The Sandspur

Issue date: 11/4/05 Section: Holt News

Media Credit: Courtesy of Alexia Brooks A SUMMER TO REMEMBER: Alexia Brooks shares a smile with her adventurous students in the rural Thai village of Nonongthum.

This summer I had the opportunity to do something out of the ordinary.  I was headed for Nonongthum Village in rural Thailand to teach English at a local middle and high school while living with Phad, one of my students, and her family. 

I was ecstatic, excited, and terribly anxious; I hadn't had a clue of what was in store for me.  How were the locals going to perceive me? Would I be able to tolerate the food?  Would my presence create any problems for the villagers?  And, would there be a bathroom acceptable to my standards? 

In retrospect, these were some of the silly questions that arose from my unfounded trepidation and lack of experience living within a culture so different from my own, albeit a brief-stint.  The knowledge gained and personal growth and transformation that I took from my experience is indescribable. 

I am still incredibly moved by the kindness and interest the people of Nanongthum showed me.  The children saw me as a curious foreign element, the teenagers admired me, and the adults found great entertainment in me. 

Frequently, I could infer enough from conversations that elicited bouts of laughter, and that the good time was at my expense.  For them, I was a sight to be seen; whenever I passed by on foot or on Phad's motorbike, the villagers would cry "farang" (foreigner), and I would reply with my minimal Thai. Together we would attempt to have what was a fragmented and virtually incomprehensible exchange. 

As my stay in Nanongthum ended, my energy had been tapped-constant involvement in a radically foreign environment is taxing-but at the same time, I was melancholy about pushing on.  I had made so many friends while teaching, eating with the locals, talking to villagers of all ages, planting rice, riding bikes with my students, walking along the klongs (irrigation canals); part of me was profoundly reluctant to leave.  Speeches were made, a feast was cooked, and as I left the village the family I stayed with shared my tears as we said goodbye.

The two-month remainder of my summer was spent touring Bangkok, Cambodia, Laos, and Northern Thailand.  From Bangkok, I took a bus to Poi Pet, which is the border crossing on the Thai-Cambodian border.  From developed Thailand, the marked radical difference in Cambodia was startling.  Perhaps, the most vivid and impressing experience of the entire summer was my stay in Cambodia.  There is an air about Cambodia that is enticing and frightening, energetic and sad. 

Continued...

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