Muay Thai. The national sport of Thailand and they absolutely love it. On my second week in Bangkok I met an 68 year old fella called Boss in the market that sells steaks! Imported from New Zealand, they are a welcome treat in between eating chopped up chicken or pork. His English is very good and we get on very well, he teaches me Thai and I eat there once every few weeks. Through him I met an old Muay Thai fighter 'Lo'. He doesn't fight anymore but he knows everything about whats happening in the sport. There are many boxing stadiums in Bangkok but they charge alot of money to farangs to get into these places. Which is fair enough if you are on holiday - a 1000 Baht entry fee is only £22 roughly. I'm not on holiday though and 1000 Baht goes a long way. So Lo gets me in for free! Being an ex fighter he seems to just walk in, I keep expecting to be stopped and asked for money but it never happens. I've been down to channel 7 studios to watch the Muay Thai a few times now and it is quite a spectacle. Lo pushes us to the seating section and haggles with a diminutive man who then gives us ringside seats for 100 - 150 Baht. So we get entry and ringside seats for 3 quid!
The fighting is without a doubt the toughest sport I've seen. Elbows and knees add a completely different dynamic than punches and kicks. The crowd are fun to watch as well. They cheer for every single punch, kick, knee, elbow, trip, throw, knockdown... pretty much anything that happens in the ring gets a roar from the crowd! Although gambling is illegal in Thailand, it's going on in the crowds. Every now and again an official turns around and shouts at them for gambling, he turns back round and it carries on!! Like naughty school kids! It's a wicked sport and it can be over in a flash. The championship bouts have been the most exciting and brutal but every fight is a clash between two highly tuned professional fighters.
Below is a video from channel 7 studios. I have lots that I might post at some stage but this one gives you a good idea of the atmosphere and the contest. Round 4 in a fight for a belt. The champion is in the red shorts and the contender in the blue. It was a great fight which actually ended in a draw.
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Temples (Wats)
During my time here so far, I have managed to visit a number of temples in Bangkok. They are incredibly peaceful places to be. Either alone with your thoughts, a pad and a pen or sharing the beauty of the temple with others. The Buddhist culture is quite beautiful in many ways and temples are their place of worship.
The Reclining Buddha: 42 metres long and 10.5 metres high. Carved out of brickwork and painted with real gold. It shows Buddha in a state of relaxation before entering Nirvana (formlessness).
The Emerald Buddha: This was the most incredible place to be, even just for a short time. Just to sit (always with feet facing backwards) and wonder at this incredible piece of work gets you thinking. Then suddenly you feel relaxed with your thoughts. No shoes, hat or photos allowed inside but I was allowed this one from outside. The bowl in the foreground is full of holy water and you dab a lotus flower in it and onto your head for good luck.
The Reclining Buddha: 42 metres long and 10.5 metres high. Carved out of brickwork and painted with real gold. It shows Buddha in a state of relaxation before entering Nirvana (formlessness).
The Emerald Buddha: This was the most incredible place to be, even just for a short time. Just to sit (always with feet facing backwards) and wonder at this incredible piece of work gets you thinking. Then suddenly you feel relaxed with your thoughts. No shoes, hat or photos allowed inside but I was allowed this one from outside. The bowl in the foreground is full of holy water and you dab a lotus flower in it and onto your head for good luck.
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
The Grand Palace
The sixth pic is another part of the palace that was built by a later king, he had been influenced by his trips to Europe and brought lots of new ideas and designs to Thai life. The current king is Rama IX (9) who was coronated on June 9th aged 19. He has done more for the country than anyone has ever done anywhere! He revolutionised Thailand and is treated like a god. Every morning at 8am at school the kids sing the king song and wherever you are you must stop what you're doing, stand up if you're sitting and listen (or sing) to the song. He is ill at the moment though and the country is very worried. No Thai will ever talk about him though so we simply refer to him as 'he who can't be mentioned'. Long live the King, a very positive and powerful influence on the Thai people and their culture.
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
1st month of teaching
I'm back online, it's taken a while but I now have a more permanent internet connection running. My landlord has provided me with a better cable which works fine. So I'm back on the blog.
It has been over a month of teaching now and I couldn't have found a better job for me. I absolutely love teaching. It requires creativity, adaptability and resourcefulness to get on in this job. It also requires patience, organisation and tact. Above all else, you need a sense of humour and a will to teach. I couldn't be happier, unless I had someone to help with the organisation! I have got into a good system now though and the school itself is quite organised. Plus, there are lots of other experienced teachers that love to help out with snippets they have discovered. Overall I have found it to be a very rewarding job. Everyday when a kid wants to speak to me in English about something it makes me smile. It means they are finding a reason to speak English which is that thought that I'm trying to instill in them. When they think about English I want them to think a happy thought, not a slaves thought, "I have to learn English because..." more like, "I choose to learn English because...". It's quite philosophical but these are my initial feelings about teaching and it's application. Subject to change of course! In a few years I'll probably think 'you will learn English you lil b******!' haha
The art classes with the posh kids are a different story to my English classes. Their English is very good already. There isn't a syllabus for art, I'm writing it! Other teachers have mentioned that its unfair but I think this is the best way to do it. Each art teacher has their own take on life, art and it's uses. When I got down to planning each unit I thought about how I was taught and how I would have liked to have been taught. So I decided to test the kids with the 1st unit on illustration, detailed analysis using a pencil of a subject. 4 weeks culminating in a very special lesson which is unique to the school, a life model class! I have made a lot of friends in the school and I sold it to them that all they had to do was sit and read a book for 40 mins - 2 x 20 min positions. And I ended up with 5 willing participants that all did great jobs as life models. Obviously the classes were fun and the kids enjoyed it but I wish I could show you some of these pictures. For their first ever life model class they all did well and some of them did really well. In particular the 10 year olds. They have improved so much since my first lesson with them and now they are really starting to look more with their eyes and less with their imaginations. Not that I'm stifling their imaginations in the slightest, I encourage them to add style to the drawings. Imaginative backgrounds and details that don't exist on the model. Just draw the model accurately first. They seem to enjoy my lessons and I enjoy them as well. The next unit I've planned is on light and shadow, then colour, then painting, then low-relief sculpting, then a sculpture. So, a nice transition from 2D to 3D will allow me to develop their core skills in the arts before I start to set projects that really test these skills.
Bangkok. It's cultural sights, sounds and smells. Coming soon.
It has been over a month of teaching now and I couldn't have found a better job for me. I absolutely love teaching. It requires creativity, adaptability and resourcefulness to get on in this job. It also requires patience, organisation and tact. Above all else, you need a sense of humour and a will to teach. I couldn't be happier, unless I had someone to help with the organisation! I have got into a good system now though and the school itself is quite organised. Plus, there are lots of other experienced teachers that love to help out with snippets they have discovered. Overall I have found it to be a very rewarding job. Everyday when a kid wants to speak to me in English about something it makes me smile. It means they are finding a reason to speak English which is that thought that I'm trying to instill in them. When they think about English I want them to think a happy thought, not a slaves thought, "I have to learn English because..." more like, "I choose to learn English because...". It's quite philosophical but these are my initial feelings about teaching and it's application. Subject to change of course! In a few years I'll probably think 'you will learn English you lil b******!' haha
The art classes with the posh kids are a different story to my English classes. Their English is very good already. There isn't a syllabus for art, I'm writing it! Other teachers have mentioned that its unfair but I think this is the best way to do it. Each art teacher has their own take on life, art and it's uses. When I got down to planning each unit I thought about how I was taught and how I would have liked to have been taught. So I decided to test the kids with the 1st unit on illustration, detailed analysis using a pencil of a subject. 4 weeks culminating in a very special lesson which is unique to the school, a life model class! I have made a lot of friends in the school and I sold it to them that all they had to do was sit and read a book for 40 mins - 2 x 20 min positions. And I ended up with 5 willing participants that all did great jobs as life models. Obviously the classes were fun and the kids enjoyed it but I wish I could show you some of these pictures. For their first ever life model class they all did well and some of them did really well. In particular the 10 year olds. They have improved so much since my first lesson with them and now they are really starting to look more with their eyes and less with their imaginations. Not that I'm stifling their imaginations in the slightest, I encourage them to add style to the drawings. Imaginative backgrounds and details that don't exist on the model. Just draw the model accurately first. They seem to enjoy my lessons and I enjoy them as well. The next unit I've planned is on light and shadow, then colour, then painting, then low-relief sculpting, then a sculpture. So, a nice transition from 2D to 3D will allow me to develop their core skills in the arts before I start to set projects that really test these skills.
Bangkok. It's cultural sights, sounds and smells. Coming soon.
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