Some Random Thai Pictures.

Now enclosed this house next door had been a metal skeleton since the 2011 flood.

Met planting a banana plant in the backyard.

A floating restaurant near the house. 

The principal monk told me that a benefactor in Singapore gave $300,000. to build this chapel for Monk's devotion.

A worker stringing another wire.

Food ar a street vendor in Bangkok.

Met and Poe feed Nice, age 7 mos.

Poe and Nice.

Arrival?

     It was a first.  At school,until today, I'd been met with the instruction "Today you will teach (blank) and (blank)."  But today the question was "Who will you teach today?"   I told them my intentions and they said "good."  Does this mean that I've arrived?
    Having some rudimentary Thai does make teaching more fun.  I'll say a word, phrase or question in Thai and they will respond with the English equivalent.  They often help me with the Thai pronunciation and have many good laughs at my attempts to say it correctly.  Each time I mispronounce they all repeat it in unison, and, with each failure on my part, the volume of their correct pronunciation intensifies.  The result is much laughter but I keep learning.

Not the tallest but an interesting building for Noble 5th grade. In Bangkok..

Thai children posing at Chinese New Year's.

2nd floor walkway in front of classrooms.

Ten and five year old girls wait with  me.

Sometimes Words Fail!

   Trying to describe the color, cacophony, drama, action and experience of  a Chinese New Year's festival taxes my descriptive abilities,  Parenthetically, we'll attend one tonight here in Ayutthaya but the big one in Bangkok's Chinatown was cancelled for the year of mourning the King's death.  I'll try to describe the tourism exposition in Bangkok's Lupini Park.
    The park, 142 acres of greenery smack dab in the middle of downtown Bangkok, and, about five blocks from the Christian Guesthouse where I stay, is Bangkok's answer to New York City's Central Park.  Annually it is the site of the Thai Tourism Festival.  Three sections represent the north, central and south of Thailand.  Foods, crafts and entertainment, e.g., music and dances, unique to each section give an understanding of the regional differences.
     The effect is a bit like the state fair, minus animals and machines, crossed with the Uptown Arts Festival.  Early afternoon the crowds were very manageable and the festival sprawls over many acres. Much of the music and dancing doesn't begin until later.
   Litter cans are non-existent in downtown Bangkok?  Want to throw some thing away?  Just deposit it on the edge of the sidewalk and the sweeping crew will get it in the evening.  So, I was surprised that the festival was well supplied with garbage cans and also surprised how everyone made a point of using them.  Litter crews were also active, I set my empty paper cup down for a moment and before I knew it someone had taken for trash.
   Sitting on a park bench at the festival watching the world go by I was approached by two middle aged women who wanted their picture with me.  After obliging I began to wonder what they plan to do with it? Make a husband/boyfriend jealous?  😉  Who knows?

Making my $1.00 omelette.

Dead King's picture draped in black behind statue of Rama III.

Food for sale.

Thatched roof  booths.

Skyscrapers tower over the park.

Dancers.

Still In School!

   Nine years ago when I first taught school in Thailand I lived in a house with 5 other volunteers.  A local woman brought food to us and taught us some rudimentary Thai.  Her name is Gai, and she and her husband had a Tuk Tuk (taxi) business.
   I've remained in touch with Gai and her family over the years.  Gai has a big heart (jai dee) as they say in Thailand and has taken in needy children over the years.  Currently she has two daughters and one other girl living at home.  With the unrest and changes in Thailand things have not been easy for the family. About a year ago Gai took a job at a tourist site to supplement the family's income.
   Gai's oldest daughter, Mai, 18, has one year left in vocational (?) school and Perwaa, is in 5th grade.
With the help of friends and my congregation, Grace University Lutheran Church, we have provided financial support so the girls can continue their education.  Without that support they would leave school to help support the family.
   The family's circumstances became more dire recently when Gai's husband left taking the Tuk Tuk with him.  She is now the only breadwinner for the family.  Yesterday I paid the school tuition for both girls for another year.  To say they are grateful is an understatement

With Gai, Perwaa and Mai at KFC>

.

Most difficult....?

      Could you thread a needle while riding horseback at a gallop?  Can a classroom of Thai students remain silent to allow a single student to answer?  One of these is as likely as the other!  After a difficult encounter with the 4th grade Tuesday today I asked their teacher to remain in the room while I taught.  Her presence, and keeping the students in their desks, made a huge difference,
     However, I thought she might actually participate in the lesson as the principal had, well, she did a little.  Mostly she sat in the back and talked on her phone.  When I'd finally convinced the students to remain silent while one student answered she turned off her phone and began answering for the students!  "Please, call someone on your phone."
    A bit of variety in methodology is available to me as I gain knowledge of Thai.  I say a phrase in Thai and they repeat it in English.  Then we reverse and I'll say the English and they repeat in Thai.
This is not real conversation because I only know greetings, random sayings, some vocabulary, food dishes, etc.  It does give them an opportunity to learn basic exchanges while hearing and speaking English.
    Today I was explaining the difference between "khow",,,rice and "how"...lice.  Most Thai pronounce "R" as "L", though they are quite capable of saying R.  I was explaining that you don't want "fried lice" but "fried rice"  when the teacher, temporarily off her phone, said "How many have lice?" Seven girls raised their hands.  What do I do with that knowledge?
    A sound not in the Thai alphabet is "V".  It's quite easy to teach them to make the V sound but it takes some learning.  The say "wiolin" for violin and "Wolwo" for Volvo.  After a little practice they can do it when they think about it.

Sweet, sticky rice in banana leaf.

4th grade, see the double desks,

4th grade, I'm the one with the beard.

School with temple chapel.

My First Evaluation

   Now, in my 9th year of teaching in Thailand, I'm usually the only adult in the room.  On a few occasions a teacher has stayed and participated in the lesson.  A few have stayed at their desk while totally ignoring me.  Most leave once I enter the room.  The 4th grade class is difficult to manage so I have asked that teacher to remain while I teach tomorrow.  But, today was a first.
   For the first time a principal visited my class and....she stayed for the whole hour.  Even better she assumed the role of a student and participated in the lesson as a student.  It was the 5th grade, which has some very good students, which made us all look good.  With her presence they were all on good behavior, too.
   She asked me later if she could post pictures on Facebook saying that it was fun and educational. So, I guess I passed the evaluation.  She regularly seeks me out for conversation.  Our interactions will likely do as much good for English at Wat Klang as what I do in the classroom.

NO SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

   Friday the upper grades will not have class.  The Buddhists will go to a temple to 'make merit' and the Muslims to a Mosque.  When I asked who made they decision to do that the principal said "I did, in consultation with the teachers."     The younger students don't go because they can't sit still.

   I've been to a temple so I'll sit this one out.

With tables available students choose to sit on the floor.

Teacher's lunch.

While I wait for a ride home students (1st grade) gather.

Traffic as Usual And Then.......

    Driving to dinner about  5 pm traffic was about as heavy as usual.   The street was filled with a variety of vehicles; cars, pickups, trucks, thee wheel contraptions attached to motorbikes they call 'samlors' and the ubiquitous motorbikes with up to five passengers.  Motor bikes drive everywhere, both sides, between, in front and back, and, when cars stop they do not.
    Suddenly at a busy intersection traffic screeches to halt as a large Brahma cow wanders placidly across the intersection.  This, after we were met by a herd of free range goats.   In the next block we meet a stock truck loaded with elephants headed to their quarters after a day of ferrying tourists. Traffic in Minneapolis was never like this!
    At 7:00 pm, as I write this, we are being serenaded by million decibel rock music from the temple about a quarter of a mile away. Poe guessed it was to mark 100 days since the king died.  If so the monks could choose much more somber music.  There are no noise ordinances in Thailand.

Free range goats in the road.

A Pakistani Christian's Perspective.

    Hanging out at the Bangkok Christian Guesthouse gives me the opportunity to rub shoulders with interesting people from around the world.  Recently I conversed with a Pakistani Christian Pastor who is now working with the Lutheran Church in Thailand.
    Conversation turned naturally to conditions in Pakistan and specifically to situations of Christians there...not good, in summary.  He said it would be worse if it were not for American and European aid to the country.  Should that aid end it would be terribly difficult for Christians. He wishes that Europe and America would use that aid to insist that the government adhere to their constitution that stipulates freedom of religion.
   His family have been Christian for generations, long before India and Pakistan were formed into separate countries following British Colonial rule.  His family, residing in a predominately Muslim area, became part of Pakistan which is majority Muslim.

#rd grade w/7 of 12 present, I'm on the left. :)

Free standing gas pump by the road.

I draw a crowd when I'm on the play ground.

Thai Bureaucracy as WPA.

       Entering Thailand I was questioned rather closely at immigration.  Last year I overstayed my visa a couple of days, thinking little of it, I just paid the small fine that was assessed. This year the immigration officer saw that on her computer and made a fuss about it before allowing me to enter.
      Americans are given a free 30 day visa upon entry.  However, flying on frequent flier miles as I do, it's not always easy to get precisely 30 days.  So my tickets this year are for more than the allotted time.  To protect my good standing I decided to go the local immigration office for an extension. That's an experience in patronage, nepotism and a mini-adventure.
     Mistake #1; arriving at 12:30 when the office is closed at noon.
     Mistake #2; not bringing a passport photo.
     After returning to the house to retrieve a photo there were 6 forms to complete.  With those complete and checked I was given a queue number and sat down to wait.  Sitting next to me was an elderly monk waiting his turn and passing the time playing games on his I-Phone.
   With about a half hour wait I has at the desk of an immigration officer who took my forms, typed on his computer and used fourteen stamps on the paper.  He collected 1900B...about $25...told me I needed a new passport, had me sign two papers and sent to me to the next desk.
   At the next desk a woman took my passport and papers and left.  Ten minutes later she returned them and said I could go.  It was now 3:00.
   All of my immigration records are in their computer system.  Why all the steps?  Jobs are given on the basis of patronage and nepotism.  Were the system simplified electronically what would all those immigration staff do?  Who would feed their families?   During the depths of Depression the American government created the Works Progress Administration, WPA, to give people work and accomplish civic projects.  The Thai Immigration bureaucracy is a Thai version of WPA.

5th grade girls

5th grade boys

Neighborhood goats.

Neighborhood water buffalo.

The Rest Of the Story...

      "Where is the mini-bus to Ayutthaya?"  was my fruitless mantra trying to get here a week ago. Friday I boarded the mini-bus in Ayutthaya for an R & R in Bangkok.  As we approached the city I noticed that the route was different. I heard a woman behind me say "The bus stops at a bus station." Perhaps I should correct her I thought; "there's no station just a side street by the Democracy Monument", but I held my peace.
     Eventually we pulled into a huge bus station with hundreds of buses...a place I'd never seen before and obviously the terminus of our trip.  "Well this is interesting," I thought, 'I wonder where we are?" Glad I'd kept my mouth shut when the woman had mentioned a station, I grabbed my bag and headed for the gate, hailed a taxi and continued on my way.
    The buses have been moved from Democracy Monument to this station at Mo Chit.  That's why I never found one on my way to Ayutthaya.  The Skytrain doesn't run to Mo Chit so now I taxi back and forth to the guesthouse.  It actually shortens the time a bit because the station is near the expressway which means less congested traffic.

My School

No OSHA rules, construction worker on wall.

Food delivery, Bangkok.

Broom/brush seller.

Beer sign, maybe why the accident rate is so high?

Dichotomy..

     The contrast between the Thai penchant for personal cleanliness and care of the environment fascinates me.  Yards are often squalid while inside the house it is immaculate.  Rubbish dumped helter skelter, piles of liter in vacant lots with livestock; cattle, goats, pigs, roaming freely create a terrible mess. Pigs have been a big problem because they tip over the garbage bins...which also have tended to be too small and far between.

    Now there is a new initiative to address the garbage problem.  New bins are in place protect by a guard rail to fool the pigs.  (See picture below.) A hopeful step in the right direction.

   Many buildings have 'spirit house' on the property to house the spirits who were disturbed when the building was built so those spirits don't haunt the builder.  This is Animism, not Buddhism.  The spirit house across the street has a new fresh coat of paint since last year.  It is even equipped with an electric light,,,fluorescent of course, as are almost all Thai lights. 

Green liquids, yellow garbage, red hazardous.

The spirit house was blue.

Making the Principal Cry!

   Friends from my boyhood would not be surprised to learn that I made the principal cry.  She likes to engage me in conversation because she's engaging and she wants to practice English.  In speaking with her yesterday I wondered how she, a farmer's daughter, became a school principal.
   Today she returned for some clarification of that conversation.  When I spoke of "university" she thought "anniversary."  After we clarified that I asked if her parents wanted her to go to college. "No" she said, "my father wanted me to be a farmer."   "Is he proud of you now" I asked?  With tears in her eyes she replied "He died ten years ago but I think he'd be very proud."  But, university studies were her motivation.
    When I was told Tuesday that I'd not be teaching 6th grade because they are studying for an examination I expressed mild disappointment.  Arriving at school today I was told I'd teach 5th grade first hour and 6th grade 2nd hour.  I'm not surprised by the change, it's rather typical Thai behavior to quietly accommodate so no one loses face.  Of course I'm pleased.
    Since the King's death in October all the teachers, who are state officials, are dressing in black as a sign of mourning.  Over the years the teachers I've related to most are Aroonse and Anne because they are most proficient in English.  I had no clue that Anne is Muslim until she came to school wearing a hijab with her black dress.  Today we both ate pork fried rice.

Principal joins the students raking.

Anne and Aroonsee

Daily flag raising

Daily Opening Exercises

6th grade in Thursday uniform.

Computer lab.

Monk's chapel next to the school.

"I Spy"

   Mrs. N's 5th grade class at Noble Academy sent an "I Spy" list with me.  They wanted animal pictures and also pictures of the rooms in my house.
    "Hello from Thailand" 5th grade, enjoy!

Cattle grazing near the house "Thai lawn mowers."

The main room downstairs.

Another view.

The kitchen, about 6'X8'.  Much cooking is done outside in a lean-to.

Downstairs.