I returned from my vacation in southern Laos on Tuesday, a day earlier than planned. Khun Yindee had sent me a text message (I was surprised my phone could receive a message in Laos.) that Khun Kumton’s son had been in an accident and died. I responded and asked her to e-mail information about the funeral so I could attend if possible. Since it was on 3 January, it was not difficult to change my plans and return.
When leaving Don Khone, I met Lior, a young woman from Israel who was traveling alone to Bangkok and wanted to spend a night in Ubon rather than do the whole trip in one day. Since we got along well, I invited her to stay at my home for the night. She has been traveling for eight months in Mongolia, China, Kyrgyzstan, and Laos. After two weeks in Thailand, she will go to India for two months and then return home. I enjoyed hatting with her. It was fun to introduce her to Thai foods at the market. Tuesday I cooked vegetables for dinner, and she especially enjoyed the home-cooked meal.
Tuesday morning she needed to use the Internet; so we went to my neighbors’ house, and they were happy to assist. These are the people who lived in the U.S. twenty years ago. Their big news was that they have bought a house in Louisiana, where their children live. It is being built and will be finished in a couple months. They gave Lior a silk scarf and a calendar with pictures of elephants from murals in one of the wats. I was given a canvas and plastic bag for shopping, since they see me walk to the market. Since Lior couldn’t take the calendar in her bag, she gave it to me, which was especially nice because I really like the pictures and didn’t have a 2012 Thai calendar.
Tuesday afternoon Khun Yindee and her husband took me to the funeral. On the way, she told me the story of the young man’s death. It was as I had suspected: he was driving drunk and had an accident. After drinking in the village, he had decided to go to the city. He was driving fast and too close to a truck. When the truck turned, he ran into it. He was taken to the hospital where he died. He was 35 years old and left his wife with two young children—almost 7 and almost 4 years old. It’s sad, especially since the accident and death could have been avoided if drinking and driving were not so acceptable in this culture.
I knew the funeral would be huge, as Khun Kumtom is an important person in the village and the district. There were at least a thousand people there. We arrived after the service started and sat outside. Since we couldn’t see or hear, Khun Yindee and I had a nice chat. Everyone around us was also chatting with their neighbors. After the ceremony, we gave our envelopes with money to Khun Kumtom. Some of the money will go to the man’s wife; some will help pay for the funeral expenses. Then we joined the line to put paper flowers on the altar beside the casket. As we exited, we were given a pen. The man’s wife was at the table and thanked me for coming. I don’t know her well, but she was always friendly when I saw her, which is one of the reasons I wanted to be there. It just seemed like the right thing to do, and I was glad I had made the effort to get there.
In addition to having time with Khun Yindee, another benefit of attending the funeral was that I saw some of my village and school friends. Khun Wantana and Khun Hom from Nam Tuam were there and greeted me with a big hug. It was really nice to see them again.
Khun Yindee wanted to take Lior to the bus station that night. I had asked my neighbors to do that when I wasn’t sure how long we would be away for the funeral. We changed our plans so Khun Yindee would have the opportunity to help.
Wednesday school started again. The week went well, especially since it was short and about nine students in each of the 7th and 8th grade classes were absent, taking extended holidays.
Friday there was a special ceremony in the morning to give teachers presents for New Year’s. All teachers sat at the front, and 9th grade student sat in front of each of us with the gift. All students prayed and said some things about being good to teachers (according to the teacher next to me). The gifts were a cup and a clock inside a large plastic bag.
Sunday we went to the hospital for our bi-monthly cholesterol check. The surprise of the day was that we were assigned to a new doctor. The other one is a kidney specialist and is now seeing only kidney-related patients. The new woman was quite nice and speaks English fairly well; so I was OK with the change. The doctor didn’t start seeing patients until 10:00, but the pharmacy was faster delivering the meds; so we were on our way to duck noodle soup for lunch by noon. As always, it was good to hang out with Khun Toy and Khun Dakom. I asked about her going to America after she retires. That idea has been cancelled because her children want her to help them. Khun Kwan wants a new, small car so they will have two vehicles, and Khun Adin wants a new house. So, they will use her retirement money to help their children. I wasn’t surprised by this news, as I had anticipated that she would not go in the end. The idea is a dream, but the reality of travel would be difficult, even if she were with me and other American friends.
I was finally able to talk with Sister Viphaporn about the schedule and expectations for our time after classes finish in the middle of March. (Our contracts go until the end of April.) She said we are expected to teach in the summer program. This was not a surprise, and I had already thought about it and decided that I will not teach the 7th and 8th grade classes. If the 7th grade class remained as it is, it would be OK, as they do well most of the time. But the school takes in new students who have failed or had problems at other schools, and that changes the mix of students and the atmosphere of the class. Many of the students in 8th grade who are problems were new to the school this year. I decided that I don’t need more of that. So I told her that I will quit if she assigns me to those classes. I did agree to teach primary classes if they want me to. Otherwise, I’ll be finished in March and forego pay for April. It’s just not worth it. We’ll see what they decide. I don’t really care, as I’m not all that enthused about teaching in the summer program, but I’ll do it.
Now that the final stretch is here, I feel more positive. This the first time after a long break that I have slept well and not awakened thinking about why I don’t like teaching at this school for two nights before going back. There are things I have enjoyed about the year, and now I am able to focus more on them. I do enjoy the 5th, 6th, and 7th grade most of the time. For 5th and 6th grade, it’s the subject—math—that I don’t like teaching, not the students. I will miss some of the students who have formed a special relationship with me.
I also really don’t like teaching science, which is two hours a week for the 7th grade and the two 8th grade classes. Science and math make up half of my classes. My other main objection to the school is that I don’t like their Intensive English program and the way it operates. It is not organized or thought through and is too difficult for at least half of the 8th grade students and a third of the 7th grade students. I can’t agree with the idea that it’s OK to put students into a program because their parents want them to learn English but that they can’t learn in because they don’t have the prerequisite skills and aren’t even close to having them. These are the students who are problems in the classes for the most part, and I understand why they don’t pay attention, but I can’t do much about it. I have a problem with the fact that the parents pay extra money for this special program that their students cannot and are not learning in even though they have passing grades so they parents think they are learning. But they aren’t. I don’t want to be part of a program like this again. So the program will continue, but I will move on.
My adjustment this term is to give more points toward their grade to students’ notebooks. Most of the notebook work is copying notes from the board and occasionally doing an exercise for which the answers are eventually written on the board. So writing in their notebooks and completing worksheets, most of which they copy from friends, can earn them enough points to pass—If they do it. Not too challenging, but some students don’t bother to write or do the exercises. My other adjustment is to tell them their grades at the end of the unit. I did this last week, and some were pleasantly surprised. And a few were still surprised that they are failing. With the adjustment in grading, fewer students are failing, which is a good thing in the end. It doesn’t mean they are learning; it means they are at least doing something.
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