nothing surprises me anymore.

The photocopy shop our school uses has had a broken photocopier for the past 2 weeks so we have had to outsource our copies to other shops in town.

The first one I went to took 1/2 and hour to make one class sets of copies because the shopkeepers were so talkative and when they heard I played soccer the conversation just kept on rolling...I was pretty excited to find this place and one of the guys who works there now plays on my team.

I went back 2 days later and their only photocopier was broken and I had to go find another shop.

I was looking around the neighborhood for another shop that was close but was unable to find one. I asked one of the staff at the school and he said there was one real close and he offered to take me there on the school's motorbike. As we were driving there I was telling him how I allready looked and hadn't see one anywhere. As I was explaining this we pull up to the store that sells Thai-style coffins....they also make photocopies.

Of course they do.

Why hadn't I made that connection is beyond me, I mean, it's such a logical choice: if you are alive you need to make photocopies and if you are dead...well, you need a box. This is the definition of monopolizing diverse markets.

Since then I've made note of all the shops that sell things I would never associate together:

A butcher shop that sells football jerseys

A restaurant that also sells jewelry

A women's clothing store that will also sell you fresh fruit

Life is full of surprises.

baskets are for flowers.

I made this video when I arrived back in Thailand, the school neighborhood is still flooded in some spots... specifically my street.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdq3fJWn3uE&feature=email&email=comment_received

Wrist Tying.

Yesterday our school celebrated the Karen Wrist-Tying Ceremony – an event dedicated to remembering and giving respect to the ancestors of the Karen people. The students at the school represent many different ethnicities from Burma, but yesterday all the students and staff wore traditional Karen clothing as we went to a monastery to celebrate with the Karen community. We all met at the school and piled into what looked like a prisoner transport bus and headed off to the monastery. Upon arriving I was overwhelmed by the amount of colours and the amount of people.

Almost as soon as we arrived people came up to us and began to tie pieces of thread around our wrists, say a blessing and then take the remaining thread from the piece and put it on our heads. I quickly realized that myself and the two other teachers from school were getting a lot more attention than the students...by the end of the day I think the three of us had more threads then all the students combined.

You could buy thread from vendors or there were people distributing it at the monastery, but my favourite thing to do was take a thread off my shirt and tie it on to friends I saw at the event. Karen shirts have a lot of loose threads dangling from them and traditionally this was the only thread used to tie wrists. You would take a thread from your shirt, break it off and tie another`s wrist in memory of lost ancestors, family and to embrace your heritage. Think of it as tying a thread around your finger to remember something important.

Now all the young generation wasn`t just wearing traditional clothes...they modernized them with bling like belts, jewellery, hats and...jeans. I was really only me and old men who were wearing the Karen longi. All the other dudes were wearing Karen shirts with tight jeans and hipster shoes.

Whatever. We looked great.

The other thing I soon realized is that this is a great event for the young generation to meet people. Students would joke about finding some attractive guys and girls and making sure that they tied their wrists...some things are universal!

After we celebrated we went to a local park and took lots of pictures of all the students looking Karen-trendy and made our way back to the school.

It was amazing to see people of different ethnicities embracing each other`s culture and celebrating together – something I also think Canada invests a lot of time in.

dusting off the blog.

It's hard to believe that it has been about 4 months since the last blog post. I actually really enjoy writing a blog - it gives me time to reflect and internalize the lessons learned being a teacher. Life has been moving at a fast pace these past few months - so here's a time lapse of stories that stick out in my mind.

I am teaching math and science and so far things are going great. The school comes well equipped with science resources.

One of the coolest things we got to do was teach about static electricity using an old van-der graff generator that was in the science room. It didn’t work when I pulled it out of storage but yet again google proved to have all the answers. I typed in “how to fix a van der graff generator” thinking this was a longshot and found a website from a company that makes them with all the common problems they encounter...crazy.

As I demonstrated last year, teacher/student relationships are slightly different here: I had all the students stay over at my place for their first new years...probably will never get a job anywhere else in the world if that gets out...this weekend is the Queen’s birthday here (also Mother’s Day) and we asked the students if they wanted to do something special to celebrate the holiday:

They responded that they wanted to dance and watch scary movies...needless to say we watched a scary movie and had a “dance off” in my living room.

Chances of me getting another job...well I probably have a better chance of playing in the NBA at this point..

This is my first Thai rainy season which has definitely kept me on my toes.

Literally.

The street my house is one has no drainage. Boys come and go fishing on the street and show me their "prizes" before they head off to the next street. Small fish, eels, crabs...no big deal.

Rainy season forces everyone to adjust their lifestyle to the environment - something I rarely do when I am back in Canada: when it's hot, I turn on the AC; when it snows I put down salt. Now that it rains most days it is difficult to dry wet clothes, and keep the mold from creeping in the house. At school, there is a team effort to move all the clothes on the drying racks in and out of the sun during the day when the rain stops to get everything dry.

It has been tricky to play football with the students because our fields are flooded - and yes, we have tried and it was a lot of fun...hard to run when the mud sucks the shoes off your feet though...

Every Friday the two schools in our neighborhood join forces and run electives (run by teachers and staff to let the students try something different. Other teachers are running some great programs: Yoga, cooking, guitar, sewing, puzzles....myself, on the other hand, look for any opportunity to yell at kids and pump dance music so I run a fitness bootcamp elective. The only word that I can use to describe it is Hardcore. All of the classrooms are being used so we go outside and do fitness in the rain. By the end of the hour everyone is soaked and covered in mud.

We don't have a lot of resources so I try to do exercises that don't require a lot of set up or equipment so the students could do it themselves if they wanted to. Some of my favourites:

A tire pull with old tires

Ladder/ quickfeet drills using scraps of wood and rope

Shoulder exercises with textbooks

The last day is “the gauntlet” – a fitness obstacle course through the neighbourhood. Most unexpected obstacle: having street dogs chase you down – the students finished much faster than I expected.

Life is has been busy these last 3 months but I am constantly reminded that each day is a gift and there is a lot to be thankful for.

Next blog will not take 4 months to post...

Sorry about the Silence

A lot has happened in the past 2 weeks, again I dropped the ball with the blog...

1. I got to be a model at a fashion show.

Let me explain. I met a friend who NEEDED foreigners to model new clothes made by local women. The clothes are being marketed towards people from other countries so, they needed foreigners to wear the clothes to make the products look legit. I got to wear a fanny pack, a weaved bracelet and a bucket hat. The pinnacle of style. Maybe this whole teaching gig is over-rated...I think I have found my true calling...

2. I got a full time teaching job starting in June. I will be teaching math and science at an amazing school. The school gets around 600+ applicants from all the refugee camps, tests them all and accepts the top 24 students. The program’s focus is getting these students to write and pass the American GED highschool equivalency test and get into university. While learning, the students learn how to write scholarship applications and apply to different universities. I will be responsible for teaching them math and science. So far the school has sent many students to university who would never have the opportunity otherwise. I’m stoked that I get the privilege to work at such an influential place.

3. Right now it is Sonkran, the Buddhist New Year Water Festival. It is a 4 day water fight and I have been soaking wet for at least 8 hours a day...On Monday there was no class so I went to a plumbing store and bought PVC pipe and the students and I made hydraulic water guns to use for the festival, however, now I am seriously having second thoughts that that was a good idea... The next day we made a stage out of bamboo and Co

4. I am coming back to Canada for the month of May and am looking forward to connecting with everyone again...and not eating rice...

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...)