Teaching Program Volunteers Share

Volunteers arrive with volumes of knowledge to share. Here we were broken into groups to brainstorm different aspects of teaching. After some time each group comes to the front to share their input. What a wonderful way to learn!


This is a group of people in the teaching program. Ideas on a specific subject raised by the whole group are written on the large sheets of paper being held aloft to share with all.



Experiences and ideas seem to be endless as you can probably tell from the long list of items seen on each
large sheet of paper.





Here is Lacey sharing her experience and training on the assessment aspect of teaching. Oh, so much to learn and so little time!

Grand Shadow Play at Wat Sawang Arom

Tonight we attended a shadow play. After the play we were allowed to handle the shadow figures. Here are Dale and Megan each holding one. The play depicted an ancient epic about the Battle of the ten-headed demon. We all had a really good time and had a chance to see more of the wonderful Thai culture.



Here are two of the pros. This was taken mid-step for the players during one of the battle scenes. All of the players were young and strong. That is with the exception of the opening three men. John spoke with one of them and he said he is 82! Amazing!


Some of the scenes depicted are of battles. Here are two of us trying to re-enact what we saw the performers do when there was a battle going on.


Although all of the "official" players were male that didn't stop some PC ladies from trying their hand at holding one of these heavy figures high! At least long enough for a photo.


Some of us tried to duplicate the dance-type steps used by the players while moving with their figures held high. This is a pretty good idea of what it looked like. Not as easy as you may think! (if you would like to see a larger version of any photo please just double click on the image.)


Pretty good coordination in the foot movement wouldn't you say? But I think the professionals are still safe from any PC people taking their jobs. Huh?


We were told that the average figure weights about 15 pounds. The players accompany the carrying of each figure with what looks like definite elaborate almost dance steps. It looks pretty hard. But here is Bill and he seems to be having no problem holding this figure up high!


Each figure is held high by a different player. Here you can see some of us trying to mimic the movements of the players. Mock battles are fought with the winner (of course) being the figure that represents good.


Tucker is holding one of the heavier more elaborate shadow figures. Each figure is made of leather that has been meticulously colored and carved out with the results being a wonderfully detailed character or scene.


Of course John had to try his hand and holding a figure up high with one of the younger volunteers. He said "it was not too heavy (for the first 4 minutes or so!).

Practice Teaching - Valentine's Day

Why do we come all of the way to Thailand to teach? This is why! What an absolute delight to work with these 7th grade students. They are anxious and happy to learn English from a "native speaker".


This is the host country teacher and she is G-R-E-A-T! We team teach. There are three of us. This is a perfect number that allows each of us to give individual attention to the students. And they blossom before our eyes.


Each group of students would come to us one at a time and request a supply in English. Scissors, glue, pink paper, red paper and so on. And they actually enjoyed learning these new words in English


As you can see from this photo each student pays rapt attention to their work.


Here is our whole group. On the left is Tucker. He is practice teaching in the same school we are. Kim is in the middle. She is the role model I am trying to emulate. What a teacher! Great ideas and the students love her.

More Shots

Guess you can tell from these photos that everyone pays rapt attention to all lecture sessions. We each take a turn though to have any innoculations that may be scheduled. And to make the shots a sweeter experience you can see the reward we received for being a good patient. Smiles all around!(Except maybe for John.)

Sports Day!!!

We are all studying as hard as we can. So many things to learn and so little time! We have hands on work as well as theoretical information. Whew! PC decided to give us a change of pace so we had Sports Day yesterday. We all loaded on to various vehicles and ventured out to a different village in a more rural location. Sports Day was located on the grounds of a school that has a total of 50 students. We were treated to some wonderful music provided by the students. They all were spic and span and dressed alike in lilac pants and white shirt. We ultimately found out that all of the students in the school can play all of the instruments we saw. And they were so very good!

We were divided into 6 teams. Each team was a different color. You can see in the photos we wore our colors proudly!


In this photo you can see a PC staffer trying her hand at one of the instruments. They all looked very difficult to me!


John tried to pick out Twinkle Twinkle Little Star but with no success. These children are really talented!. The instruments look hard to master.


This game has a Thai name but to me it is Bocci Ball very much like that played in Italy. In case you cant tell - I was on the green team! Go GREEN!


This is a photo taken during our soccer game - termed "football" in Thailand. The interesting part is that for our game the only rule was you could not touch the ball with your hands. So us Greenies decided to have 5 people be goalie. Well, our opposition also decided to have 5 goalies so no points were scored during the game. But fun was had by all.



This game is strictly Thai I believe. It is called the snake game. Two teams with five players each. The team color is placed on the back of the last person in a line of all team members. The opposition's goal is to grab the color of the other "snake". This was lots of fun to watch but I don't think it is suitable for a 64 year old woman. Do you?


This is part of a relay race we had. Megan is trying to hurry up threading a needle. Not as easy as you may think. We also had people racing to blow up a balloon until it bursts, dig through a plate of flower to fish out a coin - with their teeth and no hands, carry a ping pong ball with chopsticks as well as others.

Yep, Chris was elected for the find the coin in the flower part of relay. And this is after he cleaned up!

The next few photos are of a competition making Som Tam. It is made with a mortar and pestle. The ingredients include Papaya, tomato, onion, green beens, sugar, salt, a garlic clove and some HOT peppers if desired. Actually each cook makes Som Tam to their own liking. It can also have shrimp, crab, fish, fish sauce, peanuts, etc.

Members of the PC staff were judges of the resulting Som Tam. My team, the GREENS, came in third (I say proudly). The pink team won. I think Roxy must have had some secret lessons when we weren't looking.

More Photos!

We ladies learned how to protect our modesty if we happen to have an outdoor shower once we get to our site. Here is Jenny. She is demonstrating the use of wonderful Thai piece of clothing for which we have found many uses.


More Shots! Well yours truly had to get in line along with everyone else for one of our sessions where PC is once again putting the volunteers first. Protection, protection, protection. Boy do we hear that alot!


We had "Thai Night". And it was wonderful. Here is Dr. John eating with some volunteers. We were all treated to delicious Thai food, some dancing from our Thai staff, as well as dancing lessons for us. There was a wonderful ceremony where the staff tied string on our wrists and gave us good wishes and warm feelings.

Practice Teaching

Those of us in the teaching group found out where we are assigned for our practice teaching. This is a photo of the wat where I have been assigned along with two wonderful, experienced teachers. In the group of three I am the novice. A significant number of schools in Thailand are on or near wat grounds. For centuries education has been done by the monks. All of the wats we have seen thus far are spectacularlly beautiful. This photo is of only a small part of the wat campus.


We were biking past the wat today so I took John in to see some of the grounds. This photo is a closeup to show the detail on just one gate. Every building is more fascinating than the last one.

Our group of three teachers visited the two classrooms assigned to us for practice teaching. One is a 6th grade of about 19 students while the second is a 7th grade. We intended to sit in the back during our first visit to observe how the class was taught but . . . the children are so very engaging we could not help but start right in - just talking in English. We introduced ourselves and it went from there. The most experienced among us took the textbook used for English and began to pantomime the topic discussed. The kids adored her! As the least experienced I plan to watch my two co-PC teachers closely and learn all I can. These 10 weeks of training are going to fly by!

Adjan Oxica

Here is a photo of MY language teacher. Sorry it is not clearer. She is wonderful! We are totally immersed in Thai for the four hours we spend with her. Her title is "adjan" which means teacher of older students (no not just those with gray hair - 7-12 grades also have this title.


Can you guess what we were learning during this session? Adjan is wearing a make-shift chef's hat! We are learning the names of foods and types of cooking. She works so very hard to help us learn! On the board she has made an image of a cooking pot and flames.


We each took turns being the cook. The others would order their food in Thai and the cook would assemble the correct pictures in response to the order.


Our language group has three members. Here Kim is taking a turn at cooking while Adjan Oxica, Linda and I look on. It is harder than it may sound to you.

On The WEB At Last!

Hello - We have found an internet cafe and wanted to let the world know that all of us are doing well. We are being well fed and are now living with each of our host families. We attend language class almost every day for four hours. The afternoons are devoted to various topics. Those of us involved with teaching have been visited by a couple who are just finishing up their 27 months in Thailand. They are both teachers. Bob and Carol have generously shared with us many teaching ideas and tips. They have used each and every one of the materials given to us that they developed. The second group is involved with community development. Visits have been made to the local government offices and introductions made. The people in this group are studying the structure of the government and its day to day operations.


Here is Bob. He has been teaching in Thailand for 2 years. His term of service is almost over. As you can tell from this photo he has yet to run out of enthusiasm. All of us in the teaching group REALLY enjoyed listening to Bob. His wife and partner is Carol. She also had wonderful materials and insights to share with us.


This is a road-side restaurant. The lady you see is the cook, cashier, and clean up crew. Her food was wonderful and her stand offers a great view of the river and the wat that lies across the waters. She was so happy when a group of us came to eat. She would cook to order on the spot. No warmed over food. All fresh and sold with a smile!


A photo of the wat across the river. The view was serene and the breeze from the river refreshing!


Want to know how we feel about our Peace Corps service thus far? Well, Bill shows us what we all are experiencing. Most of us have wanted this for quite some time and can hardly believe our dreams have come true and we are here in the "Land of Smiles".


Here are Bob and Carol. What a great Team! Loved every minute of their lectures. Unfortunately they were only with us for two days. Each and every one of us in the teaching group wanted to be able to take them to our site with us. But alas, they are leaving because their term of service is almost over.
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Catching Up!

We received instructions on how to perform several household tasks while we live in the community. Thank heavens the instructions came along with an excellent demonstration. Luckily the PC staff is large enough to accommodate three demonstrations at once. Our group was divided and each of us was able to watch how to wash clothes, prepare a bed for sleeping and using the bathroom. The best part was that we had fun while learning! I did laundry today for the first time (2/3/08) and found that it is most effective. Collars came out white and drying in the sun makes the clothes smell so very good.


The men and women were divided into separate rooms. The men were given an all-purpose piece of Thai clothing. Here you can see them being shown how to wear it around their waist. However, it is also just as common to wear it on one's head or shoulders.


We have been divided into different Tabons (village area). Our group consists of the three “senior” couples as well as three younger members. We learned exactly where each of us will be living. The map you see on the wall has our photo by our house. It was an exciting time. Reminded me of match day at our local medical school when each graduate would learn where they would be doing their internship.


We had the privilege of meeting the governor of our province. Each of us in turn had to stand up and introduce ourselves. The tables where we sat had microphones. Oh yes, and I forgot to mention that we had to introduce ourselves in Thai! Our first name, last name and the town, state and country we come from. Talk about stage fright!

Once we had all finished the introductions we were invited to go up and receive a necklace made of flowers from the governor. He was most distinguished. He was also very kind. When I managed to thank him in Thai he gave me a smile and said good luck in Thai. Of course I didn't know what he said but one of the staff was nearby and translated for me. (What would I do without staff????)


After meeting the governor it was time to be introduced to our host families. This was an exciting moment for all of us. We had host families of all compositions. Multi-generational, traditional Mom, Dad and children, older, younger, many children, no children. One of the sweetest moments was when the tallest of our young people would be introduced to his host parent and a 6 ft + would be matched with a 4 ft 10 Mom.





Here are some of the people in our Tambon (village group). Notice that we are wearing the necklaces presented to us by the governor.



This is when we first met our host father and host grandson (I say that proudly – I am now his Yaah and John is his Boo).

This is Gun. He is ten years old. His big sister is in her third year of college and lives at school. Gun is a very sweet child. He has some English vocabulary and attends a full day of English instruction in addition to what he learns while in school during the week.





After our first night sleeping in our host family's home we gathered to share thoughts. As you can tell from some of the titles on these boards – we had fun. We were left free to enter our thoughts for each category and then we talked about the most intriguing ones. We all learned from each other and had a great time doing it!