Sunday, November 28

Friday was English Together International Day and I have some stories to tell!

But first…Thanksgiving! Roman and I waited until the last minute to decide what we wanted to do for Thanksgiving. I had initially thought I would cook, but once I started working at school, I realized I wouldn’t want to arrive home at 4:30pm after a long day and try and make a whole Thanksgiving feast using only the stove and my little toaster oven.

One of the most popular options in Bangkok is to go to one of several Thanksgiving buffets, which cost from 30 to 60 USD for all-you-can-eat. But since buffets are all about quantity over quality, they just aren’t my favorite—and I won’t eat enough food to make it seem “worth it.”

We were kind of on the fence about whether we’d do anything for Thanksgiving at all, especially since we’re at the end of the month and our funds are low. But on Thursday afternoon, once we were home from work, we decided to order from Dean & Deluca, a fancy international store selling imported grocery items and food.

We shared a turkey plate with truffle mashed potatoes and broccoli cheddar casserole, and added a side of pistachio chestnut stuffing. It also came with gravy and red currant sauce, and it was all surprisingly good.

We also got pumpkin and chocolate pecan pie and were happy, in the end, that we decided to do something for Thanksgiving after all.

But…International Day! I was alternately tickled and mortified during the process of preparing for and celebrating this day (which is, I believe, only something celebrated at the Kindergarten at TCS). I learned that last year, the school assigned countries to the foreign teachers, and they had to come dressed as Mexico, or the UK, or Israel. I was DYING with laughter when I learned that they didn’t have anything explicitly British at the costume shop for Nick, so they rented him a pirate costume!!! And I was horrified to hear about the teacher (who isn’t at TCS anymore) who was assigned Israel and came dressed as…a Jew?

So when they said we could choose our countries, I leapt on France, since it seemed very unlikely they’d try and press me into a costume I found offensive to wear, unlike if I were assigned, you know, Haiti or China or wherever. I was going to go dressed as a mime, since that seemed cheap and easy, but when we all took a trip to the costume shop one Friday afternoon, and Teacher Noi named our countries to woman working, I was presented with a whole stack of ornate ballgowns. I ended up leaving with a ridiculous princess-style dress, complete with gloves, necklace, and tiara, that did not exactly scream France to me.

But! Ellen, who chose the US, and who—she and I firmly agreed—would NOT go dressed as a Native American—had chosen Abraham Lincoln. And at the THIRD costume shop we visited, they pulled out a giant mad hatter hat for her and once again I was dying laughing.

Luke chose Africa (he’s South African but wanted to talk about the entire continent) and was a given an Indian-style tunic and pants. Nick, who had chosen Spain and eyeing this whole process warily, got on his phone and quickly ordered a Spanish soccer outfit.

The day of the event was pretty festive. The Thai teachers dressed up—I saw one in a sari, one in a kimono, and several in 60s-style dresses. And then there was Teacher Noi...in a Rastafarian hat. Yikes.

The kids mostly wore Chinese outfits and traditional Thai outfits. There were also some kids in Spiderman costumes and several Captain Americas. Daisy, one of my shyest, sweetest, K1 students, came dressed as the Red Light Green Light robot girl from Squid Game. I could not wrap my head around that.

Key chains Roman's school sells at their store

The English teachers all had to create displays on fold-out poster boards—as well as a 50 minute presentation with activities and worksheets for both of our classes (I should consider myself lucky—last year, the teachers had to present to all eight classes, but that’s been nixed because of Covid concerns). Even though I was no longer going with the mime costume, I decided to do pantomime—I would mime a few things, then students could volunteer to do the same.

It all kind of went to shit when I got into the classroom, though. The kids were gobsmacked by my outfit and just wanted to talk and ask me questions, so we spent quite a lot of time doing that. When we finally got to charades, I realized the animal cards I had pre-printed—goat, sheep, cow, etc—were really hard to convey silently. I decided to just look up animals on my phone and show the image to the students, but I was wearing elbow length black gloves, which made using my phone nearly impossible. But my gloves were covering my tattoos, which also meant I couldn’t just take them off.

I spent most of the first period scuttling out of one glove and trying to keep my arm mostly hidden while I pulled up another photo on my phone, before pulling the glove back on again and showing the student the picture. For the second lesson, I was better prepared, but the whole thing was surprisingly exhausting, and I was glad I have a long break on Friday afternoon. 

After school on Friday, I got off the songtaew early and checked out the Phra Khanong market, located in some back streets behind Soi 71. Soi 71 is pretty congested and not very charming, so I was surprised to step onto the quiet streets, and past stalls selling fruits, produce, pastries, meat, and flowers.

The plastic bucket hid a pet turtle

In the evening, I met up with Pam, a new friend from Bumble BFF. We were supposed to meet up at a Jazz Club near Chinatown (it was her idea, and I was trying to be game!). I got off the bus at Wat Traimit and then headed to the Jazz Club. The night was relatively cool, which made the air feel almost fresh, and I walked through the charming old historical streets, past hip little cafes, cool young Thais and foreigners gathered in hidden bars, and secret pockets of street food carts. 

It was one of those moments when I felt how lucky I am to be in Bangkok, where it is always warm, and where I feel safe walking by myself at night, and where my salary means I can afford to go meet a friend in a hip neighborhood without spending all the cash I have.

The jazz club turned out to be closed, so I walked to meet Pam at Wallflowers, an impossibly cute bar in a well-preserved, tall and narrow old building. It was full of exposed brick, modern chandeliers, cozy little sitting nooks, and intricate terrariums.

Pam and I initially had a seat near the live band, but it was noisy, so we headed downstairs, where we nursed 300 baht mocktails and chatted for hours.  

Here are a few more pics from the weekend…

At the BTS station

Cheap lunch on Phetchaburi Road

On Saturday, I went on a gallery walk with Van and saw a few things I liked, including this sculpture

Same piece in close up

Large piece made from old receipts

On Sunday, Roman and I took the BTS to Saphan Taksin, and wandered down Charoen Krung—the first street in Bangkok to be built using modern construction methods (in 1862!). We checked out this very Thai method for growing plants…

We drank soda waters…

And stopped to eat delicious braised beef soup for lunch at an open-air Chinese restaurant tucked down a little alley.

We walked up to River City, a shopping-center-meets-art-gallery, where we checked out everything from museum-worthy antiques to Thai porcelain to contemporary art installations…

Roman tossing a ball into the "happy" box

And then we relaxed along the river bank and watched the boats pass...

We walked home along Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem, which is a low and dark and swampy canal that makes me think of the Southern US.

And then we headed home.

Also, Stephen Sondheim died this weekend. He had such an enormous influence on my life that I can't really put it into words, but here are some photos that represent a small fragment of that influence. His work was challenging and unique and thoughtful and profound and powerful and true.