An enlightening Bus ride

On the bus ride to school today i was talking with my friend from India, Sam. Somehow we got into how Britain stole their most precious gem, the largest diamond in the world, Kohinoor "sparkle." This gem of India is now apart of the British crown. They even cut the diamond down from it's record size to something about half of what it originally was. Then Britain steals again, taking a thrown of solid gold form one of their rulers, melted it and distributed to who knows where. We where both baffled at this, that one country can be so powerful that it can steal, and demand they have custody of another countries prized possessions. And continue to repeat this act of theft. Then to top it off, Britain is the reason Pakistan and India are no longer unified. And continue to repeat this act of theft. The conversation rolled into the view middle easterners have on americans. Did you know that for any student of an ethnicity that looks any little bit like a muslim, they are often denied a student visa to study in the united states? To me this is wrong, we are punishing those who have done no crime. The actions of a few have tainted the future of countless others. Are we as americans so close-minded and judgmental that we cannot grant the possiblity of higher education to those students who seek it out. Sam brought to my attention that students where at the time where students int eh United States and returned home; when they tried to come back as students they too where denied. What would you do if your education was put to a sudden halt, and your degree was just hanging, waiting for who knows what kind of miracle to befall you? I met a boy from Palestine yesterday who is here in Thailand because he cannot be allowed into the US. My wish, that we can one day, and hopefully that day is tomorrow, be able to see past the thoughts of a group of individuals and realize that all of the middle east is not a terrorist. That we can stop living in fear of what could happen, and allow all students to seek the education they desire.

A Constant Learning

e I joined Ajan Jim at her school today in Phetchaburi. An all day event in which i caught the public transportation system (for the second time, the first was yesterday and was quite and experience, a packed bus while Emily and I had groceries and a large case of bottled water: a different story). Pretty simple, the bus was blue and white, a low-scale greyhound, yet every bus in Thailand is decorated with colorful curtains looped from each window, adorned with lace tassels. This teaching experience was different from that on the mountain. We where in a small room, tables, chairs, and fans to keep us cool. The younger children where very enthusiastic as before, and so intelligent. A few shy, but ironically the boys where much more vocal than the girls. My opinion is that the girls are more concerned with actually learning and see it as such, take it very seriously; whereas the boys are in more of a play-time/hang-out mode. We'd have a break about every hour and just outside the door was a woman who appears to be there every Saturday for these kids to buy snacks from during the breaks. bags of chips, soda, even sushi! I had a delicious one of crab and another of seaweed. Apparently it was Thai sushi, i'm not really sure what the difference is other than the size and i don't recall seeing a sushi with seaweed strips on top before; but i have an inkling it's out there. I am amazed though that within this single day, Every single person that participated learned something new, and from a culture that isn't their own. Obviously the kids, but i also learned a few new words in Thai (phet=spicy and i could use a brush up on Thai fruits) , as well as a legend of the mountain that is the sleeping giant, that Thailand doesn't have a program for children with learning disabilities, and that slapstick is the way to go for foreign movies (we watched Home Alone). I ended up teaching Ajan a new slang phrase "Okey Dokey" and there is just so much more to go around, but truthfully these dates I have with Ajan have and will be some of the best and very cultural experiences i have while here. Ajan makes sure we get a little bit of authentic Thailand each visit in taking us to lunch (and dinner tonight also) and just being this wealth of information. Each time will bring something new and with it a whole wealth of memories! Ajan thinks i could be a very good teacher!

School on a Mountain

I was fortunate enough to join eleven others in a journey to teach English about two hours outside of Webster at a school in the mountains. It was by far one of the neatest experiences here thus far; I am really ecstatic about it too because Ajan brings students and teaches every weekend somewhere...at least that's what it seems like and she is very willing to bring students along! It is different from any other teaching I have done, like swimming, or basic tutoring of children. The kids here are just like any in the states, hesitant to participate a first, but give them and inch and they flock like mad! We were introduced as the "foreigners" brought to them, we were actually the first native speakers they've ever heard! Different from the states though, is the enthusiasm for learning, every single kid seemed to have this unquenchable thirst to participate and really soak up everything they possibly could from this experience. I took a back seat this time because it was just getting my feet wet with the experience and we had two seasoned teachers with us. And even though i knew very very little of the language it didn't seem to be a barrier. If you speak slowly and with enough gestures, actions are cross-cultural so the idea gets across pretty well. When i had a group to myself i honestly feel like we did pretty well. I was trying to explain this game "blow wind blow" and i hadn't heard of it before, but somehow we ended up getting the hang of it! I was once again amazed at how respectful all of the kids where and how grateful everyone seemed to be with our being there! I definitely want to keep doing this, i feel like it could be what makes Thailand for me!