Freshly cooked vegetables, Myanmar education, and Preparing for landing!

vegetables on kitchen shelves by door

Dear All,

Internet has been abysmal, and so will probably have to wait until Mandalay to send this.  Nothing of newsworthy interest anyway, as you can tell from the subject heading.  So feel welcome to skip this email.

Preparing for Landing

I’ve made reservations to Bangkok and hotel! 

I barely completed purchase of the plane ticket at the internet café when the electricity and internet went out. Did a quick trip to the market and when came back, it was just coming back on, so was also able to also make hotel reservations at a Lonely Planet/Trip Adviser recommended hotel Feung Nakorn Balcony, a few blocks further away from the Khao San Street, which is supposed to be the backpacker hangout and somewhat noisy at night, than the slightly cheaper Sleep Within hotel I’d also considered.

 I also splurged an extra ten dollars a night to get a private room rather than shared 4 person female dorm.  Never having been there and Bangkok sounding so daunting, I thought I’d error on slightly more costly than the cheaper tier of hotels, but then they add on hotel tax and service charge so, instead of the cheaper $20-$30 range hotels, it ended up being about $50/night—but by U.S. and even Myanmar now (and all the $200 Bangkok hotel) standards, I guess that’s not out of the ordinary at all.  And up to now I’ve barely spent a hundred and fifty dollars in the last two months, so I probably don’t have to have a conservatorship to keep me from prolifigately spending money yet (even despite my week-long procrastination on my air ticket costing me an extra ten dollars, on top of the December unused ticket and hotel)).  And hopefully I‘ll get two nights of finally good sleep!  It should also be a good interlude/transition between Myanmar and the U.S.

Mohinga, Myanmar Education, and Lunch Vegetables

Went to a café for mohinga for breakfast with Aung Khaing Soe, who wanted any last ideas I might have for better teaching his students.  He is very aware of the problems with the Myanmar educational system, and the pressure on teachers from students and school alike to just prepare the students for the exams on the state material, which they memorize for, without understanding the words of what they’re reading, or being able to speak or understand English at all.   He is often quite alone in his efforts to give them more true education, and students and other teachers alike will blame him if they don’t pass. On the way into town once early on, Aung had shared a chicken soup story he'd read about a teacher famed for her great teaching; it was hard to hear everything what with the wind and me being behind him on his motorcycle, but the gist of it was that her teaching secret was that she loved her students.  I think he is equally dedicated to his students.

 

He's been a teacher at IBEC only since the beginning of the term this summer, invited here by the principal. Previously he had taught at government schools, private ones, and boarding schools which if I understand correctly, are one-year programs about 800,000 kyat ($800) for everything, that bridge students from their government school education to a place where they actually have a chance of passing university exams to continue on in the education (sort of like a remedial year). All the teachers here are volunteers, getting a small stipend for personal needs, so he probably will not stay next year. He shared that his ambition is to get a tour guide license this coming year, so he can earn enough money to open a school back in his native village near Bagan.

Today’s treat was cauliflower, beans and greens for lunch that were not overcooked! 

sticky rice last morning

Downton Abbey and British boarding schools

Last night visited Richard, the other volunteer, in his plush guestroom in the main building, which is  a palatial tiled guestroom with private Western  bathroom. (I am assured by the principal that if I come back next year, the new guesthouse they’re building now will be done.)   Richard had spent the day in Mandalay, and he gifted me with Season 5 of Downton Abbey which he picked up in the dvd market.  He is currently working his way through the Sopranos series, and then will begin on Orange is the New Black which he also picked up there. He shared some Myanmar wine with me, which wasn’t bad at all, and he shared information about Bangkok with me.

Sagaing university students 6-week class

       He also shared with me about British boarding schools—he was sent to one when he was six—and was one of the last to be caned before that tradition was abolished. He says now Britain has swung to the other extreme, where you can’t even lightly swat a misbehaving child’s bottom in a supermarket without people making citizen’s arrest; aggressive kids and teenagers have become a menacing terror (and Richard’s big!) because of their invulnerability.  Richard spends most of his time in Asia, first teaching in Thailand, then playing poker professionally in Cambodia, and now teaching again, with periodic visits back to England.  He’s great with the students and very friendly.

student thrown ball has to answer question given

 Today taught the opening class of a 6-week special English class for university students.  Tomorrow I go to the Mandalay school, then back for one day to say good byes and fly to Bangkok.