June 08, 2005
Burirum
We're safe and sound in Buriram, Thailand -- in Isaan, or N.E. Thailand. The town is about 30,000 people, or so says the guidebook, and is the home to several colleges and Universities, most notably Buriram Rajahabat University, the main University and the one at which our host teachs. It looks like we've been tasked with two things -- helping our host with her Ph.D. research on intermarriages between westerners and Thai women, and teaching a 5-night English course to staff and teachers at the vocational college across the street.
So, at the moment, I'm attempting to write a lesson plan to teach greetings and introductions to Thai speakers, without speaking a word of Thai. Wish me luck.
Burirum itself is fascinating; I now fully understand what it's like to be in a minority. We often elicit stares while walking around, and students like to practice their english by saying Hello or Hi as we go past. And there's an instant sense of comraderie among non-Thais. In passing, we met 6 of them last night, and all of them went out of their way to be friendly. We met the Turkish owner of a children's store, who took us to find food in the night market and invited us back to his house later in the week to meet his Thai wife. We met the Swiss owner of a local Internet shop/English school, who explained to us in great detail how he spoke 7 languages (and neglected, apparently, to tell us about his 20-year-old Thai girlfriend). We met two middle aged British ex-Military men who were both in Thailand living with their Thai girlfriends and who insisted that we stop and speak (and get a beer) with them when they saw us walking by on the road. It's a very strange experience to be in the minority somewhere, but I'm beginning to understand it better than I thought possible.
We teach this evening, so we'll see how it goes. I'll post more later.
