Partying with the Thais, Part 2: Mot!

In addition to the all-staff party we attended last Friday, the Foreign Language Department also had a its own farewell celebration.  All of the Thai teachers presented this celebration to us as a "dinner", but Katie has been here long enough to warn us what that really meant- an all-night extravaganza to bid farewell to our departing teachers.

As we have mentioned, three of the teachers in our foreign language department will be leaving next term.  Daniel, who is Thai, is moving to the province where his wife and son live.  Katie, the Fulbright teacher, will be returning to the United States.  Lastly, Nung, a Chinese student teacher, will be moving onto a new school.  Given that our department only consists of 12 people, this is a pretty huge proportion of the department that is leaving!

At 5 P.M. on Tuesday, Peter picked us up in his truck to travel north towards Mae Sai.  We met up with the rest of the English department at a gorgeous restaurant, where we sat on a terrace overlooking a mountain.  The mountain is called "Beautiful Lady", as it looks like the profile of a woman laying down.  The restaurant served delicious food, although once again the meal was very seafood-heavy.  Luckily, Peter was nice enough to order us a special chicken dish for us to enjoy.  Our coworkers definitely think it is very strange that we do not eat seafood, and still have not really accepted that we do won't eat fish, no matter how it is prepared.

View of the mountain from the restaurant

It's a shame we don't like fish!

After dinner, we exchanged gifts and gave speeches.  We were pleasantly surprised to receive some welcoming gifts - Jon received a Chiang Rai United scarf, and I received a handmade bag Peter had picked out himself.  We also received a beautiful flower arrangement, with a sweet card inside welcoming us to the department.

Posing with our presents

Since we've arrived in Thailand, our coworkers, particularly Peter, have frequently referred to our school as a "family".  Over the last couple weeks, we have realized that this sentiment is evident not just in the words that are spoken, but in the way we are treated and received by others.  Particularly with our department, we feel that we can rely on our coworkers in a way that I didn't always feel in the United States.  There's a sense of solidarity and community that really makes living here so much more pleasant, especially as we are thousands of miles away from our actual families!  Although it can be hard overcoming the language barrier, we do think that if we need anything, or asked anything of anyone in our department, they would do it in a heartbeat.  They really want us to feel at-home and comfortable, and as a result we are a million times happier than we would be if they just left us to sort things out on our own, or acted as if we were a burden.

Buds

All that aside, we also learned at the dinner that our department family can be dangerous!  Peter brought a bottle of whiskey with him to dinner, and after we finished eating the drinks started to get poured more quickly.  Rainbow, one of the smallest and sweetest teachers, who always brings us different Thai snacks and giggles when we say thanks, soon showed a whole new side of herself.  This began with a game that we have named "mot".  Mot means empty in Thai, and Rainbow would chug a bunch of her drink, then slam her glass in front of someone else's and yell MOT!  This meant that they now needed to empty their glass.  Rainbow looooved this game, and it was made even more dangerous by the fact that the waitresses kept refilling our drinks.  Even if they were only halfway gone, the waitress would refill the drink with a mix of whiskey and Coke, and your drink would be a sitting duck for Rainbow to see and yell MOT at you until you drank it!

Rainbow and Katie playing MOT!

This game continued even after dinner, as we headed to a bar to listen to some music.  At this point, the first bottle was basically gone, but Rainbow soon convinced another teacher, Kristy, to buy a whole new bottle.  Mot was played, the music from the band was pretty good (they even played some English songs for us farangs), and we even danced for a little bit.

Eventually, after the second bottle was gone, we all headed home.  The next morning, the Thais continued to impress us, as every single one of them was extremely chipper and energetic, even at 8 in the morning.

Partying with the Thais

Thais are normally such chill, laidback people that when Jon and I headed to our end-of-term staff party last Friday we had NO idea what we were in for.

To be fair, at the time we were focused on preparing our musical performance.  Thursday, the day before the party, we were approached by the head of the foreign language department.  "The director wants you to play music at the party," he told us.  Well...we weren't really comfortable with that, so we said we might play at the next party.  "Well, the director wants that you play this party," he replied. And that was that.  See, Thais kind of do this thing where in this super polite way they don't accept you disagreeing with them, and all the sudden you are agreeing with them and doing exactly what they wanted you to do. It's weird.

An "Only in Thailand" experience: learning how to play Sweet Caroline in 24 hours

When we arrived at the party, however, two things quickly distracted us from our upcoming performance.  Karaoke had already started, so one of our fellow English teachers was sitting casually in her seat at the dinner table - she just also happened to be singing.  And, in addition to the karaoke, a full bottle of whiskey could be seen on every table.

Luckily, the performances went very well.  The two pieces we'd worked very hard on - a Bach piece with Jon on keyboard and Katie playing violin, and a Neil Diamond song with Jon singing and Carolyn playing keyboard were both performed perfectly, but Carolyn's simple performance of The Entertainer was the biggest hit.  Apparently Thais don't really listen to classical music, and they also had never heard Sweet Caroline before.

The food was served "Chinese style" which basically means a huge variety of family style dishes served with plain rice (not sticky rice, or this would be Thai style), and was delicious.  The courses included egg rolls, a full leg of pork, multiple shrimp dishes, a whole fish, and a delicious soup with chicken, mushrooms, and bamboo.  The meal was finished with a fresh fruit plate of pineapple, watermelon and dragonfruit.

Our table after we'd all finished devouring the delicious food!

After the meal, it was time to welcome the new teachers and say goodbye to those departing.   Several teachers, including Katie, the Fulbright teacher who has guided us through our first few months in Thailand, gave goodbye speeches.  A teacher who was retiring from the school gave another speech, and concluded by giving us all a token of good luck.

The foreign language department presenting a present to the retiring teacher

New teachers being welcomed to Chiang Saen Wittayakhom!

Retiring teacher giving his farewell speech 

Of course, throughout this whole event, the bottles of whiskey on everyone's table were being drank, and slowly but surely people were getting more and more "mao" (drunk).  As the karaoke started back up, this fact became even more clear... the singers were definitely not sitting anymore! Instead they were up, dancing (including a Gangnam-style impression), and letting loose in a way that we had not seen before tonight.

Thai karaoke is an amazing experience!

Overall, we had a great time at the party and we enjoyed the opportunity to get to know some of our colleagues in a more laidback setting...and we definitely learned that Thais know how to party!

Life along the Mekong River

One of our favorite pastimes here in Chiang Saen is sitting by the Mekong River, watching longtail boats pass by and admiring the Laotian mountains in the background.  An amazing coffeeshop is located nearby, so we often enjoy the view with a Thai iced tea or banana smoothie.  At night, street vendors offering fish fresh from the river and other delicacies line up along the river, with low tables for you to dine on while sitting on the ground.

These pictures are our attempt to capture the beauty and peace of this experience.

Thailand Wildlife

After giving elephants a blog post all of their own, we realized that we also needed to recognize some of the other animals that we've came across since arriving in Thailand.  Moving here, we knew we would be exposed to all kinds of wildlife that we would not typically come into contact with in the United States.  Sure enough, we've had wildlife encounters that range from cute little geckos to pretty frightening scorpions.

The geckos are the most useful of our "pets” in our house.  Small ones (about 2-6 inches long) can be found all over our house, and are a good sign because they eat bugs.  We also have one large one, which is close to a foot-and-a-half long, that we rarely see but often hear at night.  

This gecko wanted to read the letter my mom sent me.

Bugs win the prize for being the most numerous pet.  We live in a pretty rural area, so bugs are everywhere – and they definitely make themselves heard at night!  Bugs here range from the annoying: spiders, ants, and mosquitoes… to the beautiful: an awesome giant grasshopper, beautifully colored butterflies.  Our personal favorite, though, has to be the giant beetles that some of our students keep as pets and will even bring to class with them.

Beautiful, multi-colored butterfly.

The scariest of all of our wildlife encounters was this scorpion.  We were following a line of ants to see where they were going, so our heads were pretty low to the ground when we moved an empty crate of water bottles out of the way…and found this guy right in front of our faces!  After recovering from the surprise, we got a broom and swept him out of the kitchen and into our back yard (where we haven’t ventured since).  

         Another one of the more charming of our pets was this tiny frog.  These are found all over the place here, and we've also had some bigger ones come into our house - once discovered they quickly hop their way back down the drain and outside!

Right in our neighborhood, we have even more pets.  Dogs are ubiquitous throughout Chiang Saen.  Some of them are strays, some of them are pets, but all of them roam free.  They can be found all over our school campus and throughout the city.

This dog looks so happy because he just relieved himself on my bike tire.

One of the school dogs, heading up to the second floor.

Play day with the elephants

The expat community here in Chiang Saen is made up of the farang teachers (us and the Fulbright teacher at our school) and the farang researchers at a nearby elephant camp.  Since we have arrived in Chiang Saen, the researchers have been very welcoming, and invited us to come visit them to meet the elephants.

The elephant camp is based at a nearby hotel, Anantara Golden Triangle Resort, and part of their funding comes from tourist activities, like elephant rides, offered through the hotel.  Elephants are extremely popular with tourists throughout Thailand, and many can be seen on the streets of major cities like Bangkok and Chiang Mai.  Unfortunately, this is a terrible situation for elephants – they do not experience any interaction with other elephants, the concrete hurts their feet, and they often are not fed well. 

The elephant camp at Anantara offers an alternative for elephant owners – bring your elephant to our camp and we will provide free lodging, education, and health care to their mahouts (the men who take care of the elephants) and their families. While the mahouts work with the elephants, their wives weave scarves from silk they’ve gathered from silkworms.  In addition to tourist activities at the camp, the elephants at Anantara also participate in research – this is the part that our friends lead.

These houses are where the mahouts live with their families

A mahout on his elephant

       As we walked up to the elephant camp with our friend Rachel, she told us the one rule –do not approach an elephant that is not with its mahout.  Respecting the size of the elephant seems obvious, but she said you would be surprised at the number of tourists that rush up to the elephants and hug them without thinking about their personal safety.

Our experience visiting the elephants was unforgettable.  The mahouts indulged our curiosity, giving us bananas and sugarcane to feed the elephants.  The elephants themselves were breathtaking, my favorite being the 4 year old “baby” that was incredibly curious and playful. She kept using her trunk to explore us, seeming particularly fascinated with our shoes.  We were also lucky to even witness interaction between a mother and her baby.  Many baby elephants are taken away from their mothers at a very early age so they can start making money as a tourist attraction.

Mom and baby bonding

Feeding an elephant sugarcane and bananas

Temples of Chiang Saen

             Chiang Saen – our home away from home here in Thailand!  After our first weekend trip away, the realization that this place had truly became “home” sunk in.  We had a great time in Chiang Rai – we definitely enjoyed the air conditioning, fast internet, and Western food!  However, we missed knowing exactly where to go to get the best pat see ew, egg rolls, or pat pak (veggies with rice).  We missed having bicycles that could get us everywhere, and we were happy to get back to a place where we weren’t inhaling toxic fumes from stopped traffic.  Last but not least, we were happy to get back to a place that isn’t filled with old white men with their young Thai girls…creeeeepy.

            Chiang Saen’s claim to fame is that it is a historical city.  It was the original capital of the Lanna Kingdom, and is filled with temples built hundreds of years ago.  People believe that by building a temple they are showing their devotion to the Lord Buddha, and people in Chiang Saen put that belief into practice. Within the Chiang Saen city walls, an area about as big as downtown LA, there are 76 temples!  Needless to say, wherever we go – the store, school, a restaurant -- we pass at least three temples.

The most amazing thing about all of these temples is that they are all different.  They range in size from as big as a building to little more than a mound of bricks.  Some are modern and are currently in use.  Some are hundreds of years old and in various states of disrepair.  Some house a headless Buddha, some have just the head of a Buddha.

            We are a little obsessed with these temples, and have made it our mission to photograph every single one that we can find in the city.  To give these temples true justice, we are creating a special blog just for them: Temples ofChiang Saen.  You can also find a link on the top right of this blog.  To make it easier for our readers, we will let you know on our Trojan Tales blog when we update the temples blog.  However, the first post about one of the oldest temples in Chiang Saen is already up, so check it out!

A Day in the Life of a Teacher at Chiang Saen Wittayakhom

7:00 AM          Wake up! Usually to the sounds of Thai music being piped through loudspeakers around the school, construction happening outside our window, and students laughing as they walk around the campus before school starts.

7:45 AM          Breakfast at the canteen.  Jon gets chicken with rice and egg, while Carolyn gets rice with two eggs on top.  The best part of this meal is definitely the sauces that we put on top:  one is a sweet red garlic sauce, the other is a spicy green sauce.

Our breakfast and sometimes lunch

8:00 AM          Morning assembly.  Every school day begins with an all-school morning assembly.  The assembly begins with the school marching band playing the Thai National Anthem, followed by Buddhist prayer and a moment of meditation.  There are also usually announcements/presentations by students, and the assembly finishes with the marching band playing the school song while the students sing along.

All 1,200 students at the assembly

One of our students giving a speech in English...we were so proud!

8:30 AM          School starts! The school day is divided into 7 periods from 8:30 AM to 3:05 PM.  Depending on the day, we teach anywhere from 2-5 periods.  At this point we are lucky enough to teach together, but one of the English teachers is leaving this school soon and our schedule will change then as we pick up his classes. So far, we have been teaching conversational English: names, greetings, feelings, age, and so on.  

Kru Jon preparing for a lesson

Students walking to their classes

11:50 AM        Back to the canteen for lunch!  We either stick to the same meal from breakfast, or get “suki”, a kind of noodle soup.  There are four different restaurant stands at the canteen and so far we have only tried two, but we will continue to branch out as we improve our Thai so we know exactly what we are eating. 

3:05 PM          School has officially ended, but there is a big academic competition coming up and we have been helping the students prepare for it.  This has been pretty fun as events range from skits to speeches to storytelling to a spelling bee.  If no one comes to us for help we usually help some students who have started playing Scrabble every day during this time. 

4:30 PM          School ends. We usually go back to our house, relax for a little bit then head to dinner.  Our favorite place to go is a restaurant called “Three Men”, where we get delicious Thai food for 30 baht, or about $1.00.  The food is delicious and all of the ingredients are fresh from the marketplace.  After dinner we might bike around, visit a coffee shop, wander around the street vendors, or go to the Tesco store that is the only thing that resembles a grocery store here.  This is also when we take care of our chores – like doing our laundry.

Jon washing our laundry!

Wandering the streets of Chiang Saen...debating purchasing some bugs for a nice snack!

Chopping up some papaya.

9 or 10 PM      Bed time! Usually after watching an episode of The Wire or practicing some Thai, we are in bed early and ready for the next day!