School Visit and Final Temple Visits

21. February. 2014 - Friday

Chomsurang Upatham School

English Program

Ayutthaya

Just when I think the trip can’t get any better, we visit another school and get to spend time with the students.  We first visited an 8th grade class that is in the English Program.  The teacher is from Austraila.  On Fridays, the kids practice public speaking and today they had brought their favorite things from home to talk about.  One girl and brought her martial arts belts, another a farmer’s manual that was her mother’s when she was young and the majority of kids brought their stuffed animals.  One of the teachers in our group is an elementary PE teacher who travels with the his school’s stuffed bear mascot named Bondi so it was very nice that Bondi got his picture taken home with all of the student’s stuffed animals.  These girls were all 8th graders and their English was very good.  This is one of the absolute best schools in Bangkok and the students have to take very difficult exams to be accepted. Public school is free for all children in Thailand but many parents will send their kids to private schools such as this one because the quality of the education is often much better.

Next, there was a reception with in which we I tried a new fruit that was just delicious.  It was called a mangosteen.  I am not a huge fan of Asian desserts that have a jelly base but I did not want to not be polite by not eating them.  The jelly with the blue on top was very tasty. Two different groups of students presented their Gold Star Award Science  Projects.  

One of my favorite parts of the visit came next when our Asst. Superintendent and myself were able play basketball with a group of girls who were having some fun during their lunch time.  There were a lot of kids on the other side of the basketball courts who were practicing their sword skills.  After playing, I was able to share the pictures of Hopkinton Middle School and of my own sweet kids, Grace and Colton.  They were very intrigued by the pictures of my daughter Grace and I dogsledding.  Thailand never gets snow.

Next we visited the school library, in which we had a nice time to speak casually with different clusters of students in the English Program.  It was fun hearing about their lives and what they like to do for fun, such as reading comic books and Harry Potter.  The girls like Taylor Swift a lot as well. There was an English newspaper in the library and the headline concerned farmers wanting to block the roads to the airport in protest for the government not honoring their rice contract payments.

Food Market

As we made our way from the parking lot to the temple ruins, we meandered through a market that has some interesting looking foods. One of my favorite snacks I saw being made.  It tasted like peanut brittle.  Pamellos have been a delicious new food for me to try in Thailand.  It seemed as though fried fish skin was a common snack here because there were many vendors selling it.  The smell was strong and fishy for sure.

Visit to the Temple Amidst the Ruins

There was a very large statue of Buddha in the Temple and a few groups of students on a field trip were visiting.  All Thai students wear school uniforms and when they go on field trips they all wear a special field trip shirt so that they are easy to spot by their chaperones.  I was intrigued  by the students shaking a long cylinder while praying in front of the Buddha statue.  At first I thought it was part of some ritual but later discovered that they were shaking the cylinder until one of the long sticks came out.  Then they would read a fortune for what was noted on the stick.

Wat Lokayasutha, Ayutthaya

I have been looking forward to visiting the “Reclining’ Buddha statue because it shows that he has reached Nirvana (Heaven) and he has a smile on his face.

Wat Chaiwatthanaram Ayutthaya

Our last temple visit for the trip was very interesting because the heads and arms of all of the statues were missing because they were destroyed when the Burmese were at war with the Kingdom in this area back in the 1700’s .  

It reminded me very much of what the “Red Guard” did to many of the Buddha statues in China during the Cultural Revolution.  They had a mission to destroy anything “old” so many ancient relics were destroyed.  This temple is also much more in the Hindu style of temples.  The king had built it for his daughter.

WWII Death Railway

( 20 -February-2014)

JEATH World War II Museum

When I was six years-old my father passed away .  From the time that I was about middle school age, I would pour over the pictures of he and his Navy buddies in their uniforms and white sailor caps during World War II in the Pacific Theater of War.  He spent a good part of the war guarding airstrips on tiny islands in the Pacific, that were supply depots.  I think my lifelong fascination with World War II was a way for me to feel connected with my Dad. 

 All this being said, today’s adventure was very special to me because it focussed on  Thailand & Burma (Mynamar) during this time period.  We spent the morning at the JEATH Death Railway Museum and Cemetery.  The cemetery hosts the bodies of the Allied soldiers that were POW’s of the Japanese and were forced to do slave labor to complete this railway through the jungle linking Thailand and Burma (currently called Myanmar).  There was a relatively small amount of United States POWs that worked on this railway and the bodies of those American soldiers who perished have been returned to the United States for internment (burial).

During World War II, Japan occupied the majority of South East Asia, needing raw materials and supply routes for their successful war machine.  They were on the side of the Axis powers (Germany & Italy).  After bombing Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Navy continued their success against the Allies by capturing over 200,000 British, Australian and Dutch soldiers, as well as a few hundred  American soldiers.  These men, alongside many native Burmese and Malaysians would be used as the slave labor forced to cut through the jungle and construct the railway and wooden trestle bridges.

We were able to go on a two-hour train ride on the Death Railway .  It was a very beautiful ride and it made me think that while this is a very visually pleasing scene for me, it must have been horrible for the POWs who did not have the luxury of appreciating the landscape because of their difficult work in very harsh living conditions.

The conditions were very harsh and there was an astounding number of deaths due to disease, starvation, exhaustion and accidents.  The Allies would bomb the bridges that the Japanese were building to thwart their goal of completing the train line from Thailand to Burma.

 Allied POW Deaths:

British 6648

Australians 2710

Netherlands 2737

Americans 132

Other Slave Labor  Deaths:

Malaysian 42,000

Burmese 40,000

On our way to Hell Fire Pass, we stopped at a little parking spot to view some monkeys.  The mother monkeys were naturally very protective of their babies so we had to not get to close.  Unfortunately my camera batteries died before we got to Hell Fire Pass so I  am unable to add pictures to the following information.  Hell Fire Pass was an area of steep forrest paths and rock in which the POW's and other workers and to dynamite through the rocks so that the train tracks could pass through.  It got it's eery name because the workers were forced to work around the clock and the area looked very creepy in the middle of the nights with only the lanterns to see and very skinny (malnourished) and exhausted workers in dark shadows playing off the rocks.  It was a lot of going up and down to arrive at the pass but it was work the effort to experience a piece of history in a more physical manner.  It made me think how hard if would have been to lug all the materials needed to build a rail line in this unforgiving topography.

Sukohthal Historical Ruins (UNESCO World Heritage Site)

Today we  visited a 1000 year-old ruin of Buddhist and Hindu temples and pagodas.  You have to use your imagination to conjure up an image of what these amazing structures would have looked like so many years ago because they no longer have  the roof or walls and the decoration that was once on the columns is now naught.  We are currently in an area of Thailand that is close to Cambodia so there is the “Corncob” influence of the Buddist Temples. Depending upon who was king and what their religious belief was, this area switched from Buddhist to Hindu back and forth throughout time, which is why you see holy structures from both religious groups.  Even when the other religious group had dominance, the religious structures of the former were not destroyed.  A small amount of the remains (ashes) of the Lord Buddha are stored in the top of the Buddha statue’s headpiece.  Within the first site we looked it was brought to our attention that the Royal family and their relative’s remains were burried in the pagodas which now look like square blocks of bricks.  Amongst the ruins there was a very interesting Buddha that had gold fingernails.  I was very intrigued by this.

 

Sidhartha who would become Lord Buddha sat under a “Po” tree as he became enlightened.  He was born in Nepal because his mother was from there and a pregnant woman always went back to her hometown to have her baby.  Sidhartha’s mother died one week after he was born.  He was raised by his father who was a king in India.  A fortune teller told his father that his son would become a very important leader.  The king protected his son from all the word’s suffering behind the palace gates.  One day Sidhartha was able to look out upon the streets and saw an old man.  He was intrigued to see an old man who was ailing.  At 29 years old, Sidhartha left his wife, children and comfortable life behind the palace walls and roamed for the next six years to try to understand why there was suffering in the world.  He became “Enlightened” and the Lord Buddha at 35 years old. The Lord Buddha was born in 5423 B.C. 

ELEPHANT TEMPLE

Our last stop was at a Hindu temple that was influenced by the style of “Elephant Temples” that were built in Sri Lanka.  There can be 36, 42 or 76 elephants that could surround these temples.  This particular temple is 700 years old and it was built by the brother-in-law of the king .  These types of temples are called “Changa Rob” which means “elephants around”.

Elephant Camps and Hill Tribes

 

ELEPHANT CAMP 

This morning was quite thrilling because we were able to visit an elephant camp and take a ride through the rivers and woods.  The entry into the water was quite steep and it was a bit scary at first but after about ten minutes it actually felt quite natural to be on top of these amazing and intelligent animals.  We trod through the waters and paths for about forty five minutes.  Along the way there was a few elephant “drive-in’s” where you could buy sugar cane and bananas for your elephant for about 20 baht.  

At the elephant camp, there was a brief elephant show in which they kicked soccer balls into a goal, shot a basket and painted some really impressive paintings.  It blew me away that an elephant could paint a picture of a tree or even more astoundingly, a painting of a tree and the back of an elephant.

Next we went on a traditional bamboo raft trip down the river, encountering a few mild rapids.  We had a great time interacting with our boatmen and looking at the villages along the banks where some of the “Mahout” (elephant  handlers lived with their families).  The Mahouts are very important because they will be with that one elephant for their lives.  Elephants are animals that have very tight social networks not only with other elephants but with humans as well.  

One hundred years ago there were about 20,000 elephants in Thailand.  Today there are about 4500 which are all protected animals who no longer life in the open jungle.  When an elephant is born in Thailand,  it gets a baby elephant birth certificate in which it’s picture, name and the DNA of itself, mother and father are noted. 

HILL TRIBE VILLAGE

Our next adventure entailed driving for a short while and then we loaded into the back of an open air truck with bench seats to get up to the Hill Tribe Village in which most are from the mountainous regions of Mynmar (Burma).  The most famous of the hill tribes are the “Padong” whose women wear the brass rings around their necks starting from the age of three, well  throughout their adult life.  The first year seven rings are put around the young child’s neck and then thereafter, one for each new year.  At some point the rings are exchanged out for new ones as the width of the young girl’s neck widens.  You may be be wondering why this is important to the Padong culture.   It is said that many, many years ago in Burma where this tribe is from, there were many tigers in the woods and they were known for biting off just the heads of people it killed to eat.  The rings were put on to discourage the tiger from biting into a woman’s neck.  The second reason is for beauty.  The men think their women are beautiful when they wear the neck rings.  When a Padong women is not in her village , she will wrap very pretty scarves around her neck.  Many people think the necks of the Padong women are elongated but in actuality, the rings actually push down on the shoulders and collar bones.  Most Padong women will have about 42 brass rings on the neck and these rings can be taken off at anytime without any harm to the women’s neck or health. I took a photo of a grandmother who had huge metal disks in her ears.  I did not see any of the younger women wearing these disks so was wondering if this is still a common practice with the Padong.

I was surprised to notice a Catholic Church at the highest point of the village.  Our guide relayed that all the people of the three tribes were Christian .  It was neat to see that the little covenant that holds the “host” (for the ritual of breaking of the bread for Christians) had a temple like design to it. 

UNICEF School Visit

Today has been the highlight of the trip so far and that is saying a lot because I have thoroughly enjoyed all of our sightseeing days thus far.  We were able to go to a school that educates “stateless “ children from Myanmar.  In accordance to the Thai Constitution, every child, whether Thai Native  or stateless is entitled to a free education and healthcare.  It is the school’s mission to actively seek stateless children in their community by going to construction sites and telling their parents that their children have the right to a free education in Thailand.  The  children who benefit from this school are originally from Myanmar.

We first were given treats that are the same ones that are given to guests of the King.  While not very tasty, it was important to try them because this is a very poor school and they went to great expense to host us with the food and beverages they provided.  The power point presentation relayed the mission and history of the school and some information regarding the student enrollment.  We were able to present the donated school supplies and sports equipment that we brought from our home schools.

The next was my favorite part of the visit.  We were allowed to roam around the courtyard and pop into different classrooms to interact with the children.  I immediately bolted to the section of the school where I could see older kids sitting at desks through the open classroom doors.  I greeted the teacher and asked if I could speak with the students.  First, I asked them how old they were and was surprised the the kids ranged from nine to sixteen years old.  The boys seemed to be older and the girls younger.  I asked the teacher to ask the kids who were 12-13 to raise their hands and then he told them that I was a teacher of the same age group.  I passed around a mini album of my students and our middle school in Hopkinton.  There were also a few pictures of my family and my daughter Grace dogsledding with me.  Since Thailand never gets snow, I thought it would be fun for them to see those pictures. 

No matter where I travel in the world, I always bring a frisbee because it opens the door to interact naturally and joyfully with kids .  I asked the teacher if it was OK if the kids came outside to play frisbee with me,  The girls were very shy but the two oldest boys were up for the thrill of a new game to play.  The next half hour was full of great frisbee fun with the middle school kids and we were eventually able to get the girls to play as well.  The director of the school even gave frisbee throwing a try and got me to show him how to throw it around the back.  The kids loved it when he tried for the first time and his throw went right into the pack of kids on the sidelines.

It was awesome to watch Dan show the older high school boys how to use the donated lacrosse equipment that he brought along from his school in the states.  There were more interested in throwing it hard into the net the having a catch with each other.  Dan also gave the kids a net to shoot at as well.

The kids receive a very healthy lunch each day as well and it was great to see how polite and thankful they were when they were handed their food. They were also responsible for cleaning their own plates and utensils. 

The monks help out with the teaching and some of the young monks attend the school. The school is located right in the courtyard of the Wat Papao which is the local temple.

Before we left, we had an official group photo in front of the temple that is part of the school.  The Thai administrators and teachers are in the photo as well.

Floating Market & Grand Temple (Bangkok)

Sunday (16 Feb 2104)

Floating Market

The Floating Market which is sometimes referred to as the "Venice of the East" is a network of over 600 km of canals around Bangkok.  It  was interesting to experience, although I believe we went to an area that catered more to tourists.  We were able to see people selling goods from their long boats , as well as see the shop owners who were set up along the the canals.  I tried some fresh coconut milk straight from the fruit, and sipped from  a straw, as well as the best fried bananas I have ever tasted !  A woman in a long boat made them and she is related to our tour guide.  These yummy treats are simply Thai banans, some rice flour and fried in lotus oil.  We also tried pamellos which tasted like delicious grapefruits without the sour taste. I was able to purchase some saffron and yellow curry and look forward to looking up some Thai recipes when I get home cook a Thai meal for my family.

Grand Palace

This palace was built a long time ago by Rama for the Crown Prince Rama but unfortunately he died at twelve years old . In present day, the

 palace is now used for official Buddhist ceremonies for the Royal Family.  There is a separate part of the Palace that is not open to visitors and is used as quarters for guests of the King, Crown Prince and the government.  Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth, most recent US Presidents have also been guests at the Grand Palalce….Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton.  There was a lot of Hindu influence throughout the Grand Temple in terms of architecture, statues and paintings.  There are strict rules about men wearing shorts below their knees and women wearing long pants or a skirt with a shirt in which your shoulders do not show.  One of the women in our group had long paints but the entrance attendent determined they were too tight so she had to rent a skirt ot go through the Grand Palace.  I enjoyed most the monkey faced statues, which represent demons.

We then took a boat ride down the river and had a great view of the sky scrappers.   It actually reminded me of riding in a Duck Boat of the Charles River with the skyscrapers of Boston in front of you.

King Rama IV's Summer Palace

Yes , there are Dunkin Donuts in Singapore!  We were all very happy board our Thai Air flight and get underway!   After arriving in Bangkok (Thailand) late morning, we freshened up at our hotel and then headed straight out for AYUTTHAYA , which was the Summer Palce of King Rama IV.  I was surprised with the eclectic (...my middle school kids reading this blog....look up this word...its a good one!) architecture .  It was a mix of Thai, European and Chinese. I also was surprised at the heat and humidity, which I honestly didn't mind all that much after the arctic-like winter we are experiencing back in Massachusetts.

We took a 40 minute "long boat"  on a wide river to get to the Summer Palace which is situated on an island.  It caught my eye that a few saffron robed monks were crossing the river in a metal contraption that ran over cables across the river.  It looked like it would be fun to ride.

The three interesting things I learned about the Summer Palace:

1.  At one point there were tigers and elephants that roamed throughout the palace gardens (and now they have trees that are groomed into the shapes of animals.

2.  During World War II the Royal Family lived at the Summer Palace in a building that had a Red Cross on the top so that during Allied bombings it would not be targeted since it would seem like a hospital building.

3.  There were "Monitor Lizzards" that were swimming in the ponds and crawling along the grassy banks at the palace.  They were about three feet long and looked like mini alligators.

PHRASE of THE DAY:

mai pen rai  - a phrase that expresses the Thai go-with-the-flow attitude.

Ayutthaya - The Summer Palace 

Monitor Lizard 

Elephant shaped trees (topiary) 

Dunkies has gone global...to the Far East!

Last leg of the journey from Singapore to Thailand!

Surprisingly in Singapore

It has been a long few travel days and we are still not quite to Bangkok, Thailand yet.  We have an unexpected layover in Singapore tonight and are presently hanging out in an airport traveler's lounge catching up on our blogs, sleep and some very nice food that is being provided to us (spicy seafood & noodles).  Here is an overview of our flights thus far.  A big snow storm was coming into Japan so we were advised to fly to Singapore while we could, so that we would not get stuck in the snow storm in Japan. The plane that was originally supposed to fly us from Japan to Thailand never left San Francisco.

It's always important to be flexible when you travel and not stay too wedded to your planned itinerary because there are a lot of things that can happen to your plans that you have no control over.  Sometimes you just have to go with the flow .

Thursday AM -         Boston to Chicago (3 hours flight)
Thursday -Friday     Chicago to Japan  ( 13 hours)
Friday- Sat               Japan to Singapore ( 7 hours)
Sat AM                    Singapore - Bangkok (Thailand)  (3 hours)

So we will arrive in Bangkok tomorrow, check into our hotel and then head straight out to do some sightseeing.  After that we will have a special dinner with Thai educators.

 I am now going to go for a long walk in the deserted airport (it's 2:30 in the morning) to stretch my legs , then come back and curl up on the floor of the lounge with my travel pillow and blanket and catch a few hours sleep since we will be missing our hotel room sleep tonight in Bangkok and have a full days of activities tomorrow

My yummy  snack at the Singapore airport lounge ......MEE SIAM GORANG ....spicy noodles with shrimp.

Word/Phrase of the Day:

Hello     sa-wut- dee-ka (if you are a girl)
                    sa-wu-dee-krup (if you are a boy)
              

A Visit to the Largest Buddhist Thai Temple in the United States

Yesterday our Educational Travel Group had the honor of visiting the largest Thai Buddhist temple in the world outside of Thailand.  It's official name is Wat Nawamintararachutis or "NMR Meditation Center" for short.

Our visit began with us taking off our shoes as we entered the building which is the section of the temple where the monks reside.  I was amused to see the row of the monk's LL Bean winter boots stacked neatly on the shelves lining the hallway.

We progressed to a small and ornately decorated meditation room in which the five monks who currently live at the temple, were waiting for us.  We proceeded to make offerings of fruit and flowers and participated in a blessing ceremony complete with monastic chants and incense.  One of the male members of our group had to make the offerings to the monks since women are not allowed to touch the monks or directly hand then any object.

During the next hour we learned about the 5 Precepts of Buddhism and had a question and answer period.  Following this informative chat, we toured the temple which is still a major construction site.  The multipurpose room is almost complete and had a larger-than-life Buddha at the far end.  The temple will not only be for daily mediation for the 4000 Thais who live in the Boston area but for anyone from the community who would like to benefit from the daily classes, lectures and exhibits.  There will also be a museum in honor of the current King of Thailand who has been on the throne since 1946 and who was actually born in Cambridge, MA.


After the American construction company is finished with their work, then the Thai craftsmen will come from overseas to finish off the temple with ornate wooden carvings and detail work.  Hundreds of Buddhist monks from Thailand, other countries and the United States will all be present for the opening ceremony in June.  A few princessess from the Thai rural family will also be in attendance for this auspicious occasion.  I can't wait for a return visit when the temple is completed later this spring.

Boston Globe Article About Buddhist Temple Construction

Anti-Government Protests In Thailand Adds New Twist to Upcoming Trip!

So it has been a long time since my last post and there are some big concerns hovering around my great Thailand adventure coming up in a few weeks.  

Thailand has recently been hit with major anti-government protests after a few years of relative calm. The issue revolves around the former Prime Minister , Mr. Thaksin who lives in self-imposed exile  after being tossed out by a military coup in 2006 due to corruption charges.  He still remains popular with the majority of rural voters.  His sister is the current Prime Minister and she is also being accused of corruption having to due with a rice subsidy scandal.  She is also supported by rural voters while anti-government protestors want to see her booted from her office.  New elections will be February 2.  Nine people have died in the protests that started out peacefully and have lately escalated to violence with both sides blaming each other.

We are keeping in close touch with  our contacts in Thailand who will be assisting on our trip and hoping that things die down after the February elections.  It is ALWAYS important to check the United States  government websites that let American citizens know if it is safe to travel to different regions of the world.  

Please click on the website below to read an news article from the BBC regarding the Anti-government protests in Thailand

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25149484