Christmas Is Coming (12-19)

The business of the week at school last week was decorating the classrooms. On Thursday there was a field trip that students went on for half of the day. The other half was spent decorating. I had planned to see two classes, as the third was during their field trip, but I saw none. I had a test scheduled for one class, but we postponed it till the next class. Who am I to tell students they have to take a test instead of decorating, especially when they were in the midst of the project.

Every classroom has a tree and a manger 

as well as bulletin boards, window decorations, and hanging decorations. 

Some of the mangers are quite creative; all are interesting. Most are made from recycled or natural materials. One of the competitions was for the best-decorated classroom.

The other event of the week was a series of contests. I was asked to read words for a spelling contest and to help judge a singing contest. When I asked why students were having a spelling contest, I learned that “Christmas belongs to the English department;” so there must be contests related to English. The spelling contest had Christmas words. The singing contest was not related to Christmas, but students sang in English. There was also a contest with questions related to information about Christmas, such as “How many reindeer pull Santa’s sleigh?” And there were contests for drawing a picture, drawing a picture with Paint, coloring a picture, and making cards.

Monday morning there was a special Blessing of the Manger mass. It was the usual mass, but I’m sure special words were said, and the music was Christmas music—some in English and some in Thai. I had been told that the ceremony would last all morning, and, therefore, there would be no morning classes. I was getting a little concerned when it looked like the mass was over before 10:00. Then things were moved around and the rest of the program began. It consisted mostly of giving out the awards for the various contests that were conducted last week. 

A group of kindergarten students danced, 

and three boys dressed as Santa threw candies to the crowd.

Saturday night I went with Khun Dakom and the group to a friend’s birthday party. The birthday man turned out to be the man who owns the various tutoring centers. There were about 120 people at the party, which was a nine-course dinner—shrimp, two salads, pork leg, fish, oysters, soup, rice, and fruit. Then cupcakes were brought to the tables. There was a stage show with the usual dancers and singer, and there was a slide show featuring photos throughout his life.

Weather: Last week it was very cold (by local standards) for a couple days. After not sleeping well one night due to being cold, I got out the comforter, which kept me cozy for the next two nights. After that, I now keep the comforter handy in case it is needed, which it is some nights.  During the cold spell, I was wearing a jacket in the house in the morning and evening. Some teachers and students wore scarves and jackets most of the day.

Adventure of the week: My Christmas box arrived on Thursday. When I picked it up after school, a 9^th grade boy was there and decided to help me. I told him I was going to the bus station. Our first stop was Khun Toom’s office to see what I had said. She translated, and he was ready to take me to the bus station. Outside the school, he put the box down, saying he would get his car. I was a bit surprised that he has a car. I needn’t have been surprised, as it was a motorcycle. The Thai word is the same, meaning vehicle. He also had his friend on the motorcycle with him. He put my package in front of him. I was thinking I would walk to the bus station and meet them there, but he motioned for me to sit behind his friend. Then we took off. I’ve ridden with a number of people, but this was my first ride with a 15-year-old full of macho hormones. We zoomed and stopped. We didn’t slow down much for turns. I was glad I was only going to the bus station, about a three-minute ride. It was nice of the boy to want to help me, but I was never happier to arrive at the bus station.

Two 6^th grade girls were in the songtaew with me and got off at the same place. They motioned that they would help me with the package. It was a bit heavy, and I didn’t know where they were going; so I let them carry it for a few minutes and then told them I had to turn down the road. It was sweet of them to help.

Feast Day (12-8)

Feast Day was Thursday. There was a special ceremony in the morning for the occasion. This is a Catholic special day honoring Mary. I think it’s known as Feast of the Assumption. Students all carried paper candle holders with paper “candles.” Teachers had real candles. I wondered if these were in imitation of the candles carried at Buddhist ceremonies. I’m not sure why we had them, as we didn’t do anything with them. 

A number of students had poinsettias, and the preschool students had other potted flowers. 

There was a parade around the school. A group of boys carried the statue of Mary on poles on their shoulders. 

They were followed by girls dressed in white. (I thought of them as the Vestal Virgins.) Then came the students carrying plants. They were followed by the students carrying the candle holders. Some of the preschool students lined the driveway near the preschool. Other students who did not walk in the parade were taken to line the driveway on the other side of the school. 

When everyone returned, the flowers were placed in front of the large statue of Mary outside the school. Then a priest said a few words. 

The girls in white danced around the statue that had been carried around the school. Everyone sang “Happy Feast Day to you” to the tune of “Happy birthday.” It was strange. A Sister talked briefly and all the students bowed to the statue and prayed. Then we went to class—only 20 minutes late.

In talking with Kate about Feast Day, I learned that in the Philippines, Mary is sometimes called “Mama Mary,” and God is called “Papa God.” She said these terms are often used with children, but she still uses them. She found aspects of the ceremony to be strange, different from her customs. A lot of it was Thai style—the parade and the candle holders and the singing.

Health: Last week after having a fever for five days that wouldn’t stay away more than a few hours after taking meds, I was feeling quite concerned about what was wrong. I decided to pay the extra money and go to the private hospital where the doctors all speak English well. Also because it crossed my mind that they might want me to stay and I’d rather stay there where people speak English than in the government hospital where they don’t speak much English. Also I didn’t feel like waiting for a couple hours to see the doctor at the government hospital, and service at the private hospital is quick. They don’t seem to be very busy, at least when I’ve been there. And I can get there easily on my own. The doctor ordered a blood test for dengue fever and a swab test for flu, both of which were negative. He said my throat was very inflamed. The doctor who gave me the results said I should stay home from school two or three more days. When I looked at her report for the school, it said I have bronchitis, which she didn’t mention. Stronger antibiotics and other meds were prescribed. Meds at this hospital are expensive, which is how they make their money. But the new antibiotics did the job and the fever stopped after taking the first one. Cost of the hospital visit and meds: 3000 bahts (about $100). This may not seem like much in the scheme of things, but it is almost one-fourth of my monthly income, which is a big chunk. So, this was another Thailand first: the first time I’ve missed a week of school for illness.

Friday afternoon Kru Toom, Kru Tang, and Kate came to visit. They brought me a huge basket of fruit. I guess that was a benefit of being home ill for a week. It was nice, and it was good to see them. The obligatory photo was taken (on their camera, not mine) showing me receiving the gift. Kru Tang explained that it was for their report to show everything the school has done. 

After the week and the weekend (three days because Monday was the king’s birthday/Fathers’ Day), I was able to return to school. I took it easy this week and took a bus to school and home instead of walking because my energy was still low. It got a little better every day, so I’m almost normal again. Fortunately, I was able to read through the illness, which is good, since I don’t have a TV and it kept me occupied.

We have another three-day weekend coming up for Constitution Day.

The school is getting ready for Christmas. Classrooms are being decorated. Students are preparing for the big program on the 23^rd. This will be interesting to see.

A Housewarming (11-28)

Last Saturday morning Khun Dakom called me at 8:00 and told me to come to breakfast “Now.” He had first mentioned lunch at a nearby restaurant and then he talked about breakfast at a teacher’s house opposite Khun Kwan’s house. So I was a little confused as to where to go. (I think I was an afterthought, as they were already there. Since I am not living near them, they don’t think about including me as often.) When I was part way there, Khun Suwit met me in his truck. It turned out that one of the teachers has bought the house across from Khun Kwan’s house and this was her house-warming party. Since I hadn’t been clear exactly what I was going for, I had not worn silk (a missed opportunity, as I hardly ever get to wear my silk skirts these days), but I was glad I had at least dressed in nice casual clothes.

               

Outside the house was an altar with a Hindu god and two masks. This was different; so I was curious to know what this was about. After the monks left (I missed their blessing of the house.), another man went around and tied string around the circumference of the lot. Then a man wearing animal skin patterned fabric came to the altar. A small group of people joined him there. 

He lit incense and prayed and then sprinkled water toward the entrance. After eating, we went in to see the house. A small group of people was sitting in the living room around this priest. He used one of the masks to bless people. Some came out with a gold patch on their foreheads. When I asked him, Khun Dakom was able to tell me a little about this. He said it’s a religion originally from India, not a branch of Buddhism; so I think it is Hinduism. He said many people in Thailand follow this religion. It’s not something I’ve encountered before; so it was interesting to see. I thought it was interesting, too, that they had both the Buddhist monks and this Hindu priest. Walking through the house, I noticed that the bedroom was set up for the monks.

I’m enjoying my weekend tutoring group. They’re fun, and it gives me something to do with social contact on the weekend. They want to have general conversation; so that’s what we do. We chat and see what language comes up that need practice. Speaking practice is always good for the students, since they don’t get that in class. They do pretty well. I learned that Khun Dang does laundry on Saturday for four people. It takes her three hours to wash the clothes and two hours to iron them. That’s quite a chunk of time for laundry. She doesn’t have a machine.

The women invited me to have lunch with them on last Sunday. They cooked special food that was quite good. We chatted in English, which is a challenge since they don’t know much. But it was fun. These experiences always remind me what it’s like for Thai people to have to decipher my Thai. They have talked to their school director about my teaching there next year and he is interested. They asked how much money I want. I’m putting this on hold, as I don’t think I’m interested.

At school, the boom, boom, boom was back for a couple days but not as loudly as last week. Thursday and Friday students spent an hour practicing standing in a greeting double line to greet the government officials who will visit the pre-school on Monday. (The officials will walk between the two lines of facing students the center.) Unfortunately, both practices were when I didn’t have class. Even my larger school didn’t spend that much time practicing the greeting line. More “We have to do it better because we’re a private school” I guess.

The other excitement on Friday was when the firemen came. (Another missed class that didn’t affect me.) I don’t know what they talked about, but they demonstrated lighting gas coming out of the gas tank, the kind that everyone has in their kitchen. The students loved seeing the huge flames. They did this several times.

My 8^th grade make-up English class was last week. Only half of the students came. Kru Toom told each student about the opportunity; so I guess the rest weren’t interested. They worked well in class but did more talking to share answers than the 7^th grade did, which is not a surprise, as that’s what they do in class all the time. And I didn’t notice any changes in their classroom behavior like I did with the 7^th graders, most of whom are now trying to do the work. Those who aren’t trying truly can’t do anything. I really feel bad for them. I’m trying to point to the words they need to copy. I’m thinking about having them come in the morning and just giving them the answers to copy. I don’t want to do that in class, as they’ll get circulated—no matter what I do.

I spent the weekend being ill—fever and then a cough and congested chest. When the fever was still there Sunday, I went to the clinic. The doctor gave me four medicines: antibiotics for the pharangitis (I hadn’t realized I had a sore throat but she said it was infected.), one for the chest mucus, one for the fever, and cough syrup. (Cost 140 bahts, about $4.60) Since I still had a fever Monday morning, I went to school to listen to Bank, since his competition is Tuesday, and then came home.

Random acts of kindness:

One day a woman riding her motorcycle in my neighborhood asked where I was going and then told me to get on. When she dropped me off and I started to walk, she asked again where I was going and said she’d take me to the bus station, which is near the school and most people know. We stopped at the morning market where she purchased some soy milk from a woman I sometime buy from. Then we delivered the milk to a woman and boy. That woman told the driver what school I teach at. I have no idea who she is and we were not near anywhere I walk; so I don’t know how she knows me. Then the driver understood where I was going. When she let me off at the intersection to the school, Kru Oy pulled over and took me the rest of the way.

At the morning market Saturday, I bought some cookies from a woman I sometimes buy such things from. Then she gave me a pack of buns, saying that I teach her son, who is in 5^th grade at the school.

Sports Day for Students (11-19)

At school, there were two events this week: academic competitions and Sports Day. As a result, I saw six of my nineteen classes this week. Because of the competitions and preparations for Sports Day, most classes were missing a third to half of the students.

Academic competitions were Tuesday and Wednesday. The English competitions were Tuesday. I was a judge for the spelling bee, and Kate and Lovely were judges for speech. I’m not sure why Tony was not a judge; perhaps because he didn’t have a student he worked with. Monday the three of us were taken to a meeting for most of the morning. It was not helpful, and we didn’t need to be there. The man in charge said would pronounce a word, say a sentence with it, and then pronounce the word again. I was to prepare sentences. Then they decided that I shouldn’t prepare sentences because I’m a native speaker and might make them too difficult. So the other judges would prepare sentences in the morning. When I arrived and asked for the words and sentences, I was told that I would just say the words two times. No sentences.  The women there didn’t seem to know what I was talking about when I told her about the meeting on Monday. Oh, well. Khun Toom had asked me to practice spelling with her 6^th grade student so he could get used to my voice. She gave me a list of words that I thought looked like an official list. It was. It was the words that were prepared for the contest. Sister Toom also asked me to pronounce words for her 9^th grade student. She, too, gave me the official list of words that were in the contest. At the contest, I wondered how many others had the official list to practice with. Sister Toom’s boy had missed about ten words on Monday, but he was the winner at the contest—perhaps because he missed the words and then practiced them. Kru Toom’s boy was second at the contest, having tied with a girl twice and then lost in the second extra round that had special words that were not on the original list and were very difficult for that level.

When I finished the spelling contest, I went to the storytelling contest hoping to see Bank. The contest had started and I didn’t know if he had presented yet or not. He hadn’t; so I got to see him. He was fantastic. He really rallied for the presentation and did a wonderful job. He’d been excellent at school on Monday, but he was even better at the contest. He took first place with a score of 94 out of 100. I am very proud of him. He will go on to the next level, which is the contest for all public and private schools in Ubon. (This week’s contests were only between the private schools. The public schools have their contests next week.) People kept congratulating me on the good job, but I had good material to work with. He had good skills when we started and is highly motivated and is an extrovert, all of which contributed to his success. Sister Viphaporn told me she is very happy, as is the Mother Superior, who knows about my winning student.

On the way back to school, we had lunch at a food shop, which was a special treat for the students—and teachers. When I went to my afternoon class, there were no students. I knew that many would be at the competition, but I knew that some would be at school. When I asked about them, I was told they were “somewhere.” We weren’t worrying about the fact that their location wasn’t known. OK with me. I had just thought the students left, who would not be the top students, could review and practice vocabulary, which they could use.

Spots Day was Friday. It was originally scheduled to be last week but was changed till 30 November. When I saw the bleachers and altar set up, I wondered if it had been changed to this week. The other teachers in the office had learned about the change, another example of the lack of communication of information. In preparation, students practiced for the opening parade every day in the morning and during the 3:00 class for two weeks. And some also practiced at 4:00; so we had our make-up class to the boom, boom, boom of the drum while they rehearsed. They played football during the lunch break. My other schools didn’t spend so much time practicing for the parade. When I mentioned this to Khun Yindee, she said, “It’s because it’s a private school” and explained that it’s all about showing the parents what their students can do.

Thursday I heard Kru Tang tell the students to come to school at 6:00. That, of course, means that teachers had to be there, too. It takes a long time to get their makeup and costumes ready for special events. When I arrived at 7:30, the school was practically empty. The parade started somewhere else. About twenty minutes later, we heard the drums heralding the arrival of the parade. 

The ASEAN country flags were all carried. This is definitely a big theme this year.

 I would say that more students were in costumes than at the other schools and more flags were carried, but other than that, and considering that it is a much larger school, it didn’t seem more spectacular than the other parades. 

There were also many more preschool students in costumes. A number of parents walked along with their young children. Many of the students were dressed up only for the parade and opening ceremony. It’s all show. At the other schools, the costumed students presented dances to the VIPs and were cheerleaders. Here, only about twenty were cheerleaders. Only three groups presented dances, and they weren’t in the parade. The others were truly there only for show during the parade and opening ceremony and changed into regular clothes afterwards.                  

After everyone gathered in the common area, we waited about twenty minutes for the important men to arrive for the opening ceremony. I felt bad for the students standing in the sun. After everyone walked out in order, the morning activities began.

Everyone was divided into four teams; I was on the purple/violet team. We wore shirts showing our color. 

Students walked in the parade and sat in color groups. 

Some students were the cheering squad and sat in bleachers. Each team also had a small group of cheerleaders. Others seemed to roam around most of the morning. I think a lot of students went home. There was a long break during which students practiced cheering and the cheerleaders practiced. Then the teachers played football. Since I’m not a lover of sports, I spent the rest of the morning in the office.

After lunch, students gathered in the bleachers and the rest of the students present sat and watched. The running races took place. Then there was a contest between the cheerleaders. After each group performed/danced, the teachers danced by color groups. Next was the tug-of-war contest between the groups. After that, students took down the decorations for their section of the bleachers. Then it was time for the usual closing ceremony before going home.

I was surprised how few sports were actually played on this Sports Day. At my other school, students played football and volleyball. They also played chairball and tacraw at the larger school. The day was about students playing sports and supporting their team. Here, most of the time, the students were not involved in sports and only a small group of each team was involved in cheering. In the morning, when I asked about other sports contests, I got a vague answer. When I asked about football, I learned that they had had football contests during lunch. I had thought they were practicing for Sports Day. So the day wasn’t really a Sports Day; it was a Fun Day. And the students had fun. I’m glad it’s finally over, as the boom, boom, boom was getting to be a bit much.

At 5:00, the end of the teachers’ day, there was a dinner/small party for all teachers. They served salad, chicken noodle soup, and ice cream.

Other news of the week:

I’ve been enjoying my after school make-up class with the 7^th grade students who failed last term. I required that they attend a special class for one week for English and one week for science. I think most of them have special needs that are not, and cannot be, addressed in the large class. Working with them in this small group reminds me how much I have enjoyed working with such students over the years, helping them learn that they can do learn and do the work and they are not stupid. They have really worked in this class and most of them are trying to do the work. With the small group, I can make them read on their own. Most of them can do something with support and with time to do it. They are, of course, highly motivated to change their grade, which also helps. A few, however, cannot do anything. I talked with Khun Toom about this latter group and about giving them a passing grade when they really can’t do anything. She said it’s up to me in the end. We’ll have a meeting about a couple of the students. Those who chose not to attend the class will fail.

The 8^th grade students finally asked about improving their “0’s.” So next week I’ll start with them. I’m not as enthused about raising their grades, as most of them are the ones who just talk and do nothing in class and then copy answers for two minutes and think I should be happy and praise them because they have completed the work. I have finally realized that they are probably surprised at their failing grade because they “do” the work and think they are being good students. The fact that they have failed every test did not sink in. I’ll make more effort to make that clear this term. I also realized that they did not get mid-term grades other than the grades of their exam, which they didn’t pay attention to. I’ll make those clearer this term, too.

All this making up grades (Students will have 10-25 points added to their grade to make it 50.) makes me wonder if I should just give in and give them their 50 passing grade in the first place and save myself the extra work. Knowing myself, that won’t happen, but sometimes I wish I could just do that.

Loy Kratong in the City (11-13)

Loy Kratong was Thursday. This is the special day to give thanks to water. I always enjoyed this special day in the village and was curious to see how it was celebrated in the city. The tessaban (local government) had an event that night, which was what I expected because I knew they had had celebrations there before. On Wednesday, there was a large, pink lotus in the middle of the pond and there were signs announcing the event.

At school on Loy Kratong, the pre-school students celebrated. There was a large kratong in a small plastic pool that was put out for the occasion. Students carried small kratongs around the school building in the morning and then left them in the pool.

On the way home, I decided to stop at the tessaban to see what was happening. It was only 5:30 and things were just beginning, but there were a lot of food stalls set up and ready to sell food. So I purchased a few items for my evening meal—not one of my most nutritious meals but it was good. People started to arrive over the next hour. 

Several very large kratongs from different neighborhoods were on display. (The village did this, too, but they kratongs were brought to the event in small parades from the neighborhoods.) A lot of small kratongs were for sale. (Some were for sale in the village, but many people made their own.) I noticed that they were on styrofoam, not the traditional banana tree sections. Banana trees are not abundant and expendable in the city. Hot air balloons were for sale, and a number of people bought them and set them off. (There were only a few of these in the village.) 

Some people who were part of the stage program were wearing traditional clothing. When I asked to take a photo of a few, they had me join them and took photos, too. 

At about 7:00, I was surprised to see Khun Kwan all dressed up. She was a judge for the stage shows.

The stage show started with the older people wearing traditional clothing. They then went to the pond and placed kratongs in the water in pairs. A man was taking official photos of this; so I guess these were important people. 

Other people placed kratongs in the pond off and on. Given the number of people there, I was surprised how few kratongs were in the water. (In the village almost everyone put a kratong in the pond.)

After the official placing of kratongs in the water, I turned around and saw Sister Viphaporn. She and another Sister were walking around. When they realized I was alone and planning to walk home, Sister Viphaporn had me join them and said her driver would take me home. We joined her cousin sitting on a mat for a while. Khun Kwan walked past and was happy to see that I was now with someone. Then we walked around the pond to look at the kratongs on display, as they hadn’t done that yet. I do enjoy her as a person even though I don’t agree with many of her school decisions and I know most of the teachers do not like her.

Sunday we (Khun Dakom, Khun Toy, Khun Teamjan, and I) made our bi-monthly trip to the hospital to renew our prescriptions. They picked me up at 7:00, which meant they left home at 6:00. We had our blood taken by 7:20. Khun Toy had gone upstairs when we arrived to get a number to see the doctor. We ate breakfast and then we waited to see the doctor, who started to work at 9:00. At 11:00 we were finished and went to the pharmacy. The waiting room there didn’t have nearly as many people as it usually has, and we left at 11:20 with our meds. The doctor’s nurse had announced that prescriptions would be given only for 30 days because the supply is low because of flooding in Bangkok and they don’t know what will be happening in terms of delivery over the next month. So we got two prescriptions for 30 days and have to return to the hospital next month to get the second part. But we don’t have to see the doctor then; so it shouldn’t take so long. I wondered if the waiting room at the pharmacy was not crowded because of the low supply of meds.

When we left, I was anticipating lunch at the Chinese duck noodle restaurant, as usual. But after a bit, Khun Toy said we were joining Khun Dakom’s friend. This was Khun Slim, whom I’d met before at the grand opening of his sons’ tutoring schools. Khun Dakom talked to him about me (I think), and he said I can teach English at his school next year if I want to. I had remembered that Khun Dakom has a friend with a school and had thought about asking him about it; so it was nice to have this offer. It is something I will consider, as it could be a good thing to do for a few months until Khun Toy’s retirement. We’ll see.

The lunch was at a restaurant that advertises its shrimp. There is a huge sculpture of a shrimp on the way in. We had a lot of grilled shrimp that was delicious as well as several other dishes. Khun Slim’s wife bought some grilled shrimp to take home. As always, it was really good to hang out with my special friends.

Teachers had a seminar at the school all day Saturday and Sunday. Khun Irene reported that they were at school from 8:00 Sunday morning until 7:00 PM. As always, I’m glad we do not have to participate.