Three days after I arrived in my new home town it was already time to start my job. The school is a 45 minute drive away from Lampang so I get a lift each day with two male Thai teachers; I leave at 6.30am every day and don't get back until 5pm so it's a very long day, especially in the heat, however the drive to work past mountains and countryside villages is breathtaking albeit slightly awkward due to the fact that the teachers I travel with don't speak any English! I sit there looking out of the window listening to them chatter away together in Thai trying to pick out words that I recognise. For three days before term started I sat through indecipherable meetings entirely in Thai and hoped that they weren't talking about anything important. My first official lesson as an English teacher loomed ever closer. Was I nervous? Was I worried that they wouldn't understand me? Was I paranoid about tripping and falling flat on my face in front of a room full of teenagers? Triple yes. It was time to stand in front of 20-30 expectant students who don't speak my language. Although I completed my training course for three weeks and, being English, I should know my subject well (fingers crossed!) I can't help but feel like I'm a bit of a fraud considering that Thais train for five years to become teachers!
Do I feel like an alien or do I feel like a celebrity at the school? I can't decide. The children rarely come into contact with foreigners and so I get a lot of attention; the braver ones ask to touch my hair whilst whispering something about Barbies, beg me to sing Taylor Swift songs or say "helloooo Teacher" before running off in fits of laughter however Thai people tend to be quite shy so I usually get met with a lot of adorable smiles and giggles. Thai's greet each other with a wai (hands together as if praying and held near the face with a slight bow) as a sign of respect and the children do this relentlessly to me all day every day, even if we pass them in the car after school's finished they stop what they're doing to wai the car in order to show respect - a far cry from the way teachers are treated in the UK! Every morning there's a flag raising ceremony outside where the children pay their respects to Buddha and the King through praying and chanting and then they are required to clean and sweep the entire school. Sometimes I have to attend this ceremony and speak a few words over the microphone about English culture to the whole school and sometimes Mr Brown licks himself all over in the background (it's at this point I will inform you that Mr Brown is the name of one of the dogs that lives at the school!).
Thais have long unpronounceable names but all of them are given a nickname at birth such as Kwan, Ning, Noi, Au or Mon however some of them do sound a bit bizarre to the English ear for example Milk, Oil, Beer, Pond, Cream, Ass, Pee, Dum, Name and Poo are all common nicknames. I have four Poos at my school. And one Ass. Thais are very superstitious - there's a spirit house to catch ghosts outside every building, one school closed for three days because this spirit house was accidentally knocked over and they were all terrified that the ghosts would be unhappy - I discovered that nicknames are given by parents to confuse baby-snatching spirits so sometimes animal names are used and 'Poo' actually means 'crab'. Mystery solved.
I haven't met any other foreigners in my town but luckily another teacher, Kiren, is a few hours away and after our first week teaching she came to visit me in Lampang for the weekend. We went to a Thai club which typically consists of a big room glowing with pink and green disco lights; small tables and stools are centred around a stage where a series of Thai singers will emerge from a hole in the stage floor wearing bandannas, bomber jackets and double denim. We ordered two rum and cokes and a whole 75cl bottle came out for the same price as two glasses in England. This happened twice. Fast forward a few hours and I've forgotten where I live. Literally. It occurred to me that I didn't know where I was in this foreign town I'd just moved to and I didn't even know my address as all the street signs are in Thai script. 'Farang' is the Thai word for foreigner (and, strangely, it also means 'guava fruit') and forgetting where you live is just another one of the many farang struggles I've experienced. It certainly keeps life interesting!
For only £6 you can forget where you live.
The government provides a free uniform to every student so they dress the same at every school, right down to the white ribbon in the girls' hair.
One of the school's corridors - it's so hot that the classrooms have metal gates instead of doors.
Do I feel like an alien or do I feel like a celebrity at the school? I can't decide. The children rarely come into contact with foreigners and so I get a lot of attention; the braver ones ask to touch my hair whilst whispering something about Barbies, beg me to sing Taylor Swift songs or say "helloooo Teacher" before running off in fits of laughter however Thai people tend to be quite shy so I usually get met with a lot of adorable smiles and giggles. Thai's greet each other with a wai (hands together as if praying and held near the face with a slight bow) as a sign of respect and the children do this relentlessly to me all day every day, even if we pass them in the car after school's finished they stop what they're doing to wai the car in order to show respect - a far cry from the way teachers are treated in the UK! Every morning there's a flag raising ceremony outside where the children pay their respects to Buddha and the King through praying and chanting and then they are required to clean and sweep the entire school. Sometimes I have to attend this ceremony and speak a few words over the microphone about English culture to the whole school and sometimes Mr Brown licks himself all over in the background (it's at this point I will inform you that Mr Brown is the name of one of the dogs that lives at the school!).
A street food stall at Lampang's weekend night market - this noodle dish is called Yummee and yes, it was yummy!
The view from my balcony - ok, I may be a little obsessed with taking photos of the sky in Thailand!
Thais have long unpronounceable names but all of them are given a nickname at birth such as Kwan, Ning, Noi, Au or Mon however some of them do sound a bit bizarre to the English ear for example Milk, Oil, Beer, Pond, Cream, Ass, Pee, Dum, Name and Poo are all common nicknames. I have four Poos at my school. And one Ass. Thais are very superstitious - there's a spirit house to catch ghosts outside every building, one school closed for three days because this spirit house was accidentally knocked over and they were all terrified that the ghosts would be unhappy - I discovered that nicknames are given by parents to confuse baby-snatching spirits so sometimes animal names are used and 'Poo' actually means 'crab'. Mystery solved.
My new home.
My building has TWO beautiful spirit houses! Does that mean there are more ghosts here?
I haven't met any other foreigners in my town but luckily another teacher, Kiren, is a few hours away and after our first week teaching she came to visit me in Lampang for the weekend. We went to a Thai club which typically consists of a big room glowing with pink and green disco lights; small tables and stools are centred around a stage where a series of Thai singers will emerge from a hole in the stage floor wearing bandannas, bomber jackets and double denim. We ordered two rum and cokes and a whole 75cl bottle came out for the same price as two glasses in England. This happened twice. Fast forward a few hours and I've forgotten where I live. Literally. It occurred to me that I didn't know where I was in this foreign town I'd just moved to and I didn't even know my address as all the street signs are in Thai script. 'Farang' is the Thai word for foreigner (and, strangely, it also means 'guava fruit') and forgetting where you live is just another one of the many farang struggles I've experienced. It certainly keeps life interesting!
Singers at local club, Mod Yim.
For only £6 you can forget where you live.
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