Things that make ya go "huh?"   remember that song?

A month or so ago I had a long conversation with a student about where he wanted to travel to and why. His ultimate destination was Iceland. Curious choice for a Thai, but who am I to judge? The conversation went many rounds - why do you want to go to Iceland? Because I love it so much. Have you ever been to Iceland? No, but I want to go. Do you know anybody who lives in Iceland? No. I figure he read about it in a book somewhere and for whatever reason it appealed to him.

So this week we are doing personal interviews with the EIC students (basically the same English majors as the rest of my students except they pay more money for the privilege of speaking with a foreigner.)  
"Have you ever traveled outside of Thailand?" No. (Not many have.) "If you could go anywhere, where would you like to go?"  Iceland. Damn, what is this run on Iceland? What do they know that I don't know? "Why do you want to go to Iceland?"  Because I love to swim.

It took a minute for the penny to drop. ISLAND, you nit!   They're pronouncing the s in island. Boy do I feel stupid. Just picture that poor kid going to Iceland, speedo in hand. 

The students presented their video skits this week and I must say they were amusing. Just like American kids, they focus on dating, boys, clothes, movies, and obsess about being 'too fat.'  All 75 pounds of them. I feel your pain. The girls seem to have such poor self concepts, I don't know why. They talk about being stupid, and fat , and not pretty, yet to my Western eyes they are stunning. If they only knew.

In Tuesday's class, I sat up front so that I could see the videos clearly to grade them. At one point I turned around and realized that the back row had gone missing. Apparently taking advantage of my concentration on the videos, they slipped out the rear door. I did take roll again and mark 4 of them absent. But it makes me wonder if they've pulled this trick before and I didn't catch on. They're not quite as innocent as they appear.

One of my students was telling me that he had gotten a haircut because his grandfather died and he was ordained as a monk for a day - I guess to honor him. I didn't know you could do that and it made me think about all the customs I don't know or don't understand. I had an amazing but rare inspiration - I'll give them a writing assignment. Pick a Thai tradition and write about it. That should fill in the blanks. Once before I had them write how to make their favorite food and it was very informational. So maybe I'll save these essays and share them with you.


Going down the soi for some dinner - it's always a surprise, never quite what you expect but usually a pleasant one.