Mae Rim, Thailand
18° 54' N 98° 56' E
Aug 11, 2006 08:10
Distance 15km

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"teacher"

Text written in: English

well, travel karma took an even more drastic turn. this is what happens when I'm (too?) willing to blow with the wind...

3 days ago, after the tip from mary, I met joy, the woman who runs school for life. joy is a thai dynamo, a walking angel - it took me less than 10 minutes talking to her to scrap all plans to hit those infamous thailand beaches (those same beaches that compelled me to haul a snorkel and mask around se asia the past 3 MONTHS in anticipation of getting there) and instead spend the next 3 weeks in land-locked northern t-land teaching art to 130-some orphans outside chiang mai (which are....ummm...my LAST 3 weeks, so that means no beaches for me).

so poof, I go from slacker backpacker with days that start at noon, to hearing the first wake-up bell at 6am, eating breakfast by 7:30am, being surrounded by kids and teachers and staff all day long, a schedule that gives me one day off a week. but craziest of all, being called "teacher".

there's a fundraising art show 9 september, so my job is to get the top artists in form to create mini-masterpieces (that raise loads of baht, of course) plus be able to describe their artistic motivation in english. yeah, no pressure there. shit, I can't even describe MY art motivation half the time in english. during the week, I teach the rest of the kids which should be a blast. still not sure what materials we have to work with (found a stash of unsharpened color pencils so have been working on that), where we'll meet, what they know already, but by now I'm pretty comfy not knowing the exact plan. and there seems to already be a good vibe here to use art as therapy so figure it'll be a good experience for all.

the kids have pretty troubled backgrounds, tho as joy said, they're survivors not victims, and it shows in the general vibe of this place - happy, healthy - a massive family, if that's possible with 130+ peeps. hard to imagine they come from pasts where parents have been thrown in jail for life, subject to burmese border clashings, parents lost to AIDS, or the most recent, instant orphans from the tsunami. I guess the tsunami kids were devastated when they first arrived (no surprise), but were assigned buddies (everyone here has one) and, tho they for sure haven't forgotten, everyone here seems to be pretty typical-kid-like, if not more so. have hardly seen any sadness and no fighting or yelling. it's surreal actually...

I'm trying (and pretty much failing) to remember names, learn thai, heck, just be used to being around so many people. but these kids are as willing to hug and hold hands and be close as the other places I've been. that is good for all of us. and I've met amazing volunteers, so still no regrets in being here instead of the beach.

in a week (day?) maybe you'll hear something completely different, but for now, this is home. I've even unpacked my backpack and put things in drawers....THAT felt strange.  

probably wont get any pics uploaded until I land in australia but will write again once I see what these artists are up to.

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Photos / videos of ""teacher"":

my room didn't suck ladaone in front of the kids canteen library kitchen, dorms (Im on the 2nd floor), class rooms where the kids line up wvery morning like this damn...always forget the name of this game - like hackey sac but with a net wicha - music teacher (I took over his classes while I was there) different day, different uniform.... one of the fields the school has girls playing volleyball kids in library bell.....didn't really like the bell so much another of the schools fields typical shot - could always tell age of kids my class by the size of the shoes outside the door kindergarten (note the girl totally crashed out) nit check catherine and hello kitty boy lots of sports injuries urai - one of my helpers (she's sharpening pencils). if she was around, I didn't have to do anything :) kids helping me make books at the science fair. more asian school kids handing out orange hearts - no idea why. but I got one too! mint n microscope girls and their winning display (proving a rose will last longer in red bull than in orange juice) kids/teachers from the school playing a game @ the science fair cooking class poor kids had to make the curry (it's a shit job) inch-worm infestation!!!!!!! and wha-d-ya do with em? burn em, of course (worms did decimate trees so not complaining, just not very buddhist of them) learning thai letters the drumming troupe one of the masks we made! the teachers sculpture. even creepier at night.... tiger brand everywhere - cement.... ....and biscuits typical meal-time in the teachers kitchen rice cookers in kids kitchen banana desert for everyone (that'd be 170 people) napping on tile floor... one of the many after-school events the kids had boy scouts/girl scouts day even the little kids got uniforms evening 'church' - christians sang songs, buddhists prayed. everyone had a minute of silence (ahhhh.....) girls practicing dance for the exhibition more lining up before class every morning was praying too sunset over s4l
earlier Entry 46 of 162 later
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