I write often, I swear. Just not in my blog.
Well, it's been about a month since my first blog post and a lot has happened. December was wild. To start, I raced in the Bangkok International Half-Marathon--my first half! Let me preface my race recap by giving you an idea of what it is like running in my small strip of a town, Phanthong. Every time I go on a run I feel like a cross between an alien and a celebrity stuck in the middle of a video game. Anywhere I go--even if I've run past there twenty times, I have people staring at me, taking pictures of me, yelling "HELLO!!!!!" or "FARANG!!" I'm constantly inhaling clouds of dust thrown up by the zooming trucks, vans, and motorcyles zooming past me--not to mention dodging motorbikes that whip past me on the wrong side of the road. And, of course, we can't forget about the stray dogs. The moment I see a stray ahead of me on the sidewalk I try to calm my heart, slow my breath, and stare straight ahead. Sometimes, SOMETIMES, I can get past the dog just fine and continue on my merry way. Most of the time, I'm facing a snarling dog or two and I have to do a walk-of-shame for 100 meters until the dog loses interest. It's quite an experience, let me tell you. When I'm not running down my busy road, I've ended up running through little neighborhoods with overgrown gardens, dirt lots with old men sitting on their motorcycles, cheering me on, past duck farms and pop-up markets. Running is the best way to explore, man.
---but sorry, back to the marathon. My training wasn't the best, given the circumstances of my training environment. I managed to pull-off a decent race and placed 6th in my age group (while that sounds impressive, races here do not have the most competitive fields). It was painful, it was long, and I loved it. Besides the fact that it started at 5am. Now that I know what it's like to run one, I'm stoked to actually have a training plan and run another half in the near future.
The following weekend my ETECH friends and I went to this music festival called "Wonderfruit" in Pattaya, Chonburi. It's a really new music festival--it only started two years ago. It reminded me of a mini Bonnaroo. There were crazy sculptures and artwork, craft workshops, a variety of music, and killer food (I had a burger that was OUT of this world-- probably because I've only eaten Thai food). We were all pretty psyched because Mos Def was supposed to perform as one of the big English headliners. We waited...and waited..but he never showed! A man who knew his manager told us Mos Def had apparently been missing for a few days. Probably roaming around the streets of Pattaya. Despite that minor disappointment, I saw a bunch of other cool artists including Jacques Greene, Greasy Cafe and Ryhe.
Here's a video giving you a brief glimpse of Wonderfruit:
Lucent Dossier Experience: These guys performed crazy acrobatics, danced with fire, and sang.
Greasy Cafe (Thai artists):
Jacques Greene:
AND MOST IMPORTANT--I was ordained as a Dude-hist priest. Yes, you read that correctly. Dudeism is, in fact, a true religion. Basically life is tough and complicated, and you should just take it easy, man. After being ordained on a rug that "really tied the room together," I was given an official certificate and added my name to their online registry. So, if you ever need to get married, just give me a ring.
Well, suddenly it was Christmas time. And with the holidays come surprises. Big surprises. Like being told the DAY before Christmas that my fellow American teachers and I needed to create a Christmas performance (which should include singing or dancing) for the next day's morning assembly of 10,000 students. If you know me, you know that I lack any sort of coordination while dancing. It was my worst nightmare coming to life. Luckily, with the gracious help of our Thai friends at ETECH, we learned a dance routine adapted from a Thai dance group's youtube video. In about 20 minutes. We were all given various Christmas outfits to wear, too. My "dress" fit more like a tube top, not even coming close to covering my butt (don't worry, I wore a skirt with it). The tights they gave me were made to fit 7-10 year olds. My runner's calves could barely fit into them, let alone my thighs, so my Thai supervisor made me cut them into high socks. High socks. Of course, while we looked ridiculous our Thai friends came out on stage dressed in mini-skirts looking like beautiful kpop stars. But, we surivived and our students loved it. I think a healthy amount of embarrassment builds character, ya know? Every teacher's gotta make a fool out of herself for her students once in awhile.
Still horrified, but I need to share.
Being away from home during the holidays wasn't as rough as I imagined. It was tough to be homesick when it didn't even feel like Christmas. It was pretty cool, celebrating Christmas in a different fashion. We saw Star Wars, attended a Buddhist-Catholic mass, and had our own Christmas party at school with our Thai coworkers. I even got to spend part of Christmas with my family as a floating head through the magical wonders of Facetime. Plus, I forced my students to go Christmas caroling around school, which was pretty hilarious. "TEACHAAA, NOOOOOO!!!" was all I could hear as I tossed them Santa hats and led them around campus. Yet, they rocked it. We even got a class selfie with the ETECH Director himself during our caroling spree. My students are so goofy. They can drive me INSANE--and I wouldn't trade them for the world.
Some of my older students after victoriously caroling around campus.
Staff Christmas party!
ETECH teachers, our supervisor, and her priest.
I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss my dog, Casey, who just passed away. Still, I don't regret my decision to teach and live in Thailand for a year. I have a purpose here, you know? I've learned so much about Thai culture, about traveling, about EFL, about myself. And guys, not to get sappy here, but I am proud of who I am. I really am. And I'm damn-well ready to continue taking on this challenge of teaching abroad.
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