I wish I was brave enough to take more pictures of where I actually live but at this point I’m not. I am in the middle of a very alive and I think its save to use the word, vibrant, community. I live next to an Indian family, perhaps two of them. I’ve received a few looks from them, but none too welcoming as for me to expect a plate of curry on my doorstep. (Oh the days at Kingsley College in Melbourne!) but they are interesting.
Imagine coming home to Bollywood music pumping from the neighboring apartment infiltrating your own apartment though both doors. Sometimes annoying, but pretty interesting. Add on top of that crying children from I believe that apartment as well as the rooms downstairs, men singing along with the music, people yelling at the other children who are riding their tricycles down the hallway. It’s quite a noisy environment. But I like it compared to the silence I had in Korea where I never saw my neighbors much less heard them. I think another reason that it is so loud is because of the work of the community. I don’t think many people here work 9 to 5. Most of my students work 4:30 to 4:30 or 12 to 12 or other hours. So due to those working hours (plus the tourists that live here) you see men and women everywhere just sitting around and talking in the middle of the day.
Within the apartment complex there are 3 to 4 different restaurants, 2 convenience stores, 3 laundry services (there are also washing machines at the bottom of the stairs, too), massage parlors, a 24 hour internet café and a swimming pool. My favorite part of my building is the two condom machines at the bottom of my staircase that I pass when I enter and exit my apartment. The building is airy and spacious with the balcony and instead of real windows, they have those plates of glass that you can open and close. So everything flows from the music, to the kitchen smells to the doors slamming around the building.
There are downfalls to this as well. Of course the noise, and then the fighting. I just happened to be around by myself at 2pm when I guess the husband next door came home and was mad about something. I listened to him yell at (I assume ) his wife, then scuffle, scuffle, more ferocious yelling, scuffle scuffle…what’s going on…a bit of crying and then the wife’s turn to yell and cry back at him. The interesting part is that they didn’t seem to yell back and forth. It was like he took his turn perhaps smacked her around, then she had her turn and I assume he just doesn’t even listen to her therefore has no need to even respond to her cries and screams of indignation. I mean where I come from you yell back and forth. But maybe that is just not a right some people (women) even get. Hmm.
Hopefully I won’t have to listen to too much of that. I don’t really like people fighting. Plus it’s that awkward situation of what do you do, leave and take the chance of running into them in the hallway, or just sit there and listen. Or play some music loudly so they know you are at home when you typically aren’t? Does the presence of a neighbor make a difference? I don’t know. I mean they have been living here a lot longer than I have and I’m not their only neighbor. Granted I might be their only white neighbor. I think there are some Burmese (not Kachin) families living at the other end of the hall.
But the point of the story is that I’m living in a very interesting and wonderful apartment complex full of Burmese, Thai, Indian, white foreign – yes, yes, mainly males from what I’ve seen – people in a loud and active area. I hope I can get a spot like this in America. I’d like to be part of a community where I know my neighbor and we can at least somewhat communicate in English – or Spanish. I would like that, too.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
the joys of being a teacher
Besides the obvious huge responsibility of teaching students who really want to learn, teaching is pretty great. One of my students who I teach from 10pm to 12am has yet to fail to bring me food. Awesome. My other student brings stuff for my house to make it homier. Of all of their generosity, I feel undeserving. But on the other hand, my work has begun. As was to be expected questions beyond my ability have surfaced (in less than a week, but in my defense against the dark art of mocking me, I was a language teacher for the past 3 years, not a grammar teacher.) Today for example, I worked with one student from 10:30 through to 2:30. Then I took a nap, woke up and headed to my coffeeshop (let me pause the story here)
So this coffeeshop I determined today is my spot. It’s nothing really special but the lady who works there is so nice. When I went there today for the 3rd time since arriving in Pattaya she told me I had to try the Thai tea. So of course I agreed. She automatically cleans off my table outside and hands me the password for some free wifi. The Thai Tea was great!! Oh man! This will be my new ritual. Plus it’s only a $1 for a huge cup of tea and she lets me sit there as long as I want. They have my loyalty.
But back to my story, so I went to my coffeeshop where I sat for two hours researching the answers to the questions from my student today and the student last night. I am back to trying to learn the difference of present perfect simplified and divided by two. So not only do I have to learn it for myself but then translate it to being a bearable piece of information. All this without the internet in my apartment makes life a wee bit hard. But also makes me work harder. The other part of my research was figuring out how to teach a student to download movies…wait, that’s illegal…I probably shouldn’t be doing that but on a brighter note I also am learning about how the Green Card system in the USA works. Again tough without internet in my apartment but I just copy and paste a lot of things.
Ah yes, so I returned home around 7pm to get ready to teach two more ladies but then I found out that they had to cancel because they were still stuck at work. No worries. So I sat down to start transcribing my new lesson on grammar and around 8pm W stops by to ask me to join her for a movie and cards. Beautiful! So we watched some movie with Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins as it was the only one we could get to play in English and really neither of us speaks Thai well enough to enjoy a Thai movie. And we pretended to play cards. Then at 10pm my last student for the night called and we met to discuss grammar and pronunciation, until around 12.
Tomorrow start again when W will come by at 10am. The nice thing is that siestas are built into the culture. I like that. Keeps me alive. So I’m busy.
So this coffeeshop I determined today is my spot. It’s nothing really special but the lady who works there is so nice. When I went there today for the 3rd time since arriving in Pattaya she told me I had to try the Thai tea. So of course I agreed. She automatically cleans off my table outside and hands me the password for some free wifi. The Thai Tea was great!! Oh man! This will be my new ritual. Plus it’s only a $1 for a huge cup of tea and she lets me sit there as long as I want. They have my loyalty.
But back to my story, so I went to my coffeeshop where I sat for two hours researching the answers to the questions from my student today and the student last night. I am back to trying to learn the difference of present perfect simplified and divided by two. So not only do I have to learn it for myself but then translate it to being a bearable piece of information. All this without the internet in my apartment makes life a wee bit hard. But also makes me work harder. The other part of my research was figuring out how to teach a student to download movies…wait, that’s illegal…I probably shouldn’t be doing that but on a brighter note I also am learning about how the Green Card system in the USA works. Again tough without internet in my apartment but I just copy and paste a lot of things.
Ah yes, so I returned home around 7pm to get ready to teach two more ladies but then I found out that they had to cancel because they were still stuck at work. No worries. So I sat down to start transcribing my new lesson on grammar and around 8pm W stops by to ask me to join her for a movie and cards. Beautiful! So we watched some movie with Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins as it was the only one we could get to play in English and really neither of us speaks Thai well enough to enjoy a Thai movie. And we pretended to play cards. Then at 10pm my last student for the night called and we met to discuss grammar and pronunciation, until around 12.
Tomorrow start again when W will come by at 10am. The nice thing is that siestas are built into the culture. I like that. Keeps me alive. So I’m busy.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
my reading list
Finding George Orwell in Burma
The Land of the Green Ghosts
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Lolita
The Heart Must Break
The Darkness We Saw: Torture in Burma’s Prison Camps
I have completed “The Land of Ghosts” a great book written by a boy who grew up in a hill tribe then went to university in Mandalay. He is then caught up in the revolution against the regime which closes the university and soon finds himself hiding out with one of the fiercest tribes in Burma – the Karen. He stays and fights with them until providence helps him reconnect with a British man who helps bring Pascal to Burma. The book is well written and nicely describes a bit of the history of Burma and its people through the story of this ultra-spiritual man. I really enjoyed it!
The thing I enjoyed the most about the book is his own view of the other people groups he encounters. Pascal, the author, is a Padaung, but he lives and travels with many other people group who carry their own traditions and customs. He openly shares his disgust as some of the food he had to eat, which just makes the foreign reader feel like they can relate. Also it opened my eyes to the interesting and unbelievable people who inhabit Burma. I had no idea. The people that I have read about I thought lived in Africa. The Padaung people with the rings around their necks lengthening them to 14 inches, the Wa people who are believed to be cannibals, the Karen with their fierce guerilla warfare and unbeatable jungle prowess all live in the country of Burma. What a fascinating place! I still have one more “history” book about Burma that I want to read and see what it says, but so far I am fascinated by this country that has so much stored in its borders that the world has not seen.
The Land of the Green Ghosts
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Lolita
The Heart Must Break
The Darkness We Saw: Torture in Burma’s Prison Camps
I have completed “The Land of Ghosts” a great book written by a boy who grew up in a hill tribe then went to university in Mandalay. He is then caught up in the revolution against the regime which closes the university and soon finds himself hiding out with one of the fiercest tribes in Burma – the Karen. He stays and fights with them until providence helps him reconnect with a British man who helps bring Pascal to Burma. The book is well written and nicely describes a bit of the history of Burma and its people through the story of this ultra-spiritual man. I really enjoyed it!
The thing I enjoyed the most about the book is his own view of the other people groups he encounters. Pascal, the author, is a Padaung, but he lives and travels with many other people group who carry their own traditions and customs. He openly shares his disgust as some of the food he had to eat, which just makes the foreign reader feel like they can relate. Also it opened my eyes to the interesting and unbelievable people who inhabit Burma. I had no idea. The people that I have read about I thought lived in Africa. The Padaung people with the rings around their necks lengthening them to 14 inches, the Wa people who are believed to be cannibals, the Karen with their fierce guerilla warfare and unbeatable jungle prowess all live in the country of Burma. What a fascinating place! I still have one more “history” book about Burma that I want to read and see what it says, but so far I am fascinated by this country that has so much stored in its borders that the world has not seen.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
teaching
There is something wildly intimidating by 9 sets of eyes looking up at you in expectation of teaching them something useful. This is much different than 9 sets of eyes that peer at you openly wondering if you are going to make their semester another living hell or slightly enjoyable. This is one of the biggest differences of teaching kids in Korea versus people who want (and need) to learn. This is a much bigger responsibility for the teacher.
But yesterday’s class, besides the huge intimidation factor went rather well. By the end they were catching my jokes and laughing at my mannerisms which I was not doing on purpose. Rather just kind of flow when I teach. Whew, thank goodness for that. The beginning of the class was rather quiet and serious and I was really getting worried that I was in for a long next 3 months. But after I scared the crap out of them with a waaaaay too hard placement test, they loosened up and really had some fun with the “Common English Questions.” A lot of what I asked them to do was too hard and went over their heads but at least we were able to move on from there. They were pretty forgiving, as was I – but I don’t know if that’s the word you could use for what I was doing. I guess so…I mean I forgive myself and realize as fast as possible that I made a mistake. But today will be better.
But yesterday’s class, besides the huge intimidation factor went rather well. By the end they were catching my jokes and laughing at my mannerisms which I was not doing on purpose. Rather just kind of flow when I teach. Whew, thank goodness for that. The beginning of the class was rather quiet and serious and I was really getting worried that I was in for a long next 3 months. But after I scared the crap out of them with a waaaaay too hard placement test, they loosened up and really had some fun with the “Common English Questions.” A lot of what I asked them to do was too hard and went over their heads but at least we were able to move on from there. They were pretty forgiving, as was I – but I don’t know if that’s the word you could use for what I was doing. I guess so…I mean I forgive myself and realize as fast as possible that I made a mistake. But today will be better.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
life in pattaya
As my new cultural broker/translator M promised me yesterday, he delivered a friend. Just after I arrived home after dragging out my time spent eating dinner and then in a coffee shop which I was taking advantage of the free wifi, I had enough time to use the bathroom when there was a knock at my door. Who could it be?
Well it was the newly married couple that live in my housing complex. Funny enough S (the husband) said some stuff in English to me about hanging out at their house when I am bored or need somewhere to go. Then he dropped his wife off in my house. Now I had a friend.
This caught me a little off guard, I mean I was looking forward to 4 more hours of reading on top of the 6 I had already done today….but here it was! My golden opportunity. You don’t really put yourself in this situation, in a new country, where you don’t speak the language, hungry for friends who can and desire to teach you about their world – unless you are willing to be ready for this: The unexpected drop ins. Now, I need to practice cleaning up just a little bit better and live my life ready for whoever or whatever may come. And buy some cups so I can share my water.
Luckily I had put up some pictures around my mirror so that gave us a great start to talking….in whatever language we could figure out. Then I also luckily had some playing cards sitting out and about so we played a version of Go-Fish. Then she began to teach me Thai. Ahhh, yes….here we go! It’s a bit confusing trying to decide what language to dedicate my free time to. I mean I’m in Thailand, but I work with Burmese people, and many of who are Kachin – not Burmese. Where do I fit into this as the English Teacher?
Again, a blessing is always there – my new friend well call her W. -- had worked in Korea for 3 to 4 months so she knew some Korean! So our Go Fish game consisted of Thai, English, and Korean. Fabulous! Needless to say she beat me several times, and after feeling bad, changed her “methods” of playing to even-out the game.
Also, she happens to be pretty amazing at reading! So my newly purchased copy of the Bangkok Post was a great way to spend the time. She can read very well, but as with my Korean, reading doesn’t necessarily mean understanding. But we read about Gareth Bale who didn’t play for the Wales team and blah blah blah…..We also spent a good amount of time looking at maps of Burma which are in the books I am reading and trying to find out where she is from and other ethnic groups as well. Very interesting. She consistently refers, wait wait, blames her teachers in Burma and Yangoon for her bad English pronunciation. Quite humorous…makes me think of Korean students who go to the Philippines to learn English. That might not be the wisest decision. But regardless, interesting!
Apparently in my apartment building there are several Indians living here as well as Burmese people. I was still unsure whether or not she was from Burma or not…But then we were listening to the racket in the hallways, and she looked to me, “Many Burma people live here.” I just kind of nodded at her while she had a bit of a disgusted look on her face. Meanwhile I’m thinking, your husband is from Burma….or did I get this all wrong? “But I am not Burma. I am Kachin.” She smiled at me. Then it all made sense. Makes me want to research the possible prejudices here. I mean is it similar to some Koreans you meet who hate Japan but don’t hate Japanese people, just the politics. Or is it that they really don’t like Burmese people for the ruling regime that has controlled and ruined many of their lives? I don’t know.
But I’m thankful for a great day with a fun new friend. We are meeting for food at 8:30am tomorrow! Hahahaha…. She is teaching me how to order in Thai so I can get food downstairs. I know, I know, it’s not hard to get street food. Trust me, I’d love to pay less than a dollar for a plate of noodles but when there are no pictures it makes it really hard to order. Plus all the old white men sitting around everywhere really makes me wonder if I’m really a valued customer or not. Hehe….I’m getting over that intimidation factor, meal by meal.
Well it was the newly married couple that live in my housing complex. Funny enough S (the husband) said some stuff in English to me about hanging out at their house when I am bored or need somewhere to go. Then he dropped his wife off in my house. Now I had a friend.
This caught me a little off guard, I mean I was looking forward to 4 more hours of reading on top of the 6 I had already done today….but here it was! My golden opportunity. You don’t really put yourself in this situation, in a new country, where you don’t speak the language, hungry for friends who can and desire to teach you about their world – unless you are willing to be ready for this: The unexpected drop ins. Now, I need to practice cleaning up just a little bit better and live my life ready for whoever or whatever may come. And buy some cups so I can share my water.
Luckily I had put up some pictures around my mirror so that gave us a great start to talking….in whatever language we could figure out. Then I also luckily had some playing cards sitting out and about so we played a version of Go-Fish. Then she began to teach me Thai. Ahhh, yes….here we go! It’s a bit confusing trying to decide what language to dedicate my free time to. I mean I’m in Thailand, but I work with Burmese people, and many of who are Kachin – not Burmese. Where do I fit into this as the English Teacher?
Again, a blessing is always there – my new friend well call her W. -- had worked in Korea for 3 to 4 months so she knew some Korean! So our Go Fish game consisted of Thai, English, and Korean. Fabulous! Needless to say she beat me several times, and after feeling bad, changed her “methods” of playing to even-out the game.
Also, she happens to be pretty amazing at reading! So my newly purchased copy of the Bangkok Post was a great way to spend the time. She can read very well, but as with my Korean, reading doesn’t necessarily mean understanding. But we read about Gareth Bale who didn’t play for the Wales team and blah blah blah…..We also spent a good amount of time looking at maps of Burma which are in the books I am reading and trying to find out where she is from and other ethnic groups as well. Very interesting. She consistently refers, wait wait, blames her teachers in Burma and Yangoon for her bad English pronunciation. Quite humorous…makes me think of Korean students who go to the Philippines to learn English. That might not be the wisest decision. But regardless, interesting!
Apparently in my apartment building there are several Indians living here as well as Burmese people. I was still unsure whether or not she was from Burma or not…But then we were listening to the racket in the hallways, and she looked to me, “Many Burma people live here.” I just kind of nodded at her while she had a bit of a disgusted look on her face. Meanwhile I’m thinking, your husband is from Burma….or did I get this all wrong? “But I am not Burma. I am Kachin.” She smiled at me. Then it all made sense. Makes me want to research the possible prejudices here. I mean is it similar to some Koreans you meet who hate Japan but don’t hate Japanese people, just the politics. Or is it that they really don’t like Burmese people for the ruling regime that has controlled and ruined many of their lives? I don’t know.
But I’m thankful for a great day with a fun new friend. We are meeting for food at 8:30am tomorrow! Hahahaha…. She is teaching me how to order in Thai so I can get food downstairs. I know, I know, it’s not hard to get street food. Trust me, I’d love to pay less than a dollar for a plate of noodles but when there are no pictures it makes it really hard to order. Plus all the old white men sitting around everywhere really makes me wonder if I’m really a valued customer or not. Hehe….I’m getting over that intimidation factor, meal by meal.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
trust
traveling by yourself (and even with only one other person) there is a lot of trust involved. i think i forget about the trust in everyday situations, but when im traveling in a foreign country its amazing how it pops out at you. sometimes its small, for example if i pay a guy for a snorkeling trip, i have to trust that a ride will pick me up the next morning and take me snorkeling. now you could get into the seriousness of that situation, beyond the money that he might be stealing from you to the fact that you trust the people's van you get into is really taking you snorkeling and nowhere else. a lot of trust.
i signed on with one organization which set me up with another organization to volunteer with. now that organization has sent me a 12 hour bus ride away to do some teaching. each time i trust that someone will be there waiting for me when i arrive at the bus station. i trust that that will help me find housing and guide me around my new area.
and all of this goes back to trust in God. i mean, like they say, with God on your side, who can be against you? and its trust. i pray for safety (as im sure my family and friends do as well) and things happen - im reading a book right now about a guy traveling. stuff happens. but i trust that no matter what, God's got my back. my fortunes maybe taken, my prize possessions revoked, my body crushed and crumbled but i trust in God's plan. I trust in His work which is greater than anything i can think or do. Trust.
i signed on with one organization which set me up with another organization to volunteer with. now that organization has sent me a 12 hour bus ride away to do some teaching. each time i trust that someone will be there waiting for me when i arrive at the bus station. i trust that that will help me find housing and guide me around my new area.
and all of this goes back to trust in God. i mean, like they say, with God on your side, who can be against you? and its trust. i pray for safety (as im sure my family and friends do as well) and things happen - im reading a book right now about a guy traveling. stuff happens. but i trust that no matter what, God's got my back. my fortunes maybe taken, my prize possessions revoked, my body crushed and crumbled but i trust in God's plan. I trust in His work which is greater than anything i can think or do. Trust.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
on route
so the trip to my placement begins romantically....at 5am until the bright moonlight of the biggest moon in the past 18 years. made me wonder where ill be in the next 18?... a quick ride to the bus station where i grabbed a 6 hour bus to chiang mai where ill be hanging out tonight to meet with my organization tomorrow to find out what ill be doing. then i head down under to an old Vietnam War R&R (rest and relaxation) area -- Pattaya...oh baby i'm going to the beach. but thats all i know. not much. haha
its been an interesting week going through orientation with my cohorts. a great bunch of people and so diverse. as i said before we hail from all over - oz, england, france and singapore. by the end of the week we had the best time making fun of each other while we made our attempts at different accents. the brits said my english accent was not too bad. :) haha, i kept it minimal though.
ah, and our last night together was spent on a long bike ride, eating mexican food, and a st pattys day party. oh and trying to haul me around because i had to return my bike. let me just say that riding on the back of a bike is not as easy as it may seem. i do have a nice bruise where i fell off in one of our practice runs and definitely had a few close calls with some brick walls. but still in one piece and happy!
so tomorrow hopefully ill be finding out more about what work ill be doing and where ill be settling. :)
its been an interesting week going through orientation with my cohorts. a great bunch of people and so diverse. as i said before we hail from all over - oz, england, france and singapore. by the end of the week we had the best time making fun of each other while we made our attempts at different accents. the brits said my english accent was not too bad. :) haha, i kept it minimal though.
ah, and our last night together was spent on a long bike ride, eating mexican food, and a st pattys day party. oh and trying to haul me around because i had to return my bike. let me just say that riding on the back of a bike is not as easy as it may seem. i do have a nice bruise where i fell off in one of our practice runs and definitely had a few close calls with some brick walls. but still in one piece and happy!
so tomorrow hopefully ill be finding out more about what work ill be doing and where ill be settling. :)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
