The first Scout Camp was on Friday. This one was for grades 4-6, which meant that I didn’t see two of my Friday classes. It was held at the school. I was wondering how it would work at this school in the city. In the morning, students did large group activities in the common area. The loud speaker was on and was very loud, making it difficult to teach in the classes above it.
In the afternoon, they did the usual “challenge” activities in the open area across from the school. They some of the same ones my other schools always did
and a couple activities I hadn’t seen before—walking across a single rope holding onto an anchor rope that moved along with the walker and hoisting a student sitting in a bicycle tire up to a bell in a tree. Unlike the country schools, where students walked in the country five to ten minutes between activities, these students walked about 20 seconds between activities. That was the difference between Camp in the city and in the country. After the activities, they set up their tents in the field beside the blacktop and among the trees on the other side of the blacktop.
In the evening, they cooked dinner and had the “campfire.” I watched them cook for a few minutes and was given a taste of one group’s food. Then I went home.
The Camp for grades 1-3 is Monday and is only a one-day Camp. The Camp for grades 7-9 is Thursday and Friday. So no classes with them for two days, meaning that I’ll miss five of my classes next week. They’ll sleep at the school two nights.
Saturday Khun Toy and Khun Dakom had a blessing ceremony and lunch for Khun Kwan to celebrate her new status as a government teacher. They are quite proud of her. The lay leader who does the ceremonies in the village came. Many of the teachers from the village came. The student dancers from that school performed. Khun Kwan’s friends also attended. The party was also to celebrate Bitoy’s birthday on Thursday; so there was a table for her friends, too.
Kru Oy drove me to the hotel at 10:00. Khun Kwan, Khun Joy, and the girls were the only other people there. Others started arriving after 11:00. The ceremony began at 11:30. The lay leader chanted a blessing, mentioning Khun Kwan’s name several times. Then we did the string tying for Khun Kwan and Bitoy. Lunch was served: fish, sweet-sour pork with fruit and mushrooms, fish soup, and a couple dishes I couldn’t eat. Then the karaoke began. I sang my song and enjoyed dancing. As is usually the case, we left long (over an hour) after I was ready to leave.
I enjoyed seeing and greeting the teachers. Many commented on how good I looked. Khun Pannee suggested that I teach at the school again and live with her. She’s so sweet. Khun Kumtom’s grandson came up to me, said my name, and took my hand. He stood in front of me holding my hand, with my other hand on his shoulder, for a several minutes. Later, when I stopped at the table where he was sitting, he took my hand briefly again. He was my first friend in the village (He was 2.5 years old then), but we haven’t had much of a relationship other than an occasional greeting for a few years, and I’ve been gone almost a year. So I was quite touched by his wanting to connect with me. I wondered if it had to do with the recent death of his father.
The other interesting guest was Gary, the British man I met at my birthday party. He was here then for two weeks to meet the woman he had met on the Internet and see if he wanted to marry her. He returned in November and they spent ten days together in Phuket. They got married on Tuesday. He’s here for three months and then will return to England to work for seven months. I find myself fascinated by this aspect of the culture and the way the women treat the foreign men so much differently than they treat Thai men. And, of course, so much differently than a Western woman would treat the men, which, of course, is why they are looking for a Thai woman. Both get something they would not get from a marriage with someone from their own culture.
What seems to happen with these marriages is that they develop a culture of their own that is neither Thai nor Western. Blending of customs seems to be more toward Western—the male’s—customs. They usually hold hands in public or have their hand on the other person’s body. Thais do not publically display affection. But they also behave in ways that are neither Thai nor Western. An example of this occurred when we were eating with Bruce and Joy last week. They had already eaten and were relaxing while we ate, since we arrived much later than they did. Bruce sat leaning against the rails with his feet in Joy’s lap and she massaged his feet. This is not something he would do with an American; nor is it something that two Thais would do. But it is deemed OK because she is Thai and he is American. It’s what Thai women think Western men want, and it is probably what the men want from a Thai woman.
This is where I have some respect for Tony, who will probably marry Sampong soon. He bought (in her name, as foreigners can’t own property) some land outside Ubon two weeks ago, and she got officially divorced last week. They have been living together for over a year and have established a relationship, and she speaks enough English that they can communicate most of the time. This is different from the men who communicate on the Internet, come for a brief visit and then get married to someone they hardly know and have no common language with. Their relationship is also different in that Tony follows Sampong’s customs. Part of this may be because she is an older woman and is a strong person.
Khun Dakom told me that Khun Kwan would like to have a different job now but there are no jobs available. He added that new graduates are having in many fields are having trouble finding jobs.
He also told me that if I want to teach at the Amnat Charoen school, he will talk to Khun Somlan because the school has told Khun Somlan that they are interested in having me there when I finish at this school. I’m not interested in that school, as their classes have 50-60 students. In addition, I really feel like I’m done teaching here. But it was really sweet of him to ask. They do care about me.
Sunday afternoon I decided to go for a massage at a place I’ve seen on the main road, as my usual woman is gone for a few months. As I was leaving, Khun Dakom called and told me to go to his sister’s house for Chinese New Year. She is married to a Chinese (meaning Chinese ethnic Thai) man, and they were having a special lunch for the occasion. Another big lunch, featuring Chinese foods: duck, bamboo cooked a way I’ve not had it before, omelet with oysters, Chinese fruit for dessert, steamed buns, rice-wrapped sweet cooked in bamboo, Chinese (Mandarin) oranges, Chinese wine. I was sent home with a bag of Mandarin oranges. There were also some Thai foods that I couldn’t eat, but there was more than enough Chinese food; so that wasn’t a problem.
Weather this week was hot. I have a fan on most of the time. Thursday night and Friday morning it rained heavily. Fortunately, it stopped in time to go to school and didn’t interfere with the Scout Camp. It rained again briefly Saturday evening. This is the first precipitation we’ve had since October; so it is needed.
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