Field Trips

Last weekend Jenny and I went along to both Saturday's and Sunday's school field trips, which was great because I did not have to think about what, when, and where I was going. The school organized everything. Although the school was organized, it was as my friend Jenny said, "organized chaos."  Whenever the bus stopped, the kids were let loose. And I mean that in the nicest way possible. The kids roamed until it was time to come back. Though that's probably the best since there were so many kids…it would be to difficult to account for every one of them. It's just soo different from how you would bring kids on a field trip back home. And the buses/vans…man. What an interesting journey…seriously….they sing and dance in the back of the bus or in the aisle to pop/techno Thai music. They'll sit with four people in bucket seats meant for three. And snacks galore…. I'm sure the 7/11s we bombarded wondered where we all came from, and are single handily glad we helped clear out their inventory.

Saturday.

We went to Kanchanaburi to see and learn about the Bridge over the River Kwai (pronounced kway not kwai; kwai means buffalo and when I said it the kids and teachers got a great kick out of it), the Kanchanaburi National War cemetery (pronounced Sook - Sauw) which commemorates all the fallen Dutch, British, and Australian soldiers during WWII, as well as the Sai Yok Noi Waterfall.

The kids who went were assigned an English project, 3 short activities to be specific, as this was an English Day Trip. The activities weren't crazy difficult, but just enough to make them work. One specific activity however was to practice speaking English; they were supposed to speak to a foreigner and ask them for their name, where they were from, and how long they would spend in Thailand. Every time I asked a kid if they did it yet, they would say "Ah-loo-wah?" - Huh? or What?. Of course they understood me, but pretended not too. Grrr… And when I tried to get a kid to talk to a foreigner, they would bunch up in a group and be giggly. Sigh….   

And although Jenny and I have been to the bridge previously, it was nice to see it during the day without a rain cloud hovering like last time. The Kanchanaburi war cemetery was quite well kept and simply beautiful. However, something shocking that we heard via one of the Thai teachers - the groundskeeper spoke to a bunch of Japanese tourists who were taking photos, and told them in not so many words that it was their ancestors which put these people in the ground, consequently causing some of them to cry and then leave. Talk about being blunt and brutal…

After these two stops, we went at last to the place I wanted to go to most of the day - the Sai Yok Noi Waterfall. This is the Thai people's local waterfall in the Kanchanaburi province.  I heard if you don't play in the water, it's a great place to sit on bamboo mats and munch on Som Tam (papaya salad which I am addicted to and wanted to have horribly).  I guess I was too excited….The waterfall was nothing more than a trickle due to the decrease in water level above, and I didn't see any Som Tam. Disappointing…. On the other hand, Jenny and I did get to hike and enter a small cave with some kids; and we got to buy some "healthy" nibbles i.e. Taro chips (shoe string style chips as well). YYYYum!!! Of course this was no where as exciting as it was for the Thai teachers who relaxed, had lunch, went and literally bought at least 3 bags of snacks from the stands.

Jenny and the kids on the bridge

Itty Bitty Sai Yok and some Russians

Buddha in the cave

Mini Cave Explorers..

Our Van

Sunday.

Hot. Humid. Chatuchak market - largest weekend market possibly in the world. 7 buses packed with Thai children. = sticky madness…

I didn't and still don't understand why this was a "field" trip; there wasn't anything educational about it, but from what they attempted to try to tell us - something about school policy to take the kids somewhere outside of U-Thong to explore...

When we got to the market, the teachers instructed the kids when to come back and not to do anything stupid and to stay safe (or so I assume that was what they were saying in Thai), and then let them loose. At the end of the day, I really was quite surprised no one got lost or straggled back. I mean Jenny and I wandered round and round, sometimes unsure of where we already walked or where to go. Sometimes I felt claustrophobic and worried I wouldn't get out. But two things I learned this weekend, somehow organized chaos works, and Thai teachers like to shop hardcore once the kids are away.

7 Buses

Don't Get Stolen Please