It was a full day of “work” talk before we were done. Later that night, I got together with a bunch of the ETAs and grabbed some dinner at an over-priced food court, the likes of which I’ve already told you about =). All of them have been assigned to schools that are pretty much rural or small suburbs in the provinces where each meal costs them about 12 baht, or about .35, so they felt like some splurging was in order. So we all went out for a fancy meal that ended up costing me about $8. Yes, that’s splurging! Really now, I could feed myself for three days on that amount of money! Here's a picture of us for your amusement:
After dinner, we headed out to live jazz bar called “Saxophone” in a part of BKK that I haven’t really been to. It’s sort of hidden away from the main street, so even if I had been to what is known as the Victory Monument, I probably wouldn’t see it. Don’t ask me what the monument commemorates, I have no clue – this coming from the guy who wrote his undergraduate “thesis” on the role of monuments, memorials and historical sites with regards to the public reinforcement of the collective memory of the past! Hah hah. Here's a picture of Elizabeth -- she's located in one of the province near Chiang Mai in the north:
This is the sign for the men's room. If you find it a little bit hard to read, it says "man toilet." I found it quite funny:
The ETAs had spent a month in BKK immediately prior to my own arrival, so they had had some time to see BKK before they were shipped off to their various assignments. It’s a good thing too, since I really had a great time at Saxophone. It was really quite amusing for them because as usual, being a male Asian, the cocktail servers all addressed me in Thai and asked me to be the spokesman for the group (they’re all Caucasian looking, FARANG as they’re known in Thailand). It’s ironic because most of the ETAs have a better grip on Thai than I do given the fact that where they live, an English speaking Thai is harder to come by than in BKK. Even though I generally understood the simple questions they were asking me, I didn’t know quite how to respond, so I deferred to the others in my group – besides they needed to order their own drinks anyway =). The funny thing was that even after they answered back in Thai, the servers continued to ask me the usual round of follow-up questions! I felt quite sheepish and it spurred within me a renewed sense of commitment to learning my Thai as quickly as possible. Hopefully, I can get through the first two hours before the school closes for three weeks in December for winter break…
On Thursday, we went to what I think is the National Rose Garden in the nearby province of Nakhorn Phanom. I learned that one of the ETAs is based quite near there, so I shall have to go visit! She also agreed to let me sit in on her classes and see her school so that I could get a sense of the state of public education in Thailand. I plan on visiting many of the others and seeing their schools as well! Hopefully, I can incorporate my observations into my research and make some contacts along the way to keep in touch with once they all finish their assignments at the end of March.
Whoopdy do, you all say. Rose Garden, how much fun could that possibly be for anybody other than me?? Well, the Thais know all about turning a good thing into a better thing and capitalizing on their resources. Today, the garden features more than just the original gardens. They have traditional Thai “activities” such as bamboo leaf weaving, flower garland making, fruit and vegetable carving, Thai pottery, classical music and dance, a silkworm and silk-weaving workshop, martial arts, Thai cooking classes and even a miniature rice paddy! I was able to check out quite a few of these little workshops and had quite a bit of fun bumbling around pretending I don’t speak a lick of Thai (which wasn’t that hard to do given how little I actually do understand!). We capped off the day with an elephant show and traditional Thai village…cabaret of sorts that featured everything from traditional musical instruments, martial arts, dance and even a traditional Thai wedding! In fact, here's a picture of me with the happy couple:
This is a picture of my first attempt at carving a piece of squash...try guessing which one of was carved by the professional, hah hah!
This is me at the garland making station:
Here I am trying my hand at making some clay pottery...not too bad for a first attempt, what do you say?
Also, I went to go visit the silk-making exhibit, check out some of these pictures! The rounded yellow things are silkwork cocoons. The more golden-colored ones are are ready to be processed and unravelled whereas the paler ones are being allowed to continue developing. As you can imagine, it would be a terrible way to meet your end as a silkworm. Death by boiling!
Anyway, we ended the fun and eventful day with Thanksgiving dinner as a group at the home of the Educational and Cultural Affairs officer at the US Embassy here in BKK. Let me just say that they are quite well taken care of by the US Department of State! Not only do they get their housing paid for, but they still earn US level government incomes and have quite enough time and resources to travel in the regions of their assignments. Apparently, Fulbrights are prime candidates to sit for the written and oral examinations one has to pass to become a foreign-service officer with the USDOS – I must say that I’m definitely considering it at the moment! Although having a family makes it a little bit tougher when it comes to the periodic rotation of assignments, it seems they get quite a bit of assistance with things like schools for the children and stuff for the spouse of the FSO to do. The point is that all of you should worry not for me as I still had my turkey (and stuffing too) this year ~
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