Impromptu competitions

Here's a photo to show I'm still alive...once again. There are impromptu speeches in Thailand (which are not really impromptu since the questions are given beforehand), but more so, there are impromptu competition (which are really impromptu). I found out that in addition to training one of my students, Pipe, in an ASEAN speech competition, I was actually also supposed to take him to the competition by myself which was in Phitsanulok. I was informed of this latter fact 20 hours before the trip, and not by my teachers, but my my own student! Anyways, I was able to help Pipe and after two rounds of speeches and many bouts of near-nervous breakdowns, he got 3rd place in all of Sukhothai, Phitsanulok, Tak, and Uttaradit. Not bad at all.

Preparation for Christmas/International Languages Day

So at school, the Christmas celebration has been combined with International Languages Day ever since our department started teaching Japanese and Chinese as well. The teachers including me had to wear 'cultural' outfits from around the world to promote this event. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to represent, but they tell me I'm wearing the same costume as a prince in a famous Korean drama...Our photos are now slapped on every building at school. I'm trying to convince everyone that my costume is representing someone from the colonial times in America. So far, I haven't convinced anybody...555

Still a pop star...

I went to my usual som tum/gai yang (papaya salad/grilled chicken) shop today, and as I was waiting for the Khun Pi to make my som tum bpuu, I saw a group of about 9 of my M1 kids come in to sit down and order food at the next stall. They wai-ed me respectfully with not a lack of giggles when they spotted me. While I was observing another Khun Pi making fried snacks, I kept seeing the M1 kids come to the road in pairs behind me appearing to hold their cellphones up the the road. What? The Khun Pi smiled as I, still clueless, kept staring at how the other Khun Pi was making beautiful fried taro cups. Another pair of kids came up and this time, they were facing me and as I stole a glance, they got startled and ran back to their seats. Unbeknownst to me, they were each taking a photo of me on their cell phones! I chuckled and chased the two boys back to their seats at which all the kids exploded in laughter and nervous giggles. The other people at the restaurant all shifted their gaze toward me as I told them they can take photos with me and that they don't have to be shy to ask. Each of them went home with a photo of me and them. This is Thailand. I am still a pop star here in this small town.