Eer-er-er-er-ERRRRR! 4 am, it's still dark out, it's not yet my time. Eer-er-er-er ERRRR, suns up..time to make my move. Rise and shine. But which of my three identical polos shall I wear? Hmm, and what skirt, black, or black? Looks to be a sunny, but cool morning. I grab an apple and yogurt hit the road before the morning caravans.
Ah yes, I beat the rush. A cool morning, wind in my face. I'll take my time on the way in today. I wonder if I will pass my two morning monks in their usual positions, as they stroll into their day. What does that boy have under his arms? Oh I see, just some books under one and a live chicken under the other. I love this place. Oh look, there's a mand walking his three cows through the tropical grasses. I'm seeing goldenrod up ahead. Yes, just where I thought I'd meet him. My first morning monk on Chakesem, barefoot and with his alms bag. And here's my turn, Wat Pho road. Now, just past the 7Eleven at the corner, monk number two. So it appears, he is blessing the ancestors of the women next to him. As I get back up to speed, I can smell grilled meat; pork, chicken, and fish I suppose. I wont make plans to stop, my breakfast will suffice. And alas, the pale pink building I was aiming for, Anuban Joy (Joy School). I park and make my way through the front gates. All I see is a few Thai teachers and a handful of students. I press my finger into the electronic device and I hit my second uprupt moment of my day. I am punched in for the day. Every morning I feel like the Thai speaking woman numchucks me with her loud foreign voice as she accepts my fingerprint. I have no idea what she is saying but I think it's some sort of threat, given her tone. I cautiously walk away and hide my shoes under a bench, and make way for my desk.
Time to wind down before I have to wind up. The morning slowly begins to cook and then the bell, 7:30am. Does 7:30 really mean starting time? I cannot answer that, as "Thai time," is a vague reference to most, especially farang. Voices take on the speaker system. Some of the older students are starting to gather on one of the outside courts. The 3-6 year olds are sprinkled around the other. Hmm, I should go find my kids. In the classroom I see 3 of mine. Two boys are playing with an airplane, and a little Asian girl in tight braids is giggling and tackling them. I lead them to their shoes and we head out to the platform for the morning flag routine. I am greeted by my 2 morning Thai teachers (assistant and head teacher). I consider them the crowd and bodily fluid control to my English classroom, essential. Very essential. I have 31 kids in the morning, I am seeing 5 right now, and it is 7:37am. No worries the timing is more of a guideline. No tardy children here. Three boys in one vertical line and two girls in the other (we do not mix genders here), lined up by height and age (in Thailand no matter the age, you respect those that are older than you). We wait under to roofed gathering platforms, before the flagpole.
Click, click, click..here come the Angry Birds and Doraemon roller-backpacks. Parents and the children begin to trickle in, one of my favorite parts of the day. It's really more of a sea of navy blue, plaid and white button down shirts, each with a unique flair. The older girls have skirts with button down shirts, plaid scarves, and black shoes. The older boys have navy blue shorts with button down shirts and ties, and their black shoes. My kindergartener girls wear plaid colored dresses, white socks, and black shoes. The boys wear navy blue shorts, button-downs shirts,plaid ties, white socks, and black shoes. The 2-3 year olds wear cute little suspenders/trousers and the girls wear jumper dresses, so cute! These children may have little say in their wardrobe, but they still have room for a little flair. This extra flair is best expressed in the decals on the straps of their shoes (Doraemon, Ben 10, Hello Kitty - some even light up), I believe this is also for shoe identification though. Moms seem to showcase their little girls' personality by giving them festive hair. This may include: pigtails, pigtails with several little braids, braided pigtails knotted into perfect little buns, giant vibrant bows, or a collection of elastic neon bands - makes me smile. Other unique touches prove similar to the US; no parent wants their child to be cold. And certainly not in Thailand. It's 76 degrees right now, we can't have our children chilled. I look up just in time to see a couple more of my kids heading my way in their fleece coats, wool vests (where do they get the wool?, I just don't know), funky stocking hats, and knitted arm warmers. Haha.
Again the speakers sound, and the students stand at attention, or at least that's the goal. For the most part, it's good. The children, hundreds of them begin to sing the Thai anthem as the blue, white, and red flag is raised. All students at attention, facing the flag with arms at their sides. Following the anthem is a Buddhist song of recognition, with several bows.
After the music, the platforms split into their own routines. The older students sit down and talk and drink milk. The 2-6 year olds listen to Thai teachers as they teach them about flags of other nations and national foods (fruits, vegetables, grains, herbs, tubers, and legumes). Seems so interesting but it's in Thai, I am only catching a few words. It is now 7:55am, and most of my students are here, about 20-22 of them. Again, the boys in one line, the girls in the other. Each student follows the single file lines by placing his or her arms on the person in front of them. Only have 3 casualties today (2 girls face plant into another girl, after tripping on the sidewalk gutter - happens every other day). We zigzag our way in to the school, first stop, the hallway adjacent to the classroom. I better go back and get Sarah, she has fallen behind yet again. I think I better guide her before she runs into another post. Finally, I have her and she is where she needs to be. The girls sit along the wall, parallel to the boys.
It's milk time! The Thai teacher begins her morning chant about drinking milk, clapping as she goes. I hand the kids their designated UHT milk of choice. The goal.. to get each student to 'wai' me as they say 'thank you.' As I hand over the milk I have high hope that the milk will stay in them and not on them.. or on their surroundings. In my little time here, I now associate little milk drinking Thai's as "little volcanoes." You never know when they are going to erupt, nor how many people they will affect. "CRYING and UPSET Asian volcanoes" are the worst. The milk, rice porridge, and plaid get-up do not stand a chance. It's just part of the daily rhythm. Boy do I have some funny stories. Thankfully there has been less of the over the past couple of weeks.
*Interesting tidbit: the head principal and several teachers take pictures of each and every crying student. What could they possibly do with the hundreds of pictures they take each week? NO WAY? They put them on the
school website? Yep..! And the parrot, is the principal's pet. She likes to scare kids with it. It will bit any hand that comes near it except for the principals, Kru (teacher) Nok.
Toilet time. Students begin to line up yet, again. Lets get these kiddos to the 'troughs and squatters' as I like to refer to them. The boys hit the troughs and the girls hit the squatters. Oh ya, and FYI this scene is open to any passerby..no doors, no walls. Nobody cares. The boys manage their own business and the girls, require a little more assistance given their attire and well, the fact that girls just need a little more time. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, there is no toilet paper in most facilities. Thais and SE Asians for that matter are all about the 'splash and go' or 'spray and go method'. The toilets are nothing more than a gravity-water system. As things finish up, I scan the scene. It is alive. Kids are talking into the mirrors, girls are playing and laughing, and Namcha is somehow still daydreaming and holding her salapoa (Chinese bread) in her hand.
Line up! One we go. Last stop, shoes. "Shoes off, find a sticker." The kids know the drill, the take off their shoes, roll their socks into their shoes, and set them on the rack. Into the classroom, lets get things rolling.
As far is the classroom scene, who knows what the day will bring. Being an English teacher to 2-3 (soon to be 3-4) year old Thai students is all about being receptive. Lesson planning is always a gamble, but necessary to keep the curriculum in focus. Each day contains: a daily warmer (getting the kids geared in), phonics, vocab, math, & English conversation. Other days include some of the following: art, yoga, playtime, story time, etc. Lets see what I have in the 'grab bag' today. Some singing, games, an art project, story time, a little of the government phonics workbooks, several learning games, and some jumping around. I know its a successful day of activity when I sweat so much I feel faint.
My morning class ends at 10:30, that's when I start to do report books on every child. The report books are written in Thai and English. I check boxes pertaining to participation, speaking, following instruction, lesson understanding, English skill, math skill, and general behavior. The rating are: excellent, good, fair, or needs improvement. I don't know how many parents pay attention to this, I believe they are required to sign them though. Some parents do write comments back, some comments are basic (perhaps they don't understand what I write and just say thanks, not sure) while others provide good comments. Between my two classes, morning and afternoon class, I have 62 students. The biggest issue for me was knowing which student went with which book. While some students have their names (Thai names and nicknames) written on the shirts, it may not be the same name written on his or her book. Also, the names are rarely spelled the same way, consistently. I should explain this. Thai students have complicated Thai names, written in Thai characters. Therefore their names must be translated or the students must get a nickname (most have nicknames). Keep in mind that the English language does not have tones nor some of the Thai letter sounds. Here are some of my student names to give you an idea: Lookseua, Pang, Pang-Pang (pronounced Pahng Pahng, he only answers if it is said correctly), Otto P, Otto P (yes two of them), Boing, Ruj (pronounced Root), Nameing, Namping, Pearwa, Pearl, A-Chin (pronounced Asian), Sarah (She still is reluctant to answer to this, I have unofficially nicknamed her "Sitdown-Please").
And now for my afternoon class. My favorite part of the day,finding them. And there they are, THEY ARE SO CUTE. Covered in powder, drinking their milk and eating some fruit. "Hello Teach-uh!" "Hello Teach-uh Holl-EE." I am greeted by so many smiles at this point, all I want to do is sit down.. talk to them, ..tease them.. and forget that I am a 'teacher.' I will never get sick of this moment. I hope they make me smile and laugh as much as they usually do, today. So as a teacher, I'm not suppose to have favorites. But I totally do, and I don't care.
Chogoon, the young man that can put happiness in anyone's day. He's the wise, carefree adult in in 3 year old's body. I look over and there he is just smiling at me. All of the sudden I feel tiny little fingers tickling my toes and the sound, 'tik tik tik.' I look down and all I see is this little boy grinning at me, he walks away smiling and carries on with whatever three years needs to do.
Pruek, LOVE this little guy. He is so cute. The boy that makes me laugh so hard I cry. Pruek has so much happiness, character, and energy. Haha his facial expressions are priceless. If I ever need to draw in a little extra energy to the class, I cue Pruek. Sometimes I just need to look at him oddly and he takes it from there. I made up a song this week about the days of the week (with actions of course) - lets just say this little boy loves it. He laughs so hard he can't sit still - this kid cracks up and lays flat on his back in laughter. That's what life is about. And don't let this picture fool you, he changes his facial expressions every 5 seconds, for real.
How cute is this! Love this little guy.
Foo, with a name like that you know there's all sorts of character waiting to be unwrapped. Quiet but content. And the turtle. The turtle. I love this turtle. And I love that nobody takes this from him. He leaves it there all day. He is so sweet.
A-Chin, the young, devious, and happy child. If I had one student to study and work with, it would probably be him. He reminds me of a frisky kitten - swatting at the air, biting the air as if there are imaginary bubbles, and sliding across the floor sideways with static-cling hair. The student that makes me sigh and smile in the same breath. If you have every seen Puss n' Boots, I don't need to explain this any further. How did I get this kid to sit still this long?
My Thai girl's are little dolls, a few spunky ones, but they are mostly all sort of sweet. Adorable! Right now though, I have to say, the boys are a bit more entertaining. Ruj, a little boy, I just have to mention... Everyday when I am filling out the report books, he comes to find me. I always know it's him because he has to put his hand on my leg and stares at me until I send my attention to him. I say, 'Hello Ruj,' and with his expressionless face he walks away and goes to play..repeat. I am not sure why he does this but I think it is his way of knowing that I am acknowledging him. I am not sure what he is all about yet, but he is slowly breaking out of his shell. So there you have it, these are but a few of my students. Hopefully I will be able to introduce you to more of them over the upcoming months.
I am enjoying the people and kids I work with each day, particularly the Thai staff and the parents. And I love these kids, I really do. They have lots of love to give. But I have to say, it makes me miss Elliott and Daevani. Miss those two (three).
As soon as started off through the foreign road, I decided I would just go until it ended. I figured the road wouldn't follow the river exactly. However, the road just seemed to keep going. I started to feel like I wasn't in the city anymore. The houses seemed to be getting a little more run down and tiny shops were crammed alongside the narrow pathway. I saw several C-stores, mechanic shops, and shanty homes along the way. Every mechanic shop I passes had men fast at work. Kids were playing under awnings, catching a break from the rain. I drove and drove until a busier highway. I turned back at some point and drove til I came to some cute little roads that I took note off my first time around. I parked and set out down a small road. Just as I was about to turn I saw three little girls playing on some stacked wooded crates. I observed them at a distance. They soon spotted me. I guess I was not as invisible as I thought I was, wearing a giant green, plastic poncho. Wait for it, wait for you...yep, there it is, "farang." They then giggled and repeated this a few times. All in good heart. I waved at them, said hello, smiled, and carried on.
