Kru means teacher in Thai. So what does
it mean to be Kru Amy in Thailand? It means a lot of different things.
For example it means, never having good wifi, finding unique looking
bugs everywhere, never quite understanding what’s happening
(#foreverconfused sums it up) and getting bombarded with high 5s walking
to the office. It also
means standing out everywhere I go (cue One Republic Stop and Stare).
Which by default means that I am already the class clown at school.
Therefore I can over exaggerate everything and dance around class to get
my kids attention. It doesn’t matter if they think I’m dumb because I’m
already the weird ferang (foreigner) anyways.
So here’s the skinny on my role here at
Ban Bowin School. As a Fulbright teacher it is my job to teach
conversation English classes. Each student has English class four times
per week. Three classes with their Thai teacher and one with me. The
school has about 900 students and I teach almost every single one of
them. In Thailand elementary school is called Prathom and high school is
called Mattayom. I teach Prathom 2-Mattayom 3 with two classes for each
grade (ex: P2/1, P 2/2). Each class is filled with 40 kids. Some want
to learn, some like to play English games, some like to play other
games, and some just don’t care whatsoever. Figuring out this classroom
dynamic has been one of the biggest struggles of my job thus far.
The Thai school calendar is completely
different from the American and international school calendar. I popped
into the scene at the beginning of what would be my students second
semester, October-March. March-May is sweet summertime and the new
school year begins with the first semester running from the middle of
May thru September.
One part I think is really unique about
the Fulbright program is that during March they give us the opportunity
to intern anywhere in Thailand. People have worked with elephants,
refugees, English magazines, the Ministry of Education, etc. I will be
working with the USAC office in Chiang Mai. Then after a 5 week internship we have the entire month of April to travel!
About four months ago I arrived in Thailand and this is a brief look into a normal school day at Ban Bowin.
A Day in the Life
Each morning I wake up around 6:30 and
get ready for the day. I normally wake up with a dry throat. I’m
perpetually dehydrated so I try to chug a liter of water as I make
breakfast and get ready for the day. P’Nui picks me up at 7:30 and we
head to school. Sometimes we stop for breakfast at a local market. If I
haven’t eaten I’ll pick up some BBQ chicken on a stick and a bag of
sticky rice. My favorite morning drink is coconut water straight from
the coconut. The fruit guy cuts it open, sticks in a straw and puts it
in a baggie to go.
Morning assembly starts at 8. The
students line up in rows on the soccer field to sing the national
anthem, listen to teachers talk about what I’m still not sure and then
the school band plays.
Following the assembly I go to prepare
for my classes. My desk is in an office with my host teacher and five
others. Thankfully we have air-conditioning and turn it on in the
afternoons. It provides a little safe oasis from the sweltering heat of
the classrooms. I teach half of my classes in the English Learning room
and the other half in individual classrooms. I finally figured out how
to get the projector to work two weeks ago so that was a huge win.
My overarching goal is to foster
conversation through fun and interactive games. Obviously it’s much
easier said than done. Sometimes I’ll spend hours creating a super solid
lesson and then my students will turn to each other asking what the
heck they’re supposed to do. But then sometimes they get what I’m saying
and have a blast leading their blind folded friends around the gym
saying, “turn left, go straight.”
While my lessons rarely go as planned
there are a few things I’ve picked up through my time as a student that
I’ve implemented to create a positive classroom setting. One of my
teachers in college, Dub Ashton, played music while we walked into
class. I really like the idea of creating a welcoming and relaxed
environment from the get go, so I play music as the students come in,
grab their name tags and sit down. Now that I have a projector I might
even play America’s Funniest Home Video highlights. No need to speak a
common language to understand the humor in those videos!
 |
| This is Cake, she makes me a paper heart every Monday! |
Another teaching technique I picked up
was from Mr. Foley, the choir teacher at Shawnee Mission East. He always
shook our hands as we walked in to make sure that he spoke with every
student. With 40 students I don’t get as much one on one time with my
students as I would like. I have learned from Mr. Foley and try to high
five each student as they leave my classroom practicing their nicknames
as they go.
After school P’Nui takes me home from
school. Occasionally a group of teachers will go shopping for the school
store or we’ll go to Pattaya for the night to shop, eat and relax. This
week I went to the sauna and swimming with P’Apple. Why there is a need
for a sauna when you can just walk outside I’ll never know but it was
fun nonetheless.
When nothing is going on after school I
go home to my apartment in RJ Mansion. Sometimes I’m greeted by a gecko
freezing in it’s tracks and then hiding never to be found again.
Sometimes I come home to a million ants eating all my Christmas candy or
even the remnants of a dish that was cleaned post breakfast. After
battling with ants or shooing away geckos I normally drink a huge bottle
of water, eat a snack and catch up on the Fulbright group text to see
what funny things happened to my friends throughout the day. Then I
normally go on a run or do Insanity with my friends Fon and Nont. Before
this year I’ve never sweat so much in my life. Post Insanity I am
always drenched head to toe while my friends don’t even break a sweat.
For dinner I usually go to the restaurant
next door with Nont or head over solo. I’ve become friends with the
owner and he even got more veggies so I wouldn’t have to eat the same
four every night. When I don’t go out to eat I cook in my rice cooker.
This has been a refreshing break from the large amounts of salt in Thai
food and the uncertainty of what animal parts I’m actually eating.
By this point in the day I’m pretty
exhausted from dancing and running around school all day. My wifi is
pretty bad due to the large amount of people in my apartment complex so
sometimes I watch a movie from the large selection passed onto me from
previous ETAs on my external hard drive. My aunts also sent me an adult
coloring book which has been such a mindless, refreshing hobby. Or if
I’m lucky and the internet is working I’ll listen to a talk on Youtube
or catch up with friends/family as they make their way to work.
Then I head to bed, on my rock hard
mattress and process the weird things I ate, heard, saw and experienced
as I dream into the next day to repeat it all again.
—–
All in all I am starting to get used to
my life as Kru Amy. I know what to expect on a daily basis. But I also
know to expect the unexpected. Somedays I arrive at school to find out
that there is an event and classes are canceled. Somedays I don’t
understand why my students are 20 minutes late, only to find out that
they are on a school trip. I know I’ll never have it all figured out,
but at least I know not to clip my finger nails on Wednesday or Thursday
cause it’s bad luck, really dodged a bullet on that one!
In other news….
- Today in one of my classes all of my students lined up to get my autograph on their hands…still not sure why.
- A very famous Thai celebrity died of Dengue fever. Can never have too much bug spray!
- Last weekend was teacher appreciation day. Dressed in
matching yellow our school headed to Pattaya for the ceremony. About a
month ago a seamstress came to school to fit us all for our outfits. She
custom made each one and mine was only $30! Its incredibly polite and
would pass the school skirt finger test any day! Also Christine was a
life size American girl doll and her P’s dressed her up in traditional
Thai style. They woke up bright and early for their 4am makeup
appointments.
- Christine and I explored Koh Larn, the island off Pattaya, last weekend. It was a stunningly beautiful place! Saturday night we went to explore walking street in Pattaya. We got a much needed American cheeseburger then headed to a bar with live music. I started singing along to Sugar and the lead singer of the band called me onstage to join!
Much love,
Amy
Read more from Amy as she spends her year as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant in Thailand at: https://sameamebutdifferent.wordpress.com/
For more information about the Fulbright Grant Opportunities, check out http://eca.state.gov/fulbright/fulbright-programs
