Hello!
Here is the latest group email. Feel free to pass it on to anyone who may be interested!
love
susan
The countdown is on. My contract ends the last day of March. I have to go to Bangkok next week to renew my work permit once more. I may renew it for a year just in case I decide to come back later. I won't know how I will feel until back in Phoenix. I do have a nice routine here and lots of heart connections with people.
I do miss things like nicer toilets, cooking my own meals, friends, family and movies in English as well as people to have nice long conversations with.
Most likely I will stay an extra week or two and do some traveling. I am off next weekend to travel to Cambodia with one of the teachers. Her parents live on the border of Thailand and Cambodia so we will spend the weekend there and visit Cambodia.
It has been hard being so far away because in the last few months my father has had such challenging medical problems. He is in the hospital for the third time now battling pneumonia. He is expected to make a recovery but he is quite weak. Please keep him in your prayers! He can be reached thru my brother Tom at 480-614-6321
Lots has gone on since my last email. It has been hard to find time to write between teaching, errands, travel and festivals.
There was Chinese New Year. What a festive fun celebration. The color RED filled the streets as did thousands of people. There were skits, food booths,fireworks and entertainment galore. A big dragon dancing on stilts was a highlight. I had a "glamor shot" taken dressed as a Chinese woman.
I went to the coast in Rayong with a Thai teacher and her family. It was a four hour drive. We visited her mother in law who is 85.years old and stayed overnight.
We had a blast playing in the ocean. The kids all helped me collect sea shells and my lesson the following week was 'a visit to the beach.' I brought in pics, sand, shells etc for the visual aids. It was well received by the students. Teaching eight hundred kids a week and being the only foreigner in the school makes me feel like a celebrity. All the kids know me. There are about 2800 students in the school. I cannot go anywhere without running into students. They go out of their way to say hello from balcony's or their houses. It is funny to hear Miss Susan being yelled out from somewhere in the distance. The teachers and students are forever giving me little love gifts. I enjoy the kid's artwork and cherish those gifts most of all.
We had an exhibition day at school and the courtyard was full of booths and activities commemorating the students' work. I had to help man the Teaching English booth. It was fun! there was dancing and singing once again as well.
My doctorate students took me out to dinner and to Kareokee. They have little rooms at the hotel which you can rent and have your own Kareokee sessions. It is the first time I have sung for others. They had a list of easy English songs. They gave me a beautiful Thai silk scarf as well. A few vow to visit me in the states.
One of the teachers and her husband are also saving to come for a visit. Her husband is in the army and is a manager in the army hospital. We visit him there sometimes.
It is interesting talking about the past......... Amazing their childhoods are so different than mine. The majority did not have any running water or electricity and were raised on farms with barely enough money to survive. They really worked hard. My friend Jane had to walk 5 miles to school each day besides getting up everyday at 4am to do chores for 3 hours.
I was a keynote speaker at the Buddhist University. They had invited two other colleges to join in. The topic was "How to Master English" I gave a forty five minute speech and it was well received They asked me to speak again at another University. It was the slowest speech I ever gave because of their difficulty with the language. I also used simple language as well. They gave me a beautiful plaque.
I teach twenty monks every week at their university. I love teaching them. They have such a peaceful innocent air about them. We have plenty of laughs. I have to always remember to be respectful and not to have any physical contact with them It is a taboo. Even when I pass out papers I must set it on the desk as opposed to hand it to them. They all call me their "teacher" when introducing me or addressing me. I teach them how to give talks on Buddhism in English. It is mostly what they are interested in. Good thing I do know a lot about Buddhism. I also read about their particular beliefs in some books I have. A lot is similar to Christianity namely how to be a good decent human being and not hurt others.
My teacher friend Jane went with me to some local Thai restaurants and encouraged them to make vegetarian dishes for me. God bless her! I now have a variety of places to choose from. By the way Jane is her nickname. She is a beautiful Thai woman with two grown daughters.
She speaks the most English of any teacher at the school She and I have become good friends. I will stay at her house when school ends in March
I went out with a man I met here who was a visiting professor from California. He has gone to Bhuton now. That is a place I would love to visit as well. It is very pristine and allows only 10,000 visitors each year.
I still miss India. A seventy three old nurse friend wants me to travel there with her. sometime in October or November. She was in Hurricane Katrina and lost her house. In fact she was rescued from her rooftop. She used to live in Kashmir until 2 years ago. She was there seven years. I met her in Delhi don't know if I could pull it off financially but with her connections and mine it could be a profound experience. Don't know how safe Kashmir is these days but I would sure love to see it.
In fact this experience makes me want to do more of the same. I love meeting and interacting with people of other cultures. I find it very stimulating and enlightening. As with India, Thai people want the same things out of life that Americans do: good jobs, friends, family relations, health etc. We have a lot to learn from one another. The woman here are very strong mentally and the people on the whole are easy going. They are a patient people. There has been a lot of protests over some corruption charges regarding the Prime Minister. Apparently he has evaded taxes and has made lots and lots of Bahts( the name of Thai money)
Well enough for now. Hope this email finds you at peace and in good health. I look forward to seeing you sometime in late April or May.
love
susan
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