First week of school

I rumbled out of bed and ate some rice and a small banana.  James and I then confusingly walked over to the general assembly area (a large soccer field) where the students gather to sing the national anthem each morning. Supposedly, we were supposed to give a speech in Thai to the entire school. Going on these vague whispers, James and I headed over there around 7:50 AM. After a few different Thai teachers spoke it was then our turn to grab the mike.

speaking to the school

I felt like a comedian with very infallible material going up on stage as I looked out on fifteen hundred Thai students and teachers eagerly waiting for me to speak. I knew whatever words I spoke in Thai were going to be a big hit with everyone and that turned out to be just the case as I got a huge laugh after saying “my name is Josh” in Thai. Thai is tricky to speak properly because it’s a language based on tonality. There are 5 tones in Thai and thus each word has roughly 5 different meanings depending on what tone you use with that specific word. For example:

Ki (with a neutral tone) = ride

Ki (with a high tone) = shit

Overall, the speech went well as I managed to give everyone a nice laugh to start the day off.

After the morning assembly my coordinator (Kru Lin) showed me the teacher’s room, which is a nice room on the second floor where a gentle breeze usually rolls through. Moments later, I confidently walked into my first Thai class to teach English. It was a new feeling, but things rolled along smoothly as I slowly introduced myself and played a game here and there.

Kru Lin and I getting her tire fixed

After the first day of teaching I noticed a funny pattern. At the beginning of every class, 1 Thai student yells in a soft mono-tone voice “stand up class” and after all 40+ kids stand up the whole class swings out the words “good morning teacher” “how are you today.” I then say “good morning class” and “I’m doing fine today class thank you.” The mechanical and consistent nature of this daily routine for each class is slightly odd, mechanical, and very consistent.

My school

Teaching over the first week was a success. The days are on the long side and James and I both teach 20 different classes each week with an average of 35-40 kids in each class. Each grade has a ranking system. The “1” ranking classes are the best. They are quarantined off from the rest of campus and have the newest classrooms with the best and most up to date equipment. The next best rank is “8” and the worst rank is “2.” The “2” ranked classrooms are held in caves located 10 kilometers off of campus and can only be reached by a small windy footpath that spins through the hills (slight exaggeration).  Regardless of the rank, the Thai students are generally very respectful and have not given me too much trouble yet.