Keeping in mind I was asked to post this a few days, you can imagine my impatience with the fact that I waited to post it until I had some pictures of Bangkok. So far I think they've been organized onto a flash drive, yet I have seen none of them. So I promise when I do, you will as well.
In the meantime, here are some photos of mine from the last half of the week.
(Top/left) This is the boat restaurant we ate at Thursday night. The weather was fairly mild so it made the outdoor atmosphere all the more enjoyable.(Bottom/right) Some of the food we ate. On the left are shrimp cakes, the middle and right are a fish leaf wrap sort of thing.
(Top/left) Dr. Hal about to enjoy the leaf wrap.
(Bottom/right) The best shrimp fried rice in the whole world. My brother should be jealous of me.
More pictures from school...
(Top/left) The students playing volleyball after lunch today. AJ even joined in for a bit. (I would have captured the glory of it, but by the time I found him my camera's battery died.)
(Bottom/right) Boys hanging out by the basketball court. A few of them turned to wave at me.
AJ, being the only male in our pack, is very familiar with the attention one receives when one is a foreigner in an Asian country. In Thailand, we are called "farang;" in town, we get a lot of funny stares, but the students seem to really enjoy our presence. That, of course, makes it all worth it.
We have been trying very hard to figure out how the average Thai student's day is carried out here in Trang provence. It would seem that, at Thungnon~~ (I think that's how it starts) school, the teachers and students pretty much play it by ear. There is a siren that acts as a bell between periods, and rarely does it ever seem to signal anything among either the faculty nor the student body. Apparently if the students do not have a teacher, then they can pretty much do what they want. (Many Thai schools, like Japanese schools, have a system where the students stay in the classroom and the teachers come to them.) It sounds pretty nice to me, and it has made the teaching experience a little less stressful. It's good to know everyone around you is pretty lackadaisical from day to day. Then again, some structure would be a bit of a relief on occasion...
With all the time in between classes, I've had several opportunities to speak with my parents over Skype. It's a wonderful tool and if you've never heard of it, I suggest looking it up. My mother told me, and I've gathered from Facebook posts a plenty, that the snow in Nebraska has gone past ludicrous. I hope everyone back home is enjoying this unusual winter weather. I know I am. :D (If it makes anyone feel any better, it's supposed to be the dry season in Thailand. So far it's rained practically every day.)
Tonight we had an interesting experience in that we attended what appeared to be the reception of a Buddhist funeral. There were so many happy faces that it hardly seemed like someone had died, but I suppose in the Buddhist religion death brings you closer to nirvana. Consider this: nirvana is a returning to the one essence, so to speak, which is an ideal state, like being in heaven. So why are Christian funerals such sombre occasions? I'm going to take a note for my will today: I want LED lights on my urn when I'm dead and cremated. The flowers can stay.
Well, without any pictures or journal submissions I'm forced to leave you with this: expect to be without an update for a few days, as we are leaving for our island retreat tomorrow morning (Saturday). More than likely you will hear from me Sunday night, or Sunday morning for those of you in the states. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to expect from this outing, so take it on faith that I think we'll have a good time.
Until next time.
With the 13 hour time difference, wouldn't it be Sunday morning in the States instead of Saturday? Would you please tell AJ his girlfriend is jealous of the island retreat? :) Also, are the students given an opportunity to place calls home if they have international phone cards?
ReplyDelete-Sarah