A bunch of things to mention, but nothing especially crazy or exciting (no cool pictures like last month :) ) Things are finally starting to settle down over here. I have my classes at the university on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and spend the rest of the time grading homeworks, preparing lectures, etc. i also have my english classes at the Mae rim school (the school for hill tribe kids) saturdays, and my english and piano classes for the church folks on sunday afternoons. Those have all been going pretty well...today I taught the Mae Rim kids how to sing christmas Carols :) it was fun, and actually surprisingly successful! Not only did they learn the english verses and the melody, but we actually managed to sing the full 4-part harmony! Soprano, alto, tenor and bass. It really was quite exciting :) I'm pretty sure they've heard of the melody before, but that this is the first time they've tried harmony. We also studied some Bible verses pertaining to the reason for Christmas, on the celebration of the birth of Christ. Next Saturday (which is Christmas) I'm going to plan a little party for them. I've already bought them little Christmas gifts -- I don't think they've ever experienced the joy of ripping wrapping paper off of a gift -- and we'll have snacks and learn to sing more carols :)
I've also been looking for ways in which I can be directly involved in the church and outreach activites on campus. It's not easy given that I can't really communicate with anyone (students' english skills are OK, but not enough to carry a real conversation). But I think we hit upon a solution: teaching an english bible study/english class :) People will come knowing that it will be taught in english, and that we will study aspects of the english language (grammar, conversation, etc) as well as the Bible. We'll see how it goes...it starts next week!
Teaching at the university is much harder than I thought it would be, but also much more rewarding. I love seeing my students actually trying to learn something (like BCNF decomposition...that one took a lot of effort), asking me to run through additional examples, etc. Today I had a review session for the midterm that lasted 4 hours, but I really enjoyed it, because my students initiated it, and they came really wanting to learn. However, parts of my teaching experience has been disappointing too. In particular, cheating seems to be rampant...for some reason, everybody copies homeworks here. Even instructors here who used to be students said they cheated when they were students too. I don't know, it's probably just so common that the students don't even think twice about whether or not they should be cheating (and how it affects their ability to learn the material). I've been feeling too bad to punish the students, but last week I became fed up and told them they would get an automatic 0 on any copied homework, and I really mean it. It's just totally unexcusable. To be honest, everyone warned me about cheating before I started teaching, but somehow I just didn't think my students would do it. Well, we'll see how they do on their midterm coming up next week! (They've scheduled midterms for every day of next week -- including Christmas! Luckily my midterms are on the 23rd).
Anyhow, a lot things happened this month. For one thing, I got my motorcycle! :)
Ok, so it's not exactly like the motorcycles in america, more like a scooter. Powerful enough to go 40-50mph easily, but definitely wouldn't make it on a freeway in america. Luckily, as I've already mentioned, traffic here is pretty slow. The fastest I go is about 35 mph, which is actually good -- I think I'd be too scared to go any faster! The cool thing about motorcycles in thailand is that they are SO convenient. Parking cars is such a pain here, but there is always space for motorcycles! Any small spot on the curb is fine, or any opening on a patch of dirt. Motorcycles are also great during traffic hour. The cars don't move at all, but the motorcycles can pass on the left, or weave between the cars -- sometimes people even drive motorcycles up on the sidewalk, if cars are blocking the way (but I don't). I drove back from the mall last week on my motorcycle, and it took me about 10 minutes during traffic -- if I had my car, it would have taken at least 45 minutes! Motorcycles also use WAY less gas. A full tank is about $1.50, whereas for Mr. Lee's gas-guzzling car, a full tank (which will take me just a little further than the motorcycle) costs about $25 (a LOT by Thai standards).
The last weekend of November was Loi Kratong, one of the most important holidays in Thailand. There was a week-long celebration in Chiang Mai, which culminated on Saturday (the 27th). All through the week people set off firecrackers, released hot air lanterns, and launched little boats down the river. The boats are made from banana leaves and are typically decorated with flowers, candles, and incense sticks. On the 27th, my friends and I got together to make our own boats!
(I made that! :) )
We then braved our way through the massive crowds by the river to launch them. Unfortunately, there were a big group of kids about 10 meters downstream of the pier who were taking the boats, picking the money out of them (you usually put a baht or two in the boat for good luck) and tossing the boats aside. Oh well, the boats looked nice floating down the river for those 10 meters :) We also went to a "lantern launching" festival a few days earlier:
(me holding onto a lantern before we let it float away)
It really was an amazing sight, to see the night sky filled with hot air balloons for a few minutes. But even more beautiful was on the day of Loi Kratong itself, when many people launched ballons from their own backyards -- there were fewer balloons at any given time, but it lasted all night, and was spread across the entire sky.
Finally, on the night of Loi Kratong the main bridge was closed to vehicles, and pedestrians filled the street setting off firecrackers. It was actually pretty scary. A lot of the firecrackers were like small grenades -- people would light them and throw them discretely on the ground by a group of people, or on the street where people were walking, and then laugh when the firecracker went off and people screamed or jumped. The bridge looked like a battleground, with smoke everywhere, loud bangs, sparks flying, people screaming and running around. Pretty fun :) but a little dangerous...some people got seriously injured when firecrackers were thrown at their head (hopefully by accident).
A couple weeks later, my friends and I took a weekend roadtrip to a town called Pai, which is known for its beautiful hill scenery and the fog that gathers in the morning. My friends might have been impressed, but I definitely was not! In the bay area, the hills I see every day are just as beautiful, and much more fog over by half moon bay. I guess hills and fog are a novelty here...I wonder what Thai people would think of san francisco :) My favorite was a "scenic lookout spot" on the road to Pai, with a view that looked like the grapevine on highway 5 (i.e., ugly). But, Pai did have other nice attractions. On the first day, we visited some nice limestone caves with a river running through it. To get through the caves you had to ride narrow bamboo rafts, and you could feed the (pretty big) fish at the same time. It was kind of spooky and romantic, riding down a river in the dark caves with just a bright lantern at the front of your boat.
The best part of Pai was definitely the hot springs. Early in the morning on the second day, we visited a large natural hot springs park. It was freezing cold and foggy, but the springs were so hot and comfortable... so relaxing :)
The highlight of my month, without a doubt, was my mom and dad coming to visit me :) they were only here for 2 short days, but they were 2 wonderful days!! We visited a lot of the main sights in Chiang mai, but the main fun was just hanging out with them... it was so nice to see them, to show them my apartment and office and classroom, to eat fruit with them :) They got a huge kick out of rolling double-parked cars out of the way in the parking lots. I was very sad to see them go....although I am not homesick, I do think of home a lot, and how I wish I could be with my family again. Especially as the holiday season draws near and I get emails about how they set up the christmas tree together, made dinner together, played with my sister's baby nephew, etc. Being here definitely heightens my appreciation for the wonderful family I know I have back home :)
Anyway, here are some of the pictures, including some of the local Chiang Mai attractions:
(me and my mom :) )
(my parents at the temple on top of Doi Suthep -- the most important temple in Chiang mai)
(There was another statue just like this one on the other side of the doorway, but the other "lizard" was holding a rock, not a baby lizard. I thought this was interesting because we have the same kind of thing in China, only with lions instead of lizards. The mother lion is holding a baby lion, the father lion is holding a ball. In Chiang Mai temples you can often see influence from China and Burma.)
(This serpent can be found at pretty much every temple in Chiang Mai. I'm not really sure what it represents...perhaps it is similar to dragons in China?)
On a side note, I don't think my parents were all that impressed with Chiang Mai. It made me realize that chiang mai really doesn't have anything spectacular or awe-inspiring -- no amazing temples or breathtaking scenery or beautiful beaches. So why do I love it so much? I'm really not sure...there's just something about it that I really like, maybe how it isn't a huge tourist trap (although the number of tourists seem to be growing exponentially by day this month), but still has a lot of culture and an authentic way of life that I get to partake in. I'm not sure, but I do know I like it here a lot!
Other small details about life here...I've seen a couple movies so far, luckily the most popular movies here are american ones :) (in english, thai subtitles). What really interesting is that before each movie, they play a really cheesy (meaning no disrespect) 2-minute clip honoring the king, with very inspiring music, pictures of the king holding cute babies and helping old women, and huge masses of people bowing prostrate before a portrait of the king. They really respect their king here. I guess it's the equivalent of playing the national anthem before sporting events, but somehow I can't really get used to it. The food here is still superb. I'm starting to try more non-thai food too...I had a hamburger 2 weeks ago that was subpar, and japanese food last week that was delicious :) Actually the japanese food was pretty standard, but since I haven't had japanese food in such a long time and I love it so much, it was a real treat. Unfortunately it was really expensive -- about the equivalent of 20 bowls of noodles! Next on my list is kentucky fried chicken (yes, I still haven't gone!). I hear it's very spicy here.
The only downside of this month is that I'm starting to feel extremely fatigued...actually, since the day I arrived in Thailand I've been complaining to my family about not being able to sleep well. I wake up in the morning feeling just as tired as when I went to bed the night before. So I've always been tired...but I guess I'm really starting to feel it as I finish up my 3rd month here. I'm so tired that I sometimes back out of social events because I just don't have the energy. I can barely keep up with my classes, instead of staying a couple weeks ahead like I had been planning to do. and (as I've already told many of you) I have enormous ugly bags under my eyes (note the most recent pictures at the hot springs). I don't know how to fix the problem either, as I get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. Unfortunately, if I don't start feeling better in a month, I might have to come home earlier than I had planned -- definitely only stay for 1 term, and not travel to other countries afterwards (was hoping to go to japan for a few months too!) :( We'll see how it goes...hopefully I can start sleeping well and regain my health...
Well, that's it for now! I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season...Although I'm not there to be with you all, I am definitely thinking of everyone. Let me leave with you two of my favorite Bible verses for this season:
The angel said to them...'I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord.'"
Luke 2:10-11
Merry Christmas!!! And Happy New Year!!!! :) :)
Link to January's entry