joi to the world

It seems appropriate at this time of year-- when talk of holiday cheer and joy is abundant--to talk about the Joi in my life: my housemate. Though I’ve mentioned her previously, she really does deserve an entry of her own. Her personality and life are worthy of a reality TV show: she had a baby 7 months ago who lives with her parents in her hometown, an ex-husband who is trying to get her back, a boyfriend who is a musician, but only plays music in Hong Kong, and an obsession with Thai soap operas, belt making and all that is Isaan. Despite these, uhh, differences, Joi has managed, somehow, in her hilarious, easy-going and kind way, to make my life here in Warinchamrap feel exponentially safer, happier and more comfortable.

On my first night in Warinchamrap, after an exhausting day of 3-am wake-ups, moving-in, and trying not to cry about the place I was moving into, I came back to my new room to find a lovely, lovely surprise-- a foot longtokay had crawled through the gap above my door and sat its blue behind and beady eyes on my wall.

As most would probably do, I freaked the hell out and screamed for the roommate I had met just minutes prior. "JOOII!! JOOOII!!!!! JOOIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!" rattled our paper-thin walls as I frantically ran into her room, dragged her out of bed, and into my room to show her the freakish monster on my wall.

She took one look at it and then at me, her new, crazed, jumping, screaming, English-squawking housemate and stared for a good minute. "Huh?" her face read, "what the hell are you so worked up about?" Turns out that tokays are all over the place here-- a sight that I have gotten very used to-- and for Joi, who grew up in a small fisherman's town on the border of Laos, this little guy was barely of note, let alone something worth trying to chase out of a room. But after that solid minute of taking me in, she realized that my unadulterated fear could only mean that I had never seen one of those run-of-the-mill geckos before. She stammered, wide-eyed,"No.. tokay...(waved hand backwards to signal before)?"

I turned red, laughed, shook my head, and continued to jump up and down. And Joi, oh lovely Joi, promptly responded to my head shake by first laughing, and then picking up a broom and to shoo it-- and me-- away.

The tokay took off running through my room, first dashing into my closet, and then finding asylum in my newly unpacked clothes. We finally did get it out, though, and we managed to have our first big laugh together, too.

There have been countless moments like this with Joi—as I write this I am reminded of more and more--when her efforts and kindness have diffused a situation that would have felt otherwise unmanageable and overwhelming. She is patient with my Thai and is making huge improvements in her English (our conversations now consist of 3 or 4 word sentences!); I help her make these awesome, beaded belts that she sells at Big C (Thai equivalent of Walmart), and try to help her through her boy troubles (which she has a lot of); she invites me out with the other young staffers, takes me to dinner and even takes me shopping. She’s a wild one by Thai standards, but a kind, generous one by mine. Who knew you could glean so much by talking through a dictionary?

And so, reader, to end this sappy blog post I say: Joi to the world for awesome Thai roommates and friendships in unexpected places.

Happy holidays!

Love

Anna

and up-country life begins

Now let me explain myself: my negligent blogging habits have roots in two semi-legitimate factors. The first is, admittedly, laziness. There is really no excuse for this one. The second is, I think, a bit more justifiable: I just do not want this blog to become an outlet for my emotional ups and downs during this adjustment period. It is in the low moments that I feel most inclined to blog, to reach out into the depths of cyberspace and connect with people who are not here, who speak English and who too will see life here through a foreigners lens. But really, writing at those times would give you an unfair picture of what my life is like here. My life here in Warinchamrap is often (very often) mind-bogglingly frustrating, isolating and difficult. But it is equally exciting, fulfilling and awe-inspiring. I am challenged everyday by one thing or another—“Oh, only 4 out of 45 students are going to show up today?” “What do you mean its 95 degrees and considered the cool season?” “ANOTHER ant infestation????”—but very rarely do I find myself wishing I was somewhere else or doing something else. I am conscious of the fact that these daily challenges are also making me braver and stronger, and a far better non-verbal communicator than I ever thought I could be.

I live in the outskirts of the town of Warinchamrap, a suburb of the somewhat sprawling city of Ubon Ratchathani, in the northeastern part of Thailand (the Isaan region). The province sits adjacent to the borders of Laos and Cambodia, making for a cultural hodgepodge of food and language; the people around me all speak Thai and Laos, cook Thai and Laos food, and are unbelievably proud of their geographical roots. “This Isaan food!” I am often told. “You find it all over Isaan, but most famous in Ubon.” My hysterical, unpredictable Thai housemate, Joi, adamantly hates any food that is not from Isaan, shaking her head with a puckered expression anytime I suggest she try the American food I bring back from Bangkok.


This pride in local heritage comes with a genuine, inherent desire to share it with anyone who is interested in learning. Fortunately for me, this learning process brings with it massive quantities of delicious food and kind, tender people. I am repeatedly awe-struck by the intrinsic generosity and thoughtfulness of the people around me, from the women in my office, to the women I talk to at flag pole, to Joi, to the shop owner down the street. Despite the fact that we often can’t communicate in full sentences, I am constantly given food, invited out to meals, on camping trips and to family events; I’ll come back from lunch to find that someone has put a cha-yenn (Thai iced tea) on my desk, or has cooked me extra food because they thought it might be something I haven’t yet tried, or has brought me bananas from the grove in their backyard because they know how much I love bananas here. And far more often than not, these gifts are not given because something is wanted or expected in return, but rather because, simply, the giver just thought I might like it. And this spirit of anonymous, selfless giving has made me want to give back to them in the same way, to pay attention to the details of their lives too.

This is not to say that things here aren't incredibly trying. Less than half of my students will show up to any given class, and about half of those will show up twenty minutes late. The level of their speaking and listening skills continues to amaze me-- it is just so low, I'm often not sure where to start. But I am learning where to start... even if it often feels like it's at a snail's pace, going five steps forward, and then three steps back. I really do love my students, though; I find their obsession with Korean pop music fascinating, their accents endearing and their kind hearts (jai dee) encouraging. The fact that I can't verbally communicate with anyone around here on a deep emotional or intellectual level has also been quite a change from my home life and my life at Kenyon, and has undoubtedly been the most difficult aspect of my experience. Guess I'm going to have to start studying Thai, eh?

So, while it has definitely been a month of ups and downs, the good news is that-- surprise!-- everything really does pass, and the ups do always seem to come. I feel truly lucky to be here, breathing in the provincial Thai air, waking up to roosters in the morning, standing in front of a classroom of giggling faces and eating spicy, pungent Isaan food every day.

Thanks for the read and I'm sorry for the novella-length post. I miss you all!!


Lots and lots of love coming your way--


Anna

just call me kru anna

It's official! I am a kru. Just call me Teacher Anna. I now gesticulate nonstop; I am a pro at non-verbal communication; I make worksheets; I put smiley faces on papers; I say "Great job!" and "Let's give him a round of applause!" so often its becoming involuntary; I'm developing a twitch in my right hand from furiously scribbling on the blackboard; I even get chalk on my skirts!

Here's proof:


This week, I've been working with another ETA, splitting our two hour time, each teaching an hour on our own. There are 21 boys in our class and 4 girls. Their vocab is generally stellar; unfortunately, they have no idea how to use it. So far so good, though-- hopefully I will keep enjoy it when I go to Warin Chamrap on... MONDAY!

More soon--

Anna

Apparently I'm not great a keeping up a blog.

After two weeks of orientation at Chulalongkorn University, I feel certain about one thing, and one thing only: Thailand is an unbelievably complex and complicated place. Though we’ve spent six hours a day, five days a week studying the country’s culture, history, and customs, I feel increasingly confused… especially when it comes to the language. Thai is a tonal, so the pitch and tone (rising, falling, middle, low or high) in which the word is spoken can potentially change it’s entire meaning. A small taste:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nlw4NJdnNE

Get it? Me neither.

How about telling time in Thailand? Here's a picture from class today.

Pretty clear right? Hahaha, funny joke. Did you know that after 6 PM you call all of the numbers (7PM-11PM) 1,2,3 or 4? Turns out I'll always be on time in Thailand, because the concept of time doesn't really exist. Guess I chose the right country after all.

Then there’s the political history, the gender norms, the food— ohhh, my, my, that’s for another entry.

While my weekdays here are mostly spent in orientation or in my little neighborhood near Siam Square, I spent last weekend doing some sightseeing around the city. After a week of noodles and rice, we decided on Friday night to hunt down some good, old-fashioned pizza. We found a “delicious American pizza place” online (never, ever do this), and hopped in a cab to Sukumvit Soi 26/1 (the streets here are named by number, so 26/1 is the name of a street off of Sukumvit Road)… only to find once we arrived that 26/1 does not exist, and 26 is an entire street of happy ending massage parlours (Angel Massage? White Lady Massage? Happy Massage? Hmmm…). Alas, we settled on a Japanese restaurant around the corner where at least six people were waiting on us at any given time—we may or may not have been the only farang (foreigners) ever to enter the building.

On Saturday we went to JJ market, an enormous, must-see market in downtown Bangkok. They have literally everything you can possibly imagine: food, animals, clothing, furniture, strobe lights, thrift stores, jewelry... on and on and on! It's a crazy place, with an awesome mix of tourists, Thai hipsters, performers, and other assorted characters.

On Sunday a friend from college was in town (he has been teaching outside of Chaing Mai for the past year), and he served as an excellent tour guide in Chinatown, around the downtown canals and at the Golden Mount. He speaks Thai brilliantly, giving me hope and making me realize how far I have to go before I’ll be able to complete a sentence. It was great to see a familiar face, though, and bowling that night was a fantastic end to a weekend.

More on my homestay weekend soon-- really, really this time!

Miss you all!!!!

Anna

it's hot here

The first few days in Thailand have been a whirlwind of strange smells, nerves, chili peppers, tuk-tuks and saffron colored robes. The heat here is utterly enveloping, putting me in what seems like a semi-permanent state of sleepiness and sweatiness. Despite this, I have been seriously enjoying the five sense stimulation that has been a constant since I arrived 3 days ago (a fantastic constrast to the body-stiffening, mind-numbing 30 hour trip over here). I often find myself reeling from smell of frying fish, the sound of whizzing motorbikes, the sight of bumper-to-bumper traffic, the taste of something either sweeter or spicier than I thought imaginable and the feel of the pregnant air-- all simultaneously. I'm trying to enjoy every minute and soak up the (admitedly) overwhelming life here in bustling Bangkok before I depart for my little town of Warin Chamrap on November 2.

A day-by-day, play-by-play to come tomorrow. A few pictures until then!


No resume required.


Who says you can't get everything you want in Bangkok?


First tuk-tuk ride!


Love
Anna

I really need to learn some Thai.

Hello from Thailand! Visual proof I made it here in one piece, and with a good friend in tow.

More to come tomorrow. Until then--

I miss you all!

Love
Anna