Since arriving in Thailand, I have been living this extreme life where I have been thrown into a culture where I don't speak the language, my diet has drastically changed, and I am a secondary school teacher. Beyond that, I get to live my dream life by traveling every weekend and going on adventure after adventure, while meeting insanely cool people. And somehow, through all the novelty and excitement, I was struck with a sense of normalcy this week. After coming back from yet another beautiful exploration of Kanchanaburi this past weekend (Sai Yok Noi Waterfalls are gorgeous!), I did the weekly walk from the bus stop to my apartment, came home to my room to blast the AC, hoped no bugs had overtaken my belongings and then grabbed another delightful Thai meal for dinner. As Monday rolled around, I jumped into my daily routine, taught my classes, swam in the hotel pool across the way, and then entertained myself for the remainder of the evening. I have finally fallen into a routine and even with its little quirks, it is normal. This is my new normal. And then Sport's Day happened at school and I realized "normal" will no longer be a relevant term in my vocabulary while living in Thailand.
Sport's Day is a very common day among Thai schools, but it varies by school. Sa-Nguan Ying partakes in two Sport's Day throughout the year and I just experienced my first. We were told last week that all of the students would be running a mini-marathon to kick off the event, and then spend the remainder of the day partaking in various events, such as dance, jumprope and tennis competitions. At first, I was flabbergasted. A mini-marathon?!? The kids will never be able to run that! It is way too hot and they are not the most athletic bunch I have ever seen. And a mini-marathon? Yikes! I later found out that mini-marathon meant 3k. But still...it's reeeaaally hot here. Each grade level was assigned a different color and so I attempted to support both my M1 (Red) and M2 (Pink) students by wearing a magenta shirt to blend with both teams. The day started off the only way our school knows how- with a ridiculously long assembly where the kids line up in perfectly straight lines and listen to multiple speeches. When the director of the school is escorted to the stage, everyone wais and watches as his speech is handed to him on a golden platter. I wish I was lying. Afterwards, he signaled the beginning of the race by hitting a gong, and hoards of children proceeded to make their way down the streets of Suphanburi. I would guess that 98% of the students walked the race, while some put in a little bit of effort. The American teachers put everyone to shame by coming in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. I, on the other hand, decided to be more 'Thai' and walk my way down the main highway. Safe route, right? Despite the lack of running, Srall and I still encountered many students struggling on the side of the street, some even throwing up. After zigzagging our way around wooden plank bridges, mopeds, and struggling children, we crossed the finish line and spent the rest of the day watching the various competitions. However, most of the day was dedicated to the children lazing around in every nook and cranny of the school, eating all sorts of fried goodies, winning raffles (a bike, a GIANT teddy bear or a fan) and just being silly. All in all, the day was anything but normal. And I'm really happy for that. It was nice to have a little reminder that I am living a life that is far from the ordinary.
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| Sai Yok Noi |
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| Sai Yok Noi...Life Moment |
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| Time to line up! |
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| I have really cute students |
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| Obviously what to expect at a race |
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