It was the second full day at the hotel. After having slept badly and not being entirely acclimatised to the food being served, the overpowering morning lectures had taken it out of Pancho. He felt sick and not in any mood to have lunch. Additionally Phil was kind enough to point out that each of the foreign teachers’ hosting families, counsellors and advisors were present in the room.
Pancho felt positively exhilarated. Not only did he feel sick, but somewhere in the multitude of about 200 people there were a number that would be in charge of taking care of him and that would know what he looked like, while he did not even remember what their names were.
Of course, things could always be worse. However Pancho was not in any shape for trying his imagination on that subject now. He just ate a bit and quickly made his way back to his room while avoiding every possible eye contact. He then seriously committed himself to some afternoon repose in order to tackle the afternoon lectures in the freezing conference room.
Over the 3 day stay, the staff of the hosting organization kindly managed to overemphasize that the teachers were to meet their hosting families, counsellors and advisors any time soon. This fact handily meant that one stayed on tiptoes for the whole day, just in case it was about to happen.
As always the event actually occurred when Pancho expected it least. Waiting for the elevator to descend to the lobby and restaurant he stood beside the singular organiser who’s English could be described as good. This Thai fellow, Tub was his name, was interesting enough to talk to. When the elevator opened and Tub directed Pancho to step in, his impression temporarily plummeted however. This was due to the fact that the elevator was just about full to the brim with what seemed to be a bunch of eminent Thai people. Naturally Pancho gratuitously stepped inside while adeptly hiding his disappointment in this turn of events.
As soon as he had turned around to show the crowd in the elevator the beautiful back of his head he heard some incoherent Thai mumbling and several “oooohs” and “aaaaaahs”.
Pancho’s heart dropped a beat. He was somewhat shocked. His higher intellect had realised that he was probably in the presence of his coordinator and advisor. So without further ado he turned around and quickly picked out the two pleasant looking ladies standing in the back.
They confidently returned his questioning smile and went on to ask “Ah, uhm, Pancho?”
As there was no way of escaping the situation Pancho thought it wise to politely play along with a surprised expression “Yes, Oooooh, Ahhhhh Ok!”
The elevator was still only half way down the ground floor and already his conversational skills were failing. Luckily the two ladies picked up where he had left off. One of them piped up “I am your advisor”
And pointing towards the other lady “And this is your coordinator”
And again Pancho’s brilliant rhetorical skills sprang to life “Ohhhhhh, ok. Hello”
The other three people crowded in the elevator felt positively elated by this pleasant spectacle of surprise and joy. They all smiled broadly hoping for the elevator doors to open soon.
And as if answering Pancho’s and their prayers the elevator did not stop at any other floor but headed right down to the lobby. When the doors eventually did open he bounded out rapidly just in order to politely wait for his two new friends to catch up.
All three then leisurely strolled over to the restaurant which allowed Pancho to observe many of the other foreign teachers engaged in equally confident conversations.
Soon they were sitting at a table and Pancho was being taught his first Thai vocabulary.
In reference to a later occasion it is important to emphasize that Pancho insists on the best kind of manners when engaging with new acquaintances, simply in order to make everybody feel at ease and to show that they were not dealing with any uncultured savage.
The chit chat over dinner went amiably and was only interrupted by renewed servings from the buffet and the introduction of Pancho’s new host sister and one of her friends.
As they approached the table he was informed by his advisor in what relation he stood to them.
When they finally stood in front of him he smiled broadly and gave them the Thai “Hello” as it is to be expected of a well educated young fellow. His host sister’s friend replied quite the way Pancho expected, with a hearty welcome. He could however not quite identify the non smiling facial expression of his host sister.
How bizarre he managed to think to himself before the two withdrew to another table at the far end. There, Pancho presumed, they had moved in order to discuss this incredibly delightful fellow of a foreigner who one would not dare to expect in ones wildest dreams.
At the conclusion of the meal overflowing with understanding and highly sophisticated language, Pancho’s advisor proposed to take a seat with his host sister and her friend in order to become acquainted a little further.
His hopes of a quick retreat to his room were thus dashed before he politely consented.
As he was to experience many a time in Thailand, people like to ask what questions he has instead of asking anything themselves. And exactly this, his host sister Piu inflicted upon Pancho. As this was his first time facing a situation that required this very one sided approach he was initially thrown. One could even go as far as to say that he was stunned. And despite his higher mental capacity he could not come up with any kind of satisfactory questions to ask. So after he had clarified that he did not have any questions per se the conversation slowly picked up.
And as all three of them eased into a good understanding of each other, Piu casually let slip that she had been worried that Pancho was a nerd. Pancho naturally recoiled in horror.
A nerd? He was so in shock that he could not refrain from foul language What the hell is that supposed to mean? Naturally in real terms he phrased the question slightly differently.
“And how may I understand that?”
Piu in return was not in the least bothered as Pancho had during the conversation evidently convinced her that she had been mistaken.
“Oh, the way you were sitting at the table with your advisor and coordinator, you just looked like a nerd.”
That answer naturally did not put Pancho at ease. So they consider a well mannered fellow a nerd in these parts? My my my!
Pancho did however make a mental note that it was of vital importance that he display a certain air of coolness at all times in order to prevent such an impression from creeping up again.
The following day Pancho was to look forward to a tour of Bangkok before hopping on the bus to the tiny town of Phunee (1000 souls or so) in the evening. The name he had been told, literally translated to “forest in the middle of nowhere” and by the sounds of it literally would be the remotest location Pancho had visited in his life, with a few exception that may remain secret.
Before an adventurous day in Bangkok however, the morning was to be filled with speeches, speeches and even more speeches (including a short introduction by the foreign teachers). That morning Pancho was afflicted with an even worse case of morning sickness, even including a headache. Before entering the conference room that was filled with host families, advisors and counsellors Pancho was reassured by Catherine how bad he did actually look. This made him more certain of his excuse for not performing well during his introductory “speech”.
The time did come around however, as the group stood in line before an assembled mob of about 200 Thai people, ready to take photos of their prize foreigners that they were allowed to take home that day. One after another the other foreigners managed their speeches in more or less suave and efficient ways. Most importantly however they used no visual aid which displayed the speech. Even Pancho’s feeling of sickness could not hide the fact that it would not look very good to read his off the page, but any attempt to memorise what he had written down, failed on his sickly mind.
A fellow by the name of Dickens even had the nerve to write down his speech on the palm of his hand. As this Dickens took a not too sneaky peak down at his scribblings Pancho thought he was saved at last. At least he would not be the only one requiring any assistance. But he was quickly dismayed as this action seemed to touch the humorous side of the Thai people and the room erupted in laughter. With sinking heart Pancho waited his turn.
Just as the girl before him managed to fail more epically than he could have hoped for Pancho looked into the proud eyes of his assembled group of supporters (Advisor and coordinator). At that moment he was convinced that their hopes could not be disappointed. Despite reading the minuscule speech off the paper Pancho placed great emphasize on the pronunciation. At least he did not want to appear with the flimsy foreign accents some others had displayed. So for a minute of concentration his voice reverberated through the microphone into the eager ears of the listeners. And to Pancho’s delight, his words met with acceptance of his only slightly better pronunciation (Alone the pronunciation of the province he was going to live in caused him grief).
To Pancho’s immediate horror, immediately after the speech, during the obligatory photo, he was presented with the traditional clothing of Amnat Charoen, his province. This garment, or cloth would better describe it, was wrapped around him in front of the crowd, which consequently erupted into great applause. Pancho’s decision to wear this cloth for the rest of the occasion proved wise as he was warmly welcomed by most people present during the coffee break. His day was saved. The coffee seemed to magically clear away his stomach’s disagreeability as well. Only one of Catherine’s renewed remarks stung for a few moments. As he wore the cloth around his head (They are many ways this is to be worn) she came up to Pancho and declared that he positively looked like he had taken ill now. In light of this he soon after removed the cloth from his head in order to place it in a less conspicuous position around his hips. Naturally he used the excuse that it was far too hot around his head, which was actually true as the air conditioning seemed to have been turned down in the hotel to a more agreeable temperature.
After the break Pancho managed to steal the show once again as he performed a mock lesson with some of the other teachers. So he had turned the morning from impending doom into a glorious victory as only singularly rare brilliance can.
Finally following lunch and some teary goodbyes in between the teachers, well not really, everybody set off on their journey to their new home region of Thailand.
For Pancho his trip would begin at 8:30pm with a 10 hour bus ride in a bus that felt like it a freezer.
In the mean time, Piu and her friend gave Pancho, his advisor and his coordinator a quick tour of Bangkok including JJ market which was quite an adventure. The heat, the thousands of stalls on cramped spaces and the incredibly diverse array of goods seemed like quite something. Even the frequent sightings of tourist foreigners (mostly strange shady types) were somewhat of an experience.
Following this little adventure they made a trip to a distant shopping centre. Here Pancho had the shock of his day. He found an indoor ice skating rink! After trying to wriggle out of the invitation to go on by using the excuse that he could not ice skate, Piu managed to convince him and with his help, her friend and his coordinator as well.
The whole ordeal was a sight to see, as Pancho quickly found out that he was a true master compared to the others and that they needed more than some teaching. His biggest amazement was directed to some of the other partakers of this sport however, who jetted around the ice as if they were gymnast experts on firm ground. They truly did look like masters on ice, despite the fact that they lived in a country of such stupendous heat.
Pancho felt positively exhilarated. Not only did he feel sick, but somewhere in the multitude of about 200 people there were a number that would be in charge of taking care of him and that would know what he looked like, while he did not even remember what their names were.
Of course, things could always be worse. However Pancho was not in any shape for trying his imagination on that subject now. He just ate a bit and quickly made his way back to his room while avoiding every possible eye contact. He then seriously committed himself to some afternoon repose in order to tackle the afternoon lectures in the freezing conference room.
Over the 3 day stay, the staff of the hosting organization kindly managed to overemphasize that the teachers were to meet their hosting families, counsellors and advisors any time soon. This fact handily meant that one stayed on tiptoes for the whole day, just in case it was about to happen.
As always the event actually occurred when Pancho expected it least. Waiting for the elevator to descend to the lobby and restaurant he stood beside the singular organiser who’s English could be described as good. This Thai fellow, Tub was his name, was interesting enough to talk to. When the elevator opened and Tub directed Pancho to step in, his impression temporarily plummeted however. This was due to the fact that the elevator was just about full to the brim with what seemed to be a bunch of eminent Thai people. Naturally Pancho gratuitously stepped inside while adeptly hiding his disappointment in this turn of events.
As soon as he had turned around to show the crowd in the elevator the beautiful back of his head he heard some incoherent Thai mumbling and several “oooohs” and “aaaaaahs”.
Pancho’s heart dropped a beat. He was somewhat shocked. His higher intellect had realised that he was probably in the presence of his coordinator and advisor. So without further ado he turned around and quickly picked out the two pleasant looking ladies standing in the back.
They confidently returned his questioning smile and went on to ask “Ah, uhm, Pancho?”
As there was no way of escaping the situation Pancho thought it wise to politely play along with a surprised expression “Yes, Oooooh, Ahhhhh Ok!”
The elevator was still only half way down the ground floor and already his conversational skills were failing. Luckily the two ladies picked up where he had left off. One of them piped up “I am your advisor”
And pointing towards the other lady “And this is your coordinator”
And again Pancho’s brilliant rhetorical skills sprang to life “Ohhhhhh, ok. Hello”
The other three people crowded in the elevator felt positively elated by this pleasant spectacle of surprise and joy. They all smiled broadly hoping for the elevator doors to open soon.
And as if answering Pancho’s and their prayers the elevator did not stop at any other floor but headed right down to the lobby. When the doors eventually did open he bounded out rapidly just in order to politely wait for his two new friends to catch up.
All three then leisurely strolled over to the restaurant which allowed Pancho to observe many of the other foreign teachers engaged in equally confident conversations.
Soon they were sitting at a table and Pancho was being taught his first Thai vocabulary.
In reference to a later occasion it is important to emphasize that Pancho insists on the best kind of manners when engaging with new acquaintances, simply in order to make everybody feel at ease and to show that they were not dealing with any uncultured savage.
The chit chat over dinner went amiably and was only interrupted by renewed servings from the buffet and the introduction of Pancho’s new host sister and one of her friends.
As they approached the table he was informed by his advisor in what relation he stood to them.
When they finally stood in front of him he smiled broadly and gave them the Thai “Hello” as it is to be expected of a well educated young fellow. His host sister’s friend replied quite the way Pancho expected, with a hearty welcome. He could however not quite identify the non smiling facial expression of his host sister.
How bizarre he managed to think to himself before the two withdrew to another table at the far end. There, Pancho presumed, they had moved in order to discuss this incredibly delightful fellow of a foreigner who one would not dare to expect in ones wildest dreams.
At the conclusion of the meal overflowing with understanding and highly sophisticated language, Pancho’s advisor proposed to take a seat with his host sister and her friend in order to become acquainted a little further.
His hopes of a quick retreat to his room were thus dashed before he politely consented.
As he was to experience many a time in Thailand, people like to ask what questions he has instead of asking anything themselves. And exactly this, his host sister Piu inflicted upon Pancho. As this was his first time facing a situation that required this very one sided approach he was initially thrown. One could even go as far as to say that he was stunned. And despite his higher mental capacity he could not come up with any kind of satisfactory questions to ask. So after he had clarified that he did not have any questions per se the conversation slowly picked up.
And as all three of them eased into a good understanding of each other, Piu casually let slip that she had been worried that Pancho was a nerd. Pancho naturally recoiled in horror.
A nerd? He was so in shock that he could not refrain from foul language What the hell is that supposed to mean? Naturally in real terms he phrased the question slightly differently.
“And how may I understand that?”
Piu in return was not in the least bothered as Pancho had during the conversation evidently convinced her that she had been mistaken.
“Oh, the way you were sitting at the table with your advisor and coordinator, you just looked like a nerd.”
That answer naturally did not put Pancho at ease. So they consider a well mannered fellow a nerd in these parts? My my my!
Pancho did however make a mental note that it was of vital importance that he display a certain air of coolness at all times in order to prevent such an impression from creeping up again.
The following day Pancho was to look forward to a tour of Bangkok before hopping on the bus to the tiny town of Phunee (1000 souls or so) in the evening. The name he had been told, literally translated to “forest in the middle of nowhere” and by the sounds of it literally would be the remotest location Pancho had visited in his life, with a few exception that may remain secret.
Before an adventurous day in Bangkok however, the morning was to be filled with speeches, speeches and even more speeches (including a short introduction by the foreign teachers). That morning Pancho was afflicted with an even worse case of morning sickness, even including a headache. Before entering the conference room that was filled with host families, advisors and counsellors Pancho was reassured by Catherine how bad he did actually look. This made him more certain of his excuse for not performing well during his introductory “speech”.
The time did come around however, as the group stood in line before an assembled mob of about 200 Thai people, ready to take photos of their prize foreigners that they were allowed to take home that day. One after another the other foreigners managed their speeches in more or less suave and efficient ways. Most importantly however they used no visual aid which displayed the speech. Even Pancho’s feeling of sickness could not hide the fact that it would not look very good to read his off the page, but any attempt to memorise what he had written down, failed on his sickly mind.
A fellow by the name of Dickens even had the nerve to write down his speech on the palm of his hand. As this Dickens took a not too sneaky peak down at his scribblings Pancho thought he was saved at last. At least he would not be the only one requiring any assistance. But he was quickly dismayed as this action seemed to touch the humorous side of the Thai people and the room erupted in laughter. With sinking heart Pancho waited his turn.
Just as the girl before him managed to fail more epically than he could have hoped for Pancho looked into the proud eyes of his assembled group of supporters (Advisor and coordinator). At that moment he was convinced that their hopes could not be disappointed. Despite reading the minuscule speech off the paper Pancho placed great emphasize on the pronunciation. At least he did not want to appear with the flimsy foreign accents some others had displayed. So for a minute of concentration his voice reverberated through the microphone into the eager ears of the listeners. And to Pancho’s delight, his words met with acceptance of his only slightly better pronunciation (Alone the pronunciation of the province he was going to live in caused him grief).
To Pancho’s immediate horror, immediately after the speech, during the obligatory photo, he was presented with the traditional clothing of Amnat Charoen, his province. This garment, or cloth would better describe it, was wrapped around him in front of the crowd, which consequently erupted into great applause. Pancho’s decision to wear this cloth for the rest of the occasion proved wise as he was warmly welcomed by most people present during the coffee break. His day was saved. The coffee seemed to magically clear away his stomach’s disagreeability as well. Only one of Catherine’s renewed remarks stung for a few moments. As he wore the cloth around his head (They are many ways this is to be worn) she came up to Pancho and declared that he positively looked like he had taken ill now. In light of this he soon after removed the cloth from his head in order to place it in a less conspicuous position around his hips. Naturally he used the excuse that it was far too hot around his head, which was actually true as the air conditioning seemed to have been turned down in the hotel to a more agreeable temperature.
After the break Pancho managed to steal the show once again as he performed a mock lesson with some of the other teachers. So he had turned the morning from impending doom into a glorious victory as only singularly rare brilliance can.
Finally following lunch and some teary goodbyes in between the teachers, well not really, everybody set off on their journey to their new home region of Thailand.
For Pancho his trip would begin at 8:30pm with a 10 hour bus ride in a bus that felt like it a freezer.
In the mean time, Piu and her friend gave Pancho, his advisor and his coordinator a quick tour of Bangkok including JJ market which was quite an adventure. The heat, the thousands of stalls on cramped spaces and the incredibly diverse array of goods seemed like quite something. Even the frequent sightings of tourist foreigners (mostly strange shady types) were somewhat of an experience.
Following this little adventure they made a trip to a distant shopping centre. Here Pancho had the shock of his day. He found an indoor ice skating rink! After trying to wriggle out of the invitation to go on by using the excuse that he could not ice skate, Piu managed to convince him and with his help, her friend and his coordinator as well.
The whole ordeal was a sight to see, as Pancho quickly found out that he was a true master compared to the others and that they needed more than some teaching. His biggest amazement was directed to some of the other partakers of this sport however, who jetted around the ice as if they were gymnast experts on firm ground. They truly did look like masters on ice, despite the fact that they lived in a country of such stupendous heat.
Belly is aching since laughed so much during the reading of this passage. With smile on my face on a hard porteno day can only say: keep on writing!
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