Well, it finally happened. After battling the monsoons to eat burritos and keep our margaritas flowing next to the whiskey-drenched Japanese businessmen, my friend Janey and I stepped casually onto the BTS Skytrain. Determined in our mission to get Ben & Jerry’s ice cream at Colossal Gleaming Bangkok Mall #43, I almost failed to notice the magnitude of what was happening to me. I felt… cold. Frigid. Goosebump-ingly chilly. So distracted was I by this momentous occasion that I wasn’t even phased to discover that apparently “open until 10:00pm” means “we’ll begrudgingly serve people until 9:40pm and then boot your whining asses to second-rate Swensens.” I ate my $1.43 Mocha Almond Fudge scoop in ecstasy.
I have done it, people. I can handle the heat. This farang body of mine has finally accepted that I live in Thailand.
The only thing that could possibly come close to the importance of my aforementioned success would be the overwhelming challenge I faced during the last two weeks at work. I taught two lovely Chinese students who came to Top Scholars for an “academic holiday” (real thing) this summer. Their English language level was considerably lower than most of our students and I struggled mightily to adapt not only our curriculum, but also the way I spoke to them. I spent the majority of my time interrupting myself to explain vocabulary - “cognitive” “take for granted” “tyranny” - and trying to come up with culturally appropriate examples – Wikipedia? No. MTV? Nope. Justin Bieber? Nada. I won’t go into any more detail in case this blog finds its way into larger spaces, but a lot of tears, chocolate, and frustrating self doubt were involved.
Teaching is a profession. It is a learned skill set that requires years of study and practice. The fact that I can write well does not mean I am a good writing teacher. My lack of experience and qualifications are undeniable. I often feel like I am gasping for air, trying to learn the curriculum, guessing at classroom management techniques, and unsure of how to assess whether or not my students are actually learning anything. At the very least, though, I know I am entertaining. Theatre major to the rescue! In all seriousness though, I hope my teacher friends out there know how much I respect the tremendous work they do, the time they have put in to understanding the vast and complicated world of teaching, and their continued commitment to doing one of the most difficult but critical jobs on the planet.
I have had lighter moments in the classroom and plenty of delightful cultural confusions. Yesterday I was urging students to follow up about recommendation letters from teachers this fall, to which one unusually outspoken Thai girl replied, “When is fall?” I also still can’t get over the fact that every student asks me permission to go to the bathroom. I have been transported back to a world of raised hands, juice boxes, and painfully awkward giggle fits. As long as I can keep a lid on Pokemon Go in the classroom and continue interspersing Thai into my lectures - kaeng maak! so smart! thing-thong! crazy! – I just might keep my head above these wondrous, turbulent new waters in Bangkok.
Can you tell I spend a lot of time eating? :-)