Do you know those moments, coming home after an exhausting day, toes bent and feet sore, counting the minutes until you're in bed, replaying the mornings events in your head, feeling absolutely spent and drained, yet fulfilled? Like you can't imagine a better way you'd have wanted to gain aching feet and shoulders? Those moments...I love 'em.
The past two Sundays I've gotten on Bus 48 at about 4:00 pm and leaned on the open window to watch the street scenes as the engine rattled under my hot feet and car exhaust perfumed the air in the typical Bangkok way, and smiled to myself.
And couldn't stop smiling.
I'd spent the best part of my day, 8 a.m. until 3:50, in a state of sheer disbelief that this was my life. I would be standing in front of my class explaining the difference between a "city" and "town" or some such English phrase and suddenly be observing myself from somewhere far removed, perched atop an imaginary cloud perhaps, and think, "I'm actually...doing this? These kids are listening and responding and learning, from me?" Surreal is an understatement. Elation is unavoidable.
I feel as if I've been given more than my fair share of these "experiential gems" in my lifetime. Opportunities have found me more than once, basically thrown themselves at me, and I'll sorely miss them the day I stop getting so lucky. I have to take the time now to revel in the beauty of the many unbelievable ways in which I've been rewarded for doing very little in return.
I'd like to pretend that teaching English to Thai children counts as a satisfactory act of goodness, but I feel silly saying that, because I do believe I am gaining much more in being involved in such an environment than I could ever purposely give to those kids.
Anyway, the purpose of this post was to share some photos I took of my lovely surroundings during Sundays teaching at Wat Pho. There is so much to capture but I did my best in between lessons, lunch, recess, and packing up to go home.
My students are very well behaved. The Thai children are so attentive and respectful, especially for pre-teen boys, of which I have eight in my morning class. Many of them take notes diligently, and if they goof-off it is only for a minute or so and then they quietly resume their work. I feel like these kids are truly grateful for the opportunity to learn a valuable language that can help them gain access to higher levels of employment. I've noticed a fervent regard for the "farang" (foreigner) instructor by the way the parents excitedly wave to me and nudge their children to greet me with "Good Afternoon, Teacher", their hands quickly clasped in prayer as their fascinated eyes meet mine.
Thai children are commonly known to be very shy and unconfrontational in their educational environments, having been raised to always regard their elders with the utmost admiration and deference, thus not prone to challenging, questioning, or engaging their teachers in any way. This clashes substantially with the American view of educational freedom, where students are largely encouraged not to accept information without first understanding different viewpoints. Also in feeling the social openness to regard their instructors as fellow thinkers who can be called to engage in verbal discussion if that serves the purpose of furthering the students understanding behind the lesson.
My Thai students sit and take notes like they've been doing it all their lives, because they have. The minute I call on someone to write something on the board, or ask a simple question to the entire class, there falls a silence. This is mostly with the older students, who perhaps have become accustomed to simply jotting down whatever information the lecturer provides, but the younger ones do like to shout out answers to concepts they have grasped.
It always makes me laugh when I say "Perfect!" or "Very good job!" to a student upon checking their worksheet and I'll hear a voice parroting me from somewhere in the room, "Ver gude JOBE!", as if they are testing out the way the words sound on their tongues. It is adorable, and little by little, hopefully they'll actually understand what they are saying.
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