Augusta Tech - Mon/Wed ESL

Augusta Technical College has very clearly defined and described mission, vision, and goals statements. They offer a critical, consistent, and quality program to the community. John and I have very much appreciated the school's willingness to let us participate in their English as a Second Language program.







Before class started John had a chance to have alphabet equivalents from English to Thai shown to him. One of the many joys of this class is that we get to learn from each other.


Tonight we talked about households, different kinds of homes and what we can find in a home. Writing on the board promotes fun as well as discussion with all involved. This time we were talking about the word balcony. We branch out and discover what may be found on a balcony or what activities we may do on a balcony. The topic of Romeo and Juliet did not come up though.


Next we spent some time talking about dining rooms. Each participant took a turn to describe what we might see in their dining room at home.


Our Wednesday night regulars. Traditionally in this part of the country Wednesday nights are church night so our attendance drops. Shown are representatives from Thailand, Korea and Peru.


Here we have lost our place in the text.

Sunday Night ESL Class

This is Miss Brenda. She teaches the first hour of our Sunday night class. Brenda teaches the level 2 group. There are about 2 or 3 other teachers that cover other levels of English. At the end of the formal book learning period John and I do an hour of casual conversational English with anyone who wants to stay after class. Their class level is not taken into consideration. If they want to join us they are most welcome.

Miss Brenda was leaving when I caught her picture. She has been teaching this ESL course for a significant number of years. The book used is put out by Spectrum and is titled "A communicative Course in English." The topic of American English idioms came up several weeks ago so we decided to use our conversation hour to explore idioms. A search on the web came up with so many idioms that they are listed in alphabetical order. Last week I printed those idioms that start with A and B. The class had over 300 to choose from. This week we tried those beginning with C and D. Another conversational situation we have covered is simulated telephone calls. For example, a call to the doctor because a child in the family is sick or a call to have cable TV installed in the home, or a call to report a fire. In addition, sometimes I may read them an interesting article from a magazine and we discuss it.


Although we talked about a number of American idioms (sayings/expressions) the one I am writing on the board here is "Dead as a Dodobird." Others we discussed were things like "Brownie Points," "At the end of my rope," and "Canary in a coal mine." We have had lots of fun and the oddness of the English language never fails to amaze me. It is interesting that some of the idioms we addressed had an almost direct corollary in Japanese!


Class attendance was down a bit due to the Thanksgiving holiday. But we had students originally from Japan and Columbia, SA.

Idioms in English can often find a corollary in many other languages. Tonight we learned that in addition to Japanese "Don't cry over spilled mink" also is found in some Spanish speaking countries.

Idioms are the subject tonight. Lots of fun with "Don't push my buttons", "A penny saved is a penny earned" as well as others such as "Dish the dirt."

Thanksgiving - Two Daughters

This year, our last here for a little while, we travelled to Atlanta for Thanksgiving. We spent two days with Consi and Keary. Happily, DeaSha was able to join us, so at least we had our Atlanta-based part of the family together.

This morning (the day after Thanksgiving) was the traditional time to write a letter to Santa. Keary got busy on that job. Grandpop and I have been tasked to get it to the North Pole.


We had a delicious dinner, sans turkey. We had a really good baked ham, scalloped potatoes, mashed potatoes, broccoli/rice casserole and a coconut/bourbon bundt cake. The best part was we had to do a minimum of cooking. All three of us ladies appreciate a day free from cooking!!

As you can tell from the photos . . . Keary demonstrated that he learned to "stop, drop and roll" from a group of firemen that came to his school to talk about fire safety, we put together puzzles, and we did some serious coloring.




As I said, DeaSha was able to join us. Seems as though she was happy to be here.


In addition to other "fixin's," DeaSha brought flowers for our dinner table. (The table cloth was leftover from Halloween, complete with skeletons.) From somewhere out of the past John put to work some flower arranging skills he learned, while living in Japan. His efforts resulted in a beautiful arrangement.



Keary also showed us he can now tie his shoes.

After Thanksgiving dinner we all settled in front of the television to watch "Ratatouie" on DVD.

Keary and DeaSha did some multi-tasking by watching the movie and coloring pictures simultaneously!


DeaSha is a very busy lady with her nursing classes and working on the weekends at Shephard Hospital. She is happy for this holiday providing some time off - even if it's only for a day and a half.


We plan to see them all again before we leave, but time is moving very fast and it's getting short.

Kathin Ceremony 11-11-07

Wow was it great! The wat was crowded today! There were a total of 10 monks and countless numbers of people. There were 4 wats represented besides the Augusta wat. Food, food, food. Money trees were everywhere. And lots of new robes for the monks -- all of them. We asked and found out that you can only buy the robes in Thailand. Our wat is close to Ft. Gordon (an Army post). Many of the Thai ladies came to the US as wives of American service members. In the photos you can see one or two farang (foreigners) in amongst the crowd (that is me and John too).
We had dancing and singing. The video here is one of a lady who danced by herself to taped music. She was lovely both in appearance and grace. There was also a group of young girls who are learning Thai dance. Some are Thai and others are their friends. They seemed to be having a good time. There was an alter set up outside and some people showed their respects there while others went inside. John and I brought a set of knives in a butcher block holder as a gift to the monks. I have had occasion to help in the kitchen and knew that some of their knives were either broken or missing. We thought and thought of what would be a good item to help the kitchen run more smoothly over the next year and came up with the knives idea.
You can get some idea as to how much food was there in a photo I took of the spread in the main worship room. The monks ate at a large table off to one side and we sat on the floor to enjoy our lunch. After the monks had finished eating I presented our gift to one of them. Whenever you give something to a monk - a gift or food or whatever - he places a piece of material or a napkin or something like that down and you put the item on it. The abbot explained that this is a tradition and it shows that the monk did not steal the item - that it was a freely given gift. So one of the Augusta monks put a square of saffron color silk down on the platform and I put our box on it. Then with a "wai" I backed away. Meanwhile, outside there was a stage set up and people were singing - kind of like kareoke. There were also lots of people eating at the picnic tables. Others were selling beautiful plants, vegetables and the Thai secret weapon - the infamous red peppers.
When the time came for the visitors to leave they left in parade formation. Each group had their own set of money trees, people carrying new robes still in the wrapping and other gifts for their home wat. We saw people from Charleston, Atlanta, Hinesville and one more I didn't catch. But lots of clapping, chanting, and smiling. It was really cool!
My friend Doung gave me a gift of two Thai skirts. I think I may wear one when we get off the plane in Bangkok. She is a really pretty lady. She is in the photo holding a basket.

Mike and Ann

Our visit was for two days. Both days the brothers played golf (are we surprised?). I went along the first day - it was sooooo cold. The second day I spent in the hotel practicing my Thai using a computer program we ordered off of the WEB.

Ann was at work in the gallery during the day. But in the evening Mike made a delicious dinner that we shared at their home. The second night we all went out for Thai food. It was a great restaurant. After dinner we actually went (for the first time ever) to a club with karaoke. It was amazing. None of us had the courage to get up and sing. It seemed as though all of those who did participate have been doing it for quite some time. They all had great voices and understood when to come in when the music stopped or started. We were awed.

Ann has continued with her compulsion to create art. She is still stubbornly refusing to show or sell it. There are pieces all over the house. Mike said her latest source for the "best" paper is Oprah magazine. She cuts or tears pieces of paper and glues them together to get the pieces she produces. I took some shots of only a couple of them and show them here. The only way Ann's work ever leaves her home is if you are visiting and happen to say, "Hey I like that one" or "That piece is nice." Before you know it, you have a gift in your hands. This is how we unknowingly became the proud possessor of several of her works. I have photographed others. If you want to see them, just go to www.sysdude.com and choose the photo album called "Art by Hart." She is really unbelievable. The work is unbelievable, and all is created by torn magazine pages that she assembles into images. I wish I had that talent!

On the Way for A Visit to Mike and Ann (before we leave)

Mike and Ann live on the Outer Banks of NC. We made the 9 hour drive (time out for food and other necessities) on Tuesday and stayed in a hotel in Kill Devil Hills, NC. It waaaaas cold! But the off season rates were warming. On our way we drove a number of smaller roads. You knew you were getting close when you began to see white splotches along the side of the road. This is my version of Southern Snow. Cotton is still a large crop in this area. When the cotton is harvested it is compacted into large rectangular blocks that are then put on the back of huge trucks to go to the cotton gin. Tufts of cotton escape as the wind blows on the high speed trucks. The result is a sparse spreading of Southern Snow. We did notice though that even after the cotton has been harvested the fields retain a certain amount of cotton - the plants seem very reluctant to give up their treasure.

Once safely ensconced in Kill Devil Hills we braved the weather long enough to take a peak at the sea. It looked dark and foreboding. We had no desire to venture forth!

The Temple Was Empty - But for the Abbot

We went to visit the monks today and found that most had made the long drive to Alabama to celebrate the Kathin Ceremony. We will celebrate this same ceremony next Sunday. Only the Abbot remained in the Wat today. It was a little chilly in Augusta (about 68 or 70 degrees F) and the Abbot was cold. Can you tell from the photo? He was inside and wearing his ski cap. Of course his head is shaved so he doesn't have any hair to keep his head warm. One person showed up besides us. She also thought that all of the monks would be there and made lots of food. John and I brought fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. We ate rice (steamed and sticky), baked catfish, Chinese bean cakes, fresh mint, fish sauce, etc.

Next week will be a very large group. There will be food, Thai dancing, and celebration. Ten monks and hundreds of people are expected to celebrate the Kathin Ceremony. People and monks will come from Atlanta, Florida, South Carolina and I don't know where else. The ceremony occurs at the end of the rainy season is Thailand - this marks the end of Buddhist Lent. At this time monks throughout the country receive new robes in an annual presentation ceremony - "Kathin". The timing of the ceremony is based on the cycle of the moon but it falls in the months of October - November.

During Lord Buddha's lifetime, thrifty orthodox monks from the city of Patha, walked to the city of Sravatthi to meet the Lord. It was before reaching Patha that the Buddhist Lent started. All the monks had to stay in the monastery for three months. At the end of the Lent, the monks set out on foot to Lord Buddha's place in spite of the rain. The path they took was muddy due to incessant rains. Their robes were drenched in water and grime. The Lord, realizing the difficulty of his disciples, granted permission to accept a new robe at the end of the Lent each year.

Besides new robes, the laity present monks with Buddhist literature, kitchen equipment, financial contributions, building materials. In a word, anything deemed necessary for the monks' upkeep during the monastic year.

Kathins are generally preceded by a village festival just outside the monastery grounds - perhaps on the village school grounds. On the eve of the Kathin, shortly after sunset, village monks seat themselves beneath a canopy at one end of the grounds. As the monks chant religious stanzas, villagers and visitors are free to donate money for the temple upkeep. They also sample various shows and entertainment among themselves.

The above description is from "Thai customs and Beliefs" issued by the Office of the National Culture Commission, Ministry of Education Thailand.