sixth graders.

Hi,

I've spent 2 weekends teaching at elementary schools that have no English teachers. You really get to see a community this way, and people are so grateful. Much more than college students!

I went to a school in Mae Salong, a mountain town (6000 ft elevation) that grows a lot of tea. It used to grow a lot of opium, but that changed in the last 50 years. It's inhabited by Chinese that crossed the border during the 60's, and Mandarin is the common language there.

It's also partially inhabited by hill tribes, ethnic minorities who migrated into the area from the north, speak their own language and culture, and are subsistence farmers. Perhaps the best known hill tribe in the US are the Hmong people from Laos (who sided with the US during the Vietnam war). Hill tribes receive an interesting rap in Northern Thailand -- lots of tourists like to visit them, and take pictures with them (for example, the long neck Karen hill tribe), or backpack around their villages. Some villages have become just tourist traps,  and relocated close to the highway for easy access.

Hill tribes have trouble integrating into Thai society, which is a problem as the area becomes more developed. They don't speak Thai unless they learn how to, opium is still a problem among some hill tribes, and the Thai government doesn't really know how to treat them. 

The hill tribe people that I've met are super nice (Akha, Lahu).

The school I worked at was funded by a Christian church. It's the only school that offers free education and teaches Chinese in the area (critical for hill tribes who can't speak it).

a nice change from Thai food. they fed us so well the whole  weekend, feeding us (there were about 15 people who came to teach English) piles of local vegetables.

 
 
 Chinese style learning is so funny compared to Thai style. after class, the teachers would yell at the kids to not forget the lesson and to memorize everything. then, the kids stand up and all together thank the teacher. the students go to class everyday of the week. the kids that I talked to told me their parents were vegetable farmers.

school's out.

the 5th grade school house.
 I taught sixth grade, which are the oldest kids. I got to use my dubious Chinese to teach English, which is a real experience. English levels were very very low: "what is this?" "it's a marker" kind of lesson. 

We rode a "sawng taew" up the mountain, which was the most uncomfortable I've ever been from a car. A sawng taew is a glorified pickup truck -- it means "two benches" -- which are installed in the bed of the truck. Sitting in the bed of a pickup on windy mountain roads made us so sick, and I felt like I was going to die for like 2 hours. 

Other than that, it was a great trip. I'll probably go one or twice a month to teach. 

-mo