English Camp at Baan Bohin

On December 14, 2012, George was told by his Thai English teacher colleague Thanorm that he (George) had been invited to participate in an English camp the next day in Baan Bohin, a village about an hour south of Khemmarat.  George agreed and was picked up by Sombat Chuaboon, the Director of a school in a village very near Bohin at 8 am on Saturday, December 15.  Sombat was accompanied by his daughter Boogie.  Boogie is a senior at a high school in Ubon Ratchathani (the capital of the province where we live and one of the larger cities in Thailand), where she studies English and Chinese (among many other subjects); she was the translator for the ride to Bohin.

English camps are held periodically around Thailand to provide intensive English training for Thai school kids over a few days.  This weekend camp was led by about 28 English students from a university in Ubon Ratchathani, who wore blue polo shirts and brought a lot of energy to the proceedings.  Students from three nearby schools participated.

 

George was told that he could relax for the morning and meet the local folks.  During the afternoon, various stations would be set up and students would rotate around the stations. George would serve on the"greetings" station to help ensure that the students were being taught the correct pronunciation of the greetings.

George was given a tour of Baan Bohin School by Sombat's wife Tong, an English teacher at Baan Bohin, and was impressed by how large and attractive the campus is and how nicely many of the classrooms were arranged.  In particular, a kindergarten classroom looked like the Montessori classrooms that Riley and Bud had attended when they were young -- warm, inviting, and full of intellectually stimulating materials.  Here's a picture of Tong and Sombat:

Bohin is a very small, rural village, and not used to farang (foreigners).  It was a hot day, and George and some of the male teachers took a walk around the village.  (George got the impression that the teachers did not usually walk around town.)  We stopped at a small hospital and staff there wanted their pictures taken with the farang.

When we got back to school, we settled into chairs in a shady spot by a pond.  Sombat tried his hand at a fishing pole, but that wasn't too successful.  Then a net was brought out and thrown onto the pond.  As we understand it, the net has weights around its edges that sink, capturing the fish beneath it.

A parent of one of the school's students changed into swimming apparel and began fishing with his hands under the net and throwing fish to a teacher on shore.

                                               

The fish were cooked and served.

After lunch, a Thai teacher performed a traditional Thai folk song for George.  Unfortunately, George hasn't gotten very far with the Thai language yet (although he can say "I speak very little Thai" in Thai now), so the words were lost on him, but there was no missing the spirit with which it was delivered.

Then it was time to get to the "greetings" station and meet up with university students NoNe and Orn.

At the end of the day, Sombat, Tong, Boogie, and Boogie's younger brother Kong gave George a ride back to Khemmarat.  We picked up Mary and headed to the riverfront restaurant Baan Kong Pa Neang, where we met up with Thanorm.  We had a great feast on the deck overlooking the Mekong.  

Thanks, Sombat, Tong, Boogie, and Kong for a wonderful and interesting day!