Thursday, January 20, 2011
Some Background to the Current Situation
It has been humbling to get to know the students and listen to them share their stories of life inside Burma. Each one unique. Each one involving blocked goals, hardship and oppression. Before coming here I thought I had a fairly good idea of the situation, but the more the students share the more I realize that I have so much to learn (and so much to be thankful for). If you want a real look inside Burma and to see some of the terrible conditions that are a reality for the people living there watch a movie called "Burma VJ". It was filmed by incredibly brave people inside Burma during the Saffron Revolution. They risked their lives to show the world what was happening and "Burma VJ" is a movie that complies all of their footage.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
United by Hardships
Today the students visiting from Korea headed out. Last night the students organized a talent show in the school to see off their new friends. It was amazing. The students are more talented than I'll ever be.
At the end of the event the Korean students shared how they feel very much apart of the Burmese student's struggle and there was a lot tears. They lit candles and placed them in a line in front of the school to represent unity between the students.
It's interesting to think that 3 generations ago Korea was in much in much the same situation as present-day Burma. The students, although from very different cultures and places, connected through the hardships they each face and have faced.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Week in Review
Vibrant. Confusing. Holistic. Electric.
These are just some of the words I could use to describe a week here. Plans are always changing. A teacher has to be flexible, quick on their feet and creative to keep up. There is no printer or photocopier at the school so the teachers have to email the office to print off all our notes and copies in advance. Sometimes they don't quite make it in time... which makes for the best kind of lessons. It's challenging, but that's life. Sometimes the school has no power, sometimes the internet is down so that sweet interactive lesson you planned becomes, well, the best you can do.
This week 20 students from a Korean school are staying at our school and seeing what the situation is like in Mae Sot. They are doing events with our students and helping in various way in the community. It's a really cool partnership. I hope I can get something like this going one day.
Last night I went to my first Burmese concert and ....Amazing. A Burmese rapper named Sai Sai dropped some sick beats (actually they were the same beats ripped off from western songs but sung with Burmese lyrics) and a Burmese pop singer, named R Zani, who is a big deal across the boarder, here's a link to one of his songs (guess which song is used to make this one). The concert was amazing, the crowd went crazy and was dancing (and fighting) the entire time. We blamed the fight on my tall friends because their was a gap behind us because no one could see if they stood behind...which created an arena for a fight to break out in. A great night.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
New years.
So I realize that by saying that I had the students over for a sleepover party that I must sound like
The sketchiest teacher on the planet.
That's fair. It sounds creepy to me to! Before jumping to some outrageous conclusions let me tell you the context.
It was one of my most memorable and fun experiences here. The students rarely get to leave the area close to the school and to ring in the New Years the right way you need to escape to a place you can relax and have a good time.
So I told the students to come to my house at 7:30, bring all the food and drinks and enjoy a night out. They told me that a few of them were going to show up at 4:30 to start cooking food.
At 4:30 eveyone shows up.
I had cleaned and set up the living room of the house for them, organized the kitchen indoors and thought I had everything ready. When they show up they start sweeping and cleaning up under my house where I store all the extra furniture and do my laundry and cleaning. I was like "guys, inside is all clean and set up for you", they respond with: "But down here is so nice, we want to stay here!" Before I know it they are making noodles in my laundry tub, using an old piece of plywood as a cutting board, and washing the fruit and vegetables with my garden hose. It was like clockwork - everyone working at something.
Then when I thought it was time to eat the feast they had prepared, they told me that now they were all going to have showers to get ready. 30 students.
About 1.5 hours later we sat down and ate more food than any of us could eat. It was so awesome to sit back and watch them having a great time.
I was telling a friend that here, it's easy to make big deals. It's easy to put on an event that the students will love. All you have to do is treat them the way you want to be treated and give access to some of the benefits of the lifestyle I take for granted at home.
I had some mattresses and sleeping pads and the boys took one room and the girls the other. In the morning we had a breakfast of leftover stir fry.
The funniest thing was that they kept asking me all night "teacher, at 12 o'clock can we shout?"
I was like, "yeah, that's what people do to celebrate." Shouting and creating a loud scene is something that the student's don't really get to do. So when the clock counted down to 12
we shouted at the top of our lungs.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Christmas Vacation.
On the school's holiday Myself and my friend Joanna went up to Um Phang - A beautiful town up in the mountains with the famous Theelorsu waterfall. We went on a tour with a Thai Travel group and got to go rafting and camp overnight near the falls. The water level is low this time of year, which means that the falls (to the local eye) are not as stunning. To me they were breath-taking and because the water is lower everyone can swim - good deal I think. The tour was all well and good but my favorite part was 5 hour tsung tow (a pick up truck with bench seats in the back and a roof over the back) there and back.... let me explain.
1. When we first got on there was only 4 people in the back and we were laughing at how much room there was...stupid foreigners...
2. We drive away only to stop around the corner at a Honda dealership and a brand new motor bike is tied standing up between the seats...getting a little cramped.
3. We stop as we are leaving the town and pick up another 4 people...then another 5...then another 4.
4. The truck is so full that the driver says that some people will have to sit on the roof.
5. Are you kidding me? Yeah we did.
6. 5 hours holding onto a bar with one hand (for my life) and taking photos with the other. The drive there is called "death road", one of the reasons being that it is a rollercoaster ride through the mountains: 1219 curves, mountains, jungle, rice paddies. Thailand. The crazy thing was there was 5 of us on the roof along with everyone's bags.
More and more I'm realizing that I don't like the tourist experiences you read about in magazines and see on tv - the tours, hotels, the manicured scenery and experiences that really have nothing to do with the culture. I love the people, the relationships and living like the locals live. My Thai is basically nonexistent but a bunch of us were laughing and enjoying life on the roof of a truck. I loved it. As other trucks and cars passed we were getting looks and honks that said, "What the heck are those white kids doing on the roof?".
Here's a few pics from the trip
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