Update #8 – Chiang Mai (Thailand)

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February 4/12 – I can’t believe it’s been 4 weeks already.  I am so overwhelmed by all the good bye hugs, dozens of “thank you” and “I love you” cards, pictures, gifts, and request of my autographs from my students during our last day.  They had gotten so attached to Deon and me.  They are so sweet and so adorable.  Volunteer teaching is such a rewarding feeling. Today’s scene actually reminds us of how we felt and how we got treated when we said good bye to students in Xian as well… =)

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Saying good bye to the homestay family we were with was emotional for me because they had been so kind to us and we felt so warm living in their home.  They inspired me to do more homestays in the future because it is such a great way to get to know a local cultural more deeply.

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Deon’s latest line after we got to Chiangmai was “Mommy, I love you so much that it doesn’t even make sense.” Then I said, “But that’s not possible.” Then he said, “But those are my own feelings so only I will know what I mean.”

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In Xian, we learned ping pong.  In Chiangmai, we learned to swim.  I wonder what we can learn when we get to India?  So Deon and I went for swimming lessons everyday.  He obviously swims better than I do, so I asked him, “Do you think I am dumb for not knowing how to swim and not knowing many things that you know.”  He said “NO, because I appreciate you for everything you do know such as doing business and making money.”  Haha.  So mature for 10 years old eh?  He has grown so much over the last 5 months.  We bonded so well now.  I couldn’t be more grateful for this journey with him.  Together we created so many happy memories.  I just wish I had this time and money back then to have done the same with my older 2 children.  But it was way too luxurious to even think about such back then.  I didn’t even have enough time to sleep more then 4 hours a day because I was working very hard and very much.  I guess I am eating my own fruits now so it’s all good.

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I was told that Chiangmai is known to be a “virgin village” where men can come and pay for “virgins.”  This city is also known for “Thai cooking class.”  People purposely fly into this city and learn to cook.  Of course, I didn’t miss out either, so I also signed up for a full day course to learn and cook 7 Thai dishes for 900 baht ($30 CND).  It was so fun and easy!

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I was also told that this country is run by the rich for the rich.   There are many Chinese people here and just like the Philippines, most of them are very wealthy.  Why am I not surprised, eh?  I had bumped into many foreigners as well.  It’s so interesting to hear the stories behind why or how they ended up here.

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Thai food is so good here (one of my favorite cuisine actually) so I decided to eat SMART instead of eat LESS.  hahaha.  By that, I mean I wouldn’t eat anything deep fried and would stay away from all kinds of drinks other than water.  It’s working cause I have already lost 5 lbs since I got here.

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Chiangmai is the 2nd largest province among the 77 provinces in Thailand.  It’s colder here than in Bangkok.  There are 3 seasons here: cold, hot and rainy.  This is their cold season which is 12 – 28 degree Celsius.  The people here are more laid back and traffic is nothing crazy like that in Bangkok.  There are no beaches here but only mountains and over 200 temples.

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Here’s the list of Dos and Don’ts in Thailand:

Do’s

– Do “Wai” to people and temples (Thai people do not normally shake hands when they greet one another, but instead of this, they make the “Wai” – meaning they press their palms together in a prayer like gesture)

– Show respect to the Royal Family

– Take off your shoes in places of worship and people’s home

– Dress decently in public.  Women should always wear bras

– No shorts and cover your shoulders in places of worship

Don’ts

– Don’t touch Buddha images

– Don’t touch people’s head

– Don’t point your foot at people and sacred images and food

– Don’t touch Buddhist monks if you are a woman.  No physical contact.

– Don’t say anything disrespectful to the Royal Family.  Thai people LOVE their King.

The English level of the students in Thailand is very low.  The English books the government gives them is at least 3 to 4 grades higher than their actually level.  After a week of teaching, we gave up on teaching with their books so Deon and I ended up preparing our own materials to teach them instead.  I had asked their teacher (the one that speaks English the best in this school) to help translate  into Thai language what we had prepared to make it easier for the students to understand the new vocabulary we are trying to teach them since none of them speak enough English to understand us.  Even their teacher has problem understanding everything we prepared so how much can we expect from the students?  Deon and I started to enjoy teaching again after we started using our own materials because we finally felt that the students were actually learning something and that we were actually able to teach them something.

There are only 160 students here (grades 1 -6) compared to 1400 in Xian (also grades 1 to 6).  The educational system here is opposite from that of China.  China is so strict, stressed and enthusiastic.  While over here, they are so relaxed, free and unmotivated.  For the last 8 days, no teacher ever comes back to take over their classes at the end of our block.  Kids could just do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted.  So flexible.  So casual.  It was a very different experience for us, especially after coming from China and HK. However, one thing I do need to credit them for is that the students seem a lot happier than those in China and HK.

The Thais are very kind and polite.  The students come to school an hour early every day to sweep the floors.  They wash the dishes for the teachers after the teachers are done eating lunch.  They even clean the cars for the teachers, too.

I was told that 10 Asian countries had agreed to join together in 2015 like what Europe would do.  Asians won’t need VISAs anymore when traveling between these countries.  They can do trading easier by then as well.  But the only common language is ENGLISH and so one can imagine the disadvantages the countries that speak little English have?

We are heading to Bangkok to visit some old friends then go for a holiday in Pattaya before going back to HK on Feb. 18/12.  Our next and last volunteer teaching location will be 3 weeks in New Delhi, India from March 10/12 to March 31/12.  Reason I say “last” is that I was inspired to do “backpacking” by a classmate I met in my Thai cooking class.  This is something I had always been curious about and supportive of my older 2 kids to do but they never got around to doing it.  I figured that if I took Deon’s age plus mine divided by two, then we are still in the right age group for backpacking.  So why not give it a try before going home?  LOL.  So we decided we will explore Cambodia and Vietnam for 5 weeks in April and May.

Please take care of yourself and your loved ones,

Hugs

Amy

 

Originally posted on Amy’s travel blog: TravelwithAmy.ca

 

 

 

 

 

 

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