International Day

Wow, it's been a packed weekend leading into a packed week! I've been processing so much it's going to take at least two posts to cover it all. So here we go.

Friday was International Day at Payap and one of the GVs signed us up to participate by giving a performance for the variety show. I'm not sure why we didn't just do an informational booth, but it was a creative way to advertise our services as English tutors. It was decided we would do a dance/skit to Michael Jackson's "ABC." It was actually pretty cute. We began by acting confused/uninterested/bored, then one of the the GVs entered as our teacher and tried to teach us through some dance steps which by the end of the song we were able to do ourselves and were excited about learning. In case the symbolism didn't get across my roommate gave a short announcement at the beginning explaining who we were and what we do.

The rest of International Day was really fun. It was much more authentically international than Whitworth's. There were booths with ethnic foods ranging from Indian vegetarian to Japanese sushi to German bratwurst while the performances were anything from traditional Korean dance to Justin Bieber.

 
This guy was legit! He performed a traditional Chinese sword dance.

I think these are Thai students performing a Korean dance.

Two of my coworkers are in this group. Anisha is wearing "metro Indian" clothes with her jeans and sari. She's the second from the left. May is in the off-white shirt in the center.

And this is Ozzie. Another one of my coworkers. Pretty much says it all. 

So yes, there was that, which would have been a sufficient weekend activity in itself for me, but this weekend was also the international women's retreat. Esther really wanted all of us to go, except my roommate Sarah couldn't because it was her birthday and she had already made plans. However Rochell, Anisha and I left straight from International Day and after a half hour drive to the Suan Bua resort. 

A few things

•  The other day I saw an elephant in the street. (A domesticated one). While this is cool, I guess it's not considered that humane and you're really not supposed to encourage it. But it was still cool.
• I ate lunch in my campus' cafeteria today. I'm hoping to do this on a regular basis to kind of help "break the fourth wall" as you would say in theater terms between me and the students. Today I met a student who grew up in a Hill tribe. She was very nice and helped me navigate the food, which was amazingly awful. I don't even want to know what I ate.
• Speaking of food, I don't know if I've mentioned this little incident, but the other day I was having lunch with the rest of the CVs and we were asking Ozzie what everything was. There was a sort of brown, jelly-like substance on the edge of our plates and when we asked what it was he said "I'll tell you later. Don't eat it." Apparently it was fried blood (or boiled? I don't know exactly how you cook blood). This culinary item is fairly common. Far moreso than I would like. I mean, I'm a pretty adventurous eater. But some of the stuff they eat here turns my stomach.
• I can't believe the outfits they make the nursing students wear. The black skirt and white blouse seems fairly standard, but the actual nursing outfits seriously look like something out of World War II. Or quite possibly World War I. Or maybe even the Civil War. You think I'm being hyperbolic. Trust me I am not. I will try to take a picture sometime.
• I really, really love the novel Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson. Sometimes I go back and read things that I loved growing up and I can't remember what I thought was so great about them. But sometimes I reread things and think: dang I had good taste. It's so good. Read it.  

Surprise!

The good news is, I don't have pinkeye. Something got on my contact the other day and I think I scratched my cornea or something like that. So all Sunday I freaked out thinking I had pink eye, but the next day it was not as red and it hadn't been teary at all so it was decided that it wasn't pink eye. Today it is almost back to normal but I've been super self-conscious about it all week. I already stand out enough without being the girl with pinkeye.

While I can't say I've been swamped with work since coming here, I have been busy. Friday is International Day and the GV's and CV's are doing a performance together. It's not really cultural, it's more of a promotion for English tutoring - our job. So we are doing a dance/skit to Michael Jackson's "ABC." It's one of those moments where I think: I wouldn't have been caught dead doing this several years ago. In order to meet up with the others, which I pretty much have to do every day for one reason or another, I have to get to the other campus which is not within walking distance. Chiang Mai doesn't really have public transport outside of something called a "song-tao" (that's not the proper spelling but I think you'll get closer with the pronunciation). These are very expensive. It's kind of a racket. I won't go into it. So instead Ozzie and Anisha have been ferrying me back and forth on their motorbikes, which is getting tiresome. I wasn't expecting a motorcycle ride the first time around, and it was a bit scary weaving in and out of traffic. Today I had to go in a skirt which was even more difficult because I had to sit  side-saddle.

In addition to prepping for International Day, I've had a variety of errands to run so I can become a registered employee with Payap. Today I finally found the time to open a bank account, which was a bit of a struggle. They spoke English, but only just, so communication was difficult. My teller kept asking me "four, second number?" and holding up four fingers. "Second number of what?" I wondered. She finally motioned to the keypad and I realized she needed me to enter a four-digit pin number. Then she kept asking me something I couldn't make out. It sounded like "activate." What she really wanted was my address. But it got done in the end and they gave me a free umbrella!

In many ways Thailand is reminding me of Mexico. Thais are very neat and appearance is very important. Time, however, is not so important and being late is not a big deal it seems like. Apparently we will be reading a book that compares "hot climate cultures" with "cold climate cultures" and I am interested to see what it says. Speaking of hot climates, I am going to die here. If I don't die from food poisoning or insane traffic, I'm going to die of heat stroke. It is their "cold season" and it is like our summer. "We have three months of really nice weather, and then comes the really hot season," Ozzie tells me. Excuse me?

The high point of this week so far has been our "surprise" discovery. Yesterday after dance practice the Granell girls had a meeting with the head of the foreign language center. Sarah had the idea that we should come along to see where it is and meet her. Sarah's initiative and prior experience with Thailand is becoming invaluable because it turns out we're teaching a two week course in conversational English with no training or preparation. We walked into the center and the lady who is in charge was so happy to see three extra people (Anisha came with us) and immediately started giving us handouts and explaining the course to us. We weren't even told to come to the meeting! Suddenly we were responsible for five sections of a two week course that Thai seniors have to take in order to graduate. We each get a section of 25 students, although apparently attendance will not be 100% every day because, here is another cultural discovery, apparently Thai students are not very motivated. The Granell Volunteers are in charge of teaching the Chinese students who are apparently "very diligent" while we were told to "just keep teaching no matter what happens." Okay.

So I don't get this. A teacher is a respected member of society in Thailand, and education is valued highly, but Thai students don't work at their education. Another thing I've discovered is it's considered disrespectful to throw books on the floor (we were trying different choreography for our dance) but Thai students don't really care about studying. But appearance is more important than function, or so I was told when I admired the campus buildings. It all seems a bit nonsensical to someone who is firmly rooted in a cold climate culture.

But back to my surprise class. I'm not really bothered. In fact I'm quite pleased to have some extra responsibility because initially our responsibilities seemed pretty light. 12 hours of English tutoring a week and helping to lead chapel once a week. That's it? But if things like this keep coming up then it should be an eventful year. We still have no word on when we start TESOL training. Next week perhaps, which is also when the conversational English classes start. The tentative schedule for TESOL looks pretty rigorous so November is going to be a busy month.

Oh, one last thing that reminded me of Mexico. We found a cockroach in our bathroom the other day. It ran down the drain. Sarah covered the drain with a bowl.

First Impressions

On arriving in Chiang Mai, I really had to hit the ground running. After being welcomed by Esther and the two CV's, Ozzie and Rochelle, I was taken to Esther's house for a traditional spaghetti dinner. Driving in Thailand. Wow. One: motorbikes are very popular and account for about half the traffic. Two: like the Pirate's Code, traffic rules in Thailand are more like guidelines. Lanes are just suggestions and interpretation of their meaning is subjective. Driving is on the left side of the road, like in New Zealand. And crossing the street here is like crossing the street in Guadalajara, there is no guarantee that people will stop.

I'd been fading fast on my flight over, but was feeling okay and had intentionally not looked in a mirror before meeting everyone at Esther's house. The other CV's were all there. Ozzie graduated from Whitworth in 2008 and has been here for at least a year, maybe two. He lives in the International dorm. I'm not sure where Rochelle is from but she is in the Women's dorm along with Anisha, whose name I'm not sure how to spell and who is from India. Sarah and I share a room (more like a flat) in the Nursing dorm which is on the original Payap campus along with the schools of theology and music. Sarah, I may have mentioned, is from Maryland and studied in Chiang Mai at Payap for a year. There were also a couple of volunteers from Granell who are here through “Granell Corps.” They are not Christians and I'm already noticing an unfortunate divide between them and the CV's. I can't remember who else was there. It was quite a handful and before long I wasn't even attempting to be part of the conversation I was so tired.

Esther took me to the Nursing dorm where I met one of the security guards and a couple of other people. It's a bit hazy. One of the staff and a student took me up to my room. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I have nice digs. There's a spacious living room with tv, dvd player, microwave, sink and fridge (but no stove). We have a private bathroom (really wasn't expecting that and am so excited!) and a shared bedroom which is almost like two separate rooms because of the way the wardrobes are placed. Everything was ready for me. The Nursing dorm staff had a basket of flowers with a welcome note on the table and there were candies on my pillow. Sarah had left a note inviting me to help myself to stuff in the fridge. There is no carpet but it is actually nicer that way because it is so hot. AND we get air conditioning and free internet! How awesome is that? I took a shower and crashed, having been informed that there would be a meeting in the morning.

I woke up around 7:00 a.m. which gave me just enough time to get ready for a special worship service Esther had recommended we attend. The service was for Payap staff and meant as a way for them to get to know one another. I guess we might be teaching some of the staff members, so Esther wanted us to meet them. It was all in Thai, but Esther translated for us. After that we had a meeting outlining some basic things we need to get done. We hadn't had a chance to eat yet, so I went down to a small bakery with the others to get food. Unfortunately it was raining and we only had two umbrellas. Anisha kindly offered to share with me but it was very difficult for both of us to fit so we got a bit wet. Laughing and running into things, we eventually made it there and back.

I went to lunch at a favorite restaurant of the CV's with my roommate Sarah and her boyfriend Kevin and they gave me some cultural tips. For one, the spoon is the main eating utensil. You use the fork to push food onto the spoon and to cut with. Also, it's a good thing I'm not allergic to MSG because I guess they use it a lot (this isn't a great thing and I've decided not to look into the health implications any further). I learned how to wai properly and how to say thank you (kop khun ka). The baht is very weak against the dollar, it's a thirty to one exchange rate. So when I changed about forty dollars worth at the airport I ended up with a couple 500 baht bills and every time I go to buy something I feel like a big spender even though cafe items cost around $1 and my meal at the restaurant cost 45 baht, or around $1.50. That included a delicious banana shake!

Another thing I have discovered is that Thais don't believe in toilet paper... We do not have a “squatty potty” (thank goodness) but toilets are outfitted with a kind of, um, hose. You can guess the rest. Sarah and I however have some toilet paper because we don't think the hose is, um, adequate.

I was feeling pretty good until 5:00 hit. Then I crashed. I was invited to go to dinner at 6:30 but opted out because I felt like I had a hangover. I slept for a while and forced myself to stay up so I would sleep past 4:00 a.m. Today has been very low key because it's the weekend. After grabbing a bite at the 7'eleven I went exploring and took some pictures of my new home. Chiang Mai is very busy and very different. It surprises me how much I'm reminded of Guadalajara as I wander the markets, but then I see a pair of Buddhist monks in orange robes or a temple or a rickshaw and there's no doubt I am in Asia. If you want to see some pictures of my first outing you can click the link below. I am too lazy to upload them twice.

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES

Thirty hours of grossness

Wow, it's been a trip. It all seemed somewhat surreal as I finished packing on Tuesday. After loading my two suitcases in the back of the car and gathering my backpack and purse I felt that it had been a little too easy to pack. I still wonder what I've forgotten. I wasn't even cramming stuff into my suitcases. I almost got away with taking only one. But I really couldn't think of anything else I needed so I went over to visit my brother and niece before heading into Spokane to check my luggage.

My family members are getting to be pros at this. We've found it works well to check the luggage and get boarding passes before going downtown for a bite to eat and then going through security. We ended up at the airport at about 4:00 p.m., which was earlier than planned but that ended up working to our advantage. I asked if I could check my luggage all the way through to Chiang Mai. “No problem” I was told. The desk agent was very friendly, said he had visited Thailand and loved it and tried to teach me the Thai word for watermelon. But after a while he quit with the small talk. Several minutes went by and he started grumbling to himself. I asked if there was a problem and he said that he couldn't find my flight from San Francisco to Taipei. He said it didn't exist. Excuse me? It's true I hadn't reconfirmed it. I had tried but the desk had been closed. Had I just made the dumbest mistake of the year? But I've delt with airlines before. I know their ways. I asked to use a phone and called China Air. They reconfirmed that the flight existed, which I told to the Alaska Airlines agent. He seemed perplexed so I told him just to check my luggage to San Francisco and I would deal with it from there. “Well, okay, but since it's domestic I'll have to charge you a baggage fee.” Of course you will.

So I have four theories. 1) There was a technological glich, causing the flight not to show up in the database. 2) Operator error. 3) This is just how Alaska Airlines operates so that they can charge a baggage fee. I was cynically inclined to this last until I discovered that China Air wouldn't transfer my bags to another airline in Thailand, which makes me think that maybe the problem lies with them. In any case, this little incident managed to upset my cool and I was pretty jittery on the way to Frank's Diner. Traffic was horrid but we made it in time and I had one last meal with my family before going back to the airport to head off for a year. I got to San Francisco without a hitch and was able to find my luggage and the China Air check-in points through my favorite method of navigation: using The Force.

Flying with China Air was a new experience in a variety of ways. The plane itself was an older model and between the faded purple seats and retro television sets it felt a bit like stepping into the 70's or 80's. There were a few other Americans on my flight, but they were mostly older. To give you an accurate picture of what it was like, I will mention that there were several men wearing turbans (Sikhs?) and that I stood out more than they did. My blond hair really makes me show up in a crowd.

I was fairly disappointed that they didn't have the personal entertainment stations on this flight. Instead we were treated to a series of increasingly obscure in-flight movies (English with Chinese subtitles). I listened to my iPod a lot and got more sleep than I usually do, no thanks to the amount of turbulence we had. I don't generally get worried on planes but there were a few moments when I was forced to think about how utterly helpless I would be in a crisis situation. 

I don't do well with overnight flights and was feeling really gross when we landed in Taipei. Of course this was when my seatmate decided it would be a fun time to socialize. I escaped as soon as I could and set off to find a bathroom to attempt rejoining the land of the living. I was pleased to find I only looked half dead (a zombie/human hybrid perhaps?) and after a change of clothes and washing my face I felt somewhat presentable.

Now I had to navigate the Taipei airport, which is without doubt the weirdest airport I have ever been in. There was no gate number on my boarding pass and I couldn't find my flight number on the reader boards so, like a sheep, I blindly followed some people. Not only was it a complete rabbit warren but I kept walking past lines of people in wheel chairs wearing hospital masks, which made me feel a bit uneasy. Then I passed a station where they were monitering everyone's body heat and had to stop to have my temperature taken. I think they were testing for Dengue Fever, which was not reassuring. Finally I found a help desk and was able to locate my gate. 

Time for crisis number two. The flight was late of course, and I did not have much of a time window between arriving in Bangkok and boarding for Chiang Mai. But there was nothing I could do so I boarded, looking forward to a view of Hong Kong, where we had a stop. And then it happened. I ended up sitting next to a Talker. I've been pretty lucky with flight mates lately, so I knew it was only a matter of time, but this guy annoyed me so much I didn't even care about offending him or hurting his feelings. He was an older, unmarried world traveler who had recently retired. Oh, and he was from Yakima which was "a good place to go to church and raise a family, but that's not my thing." Well, maybe it should have been because his personal development was definitely lacking. 

I don't even know where to start. He was one of those people who don't understand social conventions. He started by talking about all the places he'd been to, as though he was trying to impress me. My responses gradually morphed from polite interest to monosyllables while trying to stare out the window. But he didn't stop. He started moving across every range of subjects he could think of. I tried to read my book. "What are you reading? A mystery?" No. Kidnapped, by Stevenson. "Oh, a classic. I have some classics with me. Nothing too deep." If you have something intelligent to say about Stevenson go ahead, otherwise stop talking about yourself please. That was kind of how he was. Everything went back to him. He was obviously a lonely traveler but I felt no pity. He did not get the hint when I went back to my book. He then moved on to politics and religion. My favorite part was when he started talking about the elections and how he hoped things didn't go back to the Republicans and then started bashing the U.S. "I shouldn't really talk about politics but..." No sir. You shouldn't. Not if you're going to make blanket statements without backing them up. I could have challenged his opinions but I don't think he was capable of discourse and debate. He then moved to religion. I could have had another theological conversation with an old man but I'm afraid I decided not to engage because I'm pretty sure he would not have listened to a word I said. He just wanted to rant about how awful Christans are. I have often lamented that my face betrays my emotions so easily, but apparently it failed me this time. I need a readerboard that would express my true feelings. Please stop talking. Can't you see that I'm clearly not interested? For the love of mike you are the most annoying person I have ever met while traveling! 

After we reached cruising altitude I was able to escape to watching Toy Story on my entertainment center. "What are you watching? They don't have any good movies. Have you seen Obscure Independent Film?" Elitists drive me crazy. He eventually subsided into commenting about how it was too bad he hadn't been upgraded to business class because it was so much nicer and you usually had better conversations there than in economy. I nearly choked on my chicken from suppressed laughter at this remark. 

Okay, I've devoted too much space to Annoying Man. As I've mentioned we had a stop in Hong Kong. I love looking out the window while landing and taking off. I'm kind of like a little kid. I just can't believe I'm actually flying in this metal thing with wings. But the magic was gone with Annoying Man present, criticizing every facet of the location. ANYHOW the ridiculous thing was we had to get off the plane with all our stuff for "security reasons" and go through Hong Kong airport before going back to our exact same seat on the flight. It was a circus. There were two China Air employees yelling Bangkok as we got off the plane. When they identified me as a passenger for Bangkok they gave me a special boarding pass and slapped a sticker on my chest, which felt kind of invasive. I then had to go chasing after a flight attendant along with several other bestickered passengers. It was like a parade of branded cattle. Then we stood in a long line and reboarded, now running even later than before. 

Needless to say I didn't have high hopes of catching my flight to Chiang Mai. I figured I could catch another flight or bus, but was worried about the people who were supposed to pick me up and who I had no way to contact. After landing in Bangkok I booked it to the baggage claim, except I couldn't find the proper one. The setup was really weird and I had to ask for help. Then I had to go through immigration before I could pick up my bags, which I thought was unusual. After finding my luggage, I couldn't find a way out to the domestic terminal. After rushing past hoards of people with signs I ran into a security officer who wouldn't let me go any further and directed me to "Aisle Four." Okay. I went the direction she indicated but couldn't find any "aisle." An airport employee noticed me and after a short conversation I discovered I really needed "Level Four." I found Thai Air and was waiting in line when an employee approached me (again) and informed me that domestic flights checked in at a different location. Of course. So I went there and explained my situation. But the Thai Air people were really wonderful and amazing and changed my flight free of charge. I thanked them profusely and was a recipient of the "wai" in return. The wai is kind of a bow with your hands together. They were seriously awesome. When I got my boarding pass at check-in, I waved it at the girl in customer service and she laughed. Oh, and I should mention I didn't have to pay any fees for my luggage. Stupid Alaska. 

Now my only problem was contacting Esther. Stupidly I had not brought her phone number. I was wondering about wireless access when I noticed some computer stations with phones. It was like an answer to prayer, but I needed change. I'd gotten some baht on arrival but they were all bills. There was a duty free shop close by though, and they helped me after a very long and confused conversation in broken English. They also were wonderful and thus far I was liking Thailand a lot. I managed to contact Esther, but sadly my new flight was delayed and we spent a long time on the tarmac. Even so Thai Air is one of the best airlines I've ever flown with. It was a one hour flight, but instead of a measly box of pretzels we got a "snack box." It was amazing. Croissant sandwich. Yummy juice. Coffee. A brownie. So legit. 

And so I arrived in Chiang Mai, exhausted and with the greasiest hair you can imagine. Think of the longest camping trip you've ever taken without showering. It was worse than that, I guarantee it. But Esther was waiting for me along with two other CV's with a welcome sign. And so my adventures in Thailand begin.