Around Suphan

Differences Between Thai High Schoolers and American High Schoolers
1. Thais look so young that it is hard to really hate your students.  They piss you off and some people (Eric) want to throw chalk at them, but they are so cute so it is somewhat forgivable.  I don't think I could say the same for American high schoolers.

2. They stand at the beginning and end of every class to say: "Good morning/Afternoon Teacher!" and "Thank you Teacher!"

3. Thai students do not leave class or try to pack up when the bell rings.  They don't leave until they are dismissed.  Sometimes I really have to encourage them to leave the room.


Similarities Between Thai High Schoolers and American High Schoolers
1. Thai students draw penises on the desks and on themselves just like in the US.

2. Getting the teacher to say "penis" is hilarious. (Me: "Choose a team name." Student: "Pen (points at a pen) is." Me: "Pen is..?" (in my head, crap they got me and this is hilarious)

3. Copying and cheating.  This is actually way worse in Thailand since that are a much more collective society.


Anyway, last week wasn't extremely eventful since I spent the weekend in Suphan instead of going on an adventure, but it was fun nonetheless.  We were asked to judge an english contest on Saturday morning, so the school week was really busy getting kids ready for their contests.  There was skit writing and acting, story writing, impromptu speech, interview, spelling bee, listening and answering questions, and writing.  Even though helping the kids who were competing went into our lunch time and free periods, I usually really enjoyed helping them.  These are the smart students that actually want to learn english and they are so cute.  I would love it if my job was just to do one on one tutoring with some of these kids.

My Apartment Building

Saturday we woke up to go judge the competition that was between 3-5 different schools in the area. I was judging the spelling bee, which was pretty boring compared to Eric who got to judge the skits. It sounds like they were hilarious and our students were pretty embarassingly awful. "Mommy I want the mobile phone," "No," "I hate you, I'm going to kill myself," etc.

After that we mostly hung out at the apartment and Eric and I made plans for New Years when we have a decent amount of time off. We booked a really cool looking hotel on one of the island on the west side, which will be way less touristy than the rest of the south. It is on Koh Maak and we are staying at this awesome little place.

Later we went to dinner and had some really amazing Mango and Green Tea Gelato, thank you Coco Monkey! I have been spending more time just walking around and exploring the town, which always makes me feel like I belong in a place more, especially if I am walking around by myself (don't worry, not at night and Suphan is an incredibly safe city). This led me to so great exploring yesterday!

Eric was playing golf with Mr. Hiroshi, the Japanese teacher at our school, and Anna hasn't been feeling well so I went out on my own. I stopped at a coffee stand and hung out for a while talking with the women there the best I could (which wasn't well), but they helped me practice my Thai and I helped them practice English.  Everyone here seems to want to exchange language lessons, which is awesome.

There is a huge Chine dragon temple a mile or so from my apartment, so I thought I would keep walking to check it out.  Along the way I met a grandmother hanging out on a side street who invited me to sit down and eat some of her popcorn.  Five or so of her grandkids were around and we eventually all went to the temple (minus Gma).  They were super cute and there was a 19 year old who spoke a little English.  She was walking around in heels, which I was very impressed by especially since she was technically a boy ("Lady boys" are so common here that it barely phases me anymore. There are a couple gay kids in all of my classes and they are awesome.  Ironic that a somewhat still developing country is more socially developed than the US.  I want to ask if "Boy ladies" exist aka girls that dress like boys hmmm.)

The temple was very cool and it was fun going with them since they taught me all the little rituals.

I definitely want to get out of town next weekend so stay posted for another awesome adventure to come!