Day 11

 We may have internet, but we could sure do with a washing machine!

I've now been here for well over a week. The time has fairly ripped along, and now things are starting to fall into a kind of rhythm. The goats that roam the streets don't surprise me as much now, and the mangy dogs seem quite normal too. I thought that it would take longer to adjust to life here, but as I have lived in so many new and foreign places I think I can adapt quite fast. When you're a gypsy you have to. It's just another place: new one day, and normal the next. Do I want security? To stop moving? No I don't. It actually scares me to death.

Extra-mangy mangy dog. Poor old girl.

I'm still teaching the class English every day, for about 2-3 hours, until such time as we have a real English teacher. Any volunteers out there willing to help? Don't hurry though, I'm happy doing it for now! The only problem is that my English class seems to slip into a science lesson all too often. Science is one of my interests, so it only takes one question from a student about space or a planet and we're off on a tangent for the next hour, drawing the solar system, or discussing satellites! It's okay though, as they're still learning English and it keeps things interesting. I dish out some homework for them related to our discussion, and they learn some more. It's a win-win situation.

A pig's head for sale on the street. Click to enlarge - and see the flies!

On Poverty

Local boys playing caneball* - the ball is just out of the picture, sorry!

Today I bought a plastic container from a street shop, in our street. The people here in Mae Sot have very little, and this shop in particular seems to have very few customers. Every time I pass by it seems empty. The container wasn't exactly clean but I paid the vendor his price anyway. There was a slight misunderstanding of the price: I thought he was saying okay, and thank you, so I made to leave but he was actually saying: I need to give you 5 Baht change. He sprang across the street to another shop to get my change before he would let me go. So rather than rip off the dumb foreigner, he went out of his way to make a fair deal.  I wonder how the same situation would pan out in Australia, or even Europe? These people are role models for a better world.

*Caneball - a cross between the skills of Hacky Sack and volleyball, with some Capoeira moves thrown in. Very athletic, and good to watch.

The Philosophy of Volunteering

Okay, I'm going to add to this post as I see fit over the next few weeks or so.  For some folk, a post is a post, but I like to chop and change.

A thought came to me the other day about just how we came to be here. A little insight: A lot of people I talk to say how much they would like to do something like this, but the daily grind keeps them tied down. For us, ironically, it was the lack of employment/commitments that actually enabled us to be able to say "let's do it". That's a bit bizarre, when you consider that it must cost a fortune to be here. Nope, we actually live cheaper here. One almost can't afford not to be here! Okay, we may not earn much over the next few months, so what else is new? And sometimes it's just nice to be free enough to live wherever. I can say that because I'm a gypsy at heart. When your email address begins with "oceangypsy", you know that settling down is always going to be tough!

Another big change for me was going from being quite isolated in Germany to living in a house of 13 others. Not a gradual ease-in, but straight into the thick of it. The house we live in is about as large as a big Queenslander, and roughly the same design. Downstairs is kitchen, bathrooms (2) and living area/classroom. Upstairs has 6 bedrooms in dorm-style layout, 3 to a room. Fairly basic, but comfortable enough. No hot water in the kitchen or bathrooms. Cold showers only. If you've ever lived in the tropics you know that cold showers aren't so cold. It's simply refreshing, whereas a cold shower in Germany would be classed as a form of torture.

Local boys fishing in a creek/drain

 I bought a bike yesterday, which cost 1,500 Thai Baht. 1,500 Baht! Whoa! Well, that translates to around 35€, or about $50 AUS. Not that pricey, just sounds like a lot. A cheap guitar from the market costs 450THB, or about 11€ ($16.50AUS). I'll lash out and buy a really nice one for 1950 Baht, or 49€ ($70 AUS). The cheap ones we have two of here already, and they're, well, cheap. The intonation is very dodgy, so it's very hard to tune them, balanced, over the whole scale. And when we play the two together - it's cringe material! At least one of the students is a good player, with another 5 in various stages of learning. I'm going to teach basic music theory while I'm here. Chromatic scales, chord progressions, pentatonic scales, and chord structure, etc. And they're keen to learn - like sponges! So much so, that when we have movie nights on Friday and Saturday, a handful of them actually sit with pen and paper to write words or phrases from the dialogue for later processing. Keen.
 Everything we buy is really a gift to the school, as we'll leave it all behind when we leave. So, having experience in a bike shop or instruments means that I can sort through the crap, and the school can benefit. At the end of the day, that's what it's all about - giving these kids opportunities.(unfinished post)

Day 4: Standing at the front of the class

photo courtesy of Manja

Tuesday's English class had a new teacher: Teacher Me! As Manja and I are on our own here for this week, I'm helping out with the teaching load a bit. The boss of our organization, teacher Fitz, is off in Laos to extend her visa. Manja has already mentioned in her blog that the border crossing here (5km away) is closed due to the latest regime drama. Machine gun toting Thai soldiers patrol the river bank on our side. More on that in another post.

Wooden scaffolding on one of the many building sites. No serious OH&S rules here.

I started off the lesson with the class workbook, just working through the exercises for the first half. Then, to liven things up a bit I did a lesson on Aussie Slang. I never thought teaching could be so much fun! We learnt some words and phrases, then moved on to simple slang conversation. They're so receptive, and really keen to learn. It was an amazing experience to hear all 12 shouting back the phrases after I said them! I'll continue with this half slang/half correct English format for the next week at least. I hope I don't get into too much trouble from the boss when she returns to "G'day teacher Fitz, how's it goin?"    :)


Today, Wednesday, is National Karen Day, a celebration of the Karen State region, just over the border from us. So Manja has taken the group to a temple for some morning festivities. They're all back after lunch for at least one lesson. I'm staying at the house with one of the boys, who is sick, so I have to miss out. They'll bring me back some pics, I hope.

This ute was still being loaded up. Room for lots more boxes yet!

Day 3: Sitting in with the class

"Morning Glory" breakfast cusine

Today, Monday, was the first time in my life that I have had chilli in my breakfast. We eat with the students, who happen to be fantastic cooks. It's always rice, topped with some delicious vegetable or meat/fish sauce. Today was the aptly named "Morning Glory", a yummy green vegetarian dish with plenty of flavour and aroma. And then there was the chilli. I didn't expect that! It wasn't excessive though, just a very yummy  and new experience.

At 9 o'clock school begins, right here in the house. The students are so keen to learn, and Manja is a truly great teacher. She was born for this. To see her in action was great, and I'm sure her parents would be very proud of her too. I made some video, and hope to post a bit here later. (with her permission!)

Barefoot Learning

I sat in with the Thai lesson, as all the students have to learn it to integrate. I'm amazed that Manja could teach Thai like a pro, after only 3 weeks. She had a workbook, but she could keep up with 'em. I struggled a bit. A lot, actually. I'd be happy to master the numeric system, which does seem simple after the slightly complicated German system.

After lunch came the English lesson, and again, Manja is better qualified than me to teach it. She studied it in detail in school, whereas I learnt it naturally, and I really have to think hard to describe the workings of it. I made some contributions, and got involved with a team for problem solving. Great fun and lots of laughs!

Day 1: Arrival in Thailand

I Landed in Bangkok after a long flight from Berlin, Germany, with very little sleep. Some people can just allow themselves to nod off anywhere - I'm not so lucky. Conditions must be conducive to perfect sleep, or it just aint gonna heppen. (Kiwi accent there for some unknown reason): Dark, quiet, still, and no other people for at least 5 metres.Even better to have a wall or two in between. Stuffed into cattle-class on an Airbus in turbulence at 39,000 feet is not ideal.

Bangkok is a little crazy, to say the least. Very few people understand English. And there seems to be about 500 million people there. I grabbed a bus across town, its driver nearly killing a scooter rider, then transfered to another older, more crusty bus complete with open windows and wooden floorboards. And a big piece of bus missing at the front... It just happened to be conveniently in front of the driver, so I'm guessing that he removed it for air-con. This beast of a bus took me to Mo Chit bus station, a real eye opener of a place:

Kids don't need helmets, right?

 Huge markets to stock up on much needed, but far less worthwhile junk like watches, bling, etc. People all over, and mangy dogs roam around everywhere. No-one owns them, and no-one cares about them. They are actually cultured to this, after so many generations of mangy-dog, and don't have a clue what a whistle means. It really means nothing to them, as nobody ever feeds them, looks to them, or even kicks them, let alone whistles at one to come over for a scratch or a pat. They seem quite content though, to lay in doorways, or in the middle of a crowded bus station waiting room. People walk around them, as though they are a person lying down there.

People get around on scooters, usually sans helmet. The scooters are often loaded up with more crates, boxes and bags than would fit in a car's boot. Sometimes a whole family fits on. I really must take more pics!

My bus from Mo Chit to Mae Sot was in (fairly) good condition. It was another long and sleepless night, 8 hours or so. It left a 9pm blunt. The road north, the Asia Highway, was in good shape, and double lanes most of the way. The only slightly un-nerving part was that the bus seemed to overtake other traffic on either side! No keep-left-unless-overtaking rules here - anything goes! I caught some glimpses of road-side scenery through the mirky night, and at times, some huge rock formations very close to the road. Volcanic plugs, I guess similar to Australia's Glass House mountains.

At around 4:30 am, our bus was stopped by a police patrol, at a make-shift checkpoint, and they came on board checking all passports. About a third of the passengers were swiftly escorted off the bus, and assembled outside to be questioned, and fined. They were, unfortunately, Burmese.

Mae Sot street scene

5 am: The bus rolls lazily into Mae Sot station and no Manja to be seen. Only a lot of Tuk-Tuk Taxis (half motorbike/half open carriage of Eastern origin) milling about and asking where I need to go. "Kop kun krab, Mai pen rai", says I, in terrible Thai. Off they go. I had to wait a bit, as I had been told the bus arrived at 6 am... No problem, I'll hang out with the many mangy street dogs, which seem to be of as mixed blood as the Tuk-Tuks, which are part Honda/Yamaha/Ford/or whatever is found lying around.

I ended up calling Manja, and she had organised a driver to pick me up at 6, so she said to just jump in a Tuk-Tuk and come to the house, which I did, but not before haggling the price down by 30 Baht. He ripped along the narrow streets, past 3 street dogs shagging, (well one was just giving advice on technique) and dropped me on a corner seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and pointed at the ground, as if to say "We're here!"

Great. It's still dark, there's a bum sleeping over there, early-rising, foreign-looking people getting about, and Thailand doesn't believe in street signs. Oh yeah, I guess I was the only foreign looking one on this street corner. But he may as well have dropped me in Timbuktu. I called Manja again and she assured me she'd find me. So I waited, a little anxiously, for a few minutes. Then she's there on a bike, with two of the students from     the school. Turns out that I was on the right street, and only about 500 metres away. I've arrived.

       Check out the project we're working with here: http://www.buildproject.org/
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Dry Drinks - what`s the crack?

The other day I was talking with my wife, as happens sometimes, and somehow the subject of dry drinks came up. Like dry ginger ale, for example. But "dry" drinks, really? What the /%/$§ for? I don't know about you, but when I drink, it`s usually(usually) due to thirst. Why would one want ones drink to be dry?

Here`s a thought: How about a glass of beach sand? That stuff`s pretty dry. Or how about some good old Aussie outback dust with your beer? That`s gotta dry things up a bit. I think I might just market a new soft-drink as "Extra Wet", or "Wetter than the Rest", and see how that takes off.

English is a bizzare language, at the best of times...

Long time reader, first time blogger

Well, here we go!

Welcome - if anyone's out there! A lot of stuff goes through this head of mine, from the banal to the banal. I was about to type in "profound", but let's not go that far. I'm just going to sit here and write whatever happens to be on my mind, and you can decide if you're interested to hear more. Well, I guess that much is obvious to regular blog visitors, so we'll just jump right in then.

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I've been drifting in life for some time now. In fact, for a long time now. A really long time. I don't know where I'm headed, but there always seems to be something interesting ahead to look forward to.

I'm off to Mae Sot, Thailand, in a few weeks to join my wife, who is already there. We're going to help Burmese refugees who've come across the border to seek asylum, and learn new life-skills for a new future. Well, we`re going to offer help - and do what we can. It's really the last thing that I thought I'd end up doing, but life's like that sometimes: "Here's a crazy idea!" and instead of simply discarding it, let's think about it (for about 10 minutes!) and then see how we can make it happen. We've had a roller-coaster of drama for the last few years, with high highs, and low, low, lows.

 I'm also a closet maker-of-things; I'm happiest when I've got an idea to draw, a business to design, a project to buy materials for, or tools in my hand, and just plain making things. The business ideas sadly seem to stay just that - ideas, and many other drawings and designs live in a scrapbook, and still others live only in my head. There`s hardly time to start many of them, as more keep flooding in. Some do make it to the workbench, and some make it there, only to die a death from never being touched again! I don't even care what it is that I make, as long as I'm doing the making. In the last year alone, I've made a coffee table, a model yacht, a faux-tudor style feature-wall, written a song for the homeless,  made a shoe-cupboard, drawn a caricature for a birthday present, written and illustrated a children`s picture book, and built a wooden bike. A wooden recumbent bike. What the hell I think I need that for, I still don't know. But It does give me a satisfaction that can't be had from simply parting with cash and getting something from a shop. The stuff I make can't be bought from a shop. Maybe it can, but it doesn't look the same. (Probably looks better!) That's the kind of experience my soul craves, and that's what I want to tell you about here.



At the end of the day, as my friend Brian says, you just have to go for it sometimes. It may turn out to be crap, but it just might be great, too.

If you try, you risk failure. If you don' try, you ensure it.