2.10.2008

Happy Chinese New Year, and other stuff


Bangkok's all decked out for Chinese New Year, eye-catching red parading her sensational self all over town. A student brought me oranges, keeping with the custom of giving tangerines and oranges during this time because their Chinese names sound like "luck" and "wealth".

After taking the picture above, I looked down to see this scene, but had no time to adjust my camera. I just snapped and the moment was over. Unfortunately, she is out of focus. But I have to post it anyway for one reason. Check out the red line around her head. It's the outline of one of the rat's ears (I assume that's a rat since 2008 is the year of the rat) perfectly lining her head. Wild, huh?


Last night I celebrated the gastronomical treasures of a much smaller country, one shaped like a boot. Some other teachers and I gorged on glorious pies from Lemoncello (Sukhumvit Soi 11 for anyone looking for good pizza in Bangkok). Afterwards on the skytrain, headed for an early night in, I got a text from another group making its way over to a jazz and blues club near my apartment. My play-doh arm was successfully twisted. The place is called Saxophone and it's one of my favorites here. We scored a good dark booth in the corner and laughed and exchanged stories over loud music and through thick smoke. I have two funnies related to Thai nicknames, and since that seems to be my theme lately, there's no way I can keep them from you.

Story 1

Teacher reads this sentence to a low-level class: "My keys are gone." Then she asks "What does that mean, 'My keys are gone'?" No response from the class. Again: "'My keys are gone.' What does that mean?" Gone, thinking she has just called on him, begins to read from the book. You can imagine the laughter that erupts from the class.

Story 2

Teacher is demonstrating the responses "Yes, I am" and "No, I'm not". Without recognizing the connection, she chooses a student named Not as the model.

Teacher: "Are you Not?"
Not: "Yes, I am."

The teacher then moves on to another student.

Teacher: "Are you Not?"
The student looks a bit perplexed and then answers: "No ... I'm not."

For a few seconds there, the teacher is confused, realizing that something is off, but not quite sure what. And then she gets it. Of course, the class is doubled in laughter by that time. Oh, they get the biggest kick out of these moments. It really is wonderful teaching a society with such a love of fun and humorous situations.

One more thing before I sign off and crawl into bed. Here's a picture I took in my neighborhood today. It was a beautiful, sunny, not too sweltering, afternoon. The kind of Sunday you don't want to end.