Trip to Thailand
If Sarah Towne closes her eyes, she can still hear her favorite sound from her month in Thailand.
It's a moment from the start of each school day, when Doane College students stepped into the elementary classrooms of Pasanusornbangkae School, and Towne would hear: "Gooood moorn-ing Teach-er Sar-ahhh" in sweet unison and drawn-out syllables.
Like the other Doane students, Towne knew this interterm trip would be more than a vacation. They would be immersed in Thai culture, spending much of their time teaching in a school where English is a second language from a foreign culture.
Prior to the trip, the Doane group thought about what they would teach and the culture and language lessons they could share. What they couldn't know at the time is that they would leave feeling like they gained as much knowledge as they imparted.
Nine education majors from Doane spent January in the Bangkok area of Thailand, traveling with Dr. Richard Dudley, interim vice president of Advancement, and Lyn Forester, Ed.D., chair of Doane's Education division. They taught in a school of about 2,800 students owned by Chanarong Luckshaniyanavin, a 1991 Doane graduate.
It took months of planning to work out the logistics and outcomes of such a trip, all leading up to the January morning when the students' van turned down a long alley to the courtyard surrounded by Pasanusornbangkae's elementary, middle and commercial schools.
The first glance took in sturdy cement buildings rising two and three stories, a mammoth cafeteria and auditorium area, the indoor pool, track, basketball court and library. They saw a garden with lush greenery and the simultaneous view of palm trees and vendor-packed streets.
Like most new situations, it took awhile to hit their stride. Students found many of the lessons they had packed -- suitcases brimming with worksheets, markers and books -- were too simple for the Thai students, who already knew colors and letters. In the classrooms, the Thai students were shy. The junior high ‘buddies,' selected as ambassadors for the Doane students, spoke in halted, hesitant sentences.
But it didn't take many mornings for that to change. The shyness wore off and soon, there was always a small body in a blue and white uniform reaching to hold a Doane student's hand, or press a keepsake into their palm.
When it was time for lessons, a perfect circle would form at their feet as they read "My Little Word Book" or "The Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day." When it was time for fun, laughter spilled out to the courtyard, from rooms filled with the Chicken Dance, Hokey Pokey, pin wheels, bubbles and sidewalk chalk.
At lunchtime, the junior high buddies selected new Thai foods for the Doane group to try. The hesitant conversations became confident, trading questions and observances of each culture. At the end of each day, a row of children would bow in the respectful ‘wai' greeting, while the junior high students blew kisses as the van departed.
On Teacher Day, the Doane students felt like a part of the school, invited to join both the solemn morning ceremony with monks and the light-hearted afternoon of games, skits and dances. Doane students performed a traditional Thai song, complete with costume.
With each passing day, the Doane students said, they learned to be better teachers. They couldn't speak Thai, yet still needed to manage a Thai classroom. So they learned how to communicate with more than language and patiently apply a fresh approach to subjects students weren't grasping.
"This will help me teach multicultural lessons in my own classrooms someday," said Janelle Belina, a senior from Clarkson.
The trip helped Robert Rickert, a sophomore from Geneva, gain classroom confidence and the quickness to think on his feet when a lesson isn‘t working.
It helped junior Ashlee Nuss of Sutton decide she wants to teach English Language Learning, possibly abroad.
Megan Ottersberg, a senior from Wymore earning a special education endorsement, saw a parallel between teaching students of a foreign language and her special education classrooms in the United States.
" At home, I teach students who don't speak the same ‘educational language,' kids who don't learn in mainstream classrooms in the same manner as their peers," she said.
The Doane group enjoyed time outside of the classroom as well. They relaxed on the beaches of Hua-Hin and Pattaya City. They took afternoon excursions ranging from the splendor of the Grand Palace to crowded markets like "Backpackers Alley." They caught glimpses of Thai family life, sharing a child's birthday party, a family celebration and a farewell riverboat cruise. They discovered a city of contrasts.
Poverty lies next to pristine.
Skyscrapers stretch into the sky, yet shacks with tin roofs lie in their shadows.
They saw children traveling to school each morning in the back of pickups and motorcycles, but they also spent a day touring the wealthy and prestigious Harrow International School and the International School of Bangkok.
The ISB started as a school for embassy children during the Vietnam Conflict and today forms its own beautifully manicured city, with teachers from 19 countries and students of about 50 nationalities. It's a place of tennis, rugby and productions of "Beauty of the Beast" that feature the student orchestra. Harrow's roots lie in London's prestigious Harrow school, whose graduates include the likes of Winston Churchill.
Maybe the most important lesson Doane students brought home was an appreciation for another way of life. The month in Thailand not only introduced them to a new culture, but held a mirror up to their own. The image was not always flattering. Doane students observed how respectful Thai children were to their teachers and parents. The word ‘no' was rarely heard in school and students had chunks of unsupervised time, Rickert said, yet they did not get in trouble.
They called the American students beautiful and unfailingly sought to please and make them comfortable, especially at the junior high level.
"You don't see many 13 years-olds who want to learn like they did," said Marlee Wernke, a junior from Hemingford.
The school was a reflection of the larger culture, where even in the most congested traffic there is little honking or rude gestures.
They met laborers who work sunup to sundown, but don't consider it a heavy burden. They met a culture grounded in family rather than possessions, unified by religion and a universal love for their king. Ask students to describe Thai people and "gracious" and "gentle" are common adjectives.
It was more emotional than expected when it came time to load the van and leave the courtyard one last time. They had to say goodbye to rows of elementary students who had grown to love their American teachers. They had to say goodbye to Lizzy, a vivacious 15-year-old, a Christian in an overwhelmingly Buddhist city who wants to be a guide or an archaeologist, and Aom, her 15-year-old classmate, who wants to put her top grades into further study of history.
And teachers and staff like Tuk, who spent much of the month making sure Pasanusornbangkae was as comfortable as a second home.
When the van turned down the alley for the last time, Doane students recognized the tears on students' faces only a second before they felt the tears on their own.
This trip was more than a trip, junior Callie Brown of North Platte explained in a last-day evaluation. "We built relationships with the citizens of Thailand on this trip. It wasn't just a time to sight-see."
Which made it all the harder to say "Sawasdee ka" (goodbye).