Hidden Gems

Sylvia and I had decided to travel to Jomtien Beach for a relaxing week-end before she goes off to India. Even though I had already been there, I dutifully went to the bus station and actually booked two tickets. On the way to the bus, I saw two people buying tickets for BangSaen and I asked them what that was like. In their broken English, they said it was great. I happen to know it is the closest beach location to Bangkok and it is where all the Thais go, but it is apparently rather slow which is why I initially agreed to go with Sylvia to Thailand's number one tourist destination....Pattaya/Jomtien and not Chonburi province which I sort of wanted to see.

Anyway, I luckily was able to get my money back for the Pattaya bus and bought two tickets for BangSaen. After an hour and a half, the two people I met at the bus station waved frantically for us to get off of the bus. Had I not met them, we might have ended up in the south of Thailand for all I know. Within minutes, a songkiew picked us up and we were at the beach before you could say sawadikup! Why I called this a hidden gem is because even though BangSaen is in Chonburi, the province next to Bangkok, one would never know it even existed. We have the Lonely Planet Thailand at home and looking in the index I cannot find Chonburi or BangSaen. It is as if it does not even exist yet it s absolutely delightful.

It has kilometer upon kilometer of great beach with thousands of Thais eating, relaxing, eating, and eating. They sit under the umbrellas you see in the pictures and get waited on hand and foot by roving food sellers who come with every type of seafood imaginable. I almost had a lobster for a dollar but decided against it because we just had a huge breakfast at the hotel...another hidden treasure.

The beach road had hundreds of hotels and we had no idea which one to pick. There was one other farang couple in all of BangSaen and when I saw them, I asked them where they were staying. They told me they found a great hotel about three blocks from the beach called the Casa hotel which appeared to be brand new. Daniel, it was just like the hotel we stayed in when we were in Phuket....fantastic....another hidden gem. ( a third the price of Phuket)

Saturday night, when we were walking around I asked a Thai couple where we should eat. They told us to take a Songtaw to the pier which I never even knew existed since there are no guidebooks, maps or tourist information I could find. The meal was delicious and when we were there all kinds of kids were sitting on the pier in makeshift circles playing the guitar, eating ( of course) and just relaxing. I took some pictures which the Thais seem to love. I only wish I knew making friends was this easy. I would have taken millions of pictures when I was a teenager!

We also saw a small car show near the pier. All of these souped up cars had music athumping, cars bouncing up and down and doors that seemed to be ready to fly off into the air as you can see. from the pictures. I guess the theme of this entry is hidden gems. I haven't even begun to explore Thailand yet even though I have been here for 6 months. Sure I have been to the major "attractions" but I am left wondering what I am missing.

At the moment, just debating whether to get a car next year so I can really explore the out of the way places. The advantage is I will see a lot. The disadvantage is that I will probably not meet as many wonderful people I keep meeting.

On Language

When I got into my morning taxi with my usual driver, I had about 5 transliterated sentences written in Thai. Unfortunately, I had no idea what the questions meant because I forgot to write the translations in English my teacher gave me the night before.

After settling in to the cab with my usual swadeeekup, sabai dee mai krup “how are you” greetings I decided to go for broke and ask him the other five questions. When he answered all of them (I have no idea what he said or what I said for that matter) I was in a state of shock. He actually understood something I said. The absolutely first time!!!!!

Usually, when I speak using my language book, he looks over and sees the word written in the Thai language and responds after he sees the word, not when I ask it.. This time, he just undersood…WOW! This is no mean feat considering Thai is a tonal language and even though you might think you are saying the correct word, because you are pronouncing it wrong people have no idea what you are talking about. Furthermore, there are lots of sounds we simply do not make it English and it has taken me about 6 months to literally get my tongue around some of these.

It reminds me of the time in grade 12, after playing the violin for 4 years, my music teacher stopped me and said; “ Michael, that note sounded like a violin should sound!” I was in heaven at the time, just like yesterday morning. Imagine, a Thai person actually understanding a question I was asking them. Never mind that I did not know what the question meant or the answer he gave. Perhaps there is hope.

As I said, Thai is a tonal language and even though you could be saying the right word, no-one may understand you. For example, when Josh and I were on our bike ride getting lost I asked someone to point to ‘sip sip gow’ or 49 Sukhumbvit. He did not know what I was talking about even though I had given my address to taxi drivers millions of times. That day was a low point when I could not even get a guy to understand me when I said a number. Yesterday was a high point with the taxi driver.

Thai is such an interesting language. I just wish I knew an Asian language when I was still teaching and could then understand what I would have to work on with my students in writing exercises. For example, there is no verb conjugations or verb tenses. If you want to say you are going to the store tomorrow you put a ja in front of store and after ‘bpai,’ going. You do not change the verb. If I knew why my Asian students kept using one tense, I could have figured out some way of helping them, I am sure. By the way, you would never bother saying’ I’ am going because that is obvious who is speaking and they would look at you like you were crazy if you identified yourself by saying ‘I’ am going. You would simply say bpai chop-bping to say I am going shopping.

Thai is a very straightforward and simple language. For example, toes and fingers, our appendages have the same word, ‘niu’ which makes a lot of sense when you think about it. Similarly with the classifiers. For example, the name for room is hong ,so you have words like bathroom hong nam, bedroom hong noon etc. When you want to order water you say nam and every other drink is either nan som, orange juice, nam deng, something like cream soda and so on. It even makes a lot of sense since ‘deng’ is red and it is a red drink. Really makes a lot of sense, right?

This does not extend to all things Thai, however. For example, I could never understand why people could not understand me when I was talking about the time. I do know my numbers perfectly and can say most of them correctly 90% of the time. Why weren’t they getting it when I was discussing time with them in the afternoon or the night? I used to ask ‘wee-la tao-rai’ and when they told me the time it did not sound like anything I had ever heard of. Now I know why. I had never heard of it!

Thai language divides the day into three 8 hour blocks and uses a different classifier for each block. Seven pm is one of those dividing times when they begin the second set of 8 hours so 7 pm is nung tum, or one. 8 pm is song tum or two, whereas 7 am is jet or seven mon for hour. So, to summarize, not only do I have to memorize the words, then learn the right tones to say it in so that I am understood: I also have to have a higher degree in math to figure out from 7 pm I have to start counting from 1 again. By the time I could figure this out, I would forget why I was even asking. And, if you are invited to a formal party, guess what. When they put the time, it will be written in the 24 hour clock. Go figure!!

If you think that is difficult, wait till I tell you about numbers. Everything was going smoothly for me (relatively) until I got to 10,000. muen. What is the big deal, you are asking. How do you say 10,000 baht? Muen. So, what is the big deal right? 10,000 is nung muen or “1” 10,000. Makes sense, right. Now 15,000 what would you say? Using western logic you would say ‘ha’or 5 muen right? Wrong. What you would say is nung muen or one 10,000 plus the 5 thousand or ha pan. Clear as mud, yes?

I know language reflects the culture and I know the numbering system is saying something very clearly about how numbering was developing in the east as opposed to the west, but I certainly don’t know enough about numbers to comment on what. If you understood the last paragraph, hopefully you can give me some insight.

Lotburi and the Monkeys

What I love about Thailand is the generosity of its' people. When Sylvia and I were walking throgh the 3rd class car to find a seat to Lotburi and older gentleman told us in perfect English to sit down beside him . It turns out he is a retired music and language teacher living on 10,000 baht a month and the nicest person you would ever want to meet. I assumed the two girls sitting with him were his daughters but it turns out they were Korean journalist students spending their last day seeing the countryside.

On our way home, we were asking where the bus station was and a girl on her motorcycle told us it was about 1 kilometer away. She offered to give us a lift and I told Sylvia I would walk and she could get on the bike. No problem, I thought, until I saw her returning for me about five minutes later. Frankly, this does not surprise me and happens absolutely all the time.

I have to remember this when I think of the phone incidence last week-end. Can't remember whether I talked about it or not, but we were going out to eat with a Thai lady and her daughters. I passed my phone to the cab driver and asked him to get directions to the restaurant. When we arrived, I checked my pocket, as I always do, and realized the cabbie still had the phone. We immediately called and sent him text messages which he failed to respond to, meaning he meant to steal the phone. What I have to constantly remember is that I take about 2 cabs every day so dishonest cabbies are a rare commodity ( I hope)

We just got back from Lopburi as you can see from the pictures in Picassa. The town is overun with monkeys who climb the telephone wires, every public building in the place and certainly the temples. As Sylvia and I walked through the main temple, the guard shut the 'jail' door and shooed the monkeys away so they would not get inside. Sylvia and I looked at them from the inside out looking through steel windows. Was this a zoo in reverse, Sylvia asked.

We did venture outside and you can see how many hundreds of monkeys were frolicking around the Wat. Clearly what makes them so interesting is the way they play, just like we do!

I will have to go back next year. There were supposed to be glorious sunflower fields which I thought would look like the mustard fields in the California wine area but they apparently are now finished. There is also waterfalls which look amazing, for Thailand anyway. Coming from Ontario, can't imagine they would compare with the "Falls!"

I guess I will have to seriously consider whether I want to buy a car next year. It would allow me to go 'upcountry' anytime I wanted and see any waterfalls, fields or other things that struck my fancy. The dilemma is: would I meet the people and this is what this story and life is really about, isn't it?

Choices

Week two is now over and I can’t believe the choices I have to make on a daily basis as a principal. Let me give you some examples. Last week, after waiting a few days, I was finally having a serious discussion with the superintendent about timetabling when the secretary runs into my office and tells me a student has just been hurt in the gym. Do I run to the gym and make sure the kid is taken care of properly or do I continue the serious discussion with the superintendent which I had been waiting for for about 3 days? Now that particular choice was easy but they get harder. (In case you are wondering, of course, I ran to the gym since that is probably my most important job, ensuring the safety of the kids.)

I am presently meeting with a student twice a day who is failing everything. Before school to make sure she is on time, on the right track and so on and after school to look at her work for the day. There is a line-up of teachers waiting to see me at the door. I am feeling pressured. Do I spend the time I should with the student, who is the reason we are in teaching or do I give her a superficial “how are you, great work now get out of here” and see the teachers with their concerns? This sort of pressure is constant.

Talking about teachers, this happens constantly. The first teacher comes in and emphatically tells me that what I just did was wrong ( which they never say, by the way, they just suggest politely suggest other ways of doing things) and the next teacher comes in to applaud me for doing the same action. As I said the last time this is quite a conundrum.I know my job is to empower teachers and get them to think about how things should be run themselves, but it is very difficult. I wish I could be specific and give you some real examples, but I know when you write on the Internet anyone, including the teachers at the school may see this at some point so I have to watch carefully what I say. Trust me, these are interesting times.

I also find that from the inside, there is no-one to criticize but myself, God forbid. On the ‘outside’, I used to say either out loud to anyone that would listen or at the very least to myself: “Why did the principal just make that decision? It makes no sense. It is not good for kids, simply the administrative convenience of the school”. Well, guess what? When I consider some decisions we are making now around scheduling and timetable issues for next year, who gets considered last. Probably the students which I know is absolutely backward. The students are the only reason we are there.

It is also very tough knowing that there are no viable solutions for certain problems given the restrictions and circumstances of the school. I could give lots of examples of this and will in e mails.

God knows what week three will bring but I know one thing for sure. I will have to make lots of choices and hopefully will make them based on sound pedagogical decisions, even though this is always tough under pressure.

This week-end we are going to Lotburi to be with the monkeys. Should be fun!

On being a principal

I was walking in the breezeway today and saw a bunch of kids chatting with each other and having a good time. I have seen this innumerable times in the past on this campus and thought nothing of it. To-day I asked them where they should be and why they weren’t in class?

This was an instant transformation on my part that is really quite amazing. One day I am the curriculum coordinator with no responsibility for kids and the next day I am asking them why they weren’t in class. What is it about the human condition that changes in psyche can be made so fast and so effortlessly? If I thought about it, there is no way my nature is so accusatory but in one instant this changed because of the position of principal and its’ expectation or what I think a principal should be. I hope I can get over this soon.

On the other hand, I had no problem receiving birthday cake from the grade five class and nursery school who were celebrating birthdays, or parents coming in to say hello and bringing in a little ‘something’. I am likely to gain fifty pounds from this job.

However, I am expected to be able to give answers and make decisions, even though the problems are philosophical and actually require not an instant answer but a discussion of the issues. Unfortunately, the teachers do not see it that way and like us, who want a definitive and instant answer when we see a doctor, teachers expect the same from me. The difficulty is twofold. Teacher ‘a’ wants one thing, like punishing students for some infraction of the dress code and teacher ‘b’ wants the dress code to be abandoned. Another layer of complication is that I have my own opinion of all of these issues and generally it is different than everyone else’s.. Somehow, I am going to have to reconcile this with the good of the school. I am either going to suppress my own instincts and follow policy, once I can figure out what that policy is, or try and change policy and convince teachers of my way of thinking.


One of the best parts of the job comes when some cute grade ones come into my office to give me something they found. When they are there, they usually help themselves to candy and receive house cards for being such a good school citizen. More and more of them seemed to be visiting me as the week wore on with all sorts of things ranging from money to pencils and pens. It just occurred to me they are probably stealing the money to get into my office. Could it be for the candy?

Discipline is another interesting issue. For me, the emphasis has got to be how to support this student and figure out how to help. For others, the emphasis seems to be on punishment and this is another huge issue that has to be reconciled. I will certainly have a chance to observe human nature in the next few months and I hope my attitudes towards the basic good of every human is not tested, or if it is, it remains positive. Otherwise, taking the job will not have been worth it.

This week I was on a honeymoon. Next week should be even more interesting.

"Doing Nothing"

Since Sylvia has arrived, life has changed, obviously. I have become domesticated again. As I was lying in bed reading a book this morning (Sunday or Wan a-tit), it occurred to me that I have never done this before. I have not ever given myself one minute of downtime. On a typical Sunday, if I was in Bangkok, I got dressed, picked out an ‘attraction’ of some sort and started my day. By the time I got home, perhaps at 11 or so, I was so exhausted I just went to bed. Never did I give myself the luxury of just doing ‘nothing’

I have also seen about 4 films on CD’s. They cost about $3.00 in the market. I have no idea whether that is a good price or not? We also went to a show with Josh at the cinema and I ate popcorn, just like it was Toronto. Except, unlike Toronto, the theatre was air-conditioned and I nearly froze to death, and the movie was in three dimensions. I should also mention we had to stand for the national anthem. (By the way, the king’s sister died so we are in official mourning for 30 days and last night the caddies were wearing black ribbons and many of the population are wearing black)

We have also gone shopping. I frankly never stepped foot in a mall before, but they are fantastic. Sylvia says you can’t get stores like this in Toronto with all of the big names. Considering the average Thai salary in probably a few thousand dollars a year, I have no idea who is shopping in these stores, but they are loaded with people. I think even Daniel loved these malls.

I actually bought a pair of black shoes. Unlike Toronto, you do not have multiple salespeople. In the store, you might have Echo shoes, so the Echo guy brings out the shoes for you to buy, in the Gucci session the same. Same shoe store but many salespeople. I ended up buying an Echo pair after trying on about 10 different brands of shoes. Now I see how some people can spend their lives shopping. I could have gone from store to store and had the same treatment all over again. When you are in a restaurant, the waitresses that serve a certain brand of beer also wear a specific costume, so the Singha lady always wears a green top, for example.

Sylvia and I also went to the aquarium which is also in a mall. What isn’t? The finest bakeries, the most delicate flowers, the most expensive clothes and electronics and a complete other side of Bangkok I have never seen or even dreamed about.

We are also getting our bodies in order. Yesterday we went to a very modern dental facility and got our teeth checked and cleaned and today I am getting a red thing removed by a dermatologist. Yes, it is Sunday and yes, I said dermatologist. This is medical tourism at its best.
Just got back. Within five minutes I was registered and laying on a table ready for the laser. In about another five minutes the dermatologist walked in and apologized for keeping me waiting. I think I would have a heart attack if I heard a doctor apologize to me in Toronto for keeping me waiting.

It is amazing what you can do with the precious commodity of time-shop, read, sleep in, see movies and do everything else normal people do. Don't know why I waited five months before I became so domesticated. Certainly running around has its attractions but doing 'normal' stuff is also quite entertaining as it turns out.

This commodity of time will end for me tomorrow when school starts and I have to wake up a 6 or before as the school games begin!

Socialist Vietnam

As I am sitting in the Vietnam air lounge waiting for my flight to Bangkok and wondering how I am going to spend the last of my Vietnam Dong I am also reflecting on my experiences in the socialist republic of Vietnam. I will let Josh and Sylvia solve the other challenge of spending the Dong. It is probably the more difficult of the tasks.

Let me tell you how socialism plays out in the reality of present day Vietnam. There was a school right beside our hotel and when I tried to visit yesterday I couldn’t even get past the guard at the gate. I saw a lot of teachers talking near the door ( in their traditional Vietnam dress) and I tried to make eye contact, thinking that if I could explain I was a teacher from Canada then they would graciously usher me in and we could talk about education and observe some classes.

As it turned out, nothing could be farther from the truth. As I made eye contact with one of the ladies, she gave me an imperious wave of the hand and told the guard to send me on my way. I wondered why the tour guide told me a few days ago it was impossible to see a school which was confirmed by this teacher and now realize how important education is to a society and culture. If education has to be hidden it must be pretty precious.

As one of the tour guides said, one of the reasons there is only one political party in Vietnam is that the people are so poorly educated that it would just lead to a lot of unrest I the Vietnamese people were given political choices because they have such rudimentary knowledge of the political system because of their lack of education. He also said that if Vietnam was going to progress, it had to be through education. One of the paradoxes of the modern world I guess. How much education do you want to give the people versus keeping them uneducated, poor and hard working to make ends meet.

Which leads me back to the question of why they would hide their educational system to the world? I suppose it has something to do with not wanting corrupting outside influences on impressionable children. When Joshua and I snuck into a university in Hue, we obviously could not hide because of our occidental appearance and all the kids were laughing and talking about us as we walked through the halls and observed the classes with the kids all sitting in rows listening to their instructors.

Clearly, communist countries do not want divergent opinion at this stage, or any stage of their development. Education is obviously the key to maintaining and developing the society’s ideology and promotion of culture.( i.e. socialism) This just confirmed to me that I am in a very serious business. I don’t know how successful I am, but what I think I am trying to do is encourage a critical attitude in children and hopefully transform them into good democratic citizens through their questioning attitudes and critical consumption of facts. Clearly, Vietnam education is still in the transmittal stage of promoting communist values and perhaps will always be there.

Education is still not free, health care is expensive and bribing is a way of life. Everyone has to do army service for two years, unless you come from a family that is wealthy enough to bribe your way out of this service.

Vietnam is clearly in a very delicate time and has to make some serious political decisions about wanting to be an open or closed society. The answers will determine their future.