The Things That Seem Normal Now

The Things That Seem Normal Now

As I wake up and to birds singing, geckos chirping, and feel the tropical climate of Thailand, even after 1 year and 8 months, I am filled with gratitude for yet another day of living in this amazing country. After having been here for this long, certain things just seem normal now that might not have before. Here are a few:

Saying sawadee kha and pressing my hands together in a prayer like position called a ‘wai’ to say hello. Saying khap khun kha for thank you.

Dodgy traffic with 3 people on a motorbike, no one wearing a helmet, songthaews, tuk tuks, motorbikes, slow driving new car owners, crazy driving truck and mini-bus drivers, bicycles, sidecars, and of course pedestrians. Everyone weaves in and out, and merging is done gracefully. Almost no one honks their horns, regardless of how many close calls there are. Considering how horrible the overall driving is, there are relatively few accidents…but there are accidents. The middle lines on the road appear to be optional. Driving on the left side of the road has become second nature.

My senses are filled with sights, sounds, and smells.Things I hear are karaoke in the distance, monks chanting, frogs, dogs barking, motorbikes, tuk tuks, tokay gecko chirps. Now I don’t even react to the loud gunshot type sound I hear, and figuring it’s just another firecracker, even if it’s in the middle of the day.

Scents range from gardenia to sewage to garlic frying to incense.

Common sights…

Buying delicious dinner at a place like this on the street for about $1 USD

Elegant gate with Buddha imagery

High security…or not. This piece of wire was the lock on the viper cage at the zoo.

 

Dogs on a motorbike

Tropical fruit shakes. No artificial color here, just pink dragon fruit.

Angry bird everything. Notice ‘Angry Bird’ not birds.

Banana trees and flower

Orchids that grow like weeds

Smoky sunsets in March where the sun becomes nothing but a pink disc

Spirit houses everywhere. This one is also sporting some DIY plumbing for the wheat grass.

Little geckos scurrying after insects inside and outside

The occasional snake that looks like a garden hose

‘English’ that makes no sense

Pink eggs

Spiders of unusual size. Bar of soap to give perspective.

Checking for lice publicly

All different flowers in bloom year-round. Here is the national flower of Thailand – Ratchapuek.

Wats and flower offerings everywhere

Dark teak wood houses with colored glass

The ubiquitous 7 Eleven where you can pay your bills, put credit on your phone, and buy Thai style sundries.

Blatant copyright infringement and English hilarity.

Water buffalo

Flowers that are so pretty they look fake

Odd sculptures

Chickens all over

Monks riding in songthaews

Leaf roofs and paper lanterns

Spirit houses, blue tiles and elephants

Artsy shops and swirly Thai script

Waiing people. Here is Ronald McDonald waiing us.

Intricately carved wooden entrances

Floating flower arrangements

Rice fields

Expat motorbike posse

paper umbrellas and blues skies

paper lanterns, umbrellas, Thai flag

Hilltribe peoples peddling their goods in town

More nonsense English

Songthaew transport for field trips

Students traveling in songthaew safety

Trucks that get close enough to kiss you

Buddhist flower and incense offerings

It’s  hot all the time yet people stay covered up and even go swimming in jeans. Families stay close and kids playing around/working in the restaurant bar, or store of their family. Once a year there is huge water fight where people throw water at each other and where no one gets angry.

Smiles instead of frowns.

Freedom instead of fear.

Every day something surprises, delights, or amuses me. It’s never going to be entirely what you expect. It gives me a thrill and joy to live in this incredible place I now call home. Khap khun kha prathet Thai.

Beyond Yangon

Beyond Yangon

After a day of walking around the bustling streets of Yangon, taking a ferry to the town on the other side of the river seemed like a good option.

It started with the postcard vendor that remembered that Mark and I were from Spain, as we’d told him the day before. Turns out he knew some Spanish. Lesson – don’t lie about where you’re from to touts, they’ll outsmart you.

When we headed to the ferry, we met up again with Jennifer and met her friend Elizabeth. They said they would take us on a trishaw tour on the other side of the river in Dalah.

This is what is was like on the ferry on the way over:

We disembarked the crowded ferry and then were taken to our trishaw drivers. It was a bit chaotic:

Amongst all the people, vehicles, noise, and chaos, the cow just sat there quietly.

Look at the engine. Actually, look at the whole thing. What is it?

More peaceful cows, just hanging out in the road with vehicles whizzing by.

I was glad to be exiting the traffic and getting out of city and more into a small town atmosphere.

Mark and our guide Elizabeth in their trishaw.

I loved the color scheme of this temple. The bright blue sky didn’t hurt either.

Elizabeth and Jennifer at the first temple

This golden embalmed monk supposedly opened one eye posthumously.

There is a pilgrimage site called Mt. Kyaiktiyo in Myanmar that has a golden rock that looks like this.

This used to be a marketplace. Elizabeth told us cyclone Nargis made everything broken.

Thanaka root for sale. This is the root that makes the paste that people wear on their faces.

A reservoir where the people go to get their water.

Water buffalo and egret

Chicken anyone?

Lovely ladies in their longyi

Lunch with our guides and trishaw drivers. The guy with the surprised expression on his face had never eaten in a restaurant before. Glad we shared his first restaurant experience with him.

Fishing amongst the garbage

A little girl getting water from the reservoir

 

A big buddha makeover

Always sweeping in Asia

Books are treated with reverence

Visiting the local school

Making merit by donating to the monk who helps run the school

Monks robes hanging to dry

Even though Burma is predominantly Buddhist, there is still an occasional mosque here and there.

The end of the trishaw tour

stormy skies ahead for the trip back across the river

Jennifer, Mark and two Elizabeths

Vendor on the ferry back to Yangon

The day felt like a glimpse into the lives of the people of Dalah. It was evident that people lived in poverty. Most likely many people had their homes or livelihood destroyed by Cyclone Nargis in 2008. Everyone we met was kind and friendly. This goes to show that not government, poverty, nor natural disasters can break the human spirit.

Smiling in spite of hardships – this exemplifies the people of Burma

The Shwedagon is not a Burmese Deodorant

The Shwedagon is not a Burmese Deodorant

The Shwedagon at night

The Shwedagon Paya is the most sacred Buddhist pagoda in Burma. It is an ancient structure originally built between the 6th – 10th century, though has been rebuilt due to earthquakes and other disasters. In its enormous golden form it contains relics of the Buddha, over 2000 rubies, and over 5000 diamonds, including one 76 carat diamond at the top. Needless to say, it is an impressive sight.

Mark and I arrived during a rainstorm in the late afternoon and stayed to see it lit up after sunset. The storm had cooled off the tiles under our bare feet. I enjoyed finding Monday, the day I was born, is the tiger in Burmese tradition. In Thailand, and apparently Burma, it is important to know which day of the week you were born. There are different Buddhas and colors in Thailand, and in Burma, the were also different animals that represent each of the days of the week. I poured water over the Monday Buddha image, gave it my flower offering, and bowed before it.

My pictures should give a fairly good visual sense of what it was like, without its sheer magnitude. Here is a little text to go with the photos: Golden temple beauty was available from every angle. I was enchanted by the pink robed novice monks and how the older children looked out for the younger ones. An adorable little girl liked making the sound of the temple bells, “Gonnnng.” The volunteer cleaning brigade swept the temple as swiftly as if they were line dancing. The psychedelic/shlockified Buddhas had lights that danced around their enlightened heads. The bright golden stupas looked magnificent lit up against the darkening sky. It was time to leave when it felt like the monk was getting a bit too friendly.

The Shwedagon at night

Mark and I joked that Shwedagon or Sweat-be-gone would be a great name for a Burmese deodorant – strong enough for a Buddha, made for a man.

If you go to Burma, it is well worth the trip to visit the Shwedagon in all its golden grandeur.

First Impressions in Yangon

First Impressions in Yangon

Travel bans in Burma, which have been on and off since the at least the early 1990s, have eased. This has opened the country to travelers, and there has been a boom of tourism in the past year. This means prices of accommodation are often triple what they were even a year ago. We found that places to stay listed in the guidebook from December 2011 had at least doubled, yet the quality had not. It is clearly not the cheapest country to travel in, especially in SE Asia, but it is fascinating.

It is also not the easiest country to travel in. First of all, you cannot use credit cards, or travellers cheques, and there are no ATMs for any foreign account. Not only that, you need to bring clean, crisp $100 bills, post year 2006, if they are torn or bent, they will be worthless in Burma. Essentially, this means you need to arrive in Burma with all the cash that you hope you’ll need and carry it around with you. Good thing theft didn’t seem to be much of an issue there. Careful planning prior to travel is required.

Mark, my colleague from Panyaden School, and I read up a lot, met and planned our itinerary, got our visas (obtaining a visa is fairly simple from Thailand), and generally got ourselves sorted before going. We met up in Bangkok and took our quick Air Asia flight to Yangon.

Mark looking stern on our bus from the airport to our guesthouse.

On a busy street in the center of Yangon a man reading the paper next to his goat, naturally.

This photo was taken close to Motherland 2 Guesthouse – a busy and basic guesthouse that cost $30 a night. It was similar in quality to something you would pay 200 baht (about $6.50) for in the center of the Old City in Chiang Mai.

A trishaw driver in Yangon. Roads were rather bumpy just about everywhere.

Apart from money, internet is slow and isn’t everywhere as there is only a small percentage of the country online. This meant it was a facebook-free, and almost internet free holiday, aside from a few e-mails sent from slow internet cafes. Very few people have cell phones. Yes, it definitely felt like going back in time.

After a midmorning breakfast, Mark and I set out walking in Yangon. Here were some things we saw:

Family, democracy, and life preservers in Yangon

Neatly organized rusty tool parts

Just a typical street scene in Yangon

One immediate difference between Burma and Thailand are that the men all wear longyi. A longyi is a piece of fabric sewn together in a tube shape and then wrapped around the waist. It is worn in the same way women wear sarongs, but the men’s fabric tends to be checked patterns, while women’s is often a floral motif.

Mark buying his first, but not last, longyi

Another obvious difference is that many people, especially women, wear what looks like a light yellow powder on their faces. This is called thanakha, and is actually a paste from bark. People wear it to help cool the skin, as sunblock, and also as a form of beauty.

A boy wearing thanakha

Though the country is predominantly Buddhist, several other religions are present: Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and we even saw Jewish temple.

Detail from a Hindu temple in Yangon

Since Burma has basically been cut off from the modern world, a refreshing change is not seeing any corporate logos, fast food chains, or chain stores of any kind. There are no McDonalds, no KFCs, no Starbucks, but the most marked difference in the urban landscape of Thailand and Burma is no 7-elevens.

This is how ‘corporate’ logos appear in Burma: Asahi (which is a Japanese beer) with no mention picture of beer, but oddly a Lacoste alligator.

Electrical engineering Yangon style

Thanakha faced Burmese children.

While the stunning photos of golden temples in verdant rice fields piqued my interest in wanting to travel to Burma when I was in my 20s, Mark had wanted to come Burma since childhood for one reason much closer to him – his people. Mark’s last name is Burman.

It was a big moment when Mark found the photocopied book of ‘his people’ – the Burmans.

Herbs and spices anyone?

A few touts asked us to buy postcards, or take tours, but they weren’t overly aggressive. To avoid them we tried speaking Spanish. Amazingly, they could say a few words back in Spanish. When we switched to Thai, no one ever understood us.

While we were on our improvised walking tour, initially I was alarmed because I thought I saw a blood stain on the sidewalk, followed by several more. I was relieved to realize it wasn’t blood, but rather the red juice that comes from chewing betel nut. Lots of people chew it and spit out red liquid. It also turns the mouth and teeth red. Although I considered it, I couldn’t bring myself to try it.

Betel nut prepped and ready to chew

A girl we would soon come to know as Jennifer with thanakha cheeks and betel nut stained teeth

After all our walking around in the heat of the day, and the chaos that is Yangon, Mark and I decided to duck in to the famous colonial Strand Hotel. With rooms starting at $500 USD a night, we obviously couldn’t afford to stay there, but were happy to have a margarita for $7 in a classic hotel. We planned to return for the 1/2 off happy hour on our last night in Burma.

The Stand Hotel – exorbitantly priced rooms, great colonial bar for happy hour.

After our drink in the luxurious air conditioned Strand, it was back to the real Yangon by strolling through a local market:

not hugely different from a local Thai market…

…though I have no idea what that is.

A different kind of flower offering

Mark’s Thai language is close to fluent. My Thai is still fairly simple words and sentences, but we both feel it’s important to try to learn at least little of the language of any country you visit. We learned and immediately used a few Burmese words – Mingalaba - hello, Jesubay – thank you. Burmese is nothing like Thai, so we had no base. One funny thing I read was to get someone’s attention Burmese people make a kissing sound. While trying to hail a cab without much success, Mark tried the kissing sound and a cab pulled right over. Cultural assimilation at its finest.

We took that cab to the Shwedagon temple, which was the main attraction for Mark and me in Yangon. It is so big, it gets its own post. So, I will fast forward to several hours later…

I don’t think there is such thing as a small meal in Burma. For our first Burmese dinner we ate at a popular restaurant called Feel Myanmar. We pointed to order a variety of somewhat unfamiliar looking dishes and this is part of what we got…

Dinner at Feel Myanmar

Myanmar beer. Good and strong.

To top off our full day, this was our cab ride home. Are most taxis in Burma like this? No, they are not.

Our super cool taxi

We split a second Myanmar beer back at Motherland 2 Guesthouse while our young, mellifluous waiter serenaded us with Justin Bieber songs. These sweet melodies acted as an untraditional lullaby to end our first day in a land called Burma.

Democracy Now? A Preposterously Brief Burmese History

Democracy Now? A Preposterously Brief Burmese History

Today, as I breathe a far away sigh of relief to see the words ‘President Barack Obama for another 4 years’, it reminds me of just how lucky I am. I have the luxury of voting, the luxury of choosing to live in another country, and the luxury to travel to almost anywhere in the world freely with my US passport.

“People in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today.” Barack Obama said in his acceptance speech.

Nowhere does this seem more relevant than the country I just visited, Burma (Myanmar).

Burma’s politics are contradictory, backwards, confusing, and very difficult to explain. This is my interpretation from a variety of sources. I have tried to be as accurate as possible, but often it is difficult to know what is really happening there based on the news. I will skip its old history and start around 100 years ago.

After being a British colony from 1886 – 1947  Burma fell under the rule of U Nu and things started going downhill. In 1958 it fell under the horrible dictatorship of Ne Win for essentially 30 years and things got progressively worse.

1988 – On 8.8.88 civilians non-violently demonstrated against the government and at least 3,000 people were massacred. Aung San Suu Kyi had returned from England to see her ill mother. She spoke out at the protests on 8.8.88 and became the secretary-general of the National League of Democracy, who won general elections. The military would not relinquish their power and essentially quashed democracy for the foreseeable future.

Despite a continued military rule, Suu Kyi was/is seen as a hope for Burma’s future. In 1989 she was put under house arrest, where she remained for the better part of 20 years. In 1991 Aung San Suu Kyi received the Nobel Peace Prize.

(image from http://rlv.zcache.com/)

Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, because Burmese government committed multitudes of human rights abuses on its own people, many foreign countries banned travel, investment, and any kind of economics in the country.

2007 – Prices of gas and petrol rose more than 200%, which made all goods expensive. This caused the ‘Saffron Revolution’, which was neither saffron nor a revolution but a protest by 50,000 monks (whose robes are  burgundy in Burma). There was widely televised footage of the government killing monks in the street. At least 30 monks were killed.

2008 – Cyclone Nargis destroyed much around Yangon killing at least 140,000 and leaving many others  homeless. When other countries stepped in to help, the Myanmar government refused any type of aid for its people.

2010 – ‘Elections’ showed that the military-backed party ‘won’. Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest a few days later. Since these elections, government reforms have started taking place. Burma’s military rule has been replaced with a military-backed nominally civilian government. I’m not sure how different that is, but it sounds like a step in the right direction on the ‘roadmap to democracy’.

Now it’s November 2012 – Violence in Rahkhine state has been in the news for the past few months on a daily basis. Foreign investment has started happening, which could be good or go completely wrong.

I have read that Burma “warmly welcomes” President Obama’s visit next week. He is the first US President to visit Burma. He would like to encourage the country in its ‘democratic transition’.

Burmese leader Thein Sein said he would accept Aung San Suu Kyi as president if the people vote for her in the next election in 2015.

So what will Burma’s future be? I don’t know. I just knew it seemed like a good time to visit my neighbor while in transition for what will hopefully be changes for the better. Travel restrictions have lessened in the main tourist areas, though special permits are needed for parts of the country and other parts are still off limits. In a few years Burma could be a very different place, some parts for the better, other parts could be worse.

Despite its horrible government, the people are absolutely lovely, the country is incredibly picturesque, and there was and air of innocence that felt a little bit like stepping back in time. It is hard to believe that in a place where people have faced such atrocities that they could be so genuinely kind, but they were. As with any country, especially Burma and the US, the government and the news do not paint an accurate portrait of its people.

I wish Burma luck on achieving democracy, stability, and peace. The people deserve it.

Is It Burma or Myanmar?

Is It Burma or Myanmar?

This is the country whose pictures prompted my desire to travel to SE Asia many years ago, but whose political situation kept me from visiting the country back in 2000-2001 when I traveled throughout the region.

So, what country am I speaking of? Is it Burma or Myanmar? Well, to answer that question, I will attempt to show why answering that question is more confusing than one might think.

After British colonial rule, and the dictatorships that followed, in 1989 Burma’s name was changed by the government to Myanmar. Apparently, the United Nations refers to the country as Myanmar for this very reason. However, the CIA World Factbook calls the country Burma.

NPR has this to say:

The U.S. is among the nations that choose not to refer to the nation as Myanmar. “Out of support for the democratic opposition,” and its victory in a 1990 parliamentary election — the results of which were annulled by the military rulers — “the U.S. Government likewise uses ‘Burma,’ “ the State Department says.

The BBC (which still refers to the country only as Burma) writes that:

“Burmah, as it was spelt in the 19th Century, is a local corruption of the word Myanmar. They have both been used within Burma for a long time, says anthropologist Gustaaf Houtman, who has written extensively about Burmese politics. … If Burmese people are writing for publication, they use ‘Myanmar’, but speaking they use ‘Burma’, he says. …”

What? Burma and Myanmar mean the same thing? How did the locals corrupt the word so much? Burma and Myanmar sound nothing alike.

However, I will take my cue from Aung San Suu Kyi who prefers Burma because it is a name that was changed without reference to its people. (According to Lonely Planet, who choose to use both names.)

So, which one is it? Now that you have some information, I’ll leave it for you to decide.

Regardless of what you call it, I just traveled there for 18 days. The next several blog posts will be dedicated to Burma (or Myanmar), Thailand’s neighbor to the west. In case you are wondering in Thailand they refer to it as pratet pama  ประเทศพม่า.

Annica – Impermanent, Ephemeral, Changing

Anicca – Impermanent, Ephemeral, Changing

If any of you have ever been on a Vipassana meditation retreat, this is a word that you have heard S.N. Goenka crooning as early as 4:30 am: “Anicca, anicca, anicca…….” (sounds like a-nate-cha).

For those of you not familiar, anicca is an ancient Pali word that means everything is ever-changing, impermanent, ephemeral, etc. Although in our logical brains we may realize this to be true, something within our body/mind/heart connection does not want to accept this fact. We crave things to be unchanging, but they always change, and so we ‘suffer’.

Anicca is true. This becomes more obvious when we lose someone unexpectedly.

I had an amazing 3-week trip in Burma where internet access was slow and sporadic, hence making it a facebook free holiday. Upon my return to Chiang Mai, I learned that my friend Azriel Cohen had passed away. There is no doubt I will miss him. He has been mentioned on this blog before and is the person responsible for the hilarious Thai Nicknames videos. (Click on the link to watch the video.)

http://mariposatree.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/thai-nicknames/

http://mariposatree.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/aging-and-appreciations/

I last ran into him on Sunday Walking Street in Chiang Mai, days before I went to Burma and a week before he died. We had a funny, friendly, and interesting conversation. He was ill and had a gravelly voice, but was in good spirits. Maybe he was sicker than he thought. Our enjoyable evening walk and discussion about dogs, ceramics, Thai language, and upcoming travels gave me some type of closure.

Maybe it’s from living over a year in this Buddhist country, maybe it’s the result of meditation, maybe it’s just a realization, but somehow I feel like I am coming to understand the principle of annica. Life and death. Ebb and flow. Impermanence. It doesn’t mean I don’t care, but rather is the acceptance that death indeed is part of life…as much as we might not like it.

Shalom to you Azriel. As for the rest of us, anicca, anicca, anicca.

Wrapping Up September

Wrapping Up September

September is usually the time of year where students head back to school, the days start getting shorter, and the weather starts getting cooler. Here in Thailand, we are finishing first semester of school, which started in May, it’s the rainy season, but still warm, and due to the proximity to the equator, the change of day length is hardly noticeable. I’ve managed to work hard, and balance that with a lot of laughs.

Still love the view from my porch in the rainy season, euphemistically known as ‘the green season’. You can see why here.

Getting final projects done at school, with portfolios, and report cards is always a substantial amount of work, but we also had a final presentation for the students to show their parents what they’ve learned over past semester.

One of the topics my students learned about was the environmental impact that humans have caused on Earth. They chose a topic that they felt passionate about, and presented their findings through art work and an informative poster. The students used mainly recycled materials to make their art and posters. They not only stated the problem, but researched and gave suggestions for potential solutions. We turned our classroom into an art gallery and invited parents and guests to come see their art opening, have Q and A with the artists, and enjoy some homemade refreshments.

Dolphin slaughter in Japan

Oil spills

Air pollution – note the different sources of pollution, the acid rain, and the dead flower

polluted beaches

polluted oceans

Kru Goy and I are very proud of them

This was only part of the subject matter they taught our adult guests, they also had PE, art, math, and music. Each class got 15 minutes for the students to teach the activity. It was like ‘speed teaching’.

In maths class, the students challenged the adults to see who could make the perimeter of a shape the quickest using wooden pegs, string, and measuring tape. Um… the students won, but our string was all tangled – unfair! It was good fun anyway.

In music class the students played a song, then taught the adults to play the same song on a variety of instruments.

I was too involved having fun doing the PE and art activities to take any photos.

At the end of the day it was time for cleaning the classroom Gangnam Style.

Cleaning Gangnam Style

Sadly, we are saying goodbye to two wonderful teachers. We sure will miss you Kru Claire and Kru Yuzu.

Kru Claire as the princess looking for her lost friend.

Kru Yuzu, playing the lost friend

Outside of school, yoga, ceramics, and Thai classes, I’ve managed to find time to have fun with friends in lovely Chiang Mai.

Getting coffee and croissants for 25 baht with Claire, Yuzu, and Jessica at ‘the farang farm’.

farang farm foliage

Enveloped in verdant hues – more evidence of the green season

As long as it’s not raining, Chiang Mai looks about the same at night all year long. Here are some pictures taken from the sweetest sidecar in the city – Christophe’s Aum Mobile. Their blurriness gives them an ethereal sense of movement that I feel represents Chiang Mai nighttime.

Songthaew driving around the moat

Christophe shopping late night at the flower market

Rose in the Aum Mobile. Seriously, look how beautiful that vehicle is! (Obviously, look how beautiful Rose is too:) While Christophe drives with Rose and me in the sidecar, both Thai people and foreigners smile.

Tuk tuk drivers and passengers giving us the thumbs up.

Christophe and Rose in the sweet side car near the moat.

laughing in the sidecar…

…as we drive the wrong way down one way street. Mai bpen rai it’s Thailand.

After a night of laughing and sidecar adventures, I love that the gardenias (ketawa) still smell so good the next morning.

Now September is done, we’ve had a full moon in Aries and it’s the beginning of a new month – new beginnings abound. Unlike teachers in other places, it’s now our holiday here. I have the majority of October off and tomorrow I am heading to a place I have wanted to go for about 15 years and that is Burma (or Myanmar). When I was here in 2000 I thought I’d visit there, but the political situation left much to be desired, so I didn’t. Burma still has a lot of restrictions on travel and modern conveniences: no ATMs, limited and slow internet, and I won’t have a cell phone.

I’m signing off for about 3 weeks, but will return with photos and stories-o-plenty. Enjoy October in all its autumnal glory.

108 Images – A Year in Pictures

108 Images – A Year in Pictures

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, here are 108,000 words.

Projects and Beliefs

Projects and Beliefs

One of the reasons I like working at my school as much as I do is because students get to do work where they can design, create, and express themselves.

Starting in June students suggested long-term projects they’d like to work on. For practicality sake (we weren’t going to be able to hatch dinosaur eggs like one student had hoped), we arrived at seven projects: building a house, making clothes, building a boat, making cars, writing a magazine, painting a mural, and building a bridge. What these projects would look like was anyone’s guess. The results were even better than I’d imagined.

WIth guidance from teachers, and a lot of hard work by students, here is a sampling of the final products:

Skirts and dresses sewn by hand

balloon powered cars

A bamboo bridge

The view from across the bridge

part of the mural

happy house – a new play structure

And the hit of the day was the boat. It was made out of recycled plastic bottles, and as you can see, it floats!

The gondoliers got a workout that day

After the students had their turn, some teachers were ready to go for a boat ride.

All these projects took a lot of effort and perseverance (wiriya), but in the end, it was all worth it.

In my own class we have been searching inside ourselves to discover our own beliefs. Prompted by ‘This I Believe’ essays, I had the students write their own. They ended up the school’s blog. Here’s my students believe:

http://www.panyaden.ac.th/blog/student-essays/

Well-rounded, fun, mindful education – the way it should be, gives me hope for the future.