Culture Shock Goes Both Ways

Student: Teacher! Guess what? I just got back from studying in America for 3 weeks.
Me: Wow! Did you like it?
Student: Yes, I did. But not everything. For example, the food was sooooooooooo bland. Ugh, disgusting.
Me: Yes, most food isn't spicy like in Thailand.
Student: I experienced culture shock, I think. It was really hard for me. No offense, but some things you do in America are just so strange; I can't even wrap my head around it.
Me: Okay, interesting. Can you share with the group what you think the biggest culture was for you?
Student: *Thinks for a moment*
Yeah. You guys flush toilet paper down the toilet. Why!?!?? I just don't understand. That's so weird....


Different strokes for different folks.

DROP!

One of the perks of knowing so many other English teachers in Thailand is that aside from my own hysterical daily events, I get to hear everyone else's as well. We always have so much fun sharing our teaching adventures with each other. We actually refer to it as swapping our war stories.

This story in particular I wanted to share with all of you. It happened to my friend Laura who is teaching at a high school in Ayutthaya.

One day she was eating lunch in the cafeteria when four of her favorite tiny M1 students ran over to her. They are in her class that meets immediately after lunch. At first, she thought they were just being cute and trying to say hi but then she realized they were obviously trying to tell her something. They had panic of their faces, making large hand gestures, and blabbering a mile a minute in Thai. She stood there with a confused look on her face so the boys grabbed her hand and lead her out of the cafeteria, pointing to another building. They were jabbering in Thai back and forth trying to figure out how to explain to her. Finally, they came up with the word "drop!" and continuously shouted "DROP! DROP! DROP!" At this point, Laura was so confused. Is there like an egg drop going on...?

Then they switched words, grabbing her arms, and started yelling "Teacher! LIFT! LIFT! LIFT!" "Lift? Do I have to lift you up? Are you going to drop somewhere? Am I going to get in trouble? Are you tricking me?" she thought. Then she realized they were pointing to the elevator. Oh...okay, lift is the elevator...it's making a little more sense now. So she gets in the elevator with her four panic stricken students, still with no idea where she's going or what's going on (common here). Then, they finally run down the hallway and bring her to their classroom where she has class next period. And this is what she found...

Photo Credit: Laura Baulkeley

Apparently, a painter fell through the roof and into the classroom. At the time, there were students quickly sweeping up debris and stacking the desks.

It all made sense now.

Just like this story, I've learned that if no one else tells you what's going on then you can count on your students to at least try. One time, my students were trying to tell me that they would be 15 minutes late for my class because they had to move chairs for an event. But they told me this by continuously saying the word "CHAIR!" and miming actions of them moving chairs. I eventually figured it out.

Anyway, if you're wondering, the painter is okay and wasn't hurt. I can't even imagine if a man would have fallen through the ceiling WHILE she was teaching. Because everyone is safe and sound, the story of the painter causally falling through the roof of the school is just another one of these "only in Thailand" moments we encounter that just make everyday another adventure.

But seriously, only in Thailand...

Bonus Question

These are some my favorite answers from the bonus question on the M1 quiz: What country is Teacher Kim from?

I love the daily entertainment that comes with teaching.

Fan Mail

Teacher Kim received her first piece of fan mail.

I found on my desk this picture one of my students drew of me. This melts my heart.

What's in a Nickname?

You might not know this about me, but growing up, I had a nickname. Kimmy. As a kid, I think a nickname is appropriate because you're little and it's cute. However, like most American nicknames, that pretty much died out by about 8th grade. Now, the only people who still occasionally call me by my nickname are people I've known my entire life and it still feels a little strange. I don't really consider Kim to be a nickname but rather just a shortened version of my longer name Kimberly.

Like most people, Thais have a first name and last name, nothing special about that. But what's unusual is that they very rarely use their official names. If you ask any Thai person their real name, you'll immediately understand why everyone goes by a nickname (or in Thai, their chue len which translates to play name). The reason is quite simple: Thai names are generally very long, complicated, and difficult to pronounce (especially for me) so instead, everyone, and I mean everyone has a nickname. And in my English classes, we only go by nicknames. I love them.

Before you judge, know that just like your own name, all Thai nicknames are carefully selected and have a meaning or a reason behind them. I've learned most Thai people get their nicknames shortly after birth as infants, given to them by their parents and used for the rest of their lives. I also know a few Thai people who have two different nicknames. One that their parents call them and one that their friends call them. However, it's much more common to just have one.

Sometimes the nickname resembles something about their personality when they were a baby (for example, "Lek" means small in Thai), sometimes it is a shortened version of their Thai name (for example, if your first name is Jiraporn then your nickname is probably Porn), sometimes it's a Thai word (for example, "Prik" meaning chili, "Poo" meaning crab, or "Moo" meaning pork), but most commonly it's just a seemingly random English word that was in some way meaningful to the parents. I've also heard that these English word nicknames are becoming the more trendy names.

After looking through my class rosters, I composed a list of some of the most common nicknames as well as my favorites. I divided them into some noticeable categories.

Food: Donut, Cake, Cream, Caramel, Oat, Jam, Noodle, Pancake, Fork, Yam, Olive, Cookies, Pear, Apple, Cucumber, Moo (Thai for pork), Nut, and Mint. I actually remember Gwyneth Palthrow got a lot of crap for naming her daughter Apple. If she comes to Thailand, she'll fit right in!

Drinks: Beer, Pepsi, Nam (Thai for water), Milk, Fanta, Pop, Ice, Goon (my Aussie friends will appreciate this one).

Leisure activities: Golf, Game, Ball, Cartoon, Art, Film, Ping Pong, Music, Guitar, Bowling, Book

Transportation: Benz (as in Mercedes Benz), Boat, Bus

Animals: Bird, Deer, Pet, Bee, Kitten, Poo (Thai for crab),

Body: Arm, Eye, Palm, Bum, Mind

Technology: Nokia (like the phone), Amp

Colors: Blue, Champoo (Thai for pink)

Months: May, June (or Joon)

Adjectives: New, Smart, Nice, Best

Numbers: Nine, Seven (my Seinfeld fanatic friends with appreciate this one).

Days of the week: Sunday

Sounds: Bim, Bam, Boom (lol)

Terms of Endearment: Babe, Love, Hun

Verbs: Spin, Stop, Get, Play

Letters: M, F, O, A

Others: Porn, Pee, Ew, Nun, Boss, King, Kid, It, Oak, Tip, Top, Tap, Sai (sand in Thai), Aunty, Dream, Note, Stamp, Oil, Oak, First, Joker, Pun, Fern, Fook, Bank, Earth, Gift, Gun, Jerk, Bell, Bow, Yo, YoYa, Ink.

But my all-time favorite nickname... Name!

Now, keep in mind that I have over 600 students with these types of nicknames. It's difficult. But I'm actively trying to learn them and the students always light up when they see I've remembered their name.

"Good morning, Donut!"
"How are you today, Ping Pong and Pancake?"
"Very good job, Jerk!"
"Gun, can you share your dictionary with Love?"
"Book, where's your notebook?"

Common things that come out of my mouth everyday. 

I know, I know, some these sound absolutely ridiculous (to a Western ear), but these are 100% honestly my students names. I can't make this stuff up. Here's some of my class rosters as proof!

And as random and unique as they may sound, after comparing with English teachers at other schools, these are all just the norm. I remember we all came back from school the first day thinking that our students had the most unique names to only find out that everyone else had students with the exact same ones. In one class, I have 5 boys named Oat and 3 girls named Pop. It reminds me how I use to have 5 boys named Matt and 3 girls named Ashley in my class in elementary school. 

However, we can sit here all day and laugh over how some Thai nicknames (like Porn, Prik, and Poo) translate into English, but you have to understand that it also works the other way around. For example, the name Jim translates to Thai as a slang word for a female body part (if you know what I mean...). I'm sure there's Thai's sitting around wondering what parents in America were possibly thinking naming their poor son Jim. 

This isn't one of my own students, but there's a boy at my school in M4 named (excuse my language) Fuck Fang. I'm serious. He's known around school as being a computer whiz, so he's constantly in our office fixing our computer. Our printer breaks quite often, so "Damn it! Where's Fuck Fang?" is a common question heard around the office. 

Also, sometimes the way that parents tell their kids to spell their nickname isn't exactly how we would probably spell it. I have a student who wrote on his name tag "Gay." "How do you say your nickname?" I asked. "Guy" he responded. Ohhhhh. Good thing I asked. Also, sometimes even though the student's nicknames are a seemingly easier version of their name, I still can't pronounce them correctly and the kids get quite the kick out of watching me try. For example, there's a common nickname "Toey" which I just cannot for the life of me pronounce correctly.

However, sometimes these nicknames come up in daily interactions that are secretly funny to only me. For example, yesterday, I randomly called on two students to come to the front of the class to perform their role play dialogue. "Okay, Poo and Pee can you please stand up." Once I realized what I had said, I just stopped and politely chuckled to myself. Sometimes, Jeff and I take the same train home as one of his students, Best. Every time we see him, Jeff makes it a special point to tell me, "That kid Best is seriously the best." I also have a student named Boss and whenever he asks for something, I secretly want to respond, "You got it, Boss."

There is no shortage of whimsical Thai nicknames. I find these nicknames to be so fun and endearing, and just one more reason to smile here everyday. Maybe I should have a Thai nickname. Any suggestions?

"My Name is Teacher Kim"

That's how I begin every lesson.

Okay, let me backtrack a little....

As you probably already read, I spent three weeks in September/October living in Phuket while I completed my TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) Course. The course was made up of myself and 27 other students all between the ages of 22 and 30. Everyone was from the US except for two girls from Canada and two from the UK. The first two weeks of the course consisted of in classroom training sessions held in our hotel conference room from 9 AM to 4 PM almost everyday. Generally, we learned about different teaching models and techniques, lesson planning, and two sessions on Thai culture and language. I won't go into detail about the whole thing because it would probably bore you all to death. However, I learned quite a lot and I think the course has been useful to me, especially as someone without any prior formal teaching experience.

The third week of the course was teaching practice week where we had the opportunity to practice what we've learned and teach a lesson in front of real students (as opposed to just practicing with our peers as the pretend students). I think everyone can agree that this week was the most difficult and also the most useful aspect of the course. Everyday, we received feedback from both our instructors and our peers. The week was exhausting because we visited the sites during the day and spent every night preparing lessons and materials for the next day. I don't think I've colored so much in my entire life as I did that week.

Since the month of October is a break from school in Thailand, we couldn't visit any actual schools for our teaching practice. So instead, on Monday and Tuesday we visited the SOS Children's Village Phuket. This is an orphanage that was built as a result of the tsunami that struck Thailand in 2004 as a place for children to go who had lost all their relatives. At this organization, we taught children between the ages of 4 and 7. When we pulled up to the site and got out of the vans, we had about 30 precious and enthusiastic kids running towards us shouting "FARANGS!" This is generic term Thai people use to describe any Westerner, or it actually translates to "foreigner."

Fun fact: When taking this picture at the orphanage, I learned that just like how in America it's common to say "One, two, three, cheese!" before taking a picture, in Thailand instead they say, "Neung (one), song (two), sam (three), Pepsi!" Random?

First day in the classroom, I was instructed to teach about the jungle. I was excited and ready to go.

Our class was divided into groups and separated into different classrooms where we would observe some of our peers teach as well. I was lucky to go second. For the most part, my lesson went as planned and the students were very attentive and willing to participate. I walked out of the classroom that day feeling pretty confident. However, it was obviously apparent that as each one my peers went, the children got less and less interested. But to be fair, I don't think a four year old shouldn't be expected to sit through language learning for almost three straight hours.

On Tuesday, my lesson was about food/cooking. Today didn't go as well as Monday. I got the unfortunate spot of teaching second last and the children weren't too interested in what I had to say at that point. It wasn't horrible, but it was great either. I think I spent more time trying to get their attention then I did actually teaching. Also, I should probably mention that this class was only 8 students. I'm thinking that if I can hardly handle 8 students, I'm not sure how a class of 40-50 will work out for me. However, I definitely didn't have it the worst. Despite the great effort from the poor girl that went after me, the kids just turned insane. Boys were sleeping, girls were slapping each other, and it ended with a dog-pile of students on the floor in the center of the room. It was a zoo, to say the least. I walked out of the classroom feeling a little unsure about this whole teaching thing. I realized that while younger kids are absolutely adorable, I'm not really sure if I would be a good match to teach them. Unfortunately, I had no say in the matter though, which made me pretty nervous.

On Wednesday and Thursday we visited a Juvenile Detention Center in Phuket. When we first found this out, we were all a little bit nervous and not sure what to expect. But our instructors explained that many of the kids at this center are there for situational reasons like stealing food so their family could eat. They insured us that we would be completely safe there and they were right. On Wednesday, I taught a lesson about occupations and Thursday I taught about weekend activities. Both of my lessons went fantastic and I finally felt like I was getting a good feel for teaching.  I absolutely loved my teaching experience here. The students were extremely polite, well-behaved, and motivated to learn English. The students at this center were between the ages of 15-18 years old. I really, really enjoyed this age group more than I thought I would. I started to secretly hope I would get placed in a high school. Unfortunately, pictures were prohibited here, so I don't have any pictures from these days.

Finally, on Friday we visited a really unique organization in Northern Phuket called Youth Football Home Foundation which is run by a German expat. This is also technically an orphanage where they live, but the boys were selected to come here from orphanages across Thailand for their football (soccer) talent and train together as a team. I found these boys to also be extremely bright, polite, and at a very high English level. They travel around the world for football tournaments and are very advanced at English because of the opportunities they have to practice and learn when they travel. This day, I taught about camping and got through my lesson pretty quickly because their English level was so high. Once again, I really enjoyed working with the 15-18 year old age group.

After an exhausting week, I completed my training and graduated from my TESOL course! I am now officially certified to teach English to speakers of other languages. The final day of teaching practice is when I received my teaching placement for the semester, which you already know is at the high school level (phew!).

This is literally only the beginning of the teaching adventure. Check back tomorrow. The stories keep getting better!

Big News!

Finally, the information you’ve all been waiting for. After months of unknown answers and patience, I’ve finally received my placement information!

I’m moving to Ayutthaya (pronounced A-you-thai-a), Thailand, which is a city about one hour north of Bangkok. I will be teaching conversational English at a government high school in the neighboring town of Bang Pa In. My students will be in grades M1 (12 years old), M5 (17 years old), and M6 (18 years old). It's hard to believe that some of my students will only be five years younger than me. But they don’t have to know that right? 

I’ve heard great things about Ayutthaya and I can’t wait to tell you more about my new home once I get settled. Word on the street is that Ayutthaya has many wild elephants roaming the streets...

My job will officially begin the 1st of November. Since the month of October is a mid-year break from school, I’ll be starting at the beginning of the school’s second semester. However, tomorrow is the last day of my TESOL course, so that leaves me with 18 days before I can move into my new apartment in Ayutthaya. Also, because of my current complicated visa situation, I can’t leave Thailand.

So how should I spend 18 free days in Thailand…? If you know me at all, you know my answer is traveling, of course. I’m planning to be nomadic and take advantage of this time off and do some island hopping in southern Thailand. Once I start my job, it will probably be a very long time before I lay eyes on a beach or have time to travel again.  I’m anticipating having access to free wifi soon, so I will be able to update more in the next week. I have so much to write about my TESOL course and the past three weeks living in Phuket.

I hope all is well with everyone back home.  Check back soon!

Why Mai Pen Rai?

I’m sure you're wondering why I titled my blog Mai Pen Rai. What does it mean?

“Mai Pen Rai” (pronounced My Pin Rye) is a Thai expression that is elusive in it’s meaning but can be understood in English to mean any of the following:  no worries, it’s okay, it doesn’t matter, no problem, don’t worry about it, it is what it is, don’t sweat the small stuff, life goes on, there’s no use crying over spilled milk….you get the picture. You will often hear this expression when something goes wrong or someone looses their cool.

From my experience traveling in Thailand last year, I found Thai people to be incredibly generous and friendly. They are also very laid back, do not get easily agitated or angry, and are always smiling.  I quickly discovered that “Mai Pen Rai” isn’t just a commonly spoken phrase, but rather a philosophy of life. I believe this lifestyle is grounded in Thailand’s interpretation and connection to Buddhism, which teaches that it’s not worth it to dwell on something you cannot change, because your dwelling still won’t change the situation.

Being able to handle difficult situations, not fretting over trifling things, and an all-pervading cheerfulness are the trademarks of Mai Pen Rai. I find this attitude to be one of the greatest definers of the Thai character and one I admire most.  I definitely think I need a little “Mai Pen Rai” in my life.

While I anticipate that living and working in Thailand will bring many new challenges, with the right attitude I think I can handle anything. Here’s to a year of “Mai Pen Rai!”