I arrived in Thailand with two friends and we travelled around for two months, including to Cambodia and Laos, before they left Thailand. I did have a good time, but was disappointed at how touristy many places had become. I had just got back from a four day trek when I saw the email telling me to be in Ubon the day before! So I rushed onto the 16 hour bus from Chiang Mai.
There I met with Ozzy who was to be my host and guide in Ubon for the next couple of days. There he taught me the basics of the English Crazy Club and their camps, as well as showing me Ubon’s most famous temples and the university campus. He was a great host and become a good friend over the few days.
On Sunday I then met with Pim and her neighbour who had very kindly driven to Ubon to pick me up. Pim and her family lived in a rural village called Phosai. From the very start I was taken in as one of the family. Pim’s mother cooked and the food was excellent and it felt to eat some home cooked food after 3 months of travel. The accommodation was simple but very comfortable, and even though it was the hot season it felt much cooler than many hotels I’d stayed in before.
I started teaching the next day, and straight away any apprehensions I had disappeared. The teachers and school were all very welcoming, and best of all the students much better behaved than students back home. The school’s also fairly small which makes it easy to get to grips with but also encompasses a wide range of ages so gives a wider teaching experience.
I would teach for a couple of hours a day, normally assisting Pim. My lack of Thai normally didn’t matter too much when teaching and if the usual hand signals didn’t work there was always a dictionary to fall back to. The different classes also required didn’t teaching methods; the younger students being taught mostly through games and songs while the older taught through repetition and speaking. One of Pim’s ex-students and her friend, Mint and Bew also provided some much needed help in the teaching. After school I would then play sport with students. Football was great fun but showed up my fitness levels, especially in the heat! I also had the opportunity to learn Takraw, which is like a mixture of volleyball and football.
However, teaching was only part of the experience. When I wasn’t at the school I was never bored. We visited local tourist sites, including the ‘Grand Canyon of Thailand’ and famous temples, as well as the town of Phibun Mangsahan. Each time one of Pim’s friends would make the effort to come along and drive us there and back. I was also there for the famous rocket festival. This happened over two days and involved dancing, floats and parades as well as the shooting of the rockets; all accompanied by the drinking of excessive amounts rice wine and whiskey. Phosai also gave me the great honour of holding the King’s picture for the parade!
Very different to the rocket festival was Visikah Puja day, which is to celebrate the birth enlightenment and death of Buddha, all in one day. We performed merit making activities such as releasing a turtle and praying. It was great to get a personal view of Buddhism. I also helped out on Pim’s family farm. We did net fishing and fence building but luckily as I was leaving before the start of the rice season there wasn’t too much hard work involved! One of the more unusual activities was Issan style hunting. With school students, who were all experts in this, I scoured the rice fields for anything I could find; insects, frogs, crabs and a snake were amongst the catch.
Sadly, after just two weeks, it was finally time to leave. The time had flew by but I felt like I had known everyone there for much longer. I had leaving meal and received white wristbands from the villagers for good luck. I only wish that I could have stayed for longer. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get off the main tourist trail in Thailand, and who wants a real insight into Issan life. Some people may miss the air conditioning and other luxuries, but for me this was the best place I’d stayed throughout my travels. I’d like to thank Pim and her family and friends for their kindness and for being so accommodating, as well as everyone in Phosai and Muangyai school. And good luck to Pim at her new school, just hope that she can continue the project there. Finally, thank you to the English Crazy Club for making the whole thing possible, especially to Aom, Netting and to Ozzy. Definitely keep the Learn2Give project going!
1 comment:
I went find frogs few times when I was a full-time farmer boy. Catching A FROG without any tools is not that easy. It requires a lot of skills. throughout my 24 year life, I could catch only one frog with a flash light as the only one aid.
Post a Comment