Blog 6 - Teaching and Campness

My schedule:

Monday – 8am-12pm lessons – 1 hour lunch break – 1pm-4pm lessons

Tuesday – 8am-12pm lessons – lunch – 1pm-3pm lessons – sport

Wednesday – 10am-12pm lessons – lunch

Thursday – 10am-12pm lessons – lunch – 1pm-3pm lessons

Friday – 11-12pm lessons – lunch – 1pm-2pm lessons

Overall, I’m happy with the schedule. I spend maybe 30mins at the end helping the teacher with some extra work and English skills, and the lunch is amazing. My choice of noodle soup, various rice dishes or pad Thai, all cooked right in front of you, with fresh ingredients for only 20 baht. (Pronounced “bah”, as I found out only this morning).

The teacher I am helping is called Jack, he’s an ex-Buddhist monk. Many monks only serve as full monks, orange robes, collecting alms for the poor, praying for hours at a time e.t.c. for a few years, in return for education and free bed and board for much of their life. It’s often a way for less financially affluent families to unload a spare son onto the church, and have them educated. Jack graduated from teacher’s university recently and has landed a place as a full English teacher at the college. He’s a great guy, very neat and organised, as one would expect from someone used to restrictive lifestyle for a decade and eager to learn from me. It’s kind of odd, he’s a 26 year old graduate who asks questions like a toddler when faced with a long car journey. Only instead of “are we there yet?” or “when can I go to the bathroom?” it’s “can you give me the story of Jesus and his teachings?”, can you list many famous European scientists and their achievements?” and “what is the state of Buddhism in England?”

He seems genuinely interested in a range of subjects that frequently keep me on my toes, and lunch breaks are really enjoyable as I spend most of them lecturing him and a gaggle of students about life, the universe and everything. They didn’t get my “42” joke. I think a young Thai boy wants to be a scientist when he grows up, so I spent today answering questions about how scientists are regarded in British society, the various stages of university you need to do as well as bursaries, loans and foreign students.

There are a variety of classes, as I’ve mentioned. I must say I enjoy the class made up of girls the most. This isn’t me being a perv, misogynistic or bias. I can justify myself! The girls seem a lot more eager to learn than many of the boys, or at least more open about their enjoyment. Many male students are very self-conscious or even shy if you try to ask questions or ask them directly to stand up and speak. The girls however, ask a lot of questions, always read confidently and respond well to corrections and constructive criticism. Amongst them is also my favourite student, Mikey. He is without doubt the campest Asian since Gok Wan. Like Thai Chris Colfer. All I need now is an Asian Rachel and I can begin filming Thai Glee(!). Nevertheless, he is also very eager to pick up English and always very hard to pronounce difficult words correctly.

It’s not just my teaching though. I’ve picked up a lot of Thai off my students. I can now count up to 10 fluently, up to 100 sort of, make conversation and say “I love you”. Now all I need to learn is the Thai for “It’s not you, it’s me” “we should see other people” and “you may want to get tested, turns out a banana skin is not adequate contraception”.