Getting to know you.

                                       First day with business students in Bangkok, Thailand.

I finally got to meet all but one of my students.  I am glad that I had all the experience with Thai culture to avoid embarrassing moments.  It is not customary to shake hands, hug or be forward in any way.  These are all things against my natural emotions.  It is appropriate to great using a "Wai" where a person places the palm of his or her hands together, with their fingers extended at chest level close to their body and bows slightly.  

We met for our first time face to face on Tuesday, June 7, 2016,  I was told on Monday that they did not want pictures placed on the internet without pre-approval from the Dean of Students, Mr. Powpong.  Social media has taken away a lot of our freedom of speech and press.  It seems like it would be the other way around, but the, lack of a better word, "idiots" have placed inappropriate material online.  They could not figure out for themselves that they were "wrong" in their decision making process and now someone has to step in to make decisions for all of us.

The photo is of two classes together for the first day.  My students are all along the top row including Dee, the only woman in my class.  I had told the Dean what I was planning to do the first day and he was happy with my idea and combined the two adult groups into one for the first day.  All of the students arrived by 8:10.  Class starts at 8:00 but I know that in Thailand being late is acceptable.  I learned that with Ponsak over the years and also the Bangkok Hospital.  Time has little importance.  It is what you are use to I guess.  There is little stress at all in Thailand.  Maybe that has something to do with it.  At 8:10 I greeted all the adults with a "good morning".  I gave my resume story to them and went around the room with the same expectation of them.  We then completed the activity below.

1. The students turned to the right and give their neighbor a noun – a person, place, or thing.
2. Then the students turned to the left and gave that neighbor an adjective – a word that describes a person, place, or thing.
3. When everyone was done, each person finished the phrase, “My name is _______, I was given a gift, and it was a (n) . . .” For example, “My name is Brandin, I was given a gift, and it was a beautiful tie.”

The morning was mainly games and story telling and a lot of laughing about our stories.  Everyone had to say, "my name is" before they spoke and I told them I am slow at learning names.  I told them they only had to do it for the first two weeks.  "Just kidding".

They brought in curried and sesame chicken wrapped in lettuce for lunch.  Delicious.

The afternoon was more story telling except a bit more serious.  I used a digital recorder of their speech.  Each student told about something that happened at work.  We recorded it, wrote 2-4 sentences on the board and I made corrections.  They then repeated the story correctly(almost).

2:00---dismissal.  The last student left at 4:00.  There is little problem with them being talkative.  I thought they would be storied out.

                                            Below:  Happy hour is midday to midnight.

Below:  Donald Trump said that our infrastructure is a disaster.  What is Thailand's infrastructure?

Thailand:  

1. A century ago, more than 100,000 elephants lived in Thailand, with about 20,000 of them untamed. Now, there are about 5,000, with less than half of them wild.
2. Both the Hollywood movie and Broadway play of The King and I are banned in Thailand. Based on the Siamese ruler King Mongkut and a teacher named Anna Leonowens, the movie is seen as insulting to the king. While the movie depicts him as uncultured, he is believed to be the first Asian ruler to speak, read, and write English fluently. He also is considered highly intelligent, cultured, and well read. Further, he is known as the father of Thai scientists.