Midterm Return

Last week all of the students had midterm tests, projects, presentations, etc. The stress level was high to say the least. My team and I are taking a Thai Conversation for Daily Life. As one would assume we practice conversation. However, our midterm test was a written exam, not in Thai letters, but in phonetics which includes tone marks. I thought it was quite a challenging test. Had I not taken Thai last year, I think I would have failed!

Today after the lesson our Ajaan said, "Ok, now you will get marks for the middle exam." How do you think this is supposed to go? She passes back the tests, we look at them, compare with our neighbor, ask questions, and then give them back to the teacher. FALSE!! Our teacher straight up said our name and then our grade! In front of the whole class! That's illegal in America right? We could not believe that the whole class could hear our grades. We even heard the grades of the students who were absent. Weird right? Since we heard all of the grades, I would like to say that about half the class failed. Not like they made a 58%, but closer to a 30%. Crazy!

Another interesting thing I learned on Monday: When families have a baby they don't name them at the hospital. They take their child to the temple to have a Buddhist monk give them a "special name." A girl named Kung shared this information with me and also told me that many, if not most, Thai people are named like this. Apparently, that's why their names are 15 letters long.

Please pray for our friend Kung and that she may come to know the one true God of the Bible. Also, pray for our classmates that will have to take the retest.

PS if you're wondering, the highest grade on the test was an 89%, and it wasn't me!

Rainy Season in Sii Chomphuu

So the rainy season. It began at the end of May and will continue through September and lighten up in October. July has been amazingly rainy! But what's crazy is we still see the sun almost everyday. These huge rain clouds come out of nowhere and then torrential rain pours down from the sky. Now, Thailand is not like Florida with predictable afternoon showers. No, the rain comes anytime of day or night. And sometimes it rains for hours, sometimes with wind, and sometimes with heat. The only thing certain is that the carrying of an umbrella is essential.



Sii Chomphuu means the color pink in Thai. We call our mubaan or neighborhood pink because not only are the outsides of our homes pink, but also ALL of the tile inside. Monochromatic color schemes are always acceptable in Thailand.