Kajonkietsuka Early September

Interestingly enough I wrote the following last night and the news from home seems even more disastrous - let me have your perspective. Tomorrow I go on my visa trip to Malaysia where I will get my one year visa. In a way this is fortunate as I have wanted to go to Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, while I am still in SE Asia;

Today I begin my third week at Kajonkiet Suksa School, a private school that starts at Kindergarten and goes to Grade 8 for the time being. Aside from observing and filling in until the end of the Semester (Sept. 26), my primary assignment is to write a course outline for a new 9th grade which will begin next year. School year starts in May and is comprised of two semesters, the second of which begins in November. I will have the course outline completed by the 26th and we all go on vacation. I actually get one week paid and then come back to teach what is called summer school in October. Most of the school is on a one month holiday which is traditional in Thailand. When November comes, I will have several classes of students who need additional
support through ESL. I am actually having a pretty good time observing the management of a school here, the mix of Thai and
Falang teachers which does
not always work, and the total mix of students many of whom have at least one European, English, or American parent. That makes the teaching of English imperative for them and also for Thai parents who believe that English will be necessary to the success of their kids in the future....unless they are wealthy with lots of influence (and there are a lot of those in Thailand.) I may have said this before but I have found that in general the Cambodians and Vietnamese in cities and in schools were much better at English than the Thais, interesting because Thais actually start English in first grade. Many also learn Chinese as well. In fact, we have a couple of Chinese teachers who volunteer here to teach the language. China's education policies seem to require that those who want to teach spend a couple of years abroad volunteering before they could get a job in China. Naturally, they teach Chinese (their English is pretty
good, too and as an additional aside we have several Phillipine teachers who are teaching English so they are certainly up to par and the computer techs are all Phillipine as well. The latter are a blessing to a surface computer user like me.) But to finish with the Chinese, after the policy was described to me, it sounded a bit like an altered of our Peace Corps in terms of exposing young Chinese to other cultures.

I did find a house just about 5 minutes from school so I am grateful that I do not have to depend on motorbike taxis which really are the cheapest form of transportation. Between the walking to school and walking to a market which is about a kilometer away and climbing three flights of stairs every day, I am keeping in pretty decent shape. Or almost. The first several days of climbing three flights of stairs 5 or 6 times seems to have caused a strain on my right knee and I got to where if I sat down, I
could not get up without a
major stab of pain there. I panicked a bit but our teacher liaision took me to the hospital where I saw an orthopedic surgeon. After the usual x rays, we found nothing structurally wrong and Doctor said inflammation was probably caused by my new "life style activity." So some strong anti inflammation drugs along with a pain killer has eased the problem and I find myself not having any problems with my daily workouts but I have another week worth of pills before I go back.

I will tell you the hospital was certainly impressive; immaculate, efficient, very little waiting time and I was escorted by nurses from start to finish which eased the flow of paperwork and prescription filling. The doctor spoke very good English, the x rays were completed and read with 15 minutes and I was given a pointer lesson on the results and a couple of neat photos of my knee. The whole thing took about an hour and cost less than $60, meds
included. I don't have insurance here yet but should be covered by the time the new semester begins.

My house is a two bedroom, two bath house in what might be considered a rather suburban environment - nothing fancy but the landlady really cleaned it up for me and got me set up also with broadband internet which was just installed over the weekend, so I feel complete. Amazing how we cannot do without computers anymore. Unfortunately I am not so lucky with TV service. I currently have all Thai channels except for a couple of sports channels and the worst - for news only FOX NEWS! Is it ever godawfu, so I asked them to cancel it and I am not getting the super vision service that includes more English and CNN because it is too expensive. I turn on to catch the news in between the absolute love affair all their commentators are having with Sarah Palin - McCain hardly matters. That whole situation really makes me
nervous as the polls seem to be going pretty badly from Obama from here. In fact the country seems to be doing so badly from here. All those financial disasters mixed with really tragic natural ones are heartbreaking from here. How is it affecting you all? When one listens to Asian news, we don't fare so well; not because we are disliked but because we seem to be weakening and China seems to be rising along with the fears of a new Russia and its influence in some parts of Europe. Bush's good friend Putin sure must be having a time of having the last laugh. Energy stockpiles are realigning and influencing the world power structures.

I hope I like it all well enough to stay awhile and I hope if any of you are so inclined you will come visit. I have room, that is for sure. But I will tell you Thailand has many great places, but it is difficult to get around. There are lots of cheap air flights to various places, but if you come, I
would suggest that wherever you go you arrange for tours. I would strongly recommend seeing Bangkok (which I have not seen), Chiang Mai, Ayuttha (an ancient City which I have not seen) Phuket or some of the islands for beach goers. In fact if you stay with me you would have to taxi to the beaches which is anywhere up to 800 baht roundtrip (33 baht to the dollar). But that is stuff that can be worked out; Phuket is really just for beachgoers. Despite all the hype, I would not say that Thailand has the most beautiful beaches in the world, but like many others the good resorts have created little paradises within their bounds. There is supposed to be quite a night life in Patong, but I haven't wandered out and about to check it out, at least at night. Over the weekend I did go to Kata beach which has great surf but not overwhelming and spent the morning swimming and reading; then I wandered over to Patong just to check it out. Lots of great places to
stay, but the beachfront activities are like any resort town with lots of places selling cheap stuff and expensive ordinary restaurants. The beaches along this strip from Chalong Bay are lovely but not exquisite and need some

The longer I stay and the more I can be helpful about places to visit. Now that I have been living in the "burbs" some of the glamor has worn off, so if you want to see the exotic Thailand, tours are the way to go.

Chiang Mai is a delightful city with its moat still surrounding the old
city. I did visit Chiang Rai as well but it is a great and beautiful drive through lovely tropical mountain jungle and worth that alone and okay to stay if you are running off to do outdoor trekking, etc. A truly marvelous site very near Chiang Rai is the wonderful creation in progress and designed to represent contemporary religious (Buddhist) art. The artist, whose name I cannot remember but whose photo with me I have, has devoted his life to creating this enormous site with Wat and monk's quarters and all that goes with it his "White Palace." It is one of the most awesome structures I have seen, with a completely white exerior showcasing fantastic mythological characters from the Buddhist cosmology and the standard turrets, finials, and umbrellas along with carved surfaces that make up Buddhist temples. All this is covered with millions of pieces of mirrored glass which makes the whole thing look like a winter
fairy tale, but which will encompass some most sacred relics and wonderful art work in the inerior that depicts the Buddha and his life as one finds in most Wats. The White Palace will take many years to complete and will be a draw from everywhere for the devout who will seek solace and for tourists. I am sure you can find it on the web as the artist has raised money from around the world, is dedicating all of his own proceeds from his works of art, and is donating all of his time to the design, oversight, and artistic renderings of the buildings. In the process he is training a whole generation of artists in both the old and new artistic traditions of Buddhist art.

Wats in Thailand are a contrasting activity. By day many are both cultural attractions and oddities for a melange of tourists who have come to be awed by the glittering jewel -like mosaic patterns of colored glass which cover various parts of each Wat, along with
the exquisitely delicate looking, colorful wood and often lace-like carvings (turrets) which extend from the roof tops all glittering in red and gold, (real, gold leaf or paint) with an architecture strongly influenced by India. Thai Buddhism is influenced by earlier Hmong animistic religious along with Hindu influences, so one often find the spirits or gods of all three among the statuary and paintings. The insides of the most famous and not so famous of Wats are more than impressive with immense statues of the Buddha often set high above to smile benevelontly down on the viewer. The statues can be of gold or gold leaf, silver, emerald, marble, and one has a standing statue encrusted with diamonds. The artifacts of bowls and offering pieces are both simple and extravagantly elegant made of simple pottery, enamelled coated with inlay embellishments, or materials finely crafted from gold and sillver and even wood. The Wats combined hold and store
treasure lodes of national culture, history, and religion that cannot be removed by collectors and traders. So there is a lot of patrimony being saved.

Until next time - then I will try to think more about this very different place. It is hard to get a handle on it. The sublime and yet ostentatious Buddhist elegance not all that far from the street life of a bar girl who seeks the farongs for support seems eons apart and a study in the complexity and contradictions of Thailand.

Tell me stories from back home or from wherever you are. Greg is half way through his University course in Chiang Mai. He has had it much tougher than I did in my Language Corps class. I am hoping when he finishes we can do an island of Krabi before he goes back and spend a few days in a quiet bungalow resort on the beach.

Love,
Geraldine