Operation My School Is Nuts, I'm Making A Break For It

So it's an ongoing issue, one I've mentioned and complained about, that I'm always the very last one to know anything at school. Usually, it's not a big deal, like when I got to class and no one shows and I only find out later that they had to pick up their formal uniforms (a five minute process that somehow took them an hour). Then there are the time when I've been given contradicting information and adjust my schedule and lessons accordingly. It took a few times for me to catch on, but now I know not to work around anything I've been told because it's probably wrong. I just go on as I normally would, but with the knowledge that something could change at any moment. I feel like I'm training for battle sometimes. Always be alert, be aware, be ready for anything.

Like this morning. I walked into the office and immediately heard the sentence that always means I'm in for a confusing day. "You know about the meeting, right?" Any time I'm told about schedule changes, that's how it's phrased: "You know about such and such, right?" And of course the answer is no. No, I don't know about the meeting. I never know about the meeting. So they helpfully filled me in. The meeting is at 2:30, classes are ten minutes shorter to make the time, and by the way, the students are practicing for Sports Day so don't be surprised if a lot of them don't show up.

So a typical morning, the only difference being that I was forced to stage a minor revolt when I found out I'm supposed to go to the meeting. Some of the teachers couldn't quite understand why, even though I think it's fairly obvious. The meeting will be in Thai. I don't speak Thai. The end. Luckily, I had the Chinese teachers backing me up since they also don't speak Thai. Together we were victorious.

And then I received some new information. Remember the neverending confusion of the midterms schedule that ened with me fleeing to Phuket to rediscover my sanity? Turns out, it's not over. Because apparently, they are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday next week, which means classes are canceled. When I heard this, my eyes started to tear up because I was trying to keep from bursting out laughing. I don't think anyone would have gotten the joke. But here's the punchline and it turns out it's not so funny: I still have to come to school. Now, classes are cancelled on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday this week for Sports Day. Now, I'm being a good and supportive teacher and coming every day to cheer on my students in the morning and then hiding in the office all afternoon and reading. But two more days of nothing to do? I'll lose my mind.

So my plan is to think of a plan. Maybe my coordinator can work it out, maybe I'll use a couple sick days. Because I won't be able to handle five straight school days with no classes and nothing else to take up the time. I truly would rather teach. I know, it surprised me, too.

On My Way To Becoming Completely Inflappable

So there’s not a whole lot to report back from Phuket, because not much happened – and that’s why it was so perfect. We stayed with friends of Jenny’s sister, and they completely welcomed us. It was so relaxing to be in a home again and everyone in the family was great. Lia and Ot make their own jewelry and have a shop in Kata, just off the beach. They have the most adorable children (the youngest is three and I almost stole him) and I spent a lot of my time playing with them. So the highlights were the beach (of course), not sleeping in a hostel, and spending time with kids who I didn’t have to teach English. Taking the time off was one of my better decisions.

Now that I’m back at school, with no more vacations to look forward to, I’m especially glad I took those days off. Because beyond having a fantastic time and really enjoying the awesomeness that is Phuket, I really needed a rest. Not from teaching - although it was nice to get a break from my (mostly) well-meaning but exhausting students – but from constantly wondering “What the hell is going on?” and then getting frustrated when no one can explain or, worse, tries to explain and gives me wrong information. Because I’m quickly learning that a lot of the time the Thai teachers don’t know what’s going on either. The difference is that they don’t expect to.

So my next goal for cultural assimilation isn’t to learn how things work (that’s pretty much my default setting, not a goal with an achievable end) but to accept that my school is never going to run things in a way that makes sense to me - a Western way. And taking that vacation was a big step, because I still have all the same frustrations and questions this week that I did last week, but now I’ve had some time away from it.

Sure, I still got frustrated this week when on my way to an M6 class that I haven’t seen in a month (thanks to the luck of Thai scheduling) the students told me that the last two periods of the day had been cancelled so the school could practice for Sports Day (three days of cheering, drumming, and dancing for no identifiable reason). No, I don’t really understand why the school decided it was absolutely vital to run a check on the electricity for two hours in the middle of the day today rather than after school, leaving me in a fanless, air-conditionless room with the door shut because I’m giving listening tests and the students have to be able to hear me. I’m still frustrated and confused, but I’m no longer surprised and that actually helps a lot more than I would have thought.

So now as I write this, dripping with sweat after teaching in my airless hotbox of a classroom, rubbing bloodshot eyes and coughing and wheezing like an asthmatic because they’re burning the rice fields outside the school (for boring farming reasons that I’m not interested in) and smoke is blowing into the office, I know that probably any moment one of the students (or maybe even a teacher) will stare at me, shake their head, and say “Teacher, you do not look good”, even though it is totally their country’s fault. And because I’ll see it coming, I probably won’t even be upset, which will put me one baby step closer to understanding the Thai way of life. No one knows how to roll with it better than the Thais.