Living mockumentary

In my 22 years of life I have experienced some rather interesting days. Today for sure is in the top ten. I will try my best to describe it, but I am still in a bit of a state of shock and again emphasize the idea of it being an "experience" (not narrative).

I knew today would be different because Christina and I would be venturing out of the Purple Palace and attending an English teaching conference on the other side of town. We were excited for a bit of a change and eager to gain some tips for the classroom. At most we were afraid of having to give mini-presentations in a break-out group, little did we know what was to come.

The conference was attended by English teachers mainly from two schools. To give you a small taste of the crowd, there were two young Danish girls who climbed on each other at break, middle-aged Italian twins, Chris- an American who reminded me of Jon Lovitz, a few Thai teachers, a very serious man named Casper who looked like his face was taken straight from a glasses add...I could spend the day just describing them all. The conference was lead by Khru Marianne, a German born woman who now lives in England working with special needs adults in a small community. She is a rather petit woman, maybe in her mid-fifties, wearing a most like organic cotton, burnt orange, flowy moo-moo (more India looking than Jamaican), with matching schrunchy material leggings and scarf. She, along with everyone in the room, was barefoot. It all began with her lecture to introduce the Waldorf Education ideas. The following quotes are taken from the handout:

"Path of life on earth: evolution----involution" (there was a diagram with this one)
"Man'task: freedom and love"

She also discussed (in depth) about the relationship between man and animal, man and plant, and, man and mineral. One of the best quotes of the lecture; " if man were like jellyfish, life would be quite different." Straight face. Oh, she also pointed out the the development of the mind is inverted with the development of the "testis." Providing man with a security blanket to make rational decisions, not based on instinct. Of course, all of this is changing as new generations develop faster. (She got a lot of nods of that one. )

Then we had a short coffee break.

After coffee and some chitter-chater with some QUITE interesting folks, we all came back together in a circle. She kept telling us to make the circle flow, at which time I lost it and so did Christina. Marianne then instructed that she would tell us one of Grimm's Fairy Tales and then hand out clay. We needed to take the clay in silence, roll it in our hands and listen to what part of the story/character the clay wanted to be molded into.

So there we were, sitting in a circle of 33 adults and one boy (who had on a teacher badge, but could not be over 16), trying to keep quite to listen to out clay. Soon, Susan, a 30 something Danish teacher asked Marianne if she could step on the table. Silence. Danish then took her circumference of clay, slapped it on the table and promptly stepped on it with her right foot. She called it art. Trying my best to compose myself, I sculpted a rather nice old man who was pointing, put it on the display table and took another piece of clay to keep busy. 15 minutes later we were instructed to walk around the table and observe everyones work. We then sat down and discussed "what we felt with the clay in our hands." I've never felt like I was in a crazier group of supposedly sane people. I of course took the opportunity to share my thoughts...something about feeling like a child and adult at the same time. BIC trained me well for such occasions of BS.

Lunch.

Education Through Art time, meaning we sat a tables of four, soaked a piece of paper in water and were given blue and yellow watercolours to paint. We were supposed to, surprisingly, feel the colors and paint a castle with light shinning through it. Two people at my table were chatting and Marianne came over, "there will be a break for you to chat, but right now I want you to remain in silence so you can BE the blue and yellow." It gets better.

Singing and Eurythmy: We moved from the art tables to an open space. Christina and I parted ways at this point bc we knew we couldn't keep the laughter in for this one. We started off breathing out making bubbly, lip vibration, exhale sounds as our torso and arms went down and silently coming back up. Followed by a series of up, down "tunes" using this sound effect and our hands to guide the "course." We also sang ocean waves using ahhh's. Yes, at this point I thought I was in the special needs village or that someone had slipped everyone something potent and controlling. Onto Eurythmy. Apparently Eurythimy is an "art form" that takes four years to learn and master, and consists of whole body movements that represent the basic sounds. Supposedly the sounds are universal, but I think they were just the GErman alphabet. It was cracked out and needed to be experienced to know full-well how absolutely absurd it felt. We then had some reflection time, at which I did my best to control the temptations of laughter.

I left feeling a bit violated, very confused and realizing once again how surreal my life is these days. No matter how much I tried to describe this, Chris and I both agreed that the experience is one of those that we will forever have for ourselves. For better or worse the Woldof Education System and Khru Marianne will forever be with me.

how to keep a 6th grade class quiet for 50 minutes...

easy, have them make Mother's Day cards. Who knew, but Thai kids get really intense about anything involving drawings and coloring. I mean my kids whip out comic books they've hand made that could for sure rival some Marvel. Sunday is Mother's Day here and about a month ago Christina and I were informed that we should do "special projects" for the holiday in English class. By that they meant " here's a stack of printer paper, have your kids make some crapy cards so we can post them on boards for all to see."

I was informed on Saturday by my real boss, Apple, that a doctor is coming to school next month to hopefully diagnose some of the kids with learning disabilities/mental handicap. There are a few in each of my classes, which makes it an interesting task to balance on top of the whole language barrier. It's definitely not very accepted in Thai culture to admit that there is a problem or struggle with your child. So parents are usually in denial, which makes it that much more sad for the kid that has to struggle in school when there is likely easy help for them. What is really sad it that anytime there is a problem the other kids and even some of the teachers say that the kid has autism. I mean I am no expert, but I think I know the difference between a kid who has autism and one who may have dislexia. Any who, I am excited that the doctor is coming. I think only good things can come for the visit.

I can tell I've been here a while since things that should shock me don't even faze me anymore. Lady boys... no biggie. Children with baby powder on their faces...why not? Pigeons in taxis... whatever. Scrunchies as a fashion statement...sure. Advertisements for liquid bird nest (aka bird saliva)...of course. Strange things have become the norm. I truly treasure the moments when I feel like I know what's up. Why would I ever pay a whole dollar for a coffee when I can buy some in a bag on shady back street for 30 cents. Or when the taxi driver tries to go the long way to school and I can call him out on it... what satisfaction it brings. I mean its only two simple words, but they are golden. Tau plat. Those moments definitely make up for the hours I spend listening to my students talk to each other and having absolutely no clue what they are saying. Today I was thinking about how "Lost in Translation" was such a big hit and the main characters where only in Tokyo for a few day. Take two, oh no wait, ten months being completely lost in translation. Now that could be a blockbuster hit.

Cambodia

For those of you who need a brief on Cambodia please read the following:

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world and it relies heavily on aid. Foreign donors have urged the government to clamp down on pervasive corruption.

The fate of Cambodia shocked the world when the radical communist Khmer Rouge under their leader Pol Pot seized power in 1975 after years of guerrilla warfare.

In pursuit of a rural utopia, the Khmer Rouge abolished money and private property and ordered city dwellers into the countryside to cultivate the fields.

An estimated 1.7 million Cambodians perished during the next three years - many died from exhaustion or starvation, others were systematically tortured and executed for being "enemies of the state".
Compliments of BBC.com

My four day trip to Cambodia consisted of flying in to the capitol Phnom Penh going to Siem Reap (closest city to ancient ruins) and then driving back to spend one last-full day in Phnom Penh. There were five of us who went together, which helped make for cheap hotel rooms and we all split the cost of a driver/mini van for the days we were there.

Cambodia was devastating, yet beautiful. I would never want to return just as a tourist, but would be very interested in going back with more resources and a purpose. Evidence of the Khmer Rouge's great destruction is everywhere, from the lack of infrastructure, to the high number of young people, to the killing fields and genocide museum. While seeing the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat was astounding, there was the constant reminder of poverty. Children whose bodies looked to be no older than nine had faces that showed their real age; most of them teenagers. They crowded tourist in order to sale postcards, water, bracelets, small Buddha statues and other souvenirs. These kids where robbed of their innocents and have no choice but to make business their business.

The Genocide Museum was originally a high school that Pol Pot turned into a prison. Classrooms had beds for torture, with photographs of the bodies found in each room when the regime was overthrown, and others were divided into tiny makeshift solitary cells. Walking through each room made me grow more and more numb. A place that once promoted learning had been transformed into hell on earth. Individual photographs of the prisoners were in other rooms. Faces of desperate mothers holding their infants, strong men with looks of anger, young girls who decided to smile not knowing their fate, fear on the faces of children and one man who's eyes captured horror that will always be with me. No one was spared, no one was free. The killing fields outside of Phnom Penh, were over 20,000 people were murdered by beatings in order to save bullets, completely numbed me of all senses. How could one man be so evil? How could so many follow his orders? How, only thirty years ago,could such atrocity be allowed? How are similar atrocities still happening today? And what can I do to stop them?

My strongest feeling after experiencing Cambodia was not anger, or pity, or anything else. Reality can be overwhelmingly painful and can cause all sorts of emotions, making it easy to cast blame, feel guilty and even more-so, hopeless. But in all this I realize that while going through each of those is fine, the real issue is assuming some responsibility. Sure, I did not directly partake in any part of Pol Pot's regime, but I am responsible to take what I have seen and act. If everyone would assume some some responsibility instead of casting blame and shying away from action, I think some positive change could take place. I may not be able to rid the world of poverty, but I am capable of seeking where it is and what it is that I can help change for the better. And right now I am on that journey, finding what exactly I should do with what I have seen, not just in the past week, but in my twenty-two years.

Here are some sites of different charities I came across while there, in case you are interested in learning further:

www.beatcello.com

www.villageworks.com