#2 Same Same But Different
Entry posted by Sofa King
216 views
I arrived Sunday afternoon. I met with the principal Monday morning, showed them all pertinent documents, agreed on a salary, and was teaching that day.
It's a governmnt school with about 1500 students in a growing town, about an hours drive from two good-sized cities.
The kids are well behaved. The town is friendly. And, as with every Thai school I've worked at, they don't communicate with the falang.
7:50 AM, I'm sitting in my classroom, going over my lesson plans for the day. My phone rings. It's the Thai teacher who is sort of my boss. "Come to the office. We go for parade now."
"What parade?"
"You ride my car." Click.
So we drove to the other end of the main drag and lined up and paraded through town. That was advanced notice - about ten minutes before the parade began.
One day I came to school like normal, but no one was there. The place was empty - a ghost town. I call my sort-of boss. She said in a groggy voice, "No school today."
The day of our school-wide Christmas party, festivities set to kick off after lunch at 1 PM, sort-of boss walks in at 12:40 with a Santa suit. "You play Santa today."
SOP for a Thai school, I have discovered. One of your classes doesn't show up? It was cancelled, but no one told the falang.
The main difference at this school so far - morning assembly.
At my other schools they were very strict about students arriving before assembly. Kids who weren't inside the gate by 8AM had to wait until the national anthem finished, then they were lined up seperately and their tardiness was recorded.
Not so at my new school. Assembley doesn't even begin until after the national anthem, then they raise the flag and sing it again around 8:10. Students just wander in like there's no hurry. They smile and giggle, like it's a game to see who can be the last one in before assembly is over. Sometimes some of the Thai teachers will yell at them, but there doesn't seem to be any punishment.
Speaking of the Thai teachers, they chat wih each other during the entire assembly. One teacher will be doing the morning announcements, and most of the other teachers will stand around in little groups, laughing and talking on their cellphones, totally ignoring the one speaking, even when the principal is speaking. Of course the students are doing the same. This would never have been tolerated at the other schools I worked at.
So now I'm 7 months in. Things are okay, not great, but okay. Sucks being so far from civilization, but it ain't too bad. So far I've been a good boy in town - haven't brought any girls back to my room, haven't acted a drunken fool in public, and I avoid the local karaoke joints. When I want to be naughty I wait for the weekend and take the bus to the big city.
Speaking of being naughty, there are a couple of hotties teaching at my school, but I'll save that for my next installment.
It's a governmnt school with about 1500 students in a growing town, about an hours drive from two good-sized cities.
The kids are well behaved. The town is friendly. And, as with every Thai school I've worked at, they don't communicate with the falang.
7:50 AM, I'm sitting in my classroom, going over my lesson plans for the day. My phone rings. It's the Thai teacher who is sort of my boss. "Come to the office. We go for parade now."
"What parade?"
"You ride my car." Click.
So we drove to the other end of the main drag and lined up and paraded through town. That was advanced notice - about ten minutes before the parade began.
One day I came to school like normal, but no one was there. The place was empty - a ghost town. I call my sort-of boss. She said in a groggy voice, "No school today."
The day of our school-wide Christmas party, festivities set to kick off after lunch at 1 PM, sort-of boss walks in at 12:40 with a Santa suit. "You play Santa today."
SOP for a Thai school, I have discovered. One of your classes doesn't show up? It was cancelled, but no one told the falang.
The main difference at this school so far - morning assembly.
At my other schools they were very strict about students arriving before assembly. Kids who weren't inside the gate by 8AM had to wait until the national anthem finished, then they were lined up seperately and their tardiness was recorded.
Not so at my new school. Assembley doesn't even begin until after the national anthem, then they raise the flag and sing it again around 8:10. Students just wander in like there's no hurry. They smile and giggle, like it's a game to see who can be the last one in before assembly is over. Sometimes some of the Thai teachers will yell at them, but there doesn't seem to be any punishment.
Speaking of the Thai teachers, they chat wih each other during the entire assembly. One teacher will be doing the morning announcements, and most of the other teachers will stand around in little groups, laughing and talking on their cellphones, totally ignoring the one speaking, even when the principal is speaking. Of course the students are doing the same. This would never have been tolerated at the other schools I worked at.
So now I'm 7 months in. Things are okay, not great, but okay. Sucks being so far from civilization, but it ain't too bad. So far I've been a good boy in town - haven't brought any girls back to my room, haven't acted a drunken fool in public, and I avoid the local karaoke joints. When I want to be naughty I wait for the weekend and take the bus to the big city.
Speaking of being naughty, there are a couple of hotties teaching at my school, but I'll save that for my next installment.
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