BTN Conference

Attended the Bangkok Teacher's Network Conference today with some other teachers from school. It was at a school called Bangkok Patana, which is a British curriculum school and is absolutely amazing. Its really not far from where ASB is located, but it has several soccer fields, 3 swimming pools and about 5 basketball facilities. The school is absolutely amazing to start with.

The conference was good. It started with students being keynote speakers and that was a little scripted, so I did enjoy it so much. The students were doing their best, but for the most part you could tell they were coached on what to say and other aspects of the speach. The most interesting and best student speaker was an 11 year old girl. The others seemed snobbish and spoiled.

I attended three different sessions. The first was over Multiple Intelligences and how to utilize them in the classroom. As you probably remember, this is an important subject for me and something I truly believe in. So this was a good session. Coming out of this session, I almost felt that I need to do more in my classroom. The goal is always to reach every student and ensure that each student understands the subject matter. However, the problem is creating lessons that allow that to happen. Thats the challenge.

The second session was over SmartBoard technology, which I was very interested in. Unfortunately, this one was possibly the worst one. All the information was things I already knew and could not currently apply because I do not have a SmartBoard. The session was really a very basic introduction and nothing special. It would have been nice to have some more examples. The presenter did go over a few places to find applets and stuff like that, but it still was not as good as I was expecting.

The last session was run by a Mathematician from a University in England. He was not a teacher, so he didn't have experience in working with kids. He did have experience working with college-aged students and his session covered the issues he noticed in college-aged math students, what they struggle with. Pretty much, it was the same things I find my kids struggling with, fractions and word problems. On top of that, he didn't have solutions for how to fix these problems, just that the students were weak in these areas.

I also found this session a little different because he was saying that he has math majors who are struggling with these aspects of math. My understanding is if they are in University, they should have this knowledge already (though in my past experiences, I have noticed that this is not always the case). But on top of this, he said this was something found in math majors, which to me is a red flag for either the quality of their educational advising team, allowing or placing students in a math major who do not have the basic knowledge, or their quality of students as a whole.

I did miss a few sessions that I heard were really good and would have liked to go to, but I went to the last two sessions. But that happens with every conference that I attend. My overall thoughts on the conference were that it was good. I go into these conferences with the attitude that if I can take one thing from this, if I can learn one thing from this conference, then it was worth it. After today, I felt like I need to do more for my students and reach out to them more. Hopefully this will give me a little more energy in the classroom as well. I have been feeling tired and unmotivated as of late. I hope this little conference will change that and give me a little jolt of energy.

Aaron

Math Club

We had our first math club meeting on Monday after school. A total of three students showed up for the meeting. It actually went really well. I bought some candy and chips and the kids really enjoyed the snacks. I gave them a problem of the week and they looked at it for a while and then came up with some ideas, but nothing concrete. I did have one student ask me for the problem of the week before Math Club. She can't stay after school on Monday's, so she is going to ask for the problem of the week before the club.

I did give the problem to some of the other students in class and I think it generated a lot of interest. We'll see how many kids show up. I'm not sure there will be many more this coming Monday, but we'll see. The word has gotten out that we are going to have snacks and possibly a Pizza Party sometime, which would definately bring the students into the club.

After looking at the problem of the week for a little while, we decided to play a game called tangram, where the kids are given different polygons and must complete certain puzzles or create certain objects using those pieces. Its a good way to develop problem solving and logical thinking. I think the kids really enjoyed that, so it may be a good activity to continue.

Overall, I thought it went really well. I think I'm going to continue to focus the problem of the week on Geometry because that is one of my favorite subjects and the kids need to be able to develop relationships between objects and spatial reasoning.

Aaron

Detention

Recently, I have instituted a new policy for students who have not come to my class prepared or who have been caught speaking languages other than English. For these students, they must come to my classroom during the 20 minute break and at the beginning of lunch and spend the time working on a worksheet, usually involving fractions and decimals. The other part of the policy that I have instituted is that if they do not finish the worksheet they must return everyday until they do complete it. On top of that, they must have every single problem correct, and I will return it to them until they do have them all correct.

I know, a little mean, but these kids need to understand several things,

1. They need to come to class prepared. If they do not, there will be consequences.

2. They must be responsible for their decisions ans take responsibility for the results of their decisions.

3. They really need to learn how to work with fractions and decimals. Adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing, etc. This is a major week part for many of my students. So by having them come in a practice, they will hopefully improve this aspect.

So far, in the week or so that I have instituted this policy, I have had a full class for both lunch and the break. I have 16 desks set up in the room and they have all been full. This is a pain for me because it takes from my lunch time, but hopefully it will solve problems down the road. I'm hoping that the students who are coming into detention realize that its not fun and they don't want to be there again. That way they do what they need to do and come to class prepared and I don't have to worry about them anymore.

I have no idea if the policy is working or not, since its so early and new. But I already know that there are students who already owe me two worksheets worth of detentions. So you know, each worksheet has about 25 problems and my experience is that it has taken most students about 3 partial lunch bells to complete it correctly. Like I said, it will be nice when these kids figure out how to come to class prepared.

Aaron

Ok, picture time and explanation. First, I apologize for not sharing more pictures on here. The internet at my previous apartment was very slow and took forever to upload pictures, hence the reason there are not many.

So, I needed to have some alterations done on some clothes of mine. A tie was coming apart on the small end, the cuff on a pair of my slacks was losing thread and I have some holes in the pockets of some of my shorts. I asked a few people at school where I should go and they said that you can go people on the street who have sewing machines. They will fix it for cheap right then and there. Well, I was riding my bike to the store today and I just happened to pass on such sewing machine person. When I got back home, I decided to take the clothes down there and have him fix them.

From what I saw, he did a bang up job. Didn't take long and it only cost me 40Baht for all three items, which is a little over $1, about $1.30 or so. I had a camera with me so I figured I'd take a picture. He said it was alright and here is what he looks like. I'm not sure who the guy in the background is. He was giving me a dirty look the whole time like I was some crazy, dumb tourist or something. Little does he know that I live here. So I am a crazy, dumb local. The sewing guys was really interested in the camera and picture. I think I may print it out, frame it and give it to him. He did such a good job and I'm sure that he would appreciate it. I would doubt if this guy has any pictures of himself at all.

As the title suggests, the other two pictures show the Dichotomy of Rich and Poor in Bangkok. In the foreground is an abandond lot that is currently being occupied by who I would guess were construction workers. Yes, people live in those make-shift houses that are nothing more than metal siding nailed to posts. I'm not even sure the posts are stuck in the ground or not. The wind here is not that bad, so it may be that they are simply standing on the ground. But, if they are construction workers, I'm sure they probably know how to build a structurally sound building. At least I would hope.

In the background, you see several of the thousands of condo buildings in Bangkok. Very plush, very extravagent and probably too expensive for even me to live in. However, someone is living there, overlooking the poor people below them. Like I said, tin houses and high society right next to each other. And everyone seems to accept their place.

So you know, the construction workers probably make about 7,000-8,000 Baht per month. Also, so you know, I make more than that in 4 days. They are forced to live in places like this because they can't afford anything else. To me its rather sad. Also, wait staff make about the same amount of money. If you give a 20 Baht tip (60 cents or so), they are so grateful because that will probably feed them for a meal, maybe two if they know where to go. I am starting to see how many of these girls end up in the sex industry.

They may be young and working at a legit place and maybe going to school. A server (not a bar girl), 7-11 or a fast food place (which are considered good jobs for someone out of high school, high school kids never work at these places). But they see their friends with a new cell phone (or something else like that) and being taken to nice restaurants and treated nicely by some white man who has the money to spend, and these girls want that too, but at their current job they can't afford it. They can barely afford to survive, let alone treat themselves to nice amenaties of the world.

So they quit their legit job and school and then go to work at one of these places as a bar girl (so you know, bar girls probably make more money than most college graduates). She's making good money and having a lot of sex.

Its funny how the sociology of the culture over here is actually forcing the hand of girls entering the sex industry. You may not agree with the fact that these girls are forced into the industry, but 7,000 Baht is $200, for one month. Even though its cheap to live over here, its not that cheap. These girls are trying to improve their lives and the lives of their family, but at what cost???


Aaron

Parent Meeting

I had a parent meeting with one of my most challenging students yesterday. This student has been a pain in the neck for the past month or so and we have butted heads many times. Most of this comes from this student being a drama queen and always speaking about how spoiled he is. There are some other personal issues with this particular student, but that is not for me to speak about.

I will say that this student has been very disrespectful and disruptive in class. I have held him after school many times because he decided to not work in class. One day, I had to kick him out of class because he wouldn't stop laughing. After class, I spoke with him and he didn't feel like listening so he started to walk away in the middle of my conversation. I got mad and yelled at him. That night I received a phone call from the father, saying we need to have a meeting. This is an Indian family and the father was very strong with his words and it was hard for me to get a few words in over the phone. In my short time dealing with Indians, it is my experience that they are very forceful with their words and often viewed as rude since they interrupt often and try to have their voice heard.

I had expected this meeting to be a very difficult one, based on my conversation with the father over the phone and my interactions with the student. Also, I had found out that the mother had been in to have meetings about the student before (since other teachers have had problems with him) and nothing seems to come from those meetings. In fact, Simon said that he has never met the father in the year and a half he has been at the school. I'm not sure if its a good thing that I brought the father in or not, but at least he is involved with what is happening and what his son is doing.

I was aware that this student has been causing problems in other classes as well and he is very spoiled. I have had to take two different cell phones away from him over the course of two days, one five minutes after the other. Also, several times I have had to advise him that mentioning how much his 5 maids do for him (clean up after him, make his bed, pack his bag, etc.) is not always a good thing, even in the culture at the school of well-off students. So there are some issues with this student and definitely a sense of entitlement.

Like I said, I had notes and was ready to defend myself with tooth and nail, because I thought this was going to be an attack on me. I had Simon in the meeting with us and allowed the student to say a few things. The student and the mother were on the attack a little, but not as bad as I thought. The mother said a few things about what was happening in my class (or what her son was telling her was happening) and I quickly disagreed with those statements. Not that I was rude, but she was not on the attack as much. The student was a little more on the offensive, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Overall, he felt that I was treating him unfairly compared to the other students, letting some go to the bathroom while I didn't let him go a few days earlier. I did take this personally, but was not too upset about it because I felt it was the only way the student knew how to defend the meeting and his actions.

As the meeting progressed, I had mentioned a few times that I may have been harder on the student because of expectations and amount of effort put into my class. The other students are working when I ask them, this student is not. However, I did not have to say everything I was expecting to say because the father was actually coming down on the student and taking control of the situation. This also made the mother more humble and quiet, and she didn't have much else to say once the father began scolding the son for some behavior problems. Which again, I feel led to the student attacking me more as a defense mechanism.

Overall, it was a good meeting. I think we did get some things out in the open and I am extremely happy the father was able to make it in for the meeting. My goal was to make sure that all people involved were at the meeting and there was no miscommunication. I think I achieved this during the meeting.

I did have a few meetings with the parent of another difficult child earlier and the mother was very supportive and scolding of the child's actions. It is refreshing to know that to this point, the parents I have had to deal with have been very supportive. I have heard horror stories about parents taking the side of the student and not agreeing with the parent. I'm sure I will run into this in the future ( I actually already have with the mother of this student), but for now, I'm happy with the supportive parents I have been dealing with.

Aaron

Good Year For Math

Our principal just returned from 3 weeks back home in America and Canada going to job fairs and recruiting teachers for next year. I spoke with him a little about it and he said that this year math teachers were having a hard time finding jobs, whereas English teachers were able to write their ticket where ever they wanted. This is unusual, because math teachers are usually the ones who have the upper hand on all of this. Last year, at the job fair, there were about 1,000 jobs available and about 650 teachers. Simon said this year there were 1,000 teachers and about 650 jobs. He said the economy is absolutely horrible and so many people are wanting to come overseas to teach, or need to come overseas because they are getting laid off or afraid of getting laid off.

I guess I chose a good year to come over and start my international teaching. It would be really hard to go through the whole interview process and job fair to not come away with something. I think Simon did a really good job over there. I know he is working towards changing the attitude of the school and I think he is trying to bring in the type of people that will help that.

Speaking of the attitude of the school, I actually discussed my concerns about connecting with the students and taking the failures personally. Simon reassured me that this was normal and I should not take these aspects so personal. He said some of it is due to the culture of the students that we have, who have maids and do not have to lift a finger for the rest of their lives if they do not want to. I know that has something to do with it, but it still is difficult to remove myself from the situation and not take it personal. It is something I think I am going to have to learn how to adjust to, else my education career is going to be a very difficult and challenging experience.

I also had a meeting with the parents of a student who I have been struggling with over the last few weeks. Simon was in the meeting with me and I will discuss that meeting in another post tomorrow. The meeting went better than expected and the father was supportive, despite my concerns.

Aaron

Math Club and Frustration

I have decided to start a Math Club at the school. This is mainly going to be geared towards my middle school students who want to learn a little more about math and find some interesting things that are math related that they may not have known about. I thought about this after seeing my strongest 8th graders become bored after slowing the pace of the class considerably so the more challenged students have a chance to succeed. I used to cover 1 section per day in that class, but now I'm covering a section in about 3 days or so.

There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that some of the students in that class cannot handle the faster pace (or Algebra at all). So I tried to slow the pace and break the sections into smaller sections, teaching one concept at a time and giving them practice on that concept. It has had some mixed results, but overall I think it is working (I do feel sorry for some of those kids because they don't have an option but to take Algebra, there is no other math class in 8th grade, I remember when I was in 8th grade, Algebra was the most advanced class and there were 2 classes below that, but due to the size of the school, these kids don't have that option).

Well, I offered a little extra practice to the strongest kids in 8th grade, saying that it would help them down the road and I feel that if they kept the pace they are currently at, with no additional challenges, they would only be hindering their mathematical progress. After thinking about it, I decided that I shouldn't limit it to just those students. So I decided to tell all my classes about it. Not sure how many will be showing up, but its going to start on Monday of next week, February 23. I'm thinking about giving a problem of the week and rewarding the first person to give me a correct answer, with full explanation, possibly with candy or something. I really hope this gets the kids a little more excited in math. My supervising teacher in the TTT program was the head of the math club, so I may email him and get some ideas as to how he handles the club.

I voiced some frustration to the school counselor this morning. I honestly do not feel that I connect with these kids as well as I did back home and I feel that I am not doing a very good job as an educator because I don't feel they are learning very much from me. I get very frustrated and take a lot of this personally because I feel it is a reflection of my teaching ability. I remember the great teachers I had in the past and I want to be like them, someone who inspires students to achieve their best, someone who makes things interesting and connects with students. I do not feel that I am succeeding in many of these aspects this year. I don't feel my students are very motivated and I feel that it is my job to motivate them, but I am not getting out of them what I expect.

The counselor just told me that he thinks a lot of this has to do with the fact that we have a heavy population of "well-off" students who don't care about school and who will eventually get a job somewhere or marry into another rich family and not having to worry about anything. That could be true, and it would explain why I am having difficulty connecting with so many of the students. Growing up in SE Indiana, I had to work for what I was given, everyday of my life I had chores to do and something to complete. These kids don't have that, and its a totally different culture. I did speak with the middle school science teacher and she admitted that she is having a little difficult time connecting with the students as well, compared to back home. That makes me feel better, but part of me still feels that I should be doing more, making more of a difference in the lives of these kids. Inspiring them to want more and try harder.

When I don't see this happening, I feel that I am failing them as a teacher and I do take it very personally. There are a lot of things that could play into this (I'm a new teacher, different culture, might not be as bad as I think it is) but its still hard to accept the fact that these kids are not changing their attitudes.

I did have to institute a new policy for some of the students who were not coming to class prepared. If they don't come to class prepared, they have lunch detention in my room and they have a worksheet they must complete. I held 4 students after lunch for about 20 minutes today, and they didn't finish the worksheet so they will be back tomorrow. The worksheets are over decimals and fractions, things all my students need help on, so its some practice. Hopefully this will teach them responsibility as well as some math on top of that. We'll see how well this practice comes about.

Aaron

Sports Day

We had a sports day on Wednesday and overall it went well. We traveled to the other campus which has more space and is out of the city a little. The first problem we had was of our high school students, only about 5-6 actually showed up. We don't have a huge high school, but there are about 80-100 students, maybe. For that few to show up is embarrassing. I guess they thought they did not have to come. Probably didn't want to get sweaty. What was the worst part about it is the other campus had almost 100% attendance. I was embarrassed for our campus. But I definately feel there are differences in the students at the two campuses.

The students at the other campus seem to have more school pride than our students. I'm not sure why this is, but I feel it is due to a combination of different type of students along with a staff that is more proud of the school. Since my campus is downtown, there are a few teachers there who are teaching just so they can make enough money for late night extracurriculars (I'm pretty sure you know what this means, but if not I can elaborate later). These teachers really don't have much school pride and are happy being at a school that isn't very strict with them and their teaching style. Its similar to what is seen at schools back home in the states, teachers arrive at school as late as they can and leave as early as they can. The only difference is that back home the teachers are still working to pay for a house or a car. Here, they are working to pay for their social activities.

A lot of the kids had a bad attitude going into sports day. They were saying that its not that fun and they don't want to go. The effort put forth by some of these students throughout the day was less than inspiring as well. I couldn't help but be upset with how lazy some of the students are, which is somewhat of a cultural and somewhat of a socio-economic characteristic. These kids have a sense of entitlement that they have never had to really work for anything. So when we try to get them to come out and exert some physical strength, they don't feel like it and the effort shows.

I know back home, sports day was the best day of the year. I loved sports day. It was a day to take off of school and run around doing what kids do; run, jump and be loud. It was great. Here, its more of a burden and a hassle than anything else. I did get some pictures from this day, and I will send them after the fair pictures are completed.

I was speaking with another teacher at lunch the other day and he made a very good point about the sense of entitlement these students have. He said, "If I had maids cleaning up after me and taking care of everything for me, how would I know any different. I would probably act the same way because someone was always doing things for me and I didn't have to do anything for myself."

This made me step back and think about the lives of these students. The most frustrating thing for me this year has been the constant fight to motivate these students and the constant complaining to get them to do anything. Yes, this is something that all teachers must face, but I notice it so much more over here than back in the states. Having heard this quote from the teacher, it does make sense that these students have poor work ethics because they have never been held responsible for anything they have done before.

I'm trying to teach my students a little responsibility in the class, not just math. I had a philosophy on coaching that went something like this, "If that only thing my athletes learn from me is how to run faster or jump farther/higher, then I have failed them." I feel the same way about my classes. If all these students learn from me is how to add or subtract numbers better, then I have failed them.

One way I'm trying to teach them responsibility is through a group project I had my 6th graders complete last week. I graded them and 2 of the 4 groups scored less than 50%, the other two groups were about a 75% and 80%, so the grades were not great. I gave them the grades and told them I would like them to write a reflection on the project and the group activity. They don't know this, but if the reflection is strong, I am going to change the project grades so that it does not negatively affect their grades. I wanted them to know the grade as a shock value and see what they wrote in the reflection, to know how they really felt.

I want them to know that sometimes with groups, the workload is not fair and they need to be responsible to ensure that everything is getting done and completed to the standard needed. Some students did more work than the others in their group, some accepted what others did and did not check the work. The result was a grade that was lower than they expected. I want them to think about this and tell me what their thoughts are on the project. Hopefully, they will grow a little and realize some things outside of the realm of mathematics from this reflection.

If one student can learn an important lesson from this project and reflection, then it was well worth it. I know, a little long, but I had a lot of stuff to talk about.

Aaron

Chinese Culture

I had a meeting with the mother of two of my students the other night. They are either Chinese or Taiwanese, I'm not sure which one. The father is no longer around so its just the mother. The boy is in 7th grade and the girl is in 6th grade. The boy isn't too bad, he does need to be straightened out a little, but overall he is not bad. The girl is a little trouble-maker and I have to keep a constant radar on her and what she is doing.

The reason I called the meeting is because both of them had dropped their grade in my class dramatically over the course of about 2-4 weeks. By dramatically I mean about 20 percentage points. What bothers me the most is that I emailed the mother because both of them were doing so well, especially the girl, and I wanted her to congratulate them. The girl ended up failing in my class last semester and she had around a 77% when I emailed home. But since the email was sent, her grade began to tank. I was so dissapointed because it was almost like she didn't want to be recognized for doing well.

I simply wanted to call the meeting to bring it to the mothers attention that her children's grades were starting to drop in my class. I thought she had the right to know and felt that I had the duty to tell her. Well, she was more than appreciative and she was very supportive of me, which made me feel good, but one thing she said during the meeting disturbed me.

We had met about the girl before, with other teachers who she has, and some things came out and the mom found out the girl had been lieing about school work and receiving extra help from teachers. During the most recent meeting, the mother said that after the last meeting, she hit the girl. She blatantly came out and said that she beat her after the last meeting, and then she said that it was part of the Chinese culture and she can do that. As if there is nothing wrong with beating your kids.

Now, I believe that kids need to be corrected and I feel spanking is an acceptable form of discipline, if used sparingly and correctly. But the way this mother described it, there was a lot more than spanking involved. But she was very open about it and admitted it without reservation. The special services teacher was in the meeting as well and we talked afterwards. She told me that in America, she would turn her in, but its a different culture over here.

I am shocked at the fact that it is acceptable and that the mother was so open about the beating. But like the special services teacher said, its a different culture and more accepted in Asia. I've actually even heard of Chinese or Taiwanese teachers actually hitting students in class. Not foreign teachers but native teachers.

The main aspect of this that made me feel bad was that the whole evening, I couldn't help but think that me calling the meeting caused that girl (and maybe the boy as well) to get hit that night. All I wanted to do was bring up a concern to the mother, but there were some other things that I brought to her attention (disrupting class, talking to other students, etc.) that I felt she should know about. I felt bad because I know those kids probably got hit when they got home, maybe even before they got home. Not really something I want to be responsible for. It causes me to question how quick I will be to call another meeting with this parent.

Aaron

National Anthem

Every morning, at assembly, the school lines up for the playing of the Thai National Anthem. I did receive an English translation of it earlier in the year, but I do not know what I did with it. One line that did stand out for me is a line about how Thai's are caring and peaceful people but will fight to the death if they need to. I thought this was a rather interesting combination of ideas in one line.

Anyway, the reason this is interesting is I know how big of a discussion it currently is in the US to say the pledge of allegiance, with the word God in the pledge and everything. But over here, there is no problem with standing and honoring the country. There are several underlying ideas here that allow certain things to be the way they are.

1. I mentioned how Americans are lucky and take for granted their freedom of speech. Not that there isn't freedom of speech in Thailand, but I would say that freedom of speech over here depends on the subject of the speech (some may argue this is happening in the states right now as well, which maybe it is, but not to the extent as in Thailand). But it is this freedom of speech that allows Americans and America to essentially tear itself apart and divide the country.

Since America has the right to argue and critic everything, people have formed differing opinions about almost any aspect of life. If someone doesn't agree with something, they usually speak up and argue their case. However, in my opinion, this is allowing for many historical and proud aspects of our culture (such as the pledge of allegiance and religion in schools) to be questioned. Which I think is devaluing our morals and values.

2. Since Thailand has strong socio-economic classes and individuals are not able (or not allowed) to improve upon that, they accept their lives for the way they are. This forces people to not question things. It can be bad, since independent thinking and a desire to improve ones self are not important. It also keeps the power where it currently is in the country.

The positive of this is that no one is questioning the greatness of the country and everyone is very patriotic to the country and the king. They may not always like the PM, but the country and king are always a subject of great loyalty.

I know this post may not be very organized and clear (I have had several students come in and ask questions, thus disrupting the thought process), and I probably missed some things I wanted to say, but what I wanted to describe was this...

The nature of the American society has allowed for more independent thought and freedoms, while also allowing for and leading to a less patriotic and less grateful country as a whole (I think anyone who travels outside of the US will admit that Americans are ungrateful. Thats the way the rest of the world sees us too). On the other hand, the nature of the Thai society has hindered independent thought and self-improvement while preserving the loyalty to king and country.

A double-edged sword in many aspects.

As a final thought to this, can you truly miss out on something if you never experienced it in the first place?

Aaron

Bargaining at the Night Market

I went to the night market tonight after going to mass. It was the Sunday Evening, or as one of my friends from IU would say, the "last chance" mass. The night market was rather slow tonight. I think it is a combination of several things.

1. It was Sunday night and there aren't as many people out at the night market as on other nights.

2. I went fairly early, 6:30 or so. The night market opens about 6pm and closes about midnight. So many people probably won't even show up until later.

3. With all the problems from the last few months, tourism is down and I think this is hurting the markets and other aspects of Bankok's economy.

I did pick up some Thai silk and a wooden elephant, both of which I had to bargain for. This is something that I am rather uncomfortable with, since I don't enjoy haggling or arguing over price. I would rather see a price, pay it and move on. But they tell me that bargaining at the night market is expected, so I engaged in some bargaining.

I'm not sure if I got a good deal or if they still took me for a ride, but I do know that I talked down the lady selling the silk from about 4oo Baht for two pieces to 225 Baht. Again, its possible that I overpaid with that still, but I feel I did alright with the bargaining there. It translates to about a $5 difference.

For the elephant, I'm pretty sure they still got a steal off of me. They were asking 250 Baht and I talked them down to 175 Baht. A couple dollar difference, but I still think I paid a little too much for that item. Still, its not like it was really expensive anyway.

It was interesting seeing all the vendors and activity, as slow as the market was. There was a stage with performances, a beer gardens with food vendors set up all over the place. I could imagine the place would probably be really busy at times, but this was not the time. I will email the pictures to Dr. Cheryl and send the items through the mail.

Aaron