That Phanom and Rua Fi

Hi Everyone,

So once again this blog is a little out dated bc I have not had access to the internet but mai bpen rai. 

Its almost time for me to head out on my own to begin teaching at my school. On Thursday our school directors will come and pick us up and will take us to our new homes. We have no idea what they have planned for us when we get there but we will begin teaching on Monday…

This past week has been a pretty eventful week. Our teaching practicum began last Wednesday. The practicum is a 6 day period where we each teach for an hour/day.  My group had the older high school kids, 10^th-12^th grades. We were at first told that the class would have nearly 45 students, but only about 10 showed up.

Last day of practicum 

Boy was I nervous that first class. I probably have the least amount of teaching experience out of our group so I had no idea what to expect that first day in a classroom. I was worried that it was going to be like getting thrown into a bloody pool of hungry sharks.

I prepared as much as I could but I still felt like I was stepping onto a strange planet. Luckily I was not the first teacher of the day, I had the second class. But my turn came soon enough and the next thing I knew, I was in front of the class attempting to teach. I started out fumbling around and talking a mile a minute. And then this sweet little 10^th grade student raised her hand and said “teechar, yu speek mor slow.” So I laughed it off and took a deep breath and tried again.

The rest of the lesson went ok, but the most important thing about that lesson was that it was now over. I made it! I survived!  All my students are still alive and no limbs were lost. I got a lot of the first day jitters out of the way and learned a lot about what not to do. But coming out of that first day I had a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of confidence. I felt like I was going to be able to teach and that I was going to enjoy teaching once I worked out some bugs.

My class Thursday and Friday went well and I really enjoyed the classes. Today my class went ok, but I will just take every class that doesn’t go as well as a learning experience. I do not have any more classes to teach so I am finished with my practicum and ready to get thrown into my real classes.

Thai dancers from all of the schools in front of the temple

This past weekend was a much needed fun weekend. Early Saturday morning we all piled into a couple of trucks and drove about 45 minutes to That Phanom where a very famous Buddhist Temple is located. There was a big ceremony celebrating the monks coming out of a 3 month retreat. Everyone gathered around the entrance of the temple where an incredible center piece/decoration was located. I would guess that about 300 to 400 Thai dancers paraded into the court yard and danced in unison. The dancers were from many different local high schools. Once all the dancers were assembled, the monks said some prayers and the ceremony continued on. The dancers cleared the area and then came out one school at a time to perform a dance for the crowd. The dancers were all beautifully dressed up in traditional Thai outfits.

Monks chanting a prayer 

A close up on the Thai dancers while praying

Fireboat in the day a week before the festival

After That Phanom, we all headed up to Nakhon Phanom where the Rua Fi  (Fireboat) festival was going on. It was a really cool festival. The river walk was filled with endless food stands/ drink stands/ games/ merchandise and had a big parade go by. Once it got dark everyone headed to the rivers edge to watch the Fireboats float down the river. The Fireboats themselves are these huge floats made out of bamboo that are probably about 100 to 150 and about 30 to 40 feet wide. All the boats were though was a big bamboo frame with used cans filled with gasoline laid out in an intricate design.

Fireboat

They would some how light every can and then would drag the Fireboat out to the middle of the river and let it float down the river past everyone watching.  Every float would set off fireworks but each had a unique design. The festival is held at this time of the year because it is when a full moon is occurring. Luckily it was a clear night so the moon was out and about.

After the Fireboats we all headed out together and got to kick back and hang out together for the first time all orientation, atleast it was the first time we didn’t have a class or something early the next morning. It was a fun night and I was very intrigued by how similar Thai twenty somethings are to American twenty somethings.

A Fireboat with the full moon and fireworks

Lunch at Mr Narong's beautiful house

The next day we had a lunch with the newly retired, head of the entire school district, Mr. Narong. He was the person who first got WorldTeach to come to the area. He had all of us over to his gorgeous home where he served us an amazing meal and of coarse some beer… beer was the last thing most of us wanted but mai pen rai. Mr Narong was a really cool guy. He gave off this persona that you couldn’t help  want to be best friends with the guy. He seemed so laid back and chill and was just unbelievably generous. One of us commented about liking his traditional Thai shirt and so he said that he was going to get all of us one. And sure enough the next day, today, Mr Narong brings by a shirt for everyone. Also  he brought by a video and slide show from the lunch… just the nicest guy.

Mr Narong, Zach, Rita and myself

After lunch some of the ladies who lived there or were friends or what ever, started dancing and made us join them. My dancing is getting better but still not good, more like just a little less embarrassing than before. They loved us trying to do Thai dances and its one of those times that you just have to cut loose and go with the flow… mai pen rai.

Everything is going great, I feel great, I am having a lot of fun, and I am excited to see how teaching goes. I think I am going to really enjoy teaching. We depart on Thursday to go to our schools and so we are leaving our little English speaking comfort bubble. That’s when its going to get challenging, but I like new challenges and I am actually looking forward to the complete cultural immersion. 

Thanks for reading. Hopefully I will get caught up to date with these blogs. Until next time.

Mai bpen rai

Ben

...just because this guy is awesome!