Last Words

My Thai language class at WardtawanPattayaLanguageSchool has sadly ended - we spent one hour in the "upper room," squeezing in all the last-minute lessons our Kruu (teacher) could manage.  She said it bothered her heart that she did not teach us all that she wanted.  But we were all very happy with the class.  It was well organized, and we gained an amazing amount of knowledge in those thirty hours.  What we will not miss is the lingering unpleasant odor in the upstairs classrooms that never got cool, despite the air con being turned on full blast.  Some speculated the odor was due to a dead mouse in the air con.    Management claimed the air con had been serviced, but the odor remained.  Other than that, it was a great experience.  Thank-you, Wardtawan School!

The second hour brought the class down to the main lobby, where it is blessedly cool, compared to the upstairs.  Nearly everyone brought a dish to share.  I baked homemade brownies, my first time to bake in our little condo.  I found our kitchen here to be lacking in equipment - no mixer, mixing bowl, cooling rack, spatula, etc., but made do with what was on hand.  I pictured my own utensils sitting unused in my kitchen in Michigan, and realized that as much as I am under-equipped here, I am equally over-equipped there, having accumulated many unnecessary  things over thirty-plus years.  I did bring a 9 x 13 baking dish from home when we were there in April - don't think I could have managed brownies without that.  They turned out pretty well - I substituted some plain yogurt for some of the butter, and that made them nice and moist.  The vanilla I bought here has a somewhat overbearing scent, which I thought affected the taste a bit.  But reviews by my classmates were quite favorable.

An abundance of fruit and goodies graced the lobby area, and Mika brought some of her delicious home-made bread and some little casseroles.  The management sprang for pizza and drinks.  We ate and socialized, then it was time for singing and dancing!  We'd learned two Thai songs in class (I use the word "learned" loosely), and our Kruu said she would teach us some Thai dancing if we sang them on the last day of class.  One of the songs we learned was the traditional song of the Loy Krathong festival, the festival of lights that takes place in the 12th lunar month of the year.  This was the festival we stumbled upon the day we arrived in Thailand.  The traditional Loy Krathong dance is more about hand and head movements, with simple, small walking steps for the feet.  The woman dances in front, and the man circles behind her from side to side. Here's a video of Thai's who know what they're doing: Loy Krathong Song and Dance  As usual, most of the men begged off this activity, so the ladies took the lead.  It was a lot of fun, as long as we didn't care how ridiculous it looked!

Kruu and Me

A few of us agreed we wanted to continue the classes, although this time will not be free.  I think we will have a group of just three or four, and hope to begin again in August.  Just enough time to forget everything... I mean, study everything!

Tim was away for the week, so after class, Mika and I hiked back to her condo, which was just a ten minute walk.  We enjoyed some refreshments and the view from her balcony until her little one came home from school.  The three of us went out for a real Italian dinner at a little place called Da Cionso.  The charming host, Peppino, only spoke Italian, and Mika impressed once again with her amazing language skills!  I enjoyed a plate of Macchiaroni Da Cionso along with the Italian conversation.  We had a nice, relaxing evening, then my dinner companions hopped on the back of a motorbike taxi to head home.