Well, it happened. The first week of classes has come… and gone. While many teachers around the world are getting ready for their summer break, here in Thailand we are just getting started.
A Sea of New Faces Preparing for School
I am teaching English at a LARGE (6,000 plus students) elementary, middle and high school in Chiang Mai, Thailand. As part of their Native English teaching program, I teach an assortment of classes, primarily 4th grade with some 6th, to a mostly attentive group of 30 – 40+ students per class. While many of the classrooms where I teach have no air conditioning and the weather here is a bit… warm… just the same I am doing alright!
I am surprised here in a sea of Thai faces how smooth everything seems to run. The students, for the most part, seem to know what they need to do and do their own thing. And while kids will be kids anywhere in the world, generally there seems to be a good bunch here.
A snapshot of the scene while doing a little shopping in busy Chiang Mai.
I am learning a bit more about the ins and outs of Thai culture as I continue to weave my way into life and work. I have learned for example that hardly anything is “set in stone”. What may cost one person 200 baht can cost the next person 300, or even 150 if you are willing to negotiate. While there is a conservative bend in Northern Thailand, there is still an inescapable sense of something like freedom that permeates the scene. Even here at school, I was surprised to see when class is out, there is no teacher who stays and monitors the students. They are left there on their own. When the teacher leaves, they do go a little bit wild in an innocent childlike sort of way but also make their way to lunch and recess so far without little to no drama. One class I peeked in on at the end of the day was like a busy group of elves, sweeping the floors and putting away desks.
You can’t escape the incredible sense of service that is here in Chiang Mai and I imagine throughout Thailand. At first it was a little off-putting when I went to the store to see a friendly Thai face standing right there ready to be of assistance. I have to admit I tried once or twice to throw them off my trail, hiding below the shelves in my independent American way. But in the end, I surrendered. I let them carry my purchase. I let them show me the matching sheet set. Once there was even a second sales assistant who showed up bright-eyed and smiling with a cart for the convenient carrying of my possible purchase.
This same sense of service can be seen here in the classroom. I have one class where at the end the boys race to the desk to see who gets to carry my things back to the classroom. It is really adorable. I walk back to the office sometimes with as many as three loyal helpers dutifully carrying my excess things.
My adaptation is not without frustrations of course, the challenge sometimes found in doing the simplest of things in a foreign land. But overall this transition is ushered in with a good feeling.
I am at home now for the evening after a productive but sweaty afternoon. It is nearly 6:30pm and the outdoor orchestra has begun with the wide assortment of crazy noise-making insects and birds. Soon, week two of teaching will commence.
Good-bye for now from Chiang Mai, a place so far of new beginnings, mild adventures and entertaining adjustments.
I didn’t want to leave Vienna without going to the Opera. I have never been before and it was an experience in Vienna I didn’t want to miss. And now I have seen an Opera… well, mostly seen one. It was the Friday night performance of Madame Butterfly and all tickets were sold out. I went to the Opera House on the chance that I could buy a ticket on the street before the performance. I found an eager if not slightly crafty group of gentlemen selling tickets outside the entrance. I took a leap and bought a ticket from them and found my way in. I was relieved at least the ticket got me in the door without anyone batting an eye. I was disappointed in part when I was led to my seat. The location was great, the second level not far from the stage. The problem lie in the position of my seat. I was in one of the small rooms that encircled the opera house. It was filled with 6 seats, all quiet good except, unfortunately… my seat. From sitting relaxed in my chair I could only see 3/4 of the stage at best. How frustrating! But in truth I took a risk in buying the ticket and the costs was not that expensive. So, all in all, I was happy to be inside watching instead of not.
