Jub Jub Suphan! Chan Ja Kit Tueng Suphan Mak Mak!

The time has come. Suphan has been a wonderful home these past 12 months. Thailand has made me a very calm, blessed and happy person, mee kwarm sook mak loey! Here's just a few of the things that I have loved and will really miss about living in Thailand:

Sights: the wai greeting, cute students, dogs riding shotgun on a motorbike, pictures of the King in every store, restaurant and home, food carts pushing their way down the street, bugs for sale at the night market, elephants walking down the street, geckos climbing all over the walls, standing to watch the tribute to the King at the beginning of movies in theaters, peace signs in pictures, shoes lined up in the hallway, students walking single file into school, Oat climbing all over our table at Dton's restaurant, 555 all over my facebook wall, stuffed tuk-tuks, people sitting on chairs on top of bags of rice on a moving truck, old shirtless men sitting on their stoops late at night, babies on a moped...

Sounds: tuk-tuk motors, chanting monks, the students daily greeting "Good Morning Teacher," the Thai language, the band at Chaba Cafe, old-school Thai music, the Suphan accent, Thaienglish, people yelling "farang" at me, the gecko squeak, the national anthem every day at 6am, 8am, and 6pm, the ding every time you enter a 7-11, motorbike drivers going past yelling out "I love you!," the Thai reactions "oh-hooooo","aow","oyyy!", "chon gow, mot gow" at the bars, traditional Thai tv show at PTL, chup chup!, Grandma babbling in Thai at PTL, 25 Hours concerts...

Smells: fresh coffee, Thai street food, bug spray, loaded up on sunscreen, toasties from ImD. (Okay, I'll be honest, there are more smells here that I won't miss than those that I will...)

Touch: Thai massages, cramming my longish (in Asia) legs into a seat on the public bus, riding on the back of a motorbike, hugs from the students every morning when I walk down the hall, dancing to too much so much very much whenever it comes on, tuk-tuk rides around town, hot and sunny weather all year long...

Tastes: chili peppers, fresh fruit, som tom, Thai style iced coffee, bamee noodles, flower water, rice bread, banana shakes, pocky, sticky rice, pad thai, khao soi, beer with ice, fried donuts, grapow moo, Thai style omelettes, locally grown rice, cornettos from 7-11, kai jiew, siracha sauce...

I've now pretty much moved out of my apartment and I'm no longer an official "resident" of Thailand.  I'm off to live the backpacker life and be a vagabond for the next 5 weeks. Michaela has arrived and starting on Saturday we will head to Bangkok, up through Northeastern Thailand, into Laos, then I'll go back to Chiang Mai, and on to Pai and Mae Hong Son, back to Bangkok to pick up my brother, down to Koh Lanta, one final night in Suphan, and then on to Seoul, South Korea for a few days before I head back to St. Louis, Missouri, USA!

It's been amazing, Thailand. I'll always consider Suphan home and I'm so happy I've got such a big family here to come back and visit. Khop Khun Mak Mak Mak Mak Mak Ka!!

SYEP Good-Bye Ceremony
Photo by Clare

Sports Day at Sa-nguan Ying

This Thursday and Friday Sa-nguan Ying held its annual Sports Day celebration - a two-day event that took months of planning and many hours of after school time dedicated solely to drumming and screaming practice. It was an epic event that began with a parade through "downtown" Suphanburi featuring some very loud cheers, a marching band and some seriously amazing costumes.  The opening ceremony consisted of a series of explosions, singing and dancing, raining confetti, fireworks and a torch-lighting bit that was reminiscent of an Olympics opening ceremony. It was big, loud and amazing - classic Thailand. The days consisted of sporting events such as basketball, volleyball and soccer (football as it's known here).  It was fun to see my students being athletic, and I especially enjoyed some of the matches that pitted the M.1 (7th graders) students versus the M.6 (12th graders) students, most of the older boys were a good foot taller than the younger gang and the basketball games were hardly a fair contest but everyone was such good sports.  I loved watching the students "wai" (bow) to each other before the contests.  The dancing competitions were easily the highlight of the celebrations for me, I loved the intricate costumes and the mix of cheerleading, traditional Thai dance and gymnastics.  I was also very impressed by the decibel level reached by the girls when they added in a bit of screeching - "I ya!" (Thai for OMG). It was also hilarious to watch the girls that competed in the dance competition earlier in the day take the court later in the day for a basketball game in full makeup with elaborate up-do's in their hair - mai pen rai!  Here's a few pics and a hastily put together video of the events of Sports Day, enjoy!

Sports Day in Thailand from Sarah Rall on Vimeo.

Wai Kru: or Why It's Cool to Teach in Thailand

Last week our school held its annual "Wai Kru" ceremony and it was one of those special Thailand moments that makes me happy to be living and teaching in this culture.  A "Wai" is the traditional Thai greeting of respect with hands together and a bow of the head, and "Kru" in Thai means teacher. Therefore, the ceremony was essentially a chance for the students to show their respect to the teachers of Sa-nguan Ying School.

The ceremony began with a Buddhist prayer and the students singing several songs in Thai, they made quite the choir, and even though I couldn't understand the songs it was a really nice way to start off the ceremony.  After a moment of tribute to the King, including the students singing the Royal Anthem (love this song!) the students bowed in greeting as the director walked in.  According to someone who translated the ceremony for me, the students were chanting their appreciation for teachers and pledging their respect.

For the Wai Kru ceremony, each class makes an offering that they present to the staff, and they pretty much have creative freedom - some of my favorite offerings included a Doraemon replica, a duck, and a 3-tiered floral display that was just barely able to stay together. The offerings are mainly composed of flowers, and supposedly each flower represents something different, such as respect, patience and discipline.

The offerings were presented to the Director and the rest of the teachers at SY by selected class representatives who walked up to the stage on their knees with their heads bowed as a sign of respect.  I didn't score a seat on the stage, but I had a really good view of the ceremony from my seat on the side, it was really cute to see the students make their way to the front and present the faculty with the offerings.  Teachers in Thailand have the ultimate respect of both the students and Thai society as a whole, it was refreshing and beautiful to see the students show their respect in such a uniquely Thai way through this ceremony and I'm glad I got to experience it in my time here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day to those of you in the good ole' US of A.  I had almost forgotten it was Thanksgiving - maybe it has something to do with the 95 degree weather here.  There will be no turkey for me this year, no mashed potatoes, and no pumpkin pie - but you can be sure there will be rice!  Some of my fellow American teachers living in the Soup are getting together for a makeshift Thanksgiving meal, but I will be in Bangkok for the evening on a boat trip down the river with my school's English Program.  Perhaps I'll try to explain to my Thai students why we celebrate this day in America.

Since it's the day we usually toast to what we're thankful for, I thought I would share a few things that I'm grateful for in my new life in Thailand after my first month and a half here:

• Thai people and culture:  They are so friendly and kind and generous - I have learned so much from them already and how they handle every situation with a "Mai Pen Rai" (no worries) attitude and a smile.  I'm also obsessed with the tuk-tuks they use to get around, the "wai" they use to greet each other, and their deep love of karaoke.
• Travel opportunities: There are so many beautiful sights to see in this country, I've already seen so many great sunsets, waterfalls, elephants, mountains, beaches, and rice paddies, and there's so much more to do.  I'm super thankful for easy and cheap transportation and lodging that allow me to explore this country, even on my teacher's salary.  
• Meeting vagabonds: I love meeting people from Israel, South Africa, Italy, France, Switzerland, New Zealand, Scotland, Australia, Germany, Ireland, South Korea, China and England as they travel around the world for 2 weeks or 1 year - it's such a great cultural exchange and I've met some really cool/interesting/inspiring peeps.
• My students: These kids provide endless entertainment, they are sweet, full of energy, and occasionally terrors - but they make me laugh and they challenge me every day to come up with new and exciting ways to teach them about my three favorite activities - reading, writing, and talking! 
• My BFF Nell/Deej/DJ/Jill: It's so nice to have someone to share this crazy journey with - we travel, grab meals and test our ever-increasing tolerance for spicy food, take outdoor Jazzercise, commiserate and celebrate our lesson plan failures and successes, and practice our Thai together - it would be a much bigger adjustment here on my own.

And last but most certainly not least:

• My family and friends: I was worried I would lose touch with some people being so far away and out of contact, and then there's that whole 12-15 hour time difference to the States, but everyone has made so much effort to keep me updated. I am very, very thankful for all of the cards, packages, emails, facebook messages, tweets, g-chats, skype calls, etc that have been sent my way.  I hope you enjoy your turkey and all of its' stuffings, go wild on Black Friday, and watch lots of football! Khob Khun Ka! 

I love sweating, sweating's my favorite.

I have decided that my hardest job the next year may be staying hydrated.  It is so hot here I literally start sweating the moment I enter my hallway, I've been drinking tons of water, but this heat is hard to beat. (Did I mention this is their cool season?) The humidity is also something special, Nell and I made it about 5 full days before we both broke down to buy hair straighteners...I thought I could go without, but it was an out of control frizz fest.

I'm really liking my new digs - I've spent some time the past 2 days walking around, exploring the sights, and being a spectacle in town as one of few foreigners or "farangs".  Literally every time I walk down the street, into a store, or into a restaurant, everyone looks up and stares and giggles.  Occasionally I will hear a "Hello" or even a few "Yo"s, but for the most part it's a lot of smiles and "wais"  (a wai is a slight bow and the Traditional Thai greeting, I'm def. bringing this back whenever I return to the US).  There are very, very few people in our town that speak English.  Even the fellow teachers in the English Program that we met today (the English nicknames they chose are Bird and Star) were hard to converse with - I will be practicing my Thai daily!

My apartment is really nice, I have a massive King Size bed, Air Conditioning (!!), a TV (only 1 or 2 English channels, but hey, it will help out my Thai), a balcony, and a "wet bathroom".  The bathroom is...different.  The shower has no walls or shower curtain, I was scared the first time I took a shower that it would flood everything, but I actually managed to do OK, there's a slight step from my bathroom to my apt. so that water can't escape.  It's definitely something new.  There's also no hot water, which I thought would be awful, but it really is so hot here that it doesn't matter that much.

That's about all for my home tour - plenty of space for visitors though...start researching your tickets!  Our town is cute, lots of action in the markets, so many street vendors, and I've already identified several good places to buy a Thai iced coffee (gah-faa yen), so aroi! (delicious)  Today Nell and I checked out the Giant Dragon in town which is a Chinese temple and the Dragon Descendants Museum.  It was pretty sweet, we got a great view of Suphan Buri from the top and we made friends with two Thai women who laughed at every attempt we made to speak with them...at least we're trying! 

Also, you may have heard about the flooding in Thailand - no one here seems to be too concerned when we ask them about it, but I'm also not sure they understand the question, good thing my apt. is on the 4th floor!  We have noticed a lot of stores building cement walls around their entrances, which we're guessing is their way to protect it from the flood, I'll keep you updated if I'm taking a boat around town in the next few days...

New pics on Facebook.

If you would like to contact me, there are a few ways:

• Cell Phone: 084 542 0589 ( Country code is +66)
• Skype: sarah.e.rall

Thailand Tidbits:

• Not only am I living in the future because I'm 11-14 hours ahead of the US in terms of time zone, it's also the year 2553, because their calendar is the Buddhist Calendar.  
• There are more than 28 different varieties of bananas in Thailand!