O Brother, Where Art Thou?

By way of further introduction to my life here, this is the face that I see every morning when I leave for my morning run. I can never remember his Thai name, so I call him ‘Brother’----mostly so I can say “hey brother”---props to you if you get the reference. He’s the one that understands me here in this house of otherwise little communication. Also, even though he isn’t the cleanest dog of my acquaintance, he is a much needed source of affection.

The other dog here, I named Nicodemus He used to be extremely skittish (all dogs here are), but today he almost followed me into the house and when I turned to scratch his ears he didn’t even pull away. There are TONS of dogs in Thailand and they bark like savage guard dogs, and yet---you have but to look them in the eyes and they run away. Lots of the dogs follow me on my run in the morning, but they eventually turn around and go home. Thais really like puppies (you always find them for sale in the markets), but they don’t much like the adults so a lot of them will raise them and then just let them go.

Note: this post dedicated to Michaela Maurine Proctor; dog lover extraordinaire.

Angkor Wat

When the red shirts broke out in violent and destructive protests, we had to pack our bags and prepare to leave if it became necessary, my number one regret about leaving Thailand was that I’d miss the chance to go to Angkor Wat. I read about it in the National Geographic when I was 8 and I’ve wanted to visit ever since. It’s the largest religious complex in the world and dates back to 1300 (which is actually really young when you’re used to the dates of the Middle East and the wonders of the ancient world). We arrived as the sun was setting and it was truly a beautiful sight. The sun was setting over Angkor Wat as lightning was striking behind the clouds and then a rainbow appeared in the far sky out of nowhere and this white horse was grazing just out in front of the temple like it belonged there. It looked like one of those ridiculous paintings in folk art stores that you don’t buy because it’s too busy to be real. That or a Lisa Frank folder.

We spent two days touring the various temples in the Angkor complex. Angkor Wat is the main one, and the image that kind of represents the whole complex, but it’s so big you actually have to take a bus or a tuk tuk (little motorcycle taxi) to be able to see all (or even a little) of what it has to offer. A guy in our group stayed home from seeing Angkor Wat to watch S. Korea play Greece in the world cup. *RIDICULOUS* He missed out. Also, I’m pretty sure S. Korea lost that game anyway.

Cambodian dancers just hanging out on the temple ruins. One of the Wats on the Angkor complex is covered in strangler figs (location where they filmed Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) These things were massive and looking at them, I felt a General Conference talk metaphor coming on. All told Cambodia boasts much more interesting foliage than we’ve seen so far in Thailand. In fact, looking at some of it I thought “Oh Kampuchea (their word for their own country), almost thou persuadest me to be a horticulturalist.”

Also, we were given much more time than the heat would permit us to stay interested at each location, so I was sitting at the base of one of the bigger stranglers just thinking and this European man walked by and said “Ah! You must be Vishnu.” That’s a new one. I’ve been called many things, but never the supreme form of Hindu deity before. This complex used to be Hindu, but then they made it Buddhist. Part of the reason Cambodian/Thai relations are so bad is because the Thais sacked the Angkor civilization in 1431. Get over it.--too soon?

Ode To My Fish Friends

Though I am MUCH further from the sea here than I am in my native residence of Northern Virginia, I eat a lot more seafood here (still unsure whether that should worry me). I come down the stairs to the kitchen and if the protein of the day is fish than I am stare down my meal face to face because we eat these little guys and they stare up at us saying "I LOOKED EXACTLY LIKE THIS IN LIFE!" At first it frightened me, but then they slowly began to become my friends because who's to say they don't speak English when I need someone to talk to? This morning's deep fried demon, however, would NOT have been my friend. Just saying.

My Life as a Teacher of Engrish

It's absolutely true what they say about asians using a peace sign as their go-to picture pose. NOT A STEREOTYPE.

This is my fourth grade class. They are one the smaller classes and easier to handle. One of the students looks like the cartoon beaver from lady and the tramp. I mean that in the most endearing way. They usually stand up and say "Good Morning Teacher" and then I say "Good Morning class, how are you?" and they say "I'm fine, thank you and you?" But having the camera on them got them confused and they didn't know what I was saying so they just skipped to the end.

They thought I was taking a picture when I was taking a video a la Sami Grozbean. They are my fifth grade class---the class that demands the most energy from me at the time slot where I have the least to give. Ain't that always the way? I need almost twice as much material/songs/games to do with them because they don't stay on any one thing for more than a very few minutes.

6th grade. Fastest learners and also the ones with the most attitude. The kid offering me a flower in this video has been standing outside the teachers room waving at me the whole time I've been writing this blog. Today when we sat down to do "down by the banks" I looked around and the boys and girls had separated themselves off from each other. In my head I said "what is this a 6th grade dan---oh. right."

So that's where I am in my (dare I say it) Anna and the King life. That movie/book is banned so probably keep my mention of it on the DL is all I'm saying.