You know how sports broadcasts usually have two commentators? There is the person who really knows a lot about the sport and then there is a “color” commentator—someone to keep the dialogue going and introduce some interest for TV viewers. My job is kind of like the color commentator for English. I don’t teach grammar. I’m sure that fact makes some of you more comfortable—namely, people who have had to read my papers! I don’t instruct much at all. Instead, I tell my classes about culture in the US and play games with them that help them to understand spoken English and that force them to speak English. If this seems like a pretty easy gig to you, you are correct (or ‘right on the money’—a phrase I recently explained to a class).You may recall my apprehension last month as I prepared to begin the term. Although it’s a little more challenging than I make it sound, most of those apprehensions were unfounded. Most of the teachers with whom I work are great. Most of the kids are either well-behaved or funny in their mischief; I can handle either of those. There was one thing (maybe more!) that I forgot to consider when I decided to come here. It is an important consideration when contemplating teaching high school. I have never really liked teenagers in groups. Not even when I, myself, was a teenager. And yet, somehow, I find myself teaching teenagers. I am almost constantly in their company! In large groups. I think that I have done pretty well, though. I mean, I haven’t gone completely insane and they seem to like me. Actually, on my way here, one of my students told me he loved me, but I am not taking that as a comment on my teaching performance!There have been very significant adjustments, of course. Twice this month, the school schedule has changed. All the periods shifted to different times. No one told me about either of these changes before they happened. All of this switching of times has happened to make time for Sport Day practice. All I have been able to ascertain is that Sport Day is like a huge Field Day in which several schools participate. It is really important to them. So the academic periods became shorter and are sometimes skipped altogether so that kids can practice for their sports. But I asked some of my students and quite a few kids are not participating, so basically they run around for the extra hours. Or they cheer for their friends. They use drums and scream like cornered rabbits. Have you ever heard a rabbit scream? Try not to, it’s awful. It’s even worse when 75 kids are doing it in concert. I try to leave school grounds during this time. Anyway, schedule changes and disregard for academics in favor of a one-time sport event are examples of some of the things that throw me into a fresh confusion every time I think I’m settling into my own life.Here’s another thing that takes getting used to: the absolute subservience of students to teachers. As I walk across school grounds, kids bow to me. They have to get out of my way if I’m walking in a hallway. Other teachers never clear their own dishes in the cafeteria; they grab a passing kid and make them take their bowl. When we start and finish classes, my students bow and say hello or thank me—in unison. And teachers employ physical violence with some frequency. I have seen teachers hit kids with wooden rapiers (they have them around because the kids learn fencing in PE!), pinched (hard, they were still rubbing the spot 20 minutes later!), and a science project thrown against a wall (broken to smithereens). Kids never question this, apparently. It is difficult for an American to accept. I am mostly embarrassed. I try to deal with it gracefully, of course, but my egalitarian ideals, instilled by simple existence in America, have trouble with such unmerited deference.On the whole, though, my job is fun and challenging without being overly demanding. I am glad that I am here. I have realized recently how much I am learning here. There are things that I expected to learn: language, culture and some more (or any!) humility. I certainly am learning those. But I am learning so much about completely unexpected things. My sister and I went to the Hall of Opium, a museum that traces the history, political effects and current trafficking of the drug and its various forms, on Sunday. It is in the very north of Thailand, an area called the Golden Triangle because of its prominence in the drug industry for a few decades. I couldn’t believe how much I learned. That night, Kristen and I watched the news on TV as usual. We were discussing the possibly imminent coup in Fiji when I realized that I would probably not have any idea of the Fijian political situation if I were home. I also wouldn’t know nearly as much about Sri Lanka’s problems or even Iraq if I weren’t watching and reading international news. Beyond this, I have had time to think about subjects that I’ve learned about for the past few years. At the time, I only was able to shove these ideas into my brain. Now, I’m unfolding them and looking them over in a more thorough way. I’m able to decide what I think about these subjects. In short, it turns out that a year off was a really good decision. Despite contact with my 520 or so teenage students, I might come out of this a saner person! It seems ridiculous, right?Well, that’s about as much as I should write—probably more than you want to read!Until next month,Erika

Dear All,
My sister Erika writes home once a month to update all of her friends on what is going on with her life and how teaching in Thailand is going and now her emails will also be posted on my blog along with my letters. She's very clever and amusing and I'm sure you'll all love her thoughts and impressions, perhaps even more so than mine but I don't want to know about it if that's the case.
We met a couple from Scotland here and have gotten to know them, they used to live in our building and have now moved "out to the country" but manage being outside of town by having bikes that they use to commute on a regular basis. This week they are out of town on a trip and offered us the use of their bikes while they're away and we readily accepted.
We went out and bought a road map of Chiang Rai as soon as we had the bikes and the first day Erika was free (Friday) we set out for what we thought would be a short ride around the north end of town to get us used to riding before doing anything big. Instead we ended up riding about twenty kilometers out of town to a Karen hill village on the river that has elehpants.
It was a long, hard ride out there but we parked our bikes and hired an elephant for an hour. It was hilarious! First you had to walk up a ladder like staircase to a small platform where all the elephant men were sitting around doing nothing, Erika wouldn't even walk up this at first! By the time she followed me up there our elephant had walked right up to the platform and was ready for us to climb into the seat attached to his back with a rope and a chain. Our driver sat on the elephant with his legs tucked up under the elephants ears or else right on his forhead with his legs dangeling down the front of his face! He stopped the elephant and slid right off him and got me to sit where he had been sitting, it is crazy sitting on an elephant with your legs tucked under his ears. I was in bare feet, afraid to lose my sandals, and I could feel his skin wrinkling up with every step he took. The next time I ride an elephant though I will know to wear long pants, his thick and prickly hairs sure rubbed my thighs raw and that's not a fun experience! Erika took a turn sitting on the elephant and when we changed apparently my bag slipped, unnoticed, off our little bench. We were so enthralled with riding an elephant through the Thailand countryside that we didn't notice the bags disapearance until halfway through and then panic set in. We turned that elephant around and went back searching the ground for a dirt colored bag, as it had our keys, condotel card and all our money for the day in it we were pretty desperate to get it back and extatic when we finally found it and our elephant picked it up with his trunk and handed it to our driver!
Needless to say the bike ride back was worse than the morning and by the time we got home my legs were jelly and i was on the verge of tears but I made it! And I was super impressed with myself too, I'm not much of an exerciser as some of you know but I sure did a job that day!
We've used the bikes quite a lot since then, riding out to a lake near here and taking a paddle boat out and going down to what they call the beach and is really the river with an area that apparently you can swim in during the summer and eating in a little hut overlooking the water. We definately love the freedom the bikes give us and it's made us think of getting some once again, we're also thinking more of just renting them when Erika has a long weekend or we can go somewhere with someone.
Tonight we're going out for pizza with our friend Michael from the condotel, he says we're keeping him sane as he's working like mad on his book and completely surrounded by Thai's all the time, we don't know how we could be a sane influence in anyone's life but roles have been reversed in many ways here in Thailand.
Tomorrow is the Kings 80th birthday and, of course, they are having quite a celebration all over the country and school is closed for the day.
That's all I have for now, I'll write again soon, Kristen Rose