Koh Mook and Trang

As you might be able to tell from the less than friendly sky in the picture above, Thailand is done with its dry season this year. Songkran, the Thai new year, marked the transition into the rainy season, which means there's a good chance of a rain-shower every day, even if only for a half hour or so.

Koh Mook (also spelled Koh Muk) is one of the Trang Islands. Which I find a bit of a misnomer, because Trang Town is actually about an hour from the coast. But if you're going by province name instead of city name, I guess it works. I stayed in Koh Mook for a week, mostly to avoid the Songkran furor--which might seem silly, since it's a big festival and I don't foresee being in Thailand to experience it a second time, but I just wasn't in the mood for crowds. It was nice to have a week in which to swim, read, and chill out on the beach. It wasn't quite as nice as the place Rachael and I stayed on Koh Chang, but I suppose part of traveling is the risk that each new place won't always top the last. But it was a nice beach to swim at--which doesn't always happen--and it was as far from crowded as I could imagine a tourist destination to be. The worst bit was probably the mosquitos that hurried to greet me at the door of my bungalow. I did get to have the experience of sleeping under a mosquito net, however--which was quite fun, actually--and I can at least say that I didn't get a single mosquito bite while I slept. On the downside, the running water in the bungalow bathroom smelled strongly of rust and didn't look the clearest when you got a sink full of it. Sometimes I find it so strange that I used to be able to drink water from the tap in America.

Trang town was more a transition than anything else--a place to regroup and decide where to go next. I stayed at a nice little hotel and thoroughly enjoyed the flushing toilet, air conditioning, lack of mosquitos, and available wifi in the room. Other than that, my two nights there were unremarkable. I did go to a street market while there, which had amazing food (one booth sold fresh-tasting chocolate chip cookies, which was a real nostalgia punch) and really excellent orange slushie-type drinks made from fresh-squeezed orange juice (or possibly tangerine?). The town itself was fairly standard, as Thai towns go, not much remarkable except a main street that boasted a center divid with Christmas lights (I suppose I should just call them twinkle lights since they're not associated with Christmas here?), and decorative street lights:

Chiang Mai

Ok, I've been remiss in posting. I went to Chiang Mai for five days after Phimai, and I haven't been quite sure exactly what to write about it. For a start, though, the picture above is the view from my window at the guest house.

So, what to say about Chiang Mai . . . I think I could quite easily live there. It's beautiful, and it's a big city without the feel of Bangkok's unmanageable traffic. I arrived ridiculously early in the morning from having taken the night bus, and spent a good half hour just wandering around the Old City, which is full of temples and guesthouses and various attractions. All the larger buildings are outside the Old City, which still has the remnants of the old city wall and gates into it.

My favorite part was probably the Sunday walking street market, which is easier to walk around than the weekend market in Bangkok. For the week I was there, one of the main roads in the Old City was being torn up and repaved, which basically meant that part of the walking street market took place on a dirt road. It made for a very strange atmosphere. But it was fun to wander around and see everything that was being sold, taste various things, and listen to music from street performers. (I also went to the Saturday walking street market the day before, which was outside the Old City and very similar, but on a smaller scale--the Sunday one was better.)

I was very lazy about my time in Chiang Mai--partially because I had the beginnings of a sore throat. So I didn't do as much sight-seeing as I might have otherwise, but I had a very enjoyable week of sleeping in, wandering around, drinking fruit smoothies, and writing. I did go to Chiang Mai's art and culture museum (which turned out to be more culture, less art, but was still ok), and to Chiang Mai's zoo and aquarium. The zoo was a bit of a strange experience--far from the norm in American zoos where there are signs against feeding any of the animals, most of the non-carnivore animals had a stand near their enclosures, with baskets of food you could give to them for 20 baht. I'm not in the habit of essentially feeding money to animals, but it did make for some interesting differences in the behavior of the animals--for one thing, it meant all the animals were a lot closer than in American zoos. For another, it meant animals like ostriches and giraffes would follow you along the fences of their enclosures with an expectant look that borders on creepy. One of the funnier things I saw during the entire trip was a hippo surprising a tourist by bursting out of the water right in front of her, mouth open.

The aquarium was, alas, a little disappointing. The Chiang Mai aquarium's claim to fame is having the longest underwater viewing tunnel. It was ok, but what they don't tell you is that it's longest because it zig-zags, not because it goes through a particularly long or large tank. The bigger disappointment was that I'm pretty sure all the coral in the saltwater portion was fake.

A few other random pictures from the zoo, to show you just how close some of the animals were:

And of course, I couldn't visit Chiang Mai without going to see some of the temples. The temple seen from my room at the guest house in the top picture, by the way, is just a small, random temple, not one of the larger or more famous ones. I went to see Wat Chedi Luang around six in the evening, which meant it was almost empty, although I could tell from various signs it's one of the temples that gets a lot of traffic during the day. There was a newer, fairly standard temple in front:

And an older, preserved temple in back:

And some rather beautiful smaller shrines around the edges of the grounds:

My favorite discovery from the visit was actually a sign asking people to remove their shoes, if only because of what was directly above the sign, almost looking as if it would hunt down the people who didn't obey the sign:

I'd love to go back to Chiang Mai sometime. There's too much I didn't see, and it's too beautiful a city to only see once.

Phimai

So, according to statistics, 90% of tourists in Thailand don't visit the northeast region. But, looking through the guidebook, it seemed like there was some pretty cool stuff up there, so I decided to give it a go. After two days, I ended up deciding to follow the 90%. Not because what I saw wasn't completely amazing, but because, looking closer, it's quite difficult to get to a lot of the interesting places. You really need a car or independent (code: more expensive) transportation. But, my short experience was immensely worthwhile. Everyone I met was super friendly, and the things I saw were beautiful.

I took a bus from Bangkok to Korat (short for Nakhon Ratchisma), and a bus from Korat to Phimai. Phimai is just a little bigger than Doembangnangbuat, actually. They have more stoplights and a historical park, but otherwise, it's maybe twice the size of the town where I teach. My general practice while traveling is to arrive somewhere mid-afternoon to early evening, scope out a guesthouse, and just drop in to see if they have rooms available. I'd picked one out from the guidebook, found it, and had to pick another one--the first was under construction and clearly closed. The owners of the second guesthouse, Kru Pom Guesthouse, were really friendly, and we just sat and talked for a while when I first checked in.

I slept in the first morning, relishing in the fact that I could. But around lunchtime I headed over to the historical park, thinking it would probably be quite small, given the size of the town surrounding it, and unlikely to be worth much attention. I'm happy I was proven so wrong. I explored all the nooks and crannies of the temple thoroughly, and had a great time (if a little hot--it was midday, after all). Some of the interesting happenings: one of the workers chasing a dog out of the main temple building; walking behind a group of young monks (teenagers or even younger, I think) on a guided tour; and having a worker come up to me and hand me half a pomegranate, telling me the word for pomegranate in Thai and having me repeat it (tuptim). The historical park is a beautiful place, and I went a little camera-happy . . .

For those who are curious, the picture at the top of the post is the figure in the main, central temple at Phimai. The thing above the head is a seven-headed snake, or naga.

Entering the main gate in the outer wall

View of the main building from within the outer wall

View from a window

Detail on a door frame

Detail on a door lintel

Path (nee hallway) around the main temple grounds, just inside the outer wall (the windows on the left look in) 

Just inside the main temple

View of main temple figure (the picture at the top of the post) from the side, from a window in the outer wall

A huge tree behind the main temple

Steps leading to the back of the outer wall

Another view behind the outer wall (with a monk in the distance)

Pieces of the ruins piled neatly and respectfully, waiting to be restored someday 

Pomegranate

(Just because I know my mom will read this and want a picture of me) 

The second attraction at Phimai is Sai Ngam, the oldest and largest banyan tree in Thailand. Pom, the owner of the guesthouse and a retired teacher, let me borrow a bicycle to go the 2 kilometers to see the tree. I expected to find something huge that a bunch of people wouldn't be able to link arms around. As it turns out, the banyan tree of Sai Ngam is one of those trees that looks like lots of little trees, but they all come from the same root system. So you get to technically walk "into" the tree, which looks like a forest, and there are lots of streamers tied around various bits, and flags draped over the whole thing, and a shrine complete with incense and the picture of a queen who visited the tree back in the early 1900s. It was very peaceful to walk through, but didn't take much time to see/appreciate. Afterward, having seen just about everything Phimai had to offer, I went back to the guesthouse, looked for more things that would be easy to see in NE Thailand, did some calculations about ease of travel, time, and cost, and made the decision to go straight to Chiang Mai the next day. Farewell to the Northeast. A beautiful, if shortened, experience. 

The entrance--good thing I've been practicing reading Thai letters! 

Next to the shrine

Concrete support for some parts of the tree

Koh Chang

I'll admit, I wasn't quite sure where to go first for my holiday. There's just so much to choose from. I planned on going to Chiang Mai, but changed plans when the school asked me to do the two weeks of activity days. So, after going to Ayutthaya last Friday to take care of my immigration 90-day check-in, I went to Bangkok to meet up with Rachael, as per my usual weekend routine. She'd decided to go to her favorite resort Koh Chang this week, and let me tag along.

We took the night bus on Monday, which saved beach time, but wasn't easy to sleep on. Apparently the bus was faster than normal, because we got to the bus station closest to the island at 5 am instead of 6. After some waiting around (and dozing), we got a sorng-taew to the ferry, the hour-long ferry to the island, and a 45-minute sorng-taew to Nature Resort on Lonely Beach.

It was . . . beautiful. There's no other way to describe it. The water was clear and perfect, and when I went swimming in the morning once, I practically had the beach to myself--little fish swam around my legs, trying to decide if I might be something huge and tasty, but were shy enough not to give me the same kind of trouble as I got from the fish at Erawan Falls. I spent a lot of the week reading and drinking fruit smoothies in the shade. I didn't really feel any pressing need to go trekking or sightseeing or any of the normal island activities. It was a little too easy to just stay put. The accommodation was cheap, the staff were kind, air conditioning was rendered completely unnecessary by sea breezes, butterflies were everywhere around the bungalows, and the whole place was just . . . beautiful. Relaxing. A perfect, easy-going first week to my travels.

Here's the resort, looking back through the restaurant/bar area toward reception, and looking toward the beach:

(For those who are curious, the picture at the top of the post is a half-finished milkshake from a restaurant up the road. Huge, refreshing, and delicious!)

Tomorrow, I'm off to explore the North. And the Northeast. Travel itinerary is ranging from flexible to undecided at the moment, but it will be an adventure!

English camp

I mentioned last post I was asked to do two weeks of activity days for the top class in each grade level. Matthayom 3, 4, and 5 (American equivalent would be 9th, 10th, and 11th grade) each got two days, and Matthayom 1 and 2 (American equivalent would be 7th and 8th grade) each got one day.

I decided to design the activities so they were pretty much do-able for any level, and that way I could re-use the activities for most of the days since I didn't have a ton of preparation time. I themed each day around music. Conversation practice revolved around favorite types of music, songs, and bands. Each class learned the lyrics to "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction, and the three older classes got to choose another song to learn on the second day. We played a guessing game with music genres, and I had one activity where I hid clues around the room. The students were divided into teams, and one person on the team would stay at the table and write while everyone else would go around the room finding the clues and then come back to tell them to the team writer. Once everyone had all the clues, they filled in a chart based on the clues. It was great to get them up and moving around, although I did have one student who, clearly bored during one of the activities before the find-the-clues game, found one near his desk, wadded it up into a tiny ball, and threw it across the room. Sometimes teen and pre-teen behavior is the same no matter what country you're in.

Each of the groups in all the classes formed their own bands for one activity (so they had to decide what they'd call their band, what kind of music they would play, who would play what instrument, and so on). On the second day for the older classes, I had the students pick out rhymes from the lyrics they'd learned, and then try to use rhymes to write a few lines of their own. Some of the classes went all out and put their lyrics to the tune of a song they already knew and sang it when the time came to share with the class. One of the groups even arranged guitar accompaniment. It was very impressive!

The activity days were a lot of fun, although it was a little exhausting to teach for the whole day. Having a microphone spared me any strain on my voice, which sometimes does funny things if I'm trying to make myself heard for a long period of time. It was nice to be in a room that allowed for a lot of different activities. I also liked that the students didn't have any homework from other classes to try to sneakily work on while I was teaching!

And now, I'm on holiday for two months! Lots of travel to come!

What Happened to February?

I know it's the shortest month, but usually February drags for me. Not so this year. I turned around and the month had disappeared. Also, the semester ended.

Looking back, there are a few good explanations for why February flew. The first was that I basically had five weeks between midterms and finals, so work was quite busy as I tried to fit everything I felt I should into the last "half" of the term. The second possible justification was that I got sick again. I only took two days off school, but I did work quite a bit when I wasn't feeling my best, simply because if you only see your students once a week--and you've only got so many weeks left--missing even one day suddenly makes a huge difference. I also got inundated with late work, as students tried (and sometimes failed) to get past homework in before I had to turn in grades. I think I may have to be a bit firmer on deadlines after the break.

So, here are some of the more memorable experiences from February:

-Every class being amazed by a koosh ball I brought in for review games the last week before finals.

-A class meeting me as I rode my bike up to the building their class is normally in, and telling me something had happened with a dog in the classroom. I don't know whether the dog in question relieved itself, threw up, or died in that classroom, but the general conveyance was that it was too stinky to have class. We had class in the open air lower level of the building, where the students sat on the ground at some low study tables. Instead of the usual whiteboard/blackboard routine, I wrote on a piece of paper and walked around showing it to all the students. Interesting variation, but not the most contained classroom experience.

-Being attacked with stickers on Valentine's Day.

-Having class in a non-airconditioned room where the fans were broken. It makes a difference!

-Being asked six days before-hand if I would organize activity days for the top students in each grade level for next week. It will be mostly games, and given the classes I'll be working with, it should be quite fun, but the planning is quite last minute.

-Procrastinating making solid plans for the two-month break (which turned out to be a good thing because of the point above). I have a list of places I want to see, and a rough idea of when I want to see them, but have avoided dates so far. Hopefully I'll nail those down before the activity days finish two weeks from now. . .

-Believing for two to three weeks after I was sick that I still didn't have my full energy back because riding my bike to school was so draining. But, as it turns out, it's only draining if you're riding a bike with flat tires. When I realized what was happening, I started walking my bike (which was less effort) only to have someone from the school tell me to stop so he could take the bike to the school and fix the tires. Seriously, in case it hasn't been said by now, Thais are the most helpful people in the world.

-Getting home from Bangkok around nine at night one Sunday, and having the security guard not only open the gate so I could get my bike and ride home, but follow me on his own bike to make sure I got home safely. Have I mentioned how nice Thai people are? And how I feel completely safe traveling on my own in this country? It's incredible.

-The beginning of the hot season. The cool season in Thailand lasts two months. Blink, and you might miss it.

Copycats

I think I mentioned several posts ago that Thai culture has this thing about saving face. Basically, a student's peers will do all they can to save him or her from embarrassing situations, like not having the correct answer in class or not having their homework done. Which means that even though copying is against the rules--and even Thai teachers say the students shouldn't do it--it's a ubiquitous practice anyway.

I've tried a few times to find ways around the copycat syndrome. For example, one of the assignments I asked my second year students to do was to draw their family trees, label each person with a name, and write six sentences about the relationships within their family tree (John is Tom's father, Mary is Paul's wife, etc). I congratulated myself on the idea--not that it's a particularly original one, but it should have gotten the students applying the vocabulary to themselves, making it more significant and personal. I figured that even if their family was really small--if there was a student who was an only child, say--they could at least do reverse relationships, which means they should be able to come up with six sentences even if they have three people in their family. And given that, from what I've seen, Thais often live with extended families, I figured they should be able to find even more sentences. Some students followed the assignment beautifully, and I could tell they'd gone to great effort to draw each member of their families. They even used the more complicated vocabulary words, like uncle and niece and cousin. As for the rest of the students . . . I got identical family trees from perhaps half of the class, and all of them were identical to the sample family tree I'd drawn on the board during class when we were practicing the vocabulary. They had different names, but the same minimalistic number of brothers, sisters, and so on. On several students' papers, I found that the names on the family tree didn't match the names in the sentences--basically, they'd changed the names on the diagram, but forgot to change the names when they copied each other's sentences. Frustrating to grade? You bet! The sad thing? This happens (in varying degrees) in nearly all the class levels I teach, with all of the assignments I give.

Intellectually, I know this is a cultural thing. I know I'm not going to change this part of the students' culture, nor do I particularly want to--getting rid of the saving face thing would get rid of so many other beautiful aspects of Thai culture. But having students that limit themselves to copying each other's work and memorizing things means having students that are limiting their own abilities to learn a new language. Language is about creativity. You haven't mastered a word or concept in a new language until you've experimented with it and used it in a new way, a way that hasn't just been handed to you. So with the copycat challenge of teaching where I am, I start wondering how much I'm actually teaching my students, and whether they'll remember anything I've taught them--and be able to use it.