The cool dry winds out of China have been replaced with tropical heat and humidly. All I have to do to break a sweat is sit. Understand, I'm not complaining.
After teaching 4th grade this morning I moved over to sixth grade. The first 40 minutes went well but then attention was beginning to slip. I broke out a puzzle, perhaps you've seen it or one like it, this one of antique tractors to be arranged to complete the picture.
The girls got to the puzzle first but before long they were muscled out of the way by the boys, which is typical. So, while the boys struggled unsuccessfully to complete the puzzle, I had a very productive educational time with the girls...who have more intrinsic interest in learning English.
Students are given much opportunity to lead at school. Most of the leadership is done by the girls. I'm going to ask the teachers their interpretation of this.
It appears that women's lot is not easy in Thailand. On the one hand their is very little public harassment of women. Watching Thai movies, which are very violent, with my family I commented on how often women are struck or violently attacked. This led to a discussion of Thai domestic abuse which they say is very common.
Thai Buddhism has some wonderful attributes among which is a racial inclusively. Unlike the Shintoism of Japan which reinforced racial purity there is the opposite in Thai Buddhism. It reflects in the openness in society to other races.
On the other hand Thai Buddhism is very misogynistic. There are nuns but they have very little status. Monks, on the other hand, are deeply revered and accorded great respect. It a woman touches a monk he must go through elaborate purification rites. It seems to me that this dichotomy gets played out in Thai society at the expense of women. This attitude about women is traced back to Buddha, himself. Unlike Jesus, who, properly understood, was the first feminist treating the women of his day as equal to men.
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