hours until 4 o’clock, then counted the days until the weekend when I could go off exploring.  Not because I didn't enjoy my work- but because I felt a little anxious to get out and see something different and meet new people.  Being the only farang made me feel lonely sometimes.  Then some days I had so much fun with my students that I didn’t really want to go back to the office to sit and grade papers or create a test.  Those days flew by and were wonderful.  I’d be lying if I said my only motivation was that I’m not a quitter so I have to continue- truly my motivation was the students.  Being with them- even on rough days, was fun.  Actually, some of the tough days are the most memorable, because as soon as I flipped that switch in my head to think positive and laugh about this stressful teaching moment, everything was fine.  No use getting upset about the fact that it might be pouring rain so hard, so hard that the building is being pelted and thunder is crashing so no one can hear me even with a microphone, let alone the person sitting next to them -and the windows don’t close…in those times I just had to smile. 

Thai schools are run much differently than American schools of course and administrators and teachers have different goals or ideas for how schools are run here.  Of course, the students and their success is always at the heart of the matter, that goal is just reached in different ways.  Here it feels sometimes those ways are a bit circuitous, but I wouldn’t want to say anything else that might sound offensive.  So I’ll stop right there.  The point here is that, no matter our cultural backgrounds, its no use to superimpose these values onto another culture.  It won’t help you feel better or adjust any quicker.  It’s best just to accept that the ways of another culture are much different especially in a work environment, and different does not mean bad.  Only different.  Once I learned to understand and appreciate these differences a little more, I felt more at ease and didn’t worry so much about the work.  I started out feeling anxious that I wasn’t accomplishing everything, or teaching everything correctly to my students, but once I realized that not only is this an anxiety of young teachers worldwide, it is certainly understood that in Thailand this isn’t always the goal.  The goal is for the students to learn something new, practice their English, for you to enjoy the students, and for the students to enjoy their teacher.  It’s really quite simple…

I don’t want to go on much longer on this subject; I feel it could get a bit tiresome.  But I do want to express the idea that working here is quite enjoyable and interesting.  I felt like everyday brought on something new and exciting, whether it was a change in schedule, tremendous rain that got the students in a tizzy, news of a day off from classes the following week, or an upcoming evaluation (there were I think 5 or so school or particular program evaluations during the term).  The tough days weren’t necessarily tough because of tough students- sometimes this was the case, but tough days were also tough because of outside forces.  Sometimes I felt more isolated or homesick than usual, or maybe I was just plain tired.  Good days were good because of my students- they always made me smile even when they were naughty or goofing around in class, but also because most of the time I was able to turn around the down times into opportunities to practice Thai, or interact with locals, or just enjoy the fact that I’m here in Thailand and that this is a very unique and valuable experience.  I also learned to appreciate the time I had to myself for reflection and meditation.  I am now much more at ease with just being by myself.  I think that at all in all, these are very good things- the ups and the downs.

The past few weeks

 February 18-20

The weekend after the tournament I had a three day weekend for a Buddhist holiday- Makha Bucha Day. Makha Bucha- or Maghapuja as it's sometimes spelled- day is one of the six major Buddhist holidays.  This day commemorates the gathering of over 1,00 monks after Siddhartha Gautama attained Enlightenment.  These monks met without any planning and is therefore considered a miracle.  They wished to visit their teacher after they heard the news of his Enlightenment.  There are two other 'Bucha' or 'puja' days: Visakha Bucha Day May 17^th  (this year), and Asarnha Bucha day July 15^th (this year) which begins the Buddhist Lent. The Buddhist Lent period ends October 12^th. These are actually lunar holidays- they are fixed within the Thai lunar calendar and so will fall on different days every year.


Visakha Bucha/Visakhapuja day celebrates the Buddha's birth, Enlightenment and passing, and Asarnha Bucha/Asalhapuja day celebrates the Buddha's first teaching after Enlightenment.   These are very important Buddhist holidays and the temples are very busy with people coming to give offerings and honor the Buddha at their local temples.

I've done a little research on the subject to understand more fully the Buddhist traditions, and I think this site is pretty good.  I'll definitely be researching more, so I'll post more links as I find them.


http://www.thaiwaysmagazine.com/thai_article/2303_buddhist_days/buddhist_days.html


Also, after reading Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, I see that much of the story line follows these holidays.  It's a great book, and one that should be read more than once. 


Sadly I didn't participate in any of the celebrations for this holiday at my local temple, or at least see it in action.  I plan to get more involved for the next to Bucha/puja celebrations because I live very close to the temple in my area (my school is named after it- Watpapradoo, meaning generally, 'school of the temple') and I'm sure they will celebrate in high style.

I went to the nearby island of Koh Samet with some girl friends and we had a ball. Some of the girls I knew already because we met at our seminar in Bangkok for teaching- they also work with AYC. They brought along some friends they’d made from living in Bangkok so it was another weekend filled with meeting and befriending new people. We crammed a bunch of girls in one guesthouse room, and wow- I had not had that much concentrated girl time in a very long time. Lots of laughter and memorable moments all weekend long. The weather was great, and the island was very busy. There was a concert festival- Thai pop concert entitled “Cool Tea Samet in Love #2”. So there were lots of hip young kids running around the island. There was also a wedding on the beach, which was lovely.

February 22

Tuesday was my birthday and it was a nice day at school. Nothing really extraordinary happened, but getting good luck wishes and happy birthday wishes from students and teachers was really nice. Some of my naughty boys (but I love them dearly) in my M1/2 class sang happy birthday to me and that was really precious. I guess it was just special in the fact that I was in Thailand for my birthday. In the evening I went out for pizza with the other foreign teachers. I got a package the day before from my mom which was sweet- clothes, some gifts (books of course) peanut butter, and candy! Mom you’re the best.



I love skittles so much.  Thanks mom!



Birthday dinner with teacher friends- L to R- Wat Chai, Teresa, Tang, Gel, Huang, Mateo, Nonoy

Gals.

February 26

Last weekend I attended an educational seminar in Pattaya, just an hour or so down the road. The seminar was at a nice hotel and it was an all day affair. The morning portion was a workshop given by and an Englishman about how to reach Thai students through the materials we use as teachers. He demonstrated some different teaching techniques like making webs, using pictures to learn new vocabulary, and using good videos in the classroom. It was a very well run workshop and we- me and the two other foreign teachers and one Thai teacher from our school really enjoyed it. After lunch a Thai doctor of education gave a power point presentation on the difficulties of learning English for Thai students. It was primarily geared at the Thai teachers so I had a tough time staying motivated and awake after a big Thai lunch!

I returned to Rayong feeling tired and lifted at the same time. It was a long day and I was up early, and the weather in Thailand has a way of making me feel more tired than it did at home. I felt special to be able to attend the seminar, only a few of us foreign teachers were asked to attend. I also felt lifted because as a teacher, it was interesting to attend a professional development workshop of sorts in another country. It kind of refueled the teaching fire. It’s nice to have those kinds of outside forces to keep you fresh and thinking creatively about your work.

Wan Kang Guam Rak- Happy Valentine's Day

February 14- Valentine’s Day- Wan Kang Guam Rak!

Valentine’s Day, the trophy winner of all Hallmark holidays, is celebrated with as much enthusiasm here in Thailand as it is in the U.S.- if not more.  The students couldn’t sit still in classes.  I think they felt we should have some kind of holiday from classes to celebrate the occasion.  Considering the amount of other holidays and days off of class, the teachers didn’t even flinch at this thought.  Business as usual.  But the students came to school with roses by the boatload, heart stickers, humongous red teddy bears, and chocolates.  I got a few stickers, roses and chocolates from students, which was very sweet.  I just thought the whole day was such a hilarious scene, so much red, so many flowers.  I think some students just bought flowers that morning to carry around for themselves, not necessarily to give away. 

Roses, roses, roses...

A chupa chups bouquet- that's right!

The large red bear is mildly frightening

a shop in town

ULTIMATE!

February 12-13

Oh boy, the long awaited 11^th Annual Bangkok Hat tournament was an absolute blast. I was looking forward to this tournament for a few reasons. One- ultimate is awesome, duh. Two- I was really eager to meet new people, and meet some people like me- farangs! Three- I was pumped to meet a friend who I’d been communicating with for months but had still never met. Lauren Ladky, a friend of Sean Demet’s, my good buddy from camp, had put me in touch with this girl because she had been living in Thailand when I was beginning to plan my adventures. When I arrived in Thailand, she had just bounced off to Indonesia for six months, so when it came time for the tournament she was finally back. I was excited to put a name to a face, especially of a Milwaukee person! And Four- I had been feeling a little anxious about my position at school and with the end of my contract and school term approaching, I had some decisions to make- stay in Rayong at Watpapradoo School, or move on to another location to teach, or just travel around for a few months. I knew many ultimate players in Asia are teaching English, so I was looking forward to hearing their experiences on teaching to get some perspective on my own situation.

Talking with new friends about their lives in Asia was really interesting, and getting to play with them was even more fun. This tournament is the biggest hat tournament in Asia, so people make special trips for it. People came from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, The Philippines, Singapore, China, and one guy even flew all the way from Chicago for this tournament. The proceeds of the tournament went to a few local charities as well as funding the Frisbee experience for two Karen kids. The Karen are a tribe that live in the North of Thailand, and it was really special that these two teenagers were able to join us and play in the tournament. They played with cleats that were donated through the Soidawgz- the Bangkok Ultimate team. I hope they had an enjoyable experience hanging with a bunch of nutty people. The Asian ultimate scene is really great. It brought together some really wonderful people- expats and those that hail from different corners of Asia. The level of competition was really good, the food was delicious, music all day, and I had a blast just playing Frisbee again. And man, we played a lot of Frisbee. Four games on Saturday and four games on Saturday. I was so exhausted by Sunday night, and I was still sore until Tuesday.

costume party Saturday night- Experience History- my friend Rachel and her Cambodia gang came with Preah Vihear masks- the disputed temple at the Thai-Cambodia border.  It was a big hit.

I just really liked his costume.  Very historic, yet contemporary at the same time.  I think he may have won a prize or something.

The weekend did give me some good perspective and I decided to stay on with my company- AYC, and do another term with them and my school in Rayong. I realized I’ve made some roots here and relocating would of course be exciting, but it would also be a lot of work. I’m getting to know my neighborhood, I’m making some Thai friends, and I like living near the ocean. So, I’m happy with my decision to stay, and I’m really glad I got to play some Frisbee to help me with that decision.

Everyone stuck around to watch the finals game, which was a pretty good game. There were some sweet bids, many of which were gracefully delivered by this rock star girl from Singapore I think. As we watched, we heckled (of course) and continued to drink the free Leo beer and chitchat about where we live, what we do, and all that usual stuff, while enjoying the last rays of the afternoon sun. I took a van ride home feeling exhausted and getting muscle cramps, but it was worth it. It was an awesome weekend.

 Yay Orange team!  We kicked butt.  

frisbee isn't frisbee without heckling and debating.

Pranburi and Khao Kalok National Park

February 5, 2011
February was a busy month.  Here it is March and I'm filling you all in on February.  At home, February seems to drag somewhat, due to the weather mostly.  But here it really flew by.  January felt very long at times, and then February went by in a snap.  It is a shorter month, so I guess that had something to do with it.

The first weekend of February I was lucky enough to travel to Pranburi with friends.  This was my second trip on which I was given a ride, kind of incredible when for every trip I take I take a bus, motorcycle taxi, song tao, plane, train...the many possible ways of transportation are wonderful, but so is a free, comfortable ride with friends.  I traveled with my teacher friend Teresa, and her boyfriend Wat Chai.  Teresa has an apartment here in Rayong because of teaching, but previous to this experience she was living in Pranburi with Wat Chai, so they were headed back home for the weekend and invited me along.  We only went for a short weekend trip but it was still packed and fun. 

Pranburi is about 20 minutes south of Hua Hin, where Andy and I spent our last adventure together.  Hua Hin was one of the first travel destinations for beach R & R, and it remains busy year round for these same reasons.  Due to this, few people venture any further south to Pranburi, so it is pleasantly quiet and slow paced.  There are a few miles of good beach that I saw and ran along, and a mix of resorts and cheaper accommodations.  It's a very nice place to come and relax and spend some time on the beach in a quiet atmosphere. 

Pranburi is also home to Khao Kalok National Park which sits on the beach.  Khao Kalok, while it has a very nice beach, also has CLIMBING!  and BOULDERING!  I told Wat Chai and Teresa I really wanted to check out the park, so we took a trip there Saturday evening.  I immediately began eyeing the limestone for moves and holds.  Sure enough when I looked up 10 feet, the first slings began to appear.  As I looked further up, many rountes had andchors in place.  I hopped on the rock and just boulered a little, without shoes.  I don't really know why I left them at home.  Ah, next time.  I counted about 8 routes and some were quite tall.  There's a cool arch through the rock at the top.

As I was bouldering some of the locals began to give me some stares.  Soon some of the guys were hopping on the rocks and holding each other between laughter.  I even got my friend Wat Chai to try!  He quickly became a coach; "Ok, put your hand there, yea, now step up there!"  It was great.

My pictures aren't so great because it was a bit hazy at that time of day, but nevertheless here are some pictures.

Many locals filled the beach in the late afternoon for dinner. 

hole in the wall.

super fun just messin around on the rocks.



Me and coach Wat Chai



get it!

Doesn't it look like these people could be crushed if they're not careful?

Since the climbing is right on the beach some of the holds are a little greasy from salt residue from the ocean.  But for the most part it looks to be fun, moderate climbing.  I’d love to go back with my shoes, rope and draws.  A little climbing and a little beach bumming all on one.

After we stunned the locals with our rock skills, Teresa, Wat Chai and I moved down the beach.  Teresa and I jogged along the beach, which was a great way to see off the afternoon.  The sun sank away and we headed out for some dinner in town.  We went to a local spot for dinner- a Cambodia barbeque spot.  These restaurants are pretty popular all over the place.  Big buffet where you can pick different meat, fish, seafood, vegetables, noodles, and other fixin’s.  Throw everything into the barbeque with some broth and-alloy mahk! (Very delicious!)

Running on the beach was quite enjoyable, albeit very hot even though it was early in the morning.  Pranburi is a lovely place to relax and find some quiet.

Pranburi beach

caught being an ocean yogi.

Me and Teresa, my lovely host and 'aunt'

ahh...sand between the toes!