This is really the only phrase I have mastered so far and without it I would have surely died of heat exhaustion and dehydration several days ago. Welcome to the world of 95 degree heat with 100% humidity.
So I reviewed my last blog and it was so terribly boring that I have to apologize and hope that some of you will keep reading. I'll try to make this one more interesting and I promise photos as soon as I can figure that out.
A quick update first, followed by observations...
I met my team on Monday at the SCUK office in Bangkok and was sweating like a hog by the time I got there. It was not a pretty first impression. I was also apparently wearing the wrong color. The Thai are very color coordinated, Monday being yellow day for the king. I was swimming in a sea of tiny beautiful non-sweating yellow shirted students and workers on the way to the office. I am holding out for Friday which is always blue day in honor of the queen!
So the team is quite sweet. I am the advisor, I have a Sr. Thai social worker, 2 Jr. Thai social workers, and 2 Burmese community liaisons. I was wondering how the dynamics would work out but so far it appears that they are looking to me to lead 100%, which is a little worrisome. Not particularly worried about whether or not I can do the job but a little worried that they all seem to be lacking confidence in themselves. I hope this is just false humility. I guess we'll have to see. We have 140 identified cases of Burmese migrant children living in unsuitable/unsafe situations (most are orphaned) that we have to resolve. They are communities that move a lot, we aren't sure where all the children are, and even our translators don't speak all of the dialects, so it is feeling a little daunting now for all of us.
So. Finished with Bangkok and we have all now moved to Khao Lak which is 1 hour north of Phuket. We are actually in Bang Niang, a smaller community a few minutes north of Khao Lak. It is lovely with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other. Have I mentioned the heat?
Not much to report. We will set up the office tomorrow and I'll probably spend next week doing some training in case management. I have a cell phone if anyone is dying to talk.
Ok, here are my amusing (at least to me) observations.
The Thai language doesn't utilize the sound V and instead muffles it with a very uncertain W sound. This has led to several misunderstandings including a good 5 minute debate about whether or not to take a "wan" from the airport to Khao Lak. I was completely baffled as they all stood around shouting "WAN... WAN?" at me.
The Thai language DOES utilize 5 different tones which can be applied to basically every word-giving them entirely different meanings. It has recently been told to me that my boss at SCUK spent an entire workshop misprounouncing the name of one of my jr. team members-in essence calling her by the name "pubic hair" for 3 straight days. The workshop participants found this way too funny, and were too polite, to inform her until many days later. I am now obsessed with practicing this name so that I don't end up introducing her to anyone as their social worker, Miss Pubic Hair...
There is limited TV at my guesthouse. We have one HBO channel which has so far shown Kramer vs. Kramer 2 days in a row. For a good laugh I like to watch the "English Minute" provided every couple of hours on one of the Thai Channels. One English minute expounded on the virtues of the Thai royalty in their past EARS and the one today was simply a lovely, and apparently English? quote that went something like "You should always follow the pursestrings of your heart." Huh. Well, you may not find it funny but in this American TV-less world I'll take what I can get.
Love from Bang Niang!
So I reviewed my last blog and it was so terribly boring that I have to apologize and hope that some of you will keep reading. I'll try to make this one more interesting and I promise photos as soon as I can figure that out.
A quick update first, followed by observations...
I met my team on Monday at the SCUK office in Bangkok and was sweating like a hog by the time I got there. It was not a pretty first impression. I was also apparently wearing the wrong color. The Thai are very color coordinated, Monday being yellow day for the king. I was swimming in a sea of tiny beautiful non-sweating yellow shirted students and workers on the way to the office. I am holding out for Friday which is always blue day in honor of the queen!
So the team is quite sweet. I am the advisor, I have a Sr. Thai social worker, 2 Jr. Thai social workers, and 2 Burmese community liaisons. I was wondering how the dynamics would work out but so far it appears that they are looking to me to lead 100%, which is a little worrisome. Not particularly worried about whether or not I can do the job but a little worried that they all seem to be lacking confidence in themselves. I hope this is just false humility. I guess we'll have to see. We have 140 identified cases of Burmese migrant children living in unsuitable/unsafe situations (most are orphaned) that we have to resolve. They are communities that move a lot, we aren't sure where all the children are, and even our translators don't speak all of the dialects, so it is feeling a little daunting now for all of us.
So. Finished with Bangkok and we have all now moved to Khao Lak which is 1 hour north of Phuket. We are actually in Bang Niang, a smaller community a few minutes north of Khao Lak. It is lovely with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other. Have I mentioned the heat?Not much to report. We will set up the office tomorrow and I'll probably spend next week doing some training in case management. I have a cell phone if anyone is dying to talk.
Ok, here are my amusing (at least to me) observations.
The Thai language doesn't utilize the sound V and instead muffles it with a very uncertain W sound. This has led to several misunderstandings including a good 5 minute debate about whether or not to take a "wan" from the airport to Khao Lak. I was completely baffled as they all stood around shouting "WAN... WAN?" at me.
The Thai language DOES utilize 5 different tones which can be applied to basically every word-giving them entirely different meanings. It has recently been told to me that my boss at SCUK spent an entire workshop misprounouncing the name of one of my jr. team members-in essence calling her by the name "pubic hair" for 3 straight days. The workshop participants found this way too funny, and were too polite, to inform her until many days later. I am now obsessed with practicing this name so that I don't end up introducing her to anyone as their social worker, Miss Pubic Hair...
There is limited TV at my guesthouse. We have one HBO channel which has so far shown Kramer vs. Kramer 2 days in a row. For a good laugh I like to watch the "English Minute" provided every couple of hours on one of the Thai Channels. One English minute expounded on the virtues of the Thai royalty in their past EARS and the one today was simply a lovely, and apparently English? quote that went something like "You should always follow the pursestrings of your heart." Huh. Well, you may not find it funny but in this American TV-less world I'll take what I can get.
Love from Bang Niang!
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