The Nicest Teacher?!

Ever since I moved out of the college dormitory after my freshman year, I have been living with Thai roommates. Every semester, a new student or two comes from Thailand and end up staying with their seniors who happen to be my roommates. So this semester as well, two students named Sanya and Sonthi came to pursue masters degree here at Florida Institute of Technology. Like all my previous roommates are (except one), they are both in Thai Army, Lieutenant and Captain respectively. They work as lecturer in the Military Academy in Thailand.

Generally Thai people are known for their friendliness, so I am not surprised to see them being nice to me all the time. In fact, I should say I am so glad to have them as my roommates. While they are all equally entertaining and inquisitive, Sanya, in particular, is very outgoing and talkative. Although they face hard time communicating in English, he talks nonstop to their friend's hysterical laughs. One thing I noticed about all my Thai roommates was-they are all good at cooking. They cook a lot. And Sanya within no time, became the head cook due to his outstanding cooking skills. (lol) Ever since he came here, he's seen cooking everyday. He would call my name, and ask if I am hungry, and he would cook for me. Unlike other friends, he would knock come in to my room, and ask if it was okay for him to talk with me. We talk about topics ranging from personal lives to careers to cultures so and so forth.

As I will be a teacher in near future, naturally, I asked how he feels being a lecturer and whole teaching learning thing. He says he loves what he is doing, and that he enjoys his life to fullest wherever he goes. But what amused me most was his grading policy! "All my students get at least C", says he, adding that no matter how bad they perform or ill mannered they are, he gives 'C'. Unlike in Bhutan, in his country the grading system is based on letters as also the case in schools and universities in the US. A-being outstanding, B-being very good, C-being good, D-Pass, and F-Fail. On enquiring about the logistic behind his generous grading scheme, he says:
"Let them pass. If I give 'F', they will have to come back, take the class again with me. It is wasting
both my time and their time, and government resources too. The government is spending so much
money on food, so by letting them pass, we can save food for other students. Else they will come
back and eat more food, and its a loss to the government!...."

His reasons are just endless. Not knowing what to say at the beginning, I kept laughing. But as I keep pondering over, it makes lot more sense. I couldn't agree more! I am sure he must be the best teacher of his students.

Now I wonder if I should ever try his ways, lol.

“When in Rome, do as the Romans do”?

It says it all. Photo Source: Google Images

For those of you who visited my blog, and particularly read the article titled “Dinner with Linda Mom” would have no problem understanding what I will be talking in the paragraphs that follow. But for those who are new, I will try to refresh and walkthrough a bit. Last month, I with three of my friends (all international) went to have dinner with Ms. Linda. She is one of the hosts who help acquaint international students with American life-styles, and cultures. No doubt, they are doing a commendable job helping we the international students who are away from home, and feel home sick time to time.

So today’s article has connection to that dinner conversation. As we are all international students, Ms. Linda seemed very curious to learn about our cultures and tradition, to which we in rotation shared about our unique cultures and traditions alike. But she had one very particular incidence, which interested her the most, and needed our clarifications/opinions. It was aimed to Asian as a whole. Here is what she had to say: “Last year, I was attending a graduation commencement on invitation from one of my graduating international students. After the official ceremony, we were outside waiting for his friends. One of his friends, a female, approached him, and congratulated-‘Congrats, Uncle!’ I am still wondering why would she call him Uncle. Isn’t it so rude to say that?” Adding that she knew him so well that he didn’t have any nephew or wasn’t even married.

Almost immediately all four of us responded in unison. But later a female friend from India made it clear by relating to Asian cultures. As expected all of us had same reasons to offer-that in our culture we don’t address anybody older than us directly by their names. So she might have addressed him ‘Uncle’ considering the age difference, and that it is very normal, we said. I added that it was due to the very reason why we Asian students feel strange calling Professors directly by their names, which we feel is very disrespectful. She looked surprised upon hearing that, which eventually led to a small debate among us-Asian vs. American. LOL. But it was a healthy debate.

On enquiring what was rude about calling somebody older than us “Uncle” when they (Americans) were calling everybody, including their mom and dad, by their names, she gave us her reasons, and some insights of American cultures. “If we call someone uncle when he/she is not even related to you, its not okay. If you prefix ‘sir’ to their names, too, it gives them a false impression that you are distancing them away. The word ‘Sir’ or ‘Mr./Ms’ creates that gap. So if you use sir, he will think that you have either forgotten him or trying to be stranger…” she said in motherly tone. Although I was very shocked in my first year here seeing the students calling the professors by their names in class, I didn’t know until then that it would in fact offend people, when actually we are trying to be respectful!

So the moral of the story is- when in Rome, do as the Roman do! The culture differs, and we got to respect them!

Happy LOSAR!!

The whole World has seen and welcomed the NEW YEAR 2011, already. Champagne toasts have been made, wishes have been exchanged, resolutions have been set, kisses have been planted, so on and on. Those are typical visible scenes everywhere as people eagerly wait for the final ‘count down’.

'Sikkam'-Dried Pork!

But not quite yet done for Bhutanese people! This is because only today marks the official new year, according to the Bhutanese Buddhist Calendar. It is known as LOSAR, or to be specific ‘Chu Nyi Pai Losar’. The day is declared a national holiday, and it is a festive day. Family members gather, wish for the successful years, and throw a grand party. While elderly people settle over some dosage of locally brewed alcohol called 'Ara' and 'Banchang', after the lunch, men normally engage in playing some games like Archery, Khuru (darts), Dego, etc, as their female counterparts engage in dances and merry-making.

The day is particularly significant in a sense that everybody gets to meet and spend a quality time together. As the night falls, the young boys and girls go around the villages, singing and dancing. After doing a few rounds of dances, they would proceed to other houses, and eventually call of-which usually doesn’t happen until early in the morning. The day is normally followed by series of games played between villages. The festive mood sustains for about a week.

But I have been deprived of such merry-making festive moments for quite sometime now, as I am away from home. This is the fourth year since I am away, which means I have missed four such events. I do really miss such occasions, and looking forward to enjoying next years’ LOSAR. However, this time I thought of doing a little bit of a Bhutanese-thing. Last week I went to an Asian grocery, and bought frozen pork.  I cut them into thin layers, and hung on the window pants to let them dry. With that I got what we called as  ‘sikkam’. I recollected what my mom and dad used to do while I was with them back at home. They would start preparing dishes a night before the actual day. So here too, I cooked the Sikkam last night, and kept readied for today. After waking up quite late, (which is very untraditional for such occasions?), I celebrated LOSAR in my own ways!  Happy Losar to everyone!

Ready to Eat; my Losar!