Get Thee to Vacation

If anyone needs me in the next three weeks, you can hit me up here.

...or here.

Well, not sure how it happened, but I just finished an entire semester at Bandon Sriserm. It was a fantastic, if very busy, last week of school.

Eight of our co-teachers and one of the Assistant Directors is retiring this term, so we had a long day of good-byes yesterday. In the morning, there was a school-wide assembly to honor the teachers and have the students wish them good luck. This involved a ceremony of speeches, bringing flowers and gifts to the retiring teachers, having the students bow at their feet, embrace them, and sob tears of farewell. It was surprisingly emotional (I think it had to do with watching both grown adults and 6-year-old children crying for two hours), and an all around fascinating testament to the role of and respect given to teachers in Thailand. (I continue to feel undeserving).

Last night, the ajaans held a proper choke dii - good luck - party for the retirees. It was held at the nicest hotel in Nan city, and everyone was dressed to the Thai 9s. Much like the last ajaan party, it involved endless supplies of Spy wine coolers, delicious Thai food, and a full-scale karaoke set up. A group of about 10 staff members (ranging age 24 to 54) dressed in green tutus and masks and performed a hilarious dance skit for the whole party. Things I love about Thailand: most humor requires no translation.

But there were more serious moments, too. A Buddhist shaman opened the ceremony by giving a blessing for the teachers, and having everyone in the room tie a white string around the teachers' wrists - an offering of good luck for the next phase of life. Next, the retirees were lavished in gifts upon gifts from the whole staff. One of our co-teachers even delivered a poem she had written just for the occasion.  It was incredibly touching to see how much these ajaans mean to each other.

Although the rest of the students had their last day of class Thursday, the 6th graders had to be at school today to take a practice standardized English test called the "Ordinary National English Test" - which makes it sound so... ordinary... but as test proctor, I can say this exam was far from. The test is likely written by a Thai English speaker who was schooled by British teachers. I'm not kidding, "Cheerio" was an answer choice for about 25% of the practice exam questions. (Another 25% involved misspelled words, incoherent phrases, and mis-punctuated sentences. Maybe I'll look into careers in writing standardized English tests in foreign countries, because damn was it frustrating to figure out, much less explain answers to this test....)

I said goodbye to all the kiddies after school. I will sincerely miss them while I'm away.


But, on to the vacation deets. My fellow ajaans and I will be cruising Southeast Asia over the next 3 weeks, starting in Luang Prabang, Laos; taking a train through Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam; then hopping over to the beaches around Phuket and Ko Phi Phi, Thailand.

I will try to post while away, but depending on how technologically competent I find myself in Vietnamese Internet cafes, may be taking a rain check on the blog til October 25th!

My love to all. Cheerio.

CP