A Christmas Vlog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBnRNRKxoP0

Life is unexpected, sometimes frustrating and inconvenient.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

Merry Christmas.

What Money Can Buy.

It’s crazy how far money goes here. When I go out for food I feel like I am living way above my means...

...then the bill comes and I realize that everything together costs $3-4. Here are some examples of how far Canadian currency goes here as well as some figures that have made me think:

75 cents – amazing pad thai (essential)

80 cents – the price for an entire bag of cabbage. I’m talking like 16+ cabbages.

$1.25 – large bottle of beer (also essential)

$8 – the price you can expect to pay for one night at a beautiful guesthouse here.

$12 – the average monthly allowance for most students. Imagine living on $12 a month.

$13 – the price of a brand new soccer ball. Also the price of a pair of Asian soccer cleats.

$20 – the price of my Burmese guitar...it’s no Larrivee but for my skills it’s perfect.

$200 – the price to feed 60 students for a week. My school is in need of some extra funding because we are currently supporting about 60 students on a budget for 46. So if you have some extra Christmas money left over and you want a great cause check: http://burmaeducationfund.com/ . All the money goes directly to where it’s needed. If you choose to help out let me know!

Congratulations

I can’t believe it but it has already been a month. Insanity.

Over the last 4 weeks I have gotten to know some of the students well and some of them have shared their story with me. Time and time again, with each conversation, each class and each experience I have had my perspective and worldview shattered only to be rebuilt more humbly than before. More and more I am realizing that we have all won the lottery. We live lives and have opportunities available to so so few. I have lived a life of enormous privilege, rich blessings and the gift to be able pursue my own dreams.

It is a gift.

I have taken for granted the fact that as soon as highschool was done the obvious next steps are more education: whether university, college or training in the trades. These are the choices we get to make.

Our choices are not limited.

Our future is not limited.

We live in a country where parents can tell their children that “they can be anything if they work hard” and, for the majority, it is true. This is not true of all countries and all people. In fact, I inputed the average income for an “unattached individual” Canadian (which is $28,500) on http://www.globalrichlist.com/, and found that if you have that income you are in the top 9.7% of the entire world.

The world.

Everyone.

The more insane stat is that if you have a family income of $74,600 you are in the top 0.87% of the world. That means that 99.13% of the world has less.

The students I teach do not have choices I take for granted. They can work harder, longer and with more tenacity and never see the opportunities and options I have come to expect. Other than the school and the dorm there is virtually nowhere they can go safely. To travel to a football match we had to take the backroads to avoid suspicion. These kids, most of them my peers, have so few options. Some can’t go home, others don’t have a home anymore.

The part that blows my mind is that the students continue to hold on and hope.

Hope for a free Burma.

Hope for the small chance of a university education.

Hope for a future where they can travel freely.

I don’t write this to elicit feelings of guilt for the abundance we have, but rather to spark a fire in all of us to act. To give to those around us in our world who have less.

On Saturday night I had a movie night with some of the students and we watched one of my favourite movies of all time: Kingdom of Heaven. The movie starts and ends with the quote:

"What man is a man who does not make the world better?"

Although there is no snow, or shopping mall Santa’s or consumer culture telling me what to buy to make me and my family "happy", I strangely feel more blessed than I have ever felt during any other Christmas.

I won the lottery. I was born in Canada. I am healthy, have a family and friends I love and who love me and I have the privilege to dream big dreams.

Movin' on up.

This week I moved out of the guesthouse where I was staying and into a house with a teacher from the school across the street. The house is very cool and very Thai. The best part of it is the front deck. The front of the house is up on stilts so my front porch/deck looks out onto the street. It has a hammock and some sweet couches...I'm probably going to spend most of my time out there. Inside there are lots of pictures of the Thai king and royal family to make me feel at home. The address is:

134/4 Intrakeree Road

Mae Sot, Tak 63111

Thailand

At school, I've started coaching the guys soccer team. I will never complain about any field in Hamilton ever again. We practice on a field that is rock hard and has move divots, stones and potholes than there is actual field. We only have one football to practice with and one that deflates after 5 minutes, designed drills for 22 guys and 1 ball is challenging but it is awesome to get to play with them. We have a tourney next week and the guys are stoked to play, the guys got school jerseys (real Madrid) to unify the team and make us look professional, however, not all the guys have shoes so some play in sandals or barefoot..which I think takes away from any professionalism the jerseys endow...haha.

I put the team captain in charge of practice today because I couldn't be there and his idea was to have a team run at 5:30am...this is what he wrote on the board:

"Footballers:

We need to practice to become the best.

Training at 5:30am, we run hard.

We need to train like we at a war.

Unity is Strength."

Intense. Funny, I grew up thinking soccer was fun. Better get my game face on. If you don't hear from me in a while it's because I've blown out my ankles practicing on our field. haha.

Lightning Never Strikes Twice...

So it happened again. I got a viral/ bacterial infection from something I ate which basically meant that everything I ate the 2 days prior came out in one way or another. In Tanz, they coined the term "riding the D train",

this time I think I was the conductor.

I ended up having to go to the hospital and get some meds to get me back on track. Unfortunately I had to miss 1 and a half days of school, which sucked. I was a mess so it was definitely for the best. I'm all good now, feeling fresh.

I went to a city called Chiang Mai this past weekend which was really interesting. A bunch of teachers from my school and the higher education school across the street all went together because Monday was the Thai King's birthday, a national holiday. They had fireworks and giant pictures of him (Giant! like 60' by 80'!) everywhere. He is currently in hospital so everyone wore pink, which is the Thai color of health, in respect of his condition.

They had a huge Night Bazaar on Sunday night which we guessed attracted 100,000+ people throughout the night. Everyone shopping. I bought lots of sweet food (prob how I got my infection...) and enjoyed the nightlife. Firebreathers, dancers, and music.

Tomorrow I start coaching the school's boys soccer team as they prepare to play against their rival in the first league game next weekend. Not sure how drills are going to work as we only have a narrow street and an uneven, overgrown field to practice on. This is where creativity comes into play...

This weekend the student's had their annual craft sale where they raised 19,000B which is about $475 Canadian! That is an unreal amount and the kids are stoked. The money goes into the student's fund where they get to decide together what to do with the money. I'll let you know what they decide...

Today was a day to raise awareness Against Child Sex Trafficking in Mae Sot. The students went to a school and performed a rally-protest song voicing their opinions. It was unreal. These kids are passionate.

Life is full. The only way I'd have it.

A Video Blog

Check out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJr_oPMbeAQ

For a video Blog I made about my most prized possession....

Proud to be Canadian.

Check out how sweet our government is; we live in the best country in the world.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s message to Canada
Canadian Friends of Burma – Ottawa, Dec. 3, 2010

Burmese democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi sent a message to the government and the people of Canada through her sister-in-law, Mrs. Lucinda Phillips, yesterday at a meeting on Parliament Hill hosted by Parliamentary Friends of Burma (PFOB) and Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB).

Her message is as followed:

“I deeply appreciate the award of Honorary Canadian Citizenship, both for myself and because it symbolizes the help that Canada has given my people. Canada has never faltered in its support for the democracy movement in Burma for which I am very grateful. I would particularly like to thank the generosity of the government for taking in so many Burmese refugees and the help that they have received when they arrived. A good example of Canadian generosity is the recent donation to the victims of Cyclone Giri in Western Burma which has scarcely impinged on the consciousness of the outside world.”

“I have always felt a particular closeness to Canada because of my French-Canadian mother-in-law, Josette Vaillancourt who was always proud to be Canadian and always kept her Canadian passport through living in England for over 60 years. I am also aware of the history of the Vailancourt family’s efforts to foster good relations between the peoples of Canada, something that I have always advocated for Burma. Lucinda [sister-in-law] will no doubt explain that part of the family history. Finally I look forward very much to the day that conditions in Burma will allow me to be free to visit Canada myself and thank the Canadian people in person. Thank you very much.”
Accompanied by Hon. Larry Bagnell, chair of PFOB and representatives of CFOB, Mrs. Lucinda Phillips also met Hon. Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Hon. Beverley Oda, Minister of Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and delivered the message.

Hon. Jack Layton, an opposition leader and the leader of New Democratic Party (NDP), also raised a question about an invitation of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to Canada in the House of Commons yesterday. Hon. John Baid, the leader of the Government in the House of Commons, answered, “the government is certainly be pleased to continue to work with him on this important issue.”

NDP and PFOB that consists of more than 40 MPs and Senators from all political parties recommended Prime Minister Stephen Harper to invite her to Canada. Mr. Harper issued a statement calling her “an unwavering champion of peace, democracy and respect for human rights in Burma” after her release from the under house arrest last month.

After meeting with parliamentarians and political staffers from political parties in the morning yesterday, Mrs. Phillips also held a discussion in the afternoon with a group of long-time Burma supporters and founders of CFOB in the boardroom of Inter Pares, a major relief and social justice organization in charge of channeling Canadian humanitarian aid to Burma.

If you havent't listened or read Aung San Suu Kyi's story, take 15 minutes and look it up, she is incredible.

Info.

I got a Thai cell phone:

011 -66 - 08 1454 0406

011 is Canada's exit code, 66 is Thailand's country code and the rest is my number

and a skype account:

greg.tyros

I'm 12 hours in the future so if you want some advice for Proline dial me up...haha

Caneball and Mushrooms.

So one of the teachers at the school has partnered with local NGO's and got the students building a mushroom house beside the school where they can grow mushrooms and sell them to the local community. He teaches business and this is the perfect project for the students to apply their knowledge. Yesterday the students were leveling the ground and moving rocks and logs that were in the way using 1 broken shovel and 2 Hoes. These kids are tough. They made a fire to burn off the trees and plants they cut down. They started the fire with: a sandal they found while digging (the logical choice, obviously).

Because the mushroom farm is going beside the school we had to relocate the caneball court across the street. This required moving garbage, rocks and heaps of plants. The court had piles of ash scattered on it where wood had been burned before, but the students didn't see this as an issue and put me in a position where I wouldn't have to play in the ash. Overall I think this court is better than the other one because the kids aren't playing barefoot on top of sharp rocks and sticks...just ash...

I started teaching full time yesterday, played lots of name games and found out more about some of the student's stories. Not having seen parents for a number of years and not knowing if they are safe was an all too common theme.

Today, Greg's Comprehensive Math Assessment Test (the GCMAT) to see where these kids are at with their math (and english) skills.

Pictures to come soon.

taught Burmese street kids squirt tonight....

5 Reasons Why I Think I Might Actually be Burmese

1. A passion to the core for Soccer. Seriously any mention of football and these kids are stoked. We play in the street, a haggard field which isn't even close to being level and has tons of roots or and in a dust bowl (which they consider the best place...)

2. 5' 5" - average male height...what's up now?

3. Love of education. Both the guys and girls are eager to learn and look for opportunities to absorb as much as possible, it makes me question if they really need a teacher...

4. Dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes. After a little more time in the sun I might be able to pull off being a local if I wear some shades.

5. Big smiles. I'm still blown away by most of the student's attitudes, genuine love of life and their time at the school. Puts a lot in perspective...and makes me smile even more.

The Dynamic Balance.

The school is taught completely by volunteer teachers, which means that as new teachers come, others leave. Today we had a lunch and farewell for teachers heading home. If there was one word to describe the school's atmosphere I would say it's "personal". The students organized speeches, gifts and sang songs for the teachers heading out. The room was full of tears and emotion. I found myself welling up and I have only been there for 5 days...very manly. The genuine thankfulness is something I can't describe.

Big Eyes.

Mae Sot day 3. It has been an overwhelming 3 days - new names, new faces, new culture. I think the best way to describe my experience is to walk through an average day so far.

6:00am - Even though my alarm is set for 7, the rooster crows at 6 which causes all the birds living in the tree outside my guesthouse to start their morning....and I'm up.

7:30am - I head to the school on my bike (with a basket...yeah, that's right.) through the crazy traffic (on the left side of the road). There are bikes (seating 4), cars (seating 8), trucks (holding 40+ people, chickens, building supplies...) all in a 2 lane street where there can be up to 4 lanes of organized chaos. I arrive at the school to get some unreal breakfast. So far it's been samosas and coconut rice...way better then anything Kellog's has to offer.

8:00am - I will be teaching math and English so this week I have been gathering curriculum, resources and shadowing the teachers that I will be replacing. The students are great, they actually want to learn...weird. I've never encountered anything like this before. They are eager to share and dialog about most anything. I start teaching full time on Monday, which is really exciting. I think we are going to start with A LOT of SFS games to try and learn their names. Most student's names are 3-4 separate words...no short forms. Good thing I'm great at learning names...During the middle of the day it is crazy hot so things are very chill.

4:00pm - school is done for the day...and by 5 it's cooled down enough to get outside and play some sports. The students cleared a field to play caneball (also called Tawkraw) which is Thailand's national sport. It is intense. It's basically the same rules as volleyball but only using the parts of your body that you can use for soccer. We play 3 on 3 with a wicker ball. The kids are crazy good...My goal is to be able to compete with these showoffs.

6:00pm - If I am at the school then I can have dinner but otherwise I can get dinner and a beer in town for about $1-2. I am staying an amazing guesthouse and most people there are up for doing dinner and enjoying the cool Thai nights.

The experience so far has been unreal - it's had it's ups and downs but overall I'm stoked to be here.

Arrival.

After 3 days of planes, trains and tuk tuks (a three wheeled taxi bike...very safe, obviously) I have arrived in Bangkok. This is a city where anything (anything) is possible. Today I drank pepsi out of a plastic bag with ice and a straw in it, was offered a squirrel to buy as a pet, and ate fruit I didn't even know existed. Money goes a long way: dinner for $1, Rayban sunglasses for $6 and a pint of beer for $1. I am staying in a hostel for $12 and can get anywhere in the city for under $2 by taxi. The city is rich with Buddhist culture, old world architechture and the latest technology. During a 1 minute walk downtown you can see people sleeping in the streets next to a brand new BMW next to a massage parlor offering 1 hour massages for $3. I could definitely spend a lot of time exploring this city but tomorrow I head north. The blog is called lessons taught. lessons learned, but I feel I will be doing a lot more learning than teaching.