La Situacion Politica

Thailand has currently been all over the news...but don't worry...I am far far away from the protesting, which is taking place at isolated locations in Bangkok
The political situation...
While traveling around Mexico with Sarah and Kayla during Semana Santa (the week before Easter), Sarah asked every taxi driver, tour guide, tourist, busboy, waiter, and every random person we came across "Como esta la situacion politica?" (How is the political situation?) She was referring to the teachers strike that had happened previously in Oaxaca, Mexico. We got a variety of answers. We found that the taxi drivers and tour guides were against the teachers because it caused the airport to shut down, which hurt the tourist industry in the area. I will try to touch on the political situation in Bangkok at the moment...so Sarah, this one is for you.
What I've heard or read about the "situacion politica" here...
Let's start back 2 years ago, when the former Prime Minister Thaksin was ousted by the military. He was accused of corruption, vote buying, interfering with independent agencies, nepotism, as well as human rights violations. For the most part- supporters of Thaksin were from the lower class while opponents were from the middle and upper class. Thaksin's government appealed to the rural (poor) majority by, among other things, offering low-interest agricultural loans and financing village development. I was told that the lower class who widely supported him, were unaware of the corruptiona and scandals. Thaksin was criticized for tax evasion when selling one of his corporations to the Government of Singapore. In 2006, Thaksin was overthrown quite peacefully- there was no bloodshed. This was 2 years ago.
Fast-forward to this summer...
The People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD)has been trying to force the current Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat out of office. As Thaksin's brother in law, Somchai is seen as a front for Thaksin and is accused of election fraud. In August, the PAD stormed the Government House, the Finance and Transport ministries, the PR Department, the Police Bureau, and took over the National Broadcasting Services. They managaed to shut down the airport in Bangkok and some of the trains. This didn't last too long and by the time I got here, it was a bit calmer.
This past week, the protests in Bangkok have once again made headlines internationally. The PAD has closed both of Bangkok's commercial airports, leaving thousands stranded. The PAD has said they will stay at the airports until the government officials have stepped down. The protests have turned violent, but this all has taken place in certain parts of Bangkok...hours away from us...so moms and dads, don't worry!

English Camp

This past weekend, Margo and I had to go to Phrae, a smaller city about an hour from here, for English Camp. The school hosts a camp over a weekend for its students to practice English. Its run by mediakids- the company I work for. Its in our contract to participate in one for free. We ended up missing the bus there- well not missing it because we were an hour early, but it was full. So we had to call our consultant Kris, and ask one of them to pick us up.
English camp on Saturday was actually kind of fun for me. English Camp is pretty much just playing games and singing songs (all in English of course.) I played this Harry Potter tag game...4 people were Voldemort (the bad guy) and had wands (straws) and could put a curse on whoever they tagged (such as jump, spin, dance). I was super sweaty after an hour or so of running around...it was a lot of fun though. There was this one short little chubby boy. I gave him a free icecream for singing "Beautiful Girl" in English. During tag he was running until he realized he was running towards a Voldemort...then he just stopped and started screaming and waving his hands. I was "under a curse" so was just standing and watching...his voice is so high, it was the funniest thing, I couldn't stop laughing. I wish I got it on camera to show everyone.
On the way back the bus and van were also full, so we just crammed in their truck with them (there was 6 of us) and drove back to Lampang. They were headed here anyway b/c they are observing teachers today. Of course I got the front b/c I'm the fattest...seriously they are all so frickin skinny. So they all thought it was funny when I said "It pays to be fat!" Speaking of skinny/fat...my friend Dao is exactly half my weight...I am equal to two Thai girls! (Although in my defense I am like a foot taller than her)
There was a wall down the street from our hotel that I thought was interesting to find in Phrae...

Here are some random things I noticed about the students or Thailand:
-They have to take their shoes off before they enter a school building (teachers don't)
-If a boys hair is too long, a teacher will take scissors or a buzzer and cut one area so he has to get it all cut
-If a girl or boy gets in trouble they can also get their hair chopped
-They all repeat say "I'm fine thank you and you?" when asked "How are you?" without really knowing what they are saying. If the question "How are you?" is varied at all they just give me a blank stare.
-People at the pre-fix "Pee" to people who are older than them. So I call my friend Dao, Pee-Dao.
-There are mirrors in the stairwells- students stop to check themselves out.
-First impressions are the lasting impressions.
-Some teachers have several pictures of themselves on their desks.
-Girls pull out their compacts during class to reapply (white) powder or just check themselves out.
-People ride 4 people on a motorbike...which I guess isn't tooo much considering I'm like 2 Thai people lol
-We drink beer with ice (so it sometimes gets watery)
-At a restaurant/bar, your cup is never empty because they continue to fill it
-Students don't ever have to be on time...10 or 15 minutes late is normal.

That's all I can think of for now.
I've been playing volleyball everyday afterschool since I first went last week. So far the coach has only been there once or twice. The girls (and 2 boys that come) are great. They repeat what I say for some things...like when I call "mine." I have some of the volleyball players in my classes, so I've been beginning to recognize more students. During cool-down they all ask one of my students, Jeab, to ask me questions because she is one of the better English speakers...but I can tell that they are trying to ask me a question. There are 2 boys that come to volleyball-both my students and both what Thais call "Ladyboys." One of the boys that comes to play is definitely the tallest kid in the entire school...which is why his nickname is Big. His height no where near rivals Jake's, but it makes him look that tall because he's among a sea of short people. He tried to make me promise that I would come to play volleyball everyday.
Monday, as a I was about to walk home, there was a group of boys playing football (soccer) on the school field, so I joined them. It was the first time I played football in a while (and just finished playing volleyball)...so I was tired after about 15 minutes. I played until someone popped the soccer ball. There are always kids playing, so I'll probably be playing more soon.

Loi Krathong & Lost in Lampang

This week was my first Thai festival. It was Loi Krathong which occurs every year on the 12th month (of the Lunar calendar) at the full moon. "Loi" means "to float" and "Krathong" is a small raft made of banana leaves in the shape of a lotus with a candle and incense. They light the candle and incense and send it down the river. They also light lanterns made of a tissue paper that rise (like hot air balloons) into the sky. I was told that this gets rid of bad luck- all the bad luck and worries rise to the sky. Our landlady invited us all to send some off on Wednesday night. We sent off 3 or 4. The sky was full of them, but unfortunately pictures can't really capture what the sky looked like.


After that, I went with Margo, Apple, and Dao to another teacher's house (an older teacher who I had never met before). Her and her husband told us to sit down and pour ourselves a drink...there was plenty of whiskey to go around. They live right next to the river, so we just crossed the street (which was jam packed with people, cars, and motorbikes)to see the floats in the river. Aside from the little candles floating in the water, there was a procession of huge floats, each more ornate than the next, each with a girl or two sitting and waving and a few men as the crew. Again, I have lots of pictures of these, but it was dark out so most of the beauty is lost in the pictures. We set off even more of the sky lanterns. The mystery of where the lanterns actually land when it burns out was solved when a blackened lantern landed in the yard. To accompany all the lights and people were lots and lots of firecrackers, sparklers, and fireworks (Dad, this festival is for you!)...which leads to many spark related injuries every year.


Wednesday night also happened to be my first night with my own motorbike. I was petrified to drive knowing it would be one of the busiest nights of the year on the road, but I survived...good thing its automatic.
In school on Thursday, I found out that Loi Krathong wasn't over...Thursday was the "big" Krathong...with more fireworks and firecrackers, lanterns, and a parade around the city. Margo wasn't feeling so well, so I went with some of the other farangs living in my apartment building, but couldn't find them in the crowd. I was with my neighbor, Sean, searching for anyone else we were supposed to meet up with, even calling them several times...no luck in actually finding them though. Eventually, Sean's girlfriend found us and they walked back. I was alone with my motorbike and had a good idea how to get back. The problem was that the direction I needed to go was completely blocked off due to the parade and huge crowd. I tried to make my way around it, but turned too soon and came smack right into the parade procession again. So I turned off my motorbike and enjoyed the parade for a few minutes before turning around and continuing home...only I didn't make it home quite yet. Every turn I tried to make I ran into the parade.


I ended up driving around in circles forever. I passed the place I started twice and saw parts of town I've never seen before. After about a half an hour of wrong turn after wrong turn, I started to feel a bit better when things started to look familiar and I was sure I was about to come out on the main road near my school or house. But no. It looked familiar because I had passed it 10 minutes earlier and went in a huge circle! I contemplated calling Margo, or someone who knows Lampang better than I do, but the problem was, I had no idea where I was! Eventually (after what seemed like hours) I ended up on a familar road and back to my apartment. Exhausted, I plopped myself down on my bed and decided to watch some tv. I'll admit that I watched 3 episodes of Hannah Montana since that was the only thing that was in English that wasn't the news. Obviously not what I would pick to watch if given a greater selection (no offense Krista). I've also stooped as low as to watch the new 90210 show...its so bad...awful acting.
For my lesson this week, I decided to give my students the lyrics to "Beautiful Girl" by Sean Kingston and have them fill in the missing words. I know that they have all heard of the song and might know the chorus, but none of them actually knew any of the rest of thew words. I have to play it 4 times in each class, so with 21 classes, I think I might be suicidal.
Yesterday, was my first volleyball practice! I went and met the team and the coach on Monday with Margo, but didn't make it to play until yesterday. Since its their off season, its really lax and I just got to warm-up and play with them. The coach is really nice (I bumped into him at lunch and ate with him) but speaks little English. Some of the girls speak pretty good English. The team is actually quite good, especially since they are a lot shorter than your average team in the US. I'm excited to finally be playing volleyball (and excercising) again!
So this week was a lot of firsts...and a lot of fun!

Farang Friends

On Thursday night, I meandered around town a little bit by myself. I walked to a place that sells pad thai and managed to order myself some vegetarian pad thai (quite a feat for me since Margo wasn't around haha). I sat down and started eating. A few minutes into my meal, another farang (westerner) showed up. The cook looked over at me and pointed "Friend! Friend!" Of course, since we are both farangs she assumed we were friends. So the cook insisted that this other farang sit with me, who of course must be my friend. It turns out that she (Kay) used to teach at my school, and after leaving and living in Australia for a few months came back to Lampang and is teaching again at a university. It also turns out that she had heard of Margo and met some of the other farang teachers in the area. Farang news also travels. The next day, Chris, another English teacher, had heard that I met Kay. Its such a small community of Farangs that everyone knows each other.
This weekend Margo, Apple, and I went to Apple's house in Thoen, which is in the country, where we met her parents, grandparents and some of her extended family. Saturday we hiked to the top of a 7-tiered waterfall. We brought some food and beer and had a little picnic at the top.

Before heading back to her house, we stopped at her farm and got a bunch of pomelos (grapefruit like fruits that aren't as sour) (see picture below)

and lots of other vegetables and fruit to bring back to Lampang. I must say I had the most local meal I've ever had. We had sticky rice for breakfast while their rice field was just steps away. It was so awesome to be in the country and see the "real thailand" that most tourists who visit the beaches in southern Thailand don't get to see. The pictures I have of the rice fields and mountains are just as pretty as pictures of the beach.

Margo & I definitely want to go back, so we'll just have to invite ourselves back to Apple's house :)

First Lessons

This past weekend I had my first motorbike lesson. Its not that hard to actually ride a motorbike, but I'm still a little nervouse to ride one when other bikes (and more particularly) cars are around. The rules here are quite different, besides the fact that they drive on the left side of the road of course. Motorbikes don't really have to stop at lights if they are making a left and they can "cut in line" so to speak...which brings me to the point that Thai people don't understand the meaning of lines. We could be waiting to pay for something at a 7-11 (there is pretty much one on every corner, more so in Bangkok than Lampang), and someone comes right up and puts their stuff on the counter. Same goes for waiting for the bathroom or a table at a restaurant...but anyway back to the motorbike. The hardest part for me, as Margo can attest to, is actually starting the bike. Another thing I have to get used to though is switching gears since I've never driven a manual car.
Yesterday I also had my first Thai lesson. Nothing seems to really stick yet, unless I repeat it about 100 times. I'm learning a few words at a time, but I have 3 people helping me. We decided to have a Thai-English lesson twice a week. Each lesson being 2 hours- 1 for English, 1 for Thai. For the first hour, Margo's roommate Apple (pronounced more like "Bun") helped me with Thai, while another Thai teacher Dao helped Margo with reading and writing, since Margo has pretty much mastered the speaking and listening part. The second hour was quite fun since Margo & I could teach together and I found myself acting the part of a hostess, waitress, and moviegoer.
Monday was Sports Day. Sports day is a cross between homecoming/prom in high school and field day in elementary school. The whole school is broken into 5 teams (pink, blue, green, orange & yellow) that compete during the day. The morning starts with a parade of each of the teams lead by their own marching band. The homecoming/prom parts come into play with some of the upperclass girls and guys that get decked out in prom gowns and suits. Some were even towed in a horse and buggy! I mean, bubble-gum pink frilly barbie dresses (well for the pink team at least.) All the girls looked gorgeous, but I've never seen so many Thai barbie dolls in my life. Here's one of the girls dressed up...



After the parade there were dancing routines and races and more field day activities.



After that we went to Margo's house for lunch (which is on campus) and never really returned. So in essence, sports day was a free day for us.
Tuesday is definitely my worst day. I have 6 classes...the most is 3 in a row, which is so draining. Tuesdays deserve a nice cold beer :)