Thailand: Winter in the Tropics
By Carson Christiano - Winter has descended on Chiang Mai. You wouldn't know it save for the hats, scarves, jackets, and knitting needles that have made their way into my classrooms, the complaints from teachers and students that they are getting sick, and the questioning looks I get when I show up to work in short sleeves. The weather is an excuse for everything from tardiness to falling asleep in class to unfinished homework. This morning was admittedly cool, a brisk 57 degrees with a biting southeast wind, but by midday it was brilliantly sunny, around 80, with a gentle breeze wafting through the windows of the English department. If these temperatures are driving the Thai people into hibernation, I hate to think what the summer months here are like.
I've been working full-time at a private high school in Chiang Mai for a month now, and I’m starting to feel reasonably well-adjusted, if such a thing is possible. It became clear to me early on that teaching is the sort of gig you learn by doing—no TEFL course could have fully prepared me for it. It's unpredictable. It's exhausting. It's intimidating. There are days when I feel at odds with the entire student body and all of the Thai teachers, and others when I feel a real connection with my students. When conditions are just right—the stars are in alignment and the wind is blowing steadily at two meters per second off the mountains—I walk out of class feeling like a prophet. I guess I enjoy the rush that such an emotional rollercoaster brings.
I teach fourteen classes a week, Matiom 4 and 5 (grades 10 and 11), with 55 or more students in each class. My curriculum is English writing, but it’s more of a mixture of reading, writing, and conversation—or as much as I can get across to all 55 of them in such a short period of time. Not surprisingly, I do a lot of yelling and often leave school with a wicked headache. Drinking herbal tea in the morning has become a necessity rather than a choice. Of course, the students more than make up my discomfort by being awesome; and with names like Boat, Fang, Mint, Bomb, Jump, Gift, Poon, Ping Pong, Fluke, and Porn, how could they not be?
Continue reading "Thailand: Winter in the Tropics"
I've been working full-time at a private high school in Chiang Mai for a month now, and I’m starting to feel reasonably well-adjusted, if such a thing is possible. It became clear to me early on that teaching is the sort of gig you learn by doing—no TEFL course could have fully prepared me for it. It's unpredictable. It's exhausting. It's intimidating. There are days when I feel at odds with the entire student body and all of the Thai teachers, and others when I feel a real connection with my students. When conditions are just right—the stars are in alignment and the wind is blowing steadily at two meters per second off the mountains—I walk out of class feeling like a prophet. I guess I enjoy the rush that such an emotional rollercoaster brings.
I teach fourteen classes a week, Matiom 4 and 5 (grades 10 and 11), with 55 or more students in each class. My curriculum is English writing, but it’s more of a mixture of reading, writing, and conversation—or as much as I can get across to all 55 of them in such a short period of time. Not surprisingly, I do a lot of yelling and often leave school with a wicked headache. Drinking herbal tea in the morning has become a necessity rather than a choice. Of course, the students more than make up my discomfort by being awesome; and with names like Boat, Fang, Mint, Bomb, Jump, Gift, Poon, Ping Pong, Fluke, and Porn, how could they not be?
Continue reading "Thailand: Winter in the Tropics"