Playing guitar and singing on the Fall Retreat

The students are here for our fall semester, and as is usual, a lot of them are blogging.  Great insights into a student’s take on their experience in the program, and what it is like.  We’ve just completed two weeks of the program (one week orientation, and one week of block 1, Foundations).  The students are doing great, diving into the language learning (with all of its challanges and rewards) and getting to know Chiang Mai and Thai culture, both on their own and with their host families.

The host families are great — they love the students and enjoy how hard the students are working to learn Thai. It can be a big adjustment for both sides — for the American students living in a strange family with a different culture and way of doing things; and for the host family, adapting to a new addition to the family who does all sorts of things in different ways.

Here are a few entries from Ellen’s reflections on the first couple of weeks:

Inspired by our jam session at the retreat, when I got home on Sunday I finally got up the courage to ask my host dad if I could play the guitar in our living room. He was so excited that I was playing, and we really bonded over the guitar. After I finished playing, he showed me a video of his band, which is really interesting. I guess it’s the Thai equivilent to American country, and it’s easily the best Thai music I’ve heard so far (I’ve discovered that I am not a big fan of Thai pop music). According to Ajaan Wilasannee, my Thai teacher and one of the host family coordinators, Paw Boi’s band immatates a pretty famous Thai band. If I can find this band on YouTube, I’ll post a link. Before last night, I was having a hard time getting to know my host dad, but music ended up being a really great way to bond a little bit.  (For more, read Ellen in Thailand)

Some great stuff from Gigi writing about the struggles of learning Thai:

The more I withdraw the harder it is to get back onboard the Thai Train. The more I just in, and fail, and jump in, the better things get. At lunch, Marcia’s notebook gave me just the right sound advice. It says: “Happiness is a how, not a what. A talent, not an object.” … Last night, the family watched a T.V. show that included magic vampires that tturned into smoke, tried to lure people into elevators, and were terrified of guinie pigs. in the middle of the show, a girl feel into a river as a boy was trying to seduce her (i think) and i looked up from my homework a shouted “Y-nom! Y-nom” swim swim! and the whole family laughed.

Do also read her entry about the waterfall at the retreat weekend (Mok Fa):

The best spot was just behind the right had falls. Although the two falls had pilled sand between them, so you could stand calf deep between the two, to get behind the right had fall you had to swim there. … The fall poured down in front of us, over us. It was a narrow space, I could reach out and touch the fall.– when you looked up, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The water lept out over the dark rock, the rocketing fairy droplets wizzed which and every which way. There was such a scale to it all, a grand scale and an intimacy. I want my whole life to be like that – grand and intimate. Breathing each moment, with a cool rush, powerful. … I liked to float away from the falls on my back and look up at them, the water jumping off the rocks high up, and the pounding mist. I can’t say it was more real than normal life, or as real, it wasn’t real. It was just wonderful. (Read more at Gigi’s Thailand blog.)

Julie captures well the joy of living with a host family:

My host family. They are AMAZING. My Mom and Dad are so tiny, adorable, and excited. My Dad is always walking around with the goofiest smile on his face, while my Mom tries so hard to speak with me in English. We are usually succesful, after about 5 tries. Then, I have two little sisters. Feun is 12 and Fai is 7. They are both learning English in school, so Feun is extremely helpful in facilatating conversations between me and the rest of the family. Fai can be summed up almost perfectly in one word: monkey. She is constantly running around, singing, dancing, and making mischief. They are always really excited to see me– especially Fai who runs up yelling “Pi Julie! Pi Julie!” It’s really fun for me, since I have never had a younger sibling or a sister. One Grandma also lives in the house. She is in a wheelchair because she has neither of her legs, though I am not sure why. And she is SO impressive. She cooks, cleans, and even gardens. She doesn’t know any English but is so joyful and always smiling at me. I’m so appreciative because I can tell that they are so excited to have me stay with them. They have never hosted a foreign student before, but are always trying to teach me things, show me things, and take me places. I am convinced that a homestay is the best way to really live in and know a different culture. When else would I get a first hand look at Thai dance lessons? Or eat authentic home cooked Thai food in a family setting? Or be the only foreigner in a sea of Thai people? (Read more at My Life in Thailand)

Here is a good picture of daily homestay life from Cody, and how Thai language is going:

My host family is so great and love helping me learn Thai. Last night we spent an hour working on reading and writing Thai. My host mother is so goofy and jokes around with me all of the time. Several nights ago we hung up my laundry in the dark and I wore my headlamp. She had never seen one before and she laughed and laughed.

Ahh! I’m euphoric! My host parents are so great! Tonight the Thai was flowing. I even understood my host mother without even trying–granted the context helped. We were at the dinner table and she said to my host father, “Cody likes mangoes more than she likes rice.” I laughed and she looked at me shocked and asked, “did you understand me?”

I shouldn’t have told my host mother that I’d be sad when mangoes go out of season because today she went out and bought 2 kilos of mangoes just for me. I had three tonight! (Read more at Cody in Thailand)

A few of Franchie’s observations on culture shock:

• Use fork in left hand to push food onto spoon in your right hand
• the “Wai” =thai way of saying hello by putting your hands in prayer position and bowing your head to them
• Take your shoes off before you enter any home (love this, but I still mess this up at least once a week)
• Thais dont say “bless you” after you sneeze
• Eat 3 rice meals a day with at least 2-3 snacks in between
• Wai your elder to say hello and goodbye
• Smelling someone’s cheek = “thai kiss” (this whole time I just thought that MaeToy was giving me the smell check)
• Women must walk like China dolls (no running)…even in the pouring rain
• Never sit higher than an elder. Example: if an elder sits on the floor, you must move to the floor. Or if you pass through a room where an elder is sitting, you must hunch by.
• Never touch someone’s head (the most sacred part of the body)
• Thais will talk good and bad about you (in Thai or English) infront of you.
• It is okay to call someone fat
• Parents dont encourage their children to diet or eat healthy (happy IS healthy)
• NEVER wash your underwear or socks with clothes (always handwash and hang in a concealed area)
• Stop eating before you are hungry to save room for that extra food parents will put on your plate
• Shower with toilet seat up
• Picking your nose in public is OK
• Wash feet before you go to bed
• My neighbors take showers and sing in the back yard (more at Toast in Thailand)

A couple more student blogs are Life in the Land of Smiles and Hannah’s Trip to Thailand.  I’m sure there are some others that I’ve missed. Enjoy!