November Highlights

Just like that, it's been a month in Khammuang. Teaching has its ups and downs: some days go smoothly, and I'm laughing alongside my students the entire class, watching them cheer their classmates on in whatever activity we're doing. On some other days, I can’t hold the attention of my students for more than three seconds, and I'm completely exhausted by the end of the 50 minutes. Every day is filled with games, conversation practice, and repeat after mes, and I've begun to realize that part of being a teacher is accepting the fact that you're not going to be in full control of the classroom at all times and learning to teach amid the chaos. I'm still experimenting with different teaching styles and practicing how to improvise when things don't go as planned, and I'm definitely still learning so much alongside all my students.

I’ve been teaching lessons about food for my M4 classes, and this past week we’ve focused on tastes. We were going around sharing favorite foods and tastes, and everyone was saying something along the lines of: “I like to eat pizza. It is salty.” When I got to one of the boys in the back, he began with, “I like fried chicken. It is… sal… sal.. sal… SPAGHETTI!” and in that moment, I had to practice so much self-control to not laugh and instead emphasize, “salty!” Also, I used to prioritize learning student names; I would pride myself in doing this back in America, and I always thought it was one of the best ways for a teacher to connect with students. However, with 314 students and names like Bum, Poom, Bim, Ban, Bang, and Bam, I've decided to give myself a lot more grace with remembering names here.

My M1/3 class is the hardest, with pretty much not a single student in wanting to pay attention to me. I’m always pretty tired by the end of that class, but every class, without fail, one of the girls in the front always gives me a mini heart once we’re done for the day. At the end of one of our classes last week, she came up to me and told me, “Teacher, teacher! I love you!” and regardless of how tired I am, she always brings a smile to my face.

During Thanksgiving, all my students made hand turkeys and wrote three things they are grateful for, so here are a few of my favorites. One of my students told me that she wasn't done with her turkey by the end of class and asked if she could come to my office later in the day to give it to me, and when she came in, she told me that she was grateful for me!

I’ve also had the opportunity to teach for a day at Northeastern University in Khon Kaen, where I led English camp, a day filled with activities and games to practice English. It was my first time interacting with university students; I spent the day singing, dancing, and conversing with them, getting a glimpse into college life in Thailand.

This past week, I was also a judge for a storytelling competition that schools all around Kalasin, including our school, participated in. There were some pretty impressive performances, with students collapsing onto the ground, screaming for added effect. All the students clearly spent so much time practicing, though I probably heard the exact same rendition of Pinocchio at least ten times. Our school placed second in storytelling which was a plus!

Teachers here have a ton of responsibilities besides teaching, including a lot of government-related work and checking in with students’ personal lives. One of their responsibilities is to visit all their homeroom students’ homes once a semester to understand their living situation and speak with their families. I accompanied one of my co-teachers, P’Boom to her student visits, driving through nearby villages to visit 14 of her students. We drove past mountains and through rice fields, and I sat with P’Boom as she updated each family about how the student was doing in class, playing with the family cat or snacking on some treats they gave us.

I’ve also started learning pencack silat! There is no longer a Muay Thai team at Khammuang, but there is pencack silat, which is a form of martial arts that originated in Indonesia. I’ve started going to practices everyday after school, which always starts with a warm up run. As I’m doing laps around the school, I always feel like some type of celebrity; students are always excitedly waving or waiing at me when I run past, calling out, “teacher, teacher!” Practice usually starts with a series of kick drills, followed by take down drills. Sometimes, some of my students are playing badminton or ping pong next to the mats, and they’ll cheer me on through the drills. The coach and the students there pretty much only speak Thai, but they’re all patient and willing to give me a few pointers. I'm definitely still a newcomer there, but I'm hopeful that I'll start making some friends over the next few weeks. If I’m not too tired after practice, I’ll stick around a bit to play badminton with some of the other teachers before finally heading home for the day.

Weekdays are pretty much packed with school and practice, and every weekend has also been packed so far. While I don’t have a car to leave Khammuang, someone’s always inviting me to bpai tiao, or go on an adventure. One of my co-teachers, P’Madchim, invited me to her hometown Maha Sarakham to attend an annual Chinese festival, and I spent the weekend there with her family, tagging along as she attended a cheerleading social at her university and visited friends and family from home.

The Chinese festival was so lively, and the streets were packed with food vendors, with the most popular dish being fried oyster pancakes. The next morning, after a walk around her beautiful neighborhood, I helped crack open some fresh coconuts from the market to add to our breakfast feast.

I was back in Maha Sarakham the next weekend, staying with P'Madchim again to attend her cousin's wedding. The wedding festivities started Friday night with a party filled with eating, singing, and dancing, and I was called to the front to dance with some of the grandmas. They taught me a little bit of Khon, the traditional Thai dance, and we danced the night away. There was a karaoke stage, which at some point I was standing on with P’Madchim, performing random English songs that the DJ could pull up. The guests would give tips and flowers to all the performers, and by the end of our three songs, we were feeling pretty rich.

Early the next morning, we went to the groom’s house to begin the wedding march, where all of the grooms guests bring presents and march to meet the bride and her guests at the wedding venue, an Isan wedding tradition. The venue was beautiful, and the entire ceremony, packed with Isan traditions, took several hours, as we feasted on all the home-cooked food.

The wedding feast, me and P'Madchim's mom, and some new friends!

The day after the wedding, P’Madchim drove me to Kalasin, where P’Boom, my other co-teacher, picked me up for our 10K on Sunday. We stayed the night at a hotel and got up early the next morning to start our race at 5:45. P’Boom had an extra bib, but only when I finished did I find out that it was registered under women’s ages 40-49, and I had placed first for this group. So when they called all the people who placed onto stage, I went up and took my first place trophy, and honestly, I don't think I stood out that much.

And of course, I have to include November's food gallery:

P’Boom taught me how to make green curry, P’Pom taught me how to make a pumpkin coconut dessert, and there have been several somtum making sessions at school. I think everyone’s favorite hobby is eating, and during competition week where we had online classes (which basically means no classes), we had a little feast in our language department office, ordering noodles and trying a bunch of different Thai snacks.

Anyway, another weekend, another adventure– it's 6am on Saturday right now, and I've just arrived in Bangkok!