Earthquakes and Gardening.

This past weekend I worked as a landscaper. It felt great to use my hands and help a friend who has been working to make an artistic garden for a new art co-op center in town. The garden opening party was scheduled for Sunday but it rained hard the entire week so some extra help was needed to complete this unique project. I remember being woken up by my Dad earlier Saturday mornings to work outside around the house, the strange thing is that I actually enjoy that kind of work and it was kind of relaxing to just shovel and not have to think too much...

This past week I had to travel to the to boarder (12h each way...) to renew my VISA. Most visitors to Thailand need to do this every 2 months, this was my second time and I definitely did not look forward to it. I went to Tachileik, Burma to get my visa renewed. It was interesting being inside Burma and when I was eating my lunch a random dude who spoke English came and sat down with me and told me all about his life (which I feel would make a great biography...) and the situation in Burma. It made the trip worthwhile to have a great conversation.

I got a call from him today because the earthquake that struck Thailand and Burma was most devastating where I had been just 10 hours earlier...Him and his family are alright but the damage and death count are enormous. Almost nothing about the impact of the earthquake in Burma has made it to national news and hardly anyone knows the extent of the damage. This is a prime example of how news is edited and manipulated by the government so that the truth is rarely heard by the international community. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people from a country who oppresses their own voices and needs.

Teacher Training.

This we the teacher training program begun. So far it has been great. Myself and another teacher got to design the program; choosing what activities and lessons would be the most beneficial for our students. It is crazy that I got to do this considering that people who do this in Canada have Ph.D's...hmm. We combined the curriculum from 2 different teacher training programs and added our own ideas - I'm excited about the result. I think it has made me a more aware teacher because now when I teach all I can think about is all the educational theories that I am following (or neglecting...). The course is very much discussion based and we dialogue a lot about the student's previous experiences. We made full body cut-outs of the students and they got and groups and wrote about effective and ineffective teachers they have had on the bodies. It was humbling to see how many of them grew up fearing their teachers because if they acted out they would get hit with a stick or made to stand isolated in an awkward position for a long period of time. Teachers would come to their classes drunk, embarrass and harass the students and teach using wrote memorization. It has made me even more thankful for the education I had - one where teachers were encouraging, where students were challenged to critically think, and one where the classroom was a place I (mostly) looked forward to going to.

Right now the students are in class with us for 2 hours a day. Next week the students will also be doing classroom observations at our school.

In other news, I have made a gym underneath my house using waterjugs that are delivered to the house. It's been my project for a few days now and I am loving being able to work out at my own place. (Movie to come soon...)

Getting back to my roots.

This past weekend I competed in the Mae Sot Marathon. It was an intense race for all 5 competitors...

So it wasn't one of the well-orchestrated, chip timed, podium finishing races like back home, but I had a great time. We had a water crew that biked ahead on a scooter and stopped to give us directions and beverages along the way and everyone finished a true champion. I could wring out my shorts by the end I had sweat so much...My time was 1:54. Not quite like back in my glory days of running but for no training I'll take it (and I didn't get injured!). Running is not too popular here (you probably figured that out already) and we got some great motivation from all the local people we passed. They looked at us like we were absolutely crazy and asked the age old question you here almost everyday here:

"Hey! Where you go?"

A great day.

I'm feeling especially Greek these days - I mean the marathon was created in Greece and on Monday at 9:30 I got told that I had been scheduled to teach grammar at 11 each day. Hmm. So I did what any good Greek would do: I looked up Greek myths on Youtube and we watched stories and did presentations on some of the big questions the myths raised like,

If you had shoes with wings on them where would you fly to?

If you had a cap of invisibility where would you go?

If you were Daedalus, what would you do after King Minas forced you to run for your life?

We also drew pictures of minotaurs and Gorgons from a written description to see what some of the students could come up with...Not the most quality teaching I have done, but it was fun and the students got a lot of opportunity to present and share ideas.

What will happen this week at school...only time will tell.

Goodbyes and scars.

Now that the previous school year is over, some students have had to head back to the places they have come from (although they don't want to). One of my students had to leave quite quickly and unexpectedly so I invited him and some other students over to my place for dinner. We played guitar, made some popcorn, drank chocolate milk and talked about what lies ahead. It was one of my favorite nights so far. When it got late and it was time to go we all biked our friend back to his place. Before we said our goodbyes he ran inside and came back with a brand new shirt that he said he had just got. He came out and gave it to me as a parting gift. I was floored and I wanted to give him something of mine in return. At this time I actually had nothing so I gave him the shirt I was wearing...

When I gave it to him the first thing he did was told me that it smelled bad.

...I mean, I had been wearing it all day and it's freakin' hot here...what did he expect? A lot of my students are very conscious of their appearance and it it common for them to have multiple showers during a school day and change their clothes each time. I have no idea what they think of me (wearing the same clothes all day and sweating about 345x more than them..)

The shirt he gave me is skin tight and I don't think I'll ever be able to wear it in public, but regardless I put it on and wore it home...and then peeled it off. I am very grateful: it's a beautiful gesture.

Playing soccer with the students is aggressive. I love it. Everyone goes in hard and no one complains, it's all for fun. Last week I went up for a header against one student and hit the ground hard. Our heads collided and I didn't think too much of it but as I getting up to get the ball the guys were all yelling at me, " Greg your face!" I had my eyebrow split open and there was blood all over the place.

I got on a motor bike to the hospital and got 5 stitches. The crazy thing was that earlier that morning I was talking to my friend Andrew back home and he was saying how I always get sick or hurt when I go to a new place...I blame him for the whole thing.

The stitches came out after 4 days and now I have a constant reminder of my time here. It has actually healed very well. I went to the hospital with one of the managers from the school and he got to watch the doctors fix me up. When it came time to pay the total cost was $65 - which is a lot here. When he saw the price he responded:

"Phew, lot of money! That's ok, the doctors did a really good job - they only used new materials on you - everything out of a new package!"

This made we think about what healthcare must be like in Burma...