Teacher Sports Day

"The trick is growing up without growing old."

- Casey Stengel

You know how I said I had my last day of teaching? I lied. The school uncancelled half of the classes and I had to do my goodbye lessons again. Knew I wouldn’t get off the hook that easy.

The cancelled classes made time for a big ceremony for the retiring teachers. All government officials in Thailand (teachers fall under this category) have to retire when they turn 60. The highlight of the ceremony was when they showed pictures of the retiring teachers as students. The auditorium of 3,200 students went nuts.

Saturday was also the inaugural “Teacher’s Sports Day.” I don’t think that’s the real name, but it was exactly like the sports day we had with students, except with teachers. It kicked off with a gathering of 4 schools at the Phra Pathom Chedi in downtown Nakhon Pathom. Many of the teachers wore elaborate costumes, complete with banners, batons, and floats. Check it out.

The biggest Chedi in the world!

After several long speeches, we began a parade to the school where the competitions would be held. Our route was about 2 km through the blocked off roads. The heat was brutal as we marched through the afternoon sun. But the band motivated us with motivational pep songs such as “When the Saints come marching in,” “I want to hold your hand” by The Beatles, and “Feliz Navidad.” These three songs played on repeat for about an hour.  I don’t know how “Feliz Navidad” made it into the set list but it was surprisingly uplifting.

Parade through the downtown. 100 degrees. Nice clouds though.

There was an opening ceremony with everyone standing on the field. Much like the other sports day, it only took about 10 minutes before people started passing out from the heat and needed to be carried off the field. Heavy band uniforms/costumes in 100 degree weather don’t mix well apparently.

And then the sports began! All the competitors were teachers from the schools. It was kind of fun to see the teachers cut loose and get really into the games. I was up first in the free throw shooting contest. After absolutely killing it in practice (I made two baskets), I had a complete collapse and went 0-7. Needless to say I was benched for the volleyball game.

Our school rebounded as we won a nail-biter volleyball match. The strong showings continued as we placed second in the potato sack relay race. My shot at redemption came at the tug of war. We smashed the two teams we played, winning four wars in under 20 seconds every time. I will admit we did have a bit of an unfair advantage. The combined weight of me and the Nigerian teacher on our team was probably the same as five Thai men. But a victory is a victory.

Prepping for tug of war

Champions!

Teachers doing a potato sack race. Fantastic.

I was fighting a bad cold the whole time and decided to head home after finishing the tug of war. I was a little bummed to miss the deciding event of Bocce Ball (or “Woodbon” as the teachers called it). Still, a very fun day.

This next week will be fairly busy as I get ready to leave! Packing, cleaning, giving things away, grading, job applications…it’s going to be a chaotic end to my time here.

Also in one week, Mom and Dad arrive in Thailand! I’m super excited to see  them and show a bit of what my life has been like here. I’m sure the waterworks will be flowing when I pick them up at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Next week will be my last post for a while as I’ll be travelling during all of October. It’s going to be as cool as it sounds.

Mark

Goodbye Teacher!

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."

-Winnie the Pooh, the real OG

Teaching in Thailand is in the books! I taught my last class today and can’t believe it’s over. I’ve been incredibly flattered over the last week with all the kind words the students have said to me as I’ve said my goodbyes. To be honest, I didn’t always feel like I made an impact in the classroom. I have 550 students that I see usually see for a half hour once a week. But a few things the students said and did over the last week really warmed my heart. Here are a few snippets of my favorite quotes over the last week.

“I want to travel.”

“Oh? Where to?

“America! Give me money.”

“Teacha, you live by Lotus Salaya?”

“Yeah, why?”

(Starts jumping up and down) “I see you exercise.”

“Teacha show six pack.”

I can’t tell if it’s calling me a bad teacher, but the rest of it was very sweet.

Thai kids love selfies. I had to start ending class 10 minutes early so the students had enough time to take pictures with me. Not a bad problem to have.

Since I’m leaving, my students have been bugging me for my contact information for the last few weeks. Phone number, email, facebook. Anyway, I caved and decided to make a second facebook account that the student could add. I started giving out my name of “Mark Watraikhing” during the end of the week. I logged in after a few days and saw this.

450 friend requests???? Are you kidding me????? I lost it when I saw this and laughed like a crazy person for a few minutes alone in my apartment. Thai kids love their facebook.

I had a few messages from students along the lines of “Hello Teacher Mark 555” (555 is the Thai version of lol). A student even sent me a photo album of pictures of me teaching a class…taken by the student. I think I’ll go with flattery rather than being creeped out. Here's a few of the student-made facebook photos.

I will really miss a lot of these students. There was a really good dynamic in most of my classes where they could joke around but be serious when they needed to. But I'm not worried about not seeing them - I've got 620 friends on facebook after all.

The ol’ Switcheroo

I get students mixed up all the time. I feel really bad when I do it, but hundreds of students in uniforms gets really confusing. Anyway, I noticed that I had a student appearing in multiple different classes. Her nickname is Not and I asked her why she was skipping her other class to come here. She responded with, “No teacha, not Not, New! Sister Not!” Apparently her nickname was New and I was mistaking her for her identical twin sister, Not. Super embarrassing.

Last weekend was an absolute blast with all my teacher friends coming into Bangkok for one last hurrah. We rented out a few hotel rooms and enjoyed some quality food and pool time. It blows my mind that I’ve been here for almost a year. It seems like yesterday I was meeting these people and trying to navigate this wild country. I’ve been really blessed over the last year with some good friends that have made Thailand so fun.

This weekend there’s a big sports competition between the local schools. I’ll be representing my school in the basketball shooting contest. Hopefully I can bring back the magic that won me a knockout tournament in 8th grade.

Mark

Thinking about home, thinking about Thailand

"I call this turn 'n' turf. It's a 16 oz. T-bone and a 24 oz. porterhouse. Also, whisky and a cigar. I am going to consume all this at the same time because I am a free American."

- Ron Swanson, Parks and Rec

Well guys, I’ve hit 11 months away from the US. Wow! It’s been a blast but I’m starting to feel the need for the next step. Also, it’s been 11 months without a few things. Here’s what I’m most looking forward to back in America.

A real gym

Call me a tool. I don’t care. For the last year I’ve been doing prison workouts in my room with my bodyweight and water jugs. It’ been fun, but I’m looking forward to a real gym with workouts that don’t include push-ups. I might cry when I see a bench press.

Food and Drink

Bills. Chipotle. Sarkis. Peanut Butter. Taco Bell. Sam Adams Octoberfest. Steak. Five Guys. Scrambled Eggs. Maple-syrup Salmon. Mayonnaise. Pita and Hummus. Miller Lite. Pumpkin Spice Lattes.

That’s the running list of food and drinks I’m going to devour when I get home. It will hopefully put back on the 15 pounds I’ve lost living here. JK on the Pumpkin Spice Lattes though, I ain’t that basic.

Talking to strangers easily

This one I actually don’t notice that much anymore. I’ve gotten pretty used to communicating using a few basic Thai phrases mixed with English, or Tinglish. Still, it’ll be nice to have conversations without a language barrier when trying to order food.

Friends and family

 I would live in Thailand longer if I wasn’t so far away from everyone back home. Technology has made it so easy to communicate with people anywhere in the world. But there reaches a point when a skype call just isn’t the same as actually seeing someone. I need some quality time with my peeps. I’m ready for ya America.

Honorable mentions: Driving a car, drip coffee, Netflix, enforced traffic laws.

On the flip side, there is SO MUCH that I will miss about Thailand. The Land of Smiles now has a firm place in my heart. This place has greatly impacted my life and I definitely want to come back as often as I can. So in no particular order, here's some stuff I'll be hurting for when I'm home.

The people

I’ve met so many amazing people here. From the welcoming foreign and Thai teachers at my school, the expat friends I’ve made, and even the cooks at the food stands, it’s going to be hard to leave the people I’ve been around for the last year. I’ve learned so much from them and experienced such genuine kindness. But again, technology yo.

Food

Thai Food is the best. There’s so much flavor and it’s so cheap. I get my daily plate of rice and garlic chicken for under a dollar. I’m going to flip in America when I pay 5 bucks for a sandwich.

Other fun fact- I’ve inadvertently gone almost completely gluten and dairy-free since being here. No one eats bread, people hate cheese, and I don’t have a refrigerator for milk. I wonder if this is why I haven’t really gotten sick since I’ve been here (I’m not counting the three rounds of food poisoning). There’s going to be some changes in the Lenz kitchen when I cook rice for every meal.

School

For as maddening as the ever-changing schedule can be, school is fun. There’s always something going on that keeps life interesting. The students have this air of innocence about them that you don’t see in America. I’ll miss them laughing hysterically as I butcher a word in Thai. I’ll miss students saying “May I come in please” at the door and have already sat down by the time I can answer. But their huge smiles are probably the thing I’ll miss most.

I started telling my classes this week that I will be leaving at the end of the term. The reactions have been very flattering, with many of them looking very sad and saying, “Noooo Teacha Mahk. I love you.” Their vocabulary might need a little expanding on that one but it’s still cute. They seemed excited that I would take a selfie with them before I leave.

My replacement is a young American woman coming through the same teaching program I did. The students have already decided that she’s beautiful and that I’m dating her.

Traveling

Thailand is just awesome to travel in. Want to go hike some mountains? Boom, overnight bus to Chiang Mai. Thinking about relaxing on an island? I’ll be on Koh Samet tonight. Feeling like seeing some waterfalls? See you in Kanchanaburi in the morning. There are just so many different things to see that aren’t that far away from each other. Better yet is that the buses can take you anywhere you want to go in the country.

That ease of travel just doesn’t exist in America. But it’s inspired me to travel much more when I get back. There’s so much out there to see!

Riding to work/nature

Every morning there is a two minute drive down side road. On it we pass construction workers building new housing developments. There are a few dogs darting across the street. And a fantastic view of the rice patties against the puffy cloud-filled sky.

I love it. It’s just a stunning display of nature. It reminds me just how effortlessly beautiful this country is and how lucky I am to live here.

Honorable mentions: 7/11’s everywhere, endless summer, nothing ever being on time, ridiculous number of public holidays, the chubby guy outside my apartment who runs a pineapple stand.

Next weekend I’m heading into Bangkok with friends for one last hurrah in the city. Should be tight.

Mark

The Ice Bucket goes gobal

“Feeeeeeeeeze.”

-        Mr. Freeze, Batman and Robin

Not being in America didn’t stop my Facebook newsfeed from blowing up with Ice Bucket Challenge videos. I think this movement is awesome- it definitely made me do some research on ALS and donate It’s amazing to see such a viral trend have such a positive effect I got nominated for it and decided to get a little creative with my video.

My plan was to create the video with my students teaching me about ALS and how to contribute. A lot of videos I watched didn’t really talk about what the disease does. My students didn’t know what it was either, so I thought teaching a lesson about it could hit two birds with one stone. It sort of worked. The crux of the lesson was this flow chart that read,“ALS-> No medicine -> donate money-> research-> make medicine -> No ALS. “

They were able to understand what ALS was and the need for research, which I was pretty impressed about. However, they couldn’t quite get the connection between finding a cure and dumping a bucket of ice water on your head. Cultural differences I guess.

I was able to shoot the video and the students were able to describe ALS fairly well. However, the student camerawork was SO BAD. It’s not really their fault, they probably don’t have a lot of experience taking video, but most of the time the camera would focus on random things while people were talking. Oh well, that part of the video didn’t make the final cut.

I ended up doing the rest of the challenge on the soccer field to loud applause by my students. People everywhere think getting soaked with ice water is funny.

What’s even more amazing is that the Ice Bucket Challenge is starting to go international. My co-workers from England and Australia had heard of people doing it before I did it in class. I was in the grocery store yesterday and saw a video montage of Thai people dumping buckets of ice water on their heads. Nice job internet.

The end of August has arrived, which means it’s fantasy football draft time. While this is best done among friends in a Buffalo Wild Wings, the 12-hour time difference has taken that off the table for me. Instead I’ve had at 6:00 AM wake-up before work, a draft during school hours (thanks ESPN Iphone app), and a brutal Sunday morning awakening at 4:00 AM. I’ve raised three trophies in the past and I’m hoping the sacrifice of sleep pays off.

So what else is new? With my time here quickly drawing to a close, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting on my year here and think I’ve picked up a few life lessons on the way. I’ve written a few reflections and might upload them as my last few posts. I don’t think I’m very good at deep and profound writing, but if that jackass from The Wolf of Wall Street can do it, I might give it shot.

Mark

Island in the Sun

"We have to go back Kate! We have to go baaaaaack! "- Jack Shephard, Lost

With another four-day weekend on the calendar, the time was ripe for some traveling. Some friends and I decided to hit up the island of Koh Chang. The trip began with a light 5-hour bus ride to the coastal town of Trat. After a quick ferry across the pond, we rented motorbikes and began the trek to find a guesthouse.

I think this might be the most beautiful place I've been to in Thailand. It's the third largest island in the country and has everyone from partying backpackers to families on vacations. The west side of the island is the more touristy area with many hotels, bars, and restaurants that hug the beach. Since this is the low season for tourism in Thailand (it's always hot and rainy) the island was fairly empty. This made the island much quieter and way more relaxing. That being said, there were these signs plastered everywhere on the island that said, "Taste of International Nightlife." Next to the catchphrase was a picture of a white guy in a straw hat dancing with an Asian woman. Exactly what international nightlife tastes like.

We found a guesthouse to stay at that was right on the beach. It was 200 baht a night but we had three people in the room, so it only came out to 200 baht per person for the whole stay. That's $ 6.22 for three nights- probably the best bargain I've had in Thailand. To be fair the room was not the most luxurious (mosquito netting did not quite fit the bed, one electric outlet, some plaster fell off the wall when I yanked a towel away), but it had a roof and that's always enough.

We spent the next day exploring the beaches and town. Check it out.

Restaurant with glass tables over the ocean eyyyyyyy

Theses little dudes were all about splash fights

The last day we biked along the east part of the island. This has a very different feel as there are very few accessible beaches, or hotels. Its rolling mountains and forests are very similar to northern Thailand. This drive was absolutely stunning and I nearly forgot how cramped my butt was on the motorbike.

Just a straight-up giant hole in the road. I've given up asking questions in Thailand.

We eventually got all the way to the bottom of the island- but the road didn't connect all the way around! Why ??? Why ??? Our guess was that there was too steep a mountain to connect the road- look how close it is! Again, I've given up on the questions.

The drive back was so beautiful anyway that it really wasn't a big deal. We were all pretty bummed we had to go home at the end. There was such a relaxing and exciting feel to the island that a couple more days would have been perfect. But as Biggie Smalls once said, "Mo money, mo problems." Ferry- Song-Taew Ride- bus ride- train- taxi- back home. A hot shower never felt so good.

With midterms over I'm down to my final stretch in Thailand! I've booked four flights till I'm home: Bangkok to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City to Bali, Bali to Bangkok, and Bangkok to Chicago. Looking forward to a few weeks of budgeting, travel planning, and eating as much Thai food as I can.

Mark

Big Stuff around Town

Terrence Cutler: When I heard you were gonna be subbing here I almost lost my mind.

Kenny Powers: Well that’s good for you.

Terrence Cutler: There’s something you need to know, Kenny. You’re not the only  athlete here at Jeff Davis. I happen to be training for a triathlon right now. Doin’ a lot of running, and cycling, swimming. Well you know all about that.

Kenny Powers: No actually, I don’t. I do SPORTS. Not try to be the best at exercising.

-        Eastbound and Down

Man, it’s been a wild few weeks around school. Midterms, Sports Day, and an honored guest. Not a lot teaching has been going on, but you learn more outside of the classroom right?

Two weeks ago, I found out a great honor was coming to the Raikhing community (the area around the school). Princess  Soamsawali of Thailand would be coming! She’s very popular and has been a big supporter of medical research. She’s like the Michelle Obama of Thailand.

Naturally, everyone found out three days before she was scheduled to come. There was a flurry of activity to get prepared. The school had a thorough cleaning, with a new fountain being added in front. Additional pictures of the king were put up in each class. Even on the roads around the school, banners were hung to welcome the princess. Pink flags adorned the lampposts as pink is “her” color.

The princess would be visiting the Raikhing hospital, just across the street from the school. The Thai teachers were clad in white uniforms in a roped off area while everyone else gathered along the road. A caravan of cars came down the street and dropped her off under the tented area. A half hour later, she hopped back into the car and drove off. I was a little bummed that I didn’t actually get to see her. The security detail could have been improved - too many vantage points for snipers – but it was still pretty cool.

See that car? Yeah- a Princess of Thailand is in it

Making it rain

Before my last class the other day, the power went out. No big deal. This usually happens once every day or two. We cracked the windows and start class. I had just finished explaining the assignment when a torrential downpour starts. It was so loud that I was shouting at the top of my lungs and they could hardly hear me. To top it off the room is almost pitch black since it’s so dark outside.

Luckily, this was 4/2, smart and resourceful. They used the lights on their cell phones to illuminate their papers so they could see what they were writing. They finished the assignment in record time. A+.

Sports!

Sports day finally arrived this week. Students had been preparing this since the term started. I probably only taught half my classes in the few weeks leading up it. Most classes would be cancelled in preparation for it, or the students who showed up were the waterboys/watergirls who didn’t have anything to prep. That was actually kind of fun; I got to know the students who showed up a little better as they taught me Thai.

They find it hilarious when I speak Thai incorrectly on purpose. I started telling students, “I am Panang Guy.” This translates to, “I am spicy red curry chicken.” It’s sort of a running joke in some classes, with students answering that when they don’t know the answer.

“So, what did you do this weekend?”

*Silence*

“Teacha….we are Panang Guy.”

Glad they’ve got a sense of humor. Anyway, back to sports.

Sports Day is like a high school pep rally on steroids. Students are divided up into teams based on color. Every class I had in the weeks leading up would always badger me with, “Teacha? What col-uha?” I never had the same color as they did, so I got booed.

The opening ceremony began with lots of cheering and chanting with all the students gathered on the field. This contained an aerobics workout that was pretty impressive- it’s hard to get 3,000 students to do one thing at the same time.

p90 Wat Raikhing

Following that, someone from the temple came and gave a motivational speech about pride for the school and Thailand. After some chanting, teachers picked up anointed ashes and sat in front of the crowd. The students would bow in front of the teacher as ashes were rubbed on their foreheads. This was a blessing for success over the next few days.

There was then a flurry of running as students went to eat and change in preparation for the next event. An elaborate parade began around the school. Students dressed in themed costumes based on their color. Check it out, pretty wild.

Donald? What are you doing here?

What stuck out to me the most was how much older the students looked. I usually only see students dressed in their identical uniforms, which makes them all blend together and seem very young. Seeing girls with makeup and guys with gelled hair and blazers added years to them. It was pretty neat to see students showing off their hard work and having fun with it.

After that another long assembly began. This time, the guest speaker was a representative from the National Sports Day organization. That’s definitely not the right name but the organization run sports days all over the country. More chanting, more songs, and more praying.

Foreign dude English teachers

To be honest, it looked pretty miserable for the students. They’re sitting in the beating afternoon sun with these stuffy costumes on. It was actually kind of scary when a few kids passed out within minutes of each other. “Rescue” students ran onto the field and passed out water bottles and assisted ill participants for the rest of the assembly.

Finally the games began! The first day had traditional Thai sports. This included judging dance routine numbers and choreographed Muay Thai “fights.”

The next few days had more traditional sporting events. Track and field, volleyball, basketball, soccer, giant jump ropes, the works. The atmosphere was incredibly fun with students running and laughing all day. But it’s also very hot, so you could see them napping in the shade as well. It was an enjoyable three days but I think the kids were ready for a break at the end.

Yesterday was Thai Mother’s Day, so I had Monday and Tuesday off. I spent it on Koh Chang, one of the islands near Cambodia. Life’s been rough around here lately.

Mark