Personal Greetings at a Thai School.

       The typical Thai greeting when meeting someone is the wii...hand's pressed together held anywhere from chest to forehead high.  The height of the wii and the accompanying bow depends upon the status of the person being greeted.  Shaking hands is nor customary here and certainly not hugging.
       There is a distinct protocol about wii-ing at school.  Wii-ing is done upon first meeting another teacher in the morning.  Once I made the mistake of wii-ing a teacher the second time and she quickly pointed out that we'd already met in the office, thus the day's wii-ing was accomplished.  The teachers seem to have an infallible sense about having seen someone previously.
      The students find it natural to wii me.  However, they've been taught that 'farang', westerners, shake hands instead.  So the students often want to shake hands with me.  Naturally if they do it once they thanks that's cool so doing it multiple times is better yet. As I measure of self preservation...how many sticky hands do I really want to shake?...I've taught them to fist bump.  Of course one fist bump is never enough but that beats shaking hands.  Fist bumps have really caught on at school.
     It's very sweet to have four year olds shyly approach.  It's easy to read their thoughts "Do I dare begin a fist bump?"   When I give them a fist bump they run giggling to their friends who then come for their own bump.
     The teachers supplement the their school lunch with much additional food they bring; some from home and some from food carts.  There are always six to ten different dishes.  When they finish their lunch they bag the leftovers to send home with the poorest students.  Watching this procedure today I asked "How many of the students are poor?"  They answered "They all are."   Teachers visit every home before the beginning of school so they know.  There are three sisters that I know well, one in sixth grade and twins in fifth, who live with their family of 10 or 12 in one rented room.  The twins were a bit of a problem last year but they've matured into good students.  Their sixth grade sister, Mew, is one of the best students in class.

3rd grade mid-morning snack...there is no recess.

Snack break is new this year.