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| Sunset in Ban Pong Ho San |
Once upon a time in a little village
called Ban Pong Ho San there lived a family called the Wongwang
family. This family was not small, indeed there were many different
members: aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, grandchildren, and
great grand children. Pisak, an inspiring artist was among them. He
had moved away to Bangkok when he was young as many young Thais do to
seek work. In the big city he found more than work, he met Au-sa,
from Isan, a northeast province of Thailand, and also a young artist.
The two fell in love and decided to move back to Ban Pong Ho San
take care of Pisak's elderly parents and start a family of their own.
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| The village bridge in Ban Pong Ho San |
Pisak had taught himself English as a
young adult watching movies in English over and over again until he
could understand them. He read books, looked at videos and TV on the
internet, hungry for anything in English to improve his skills. When
their first child, Nara, was born in 2008, Pisak decided to put in
practice what he had read in a book, Parenting in Two Languages.
He was determined to give his child a better life than he had and
wanted to teach him English. And so Pisak decided to do as the book
suggested, he would speak to Nara in English and expose his child to
as much English as possible and the rest of his family would speak to
him in Thai. Would this really work? He wasn't certain, but he had
to try, it was the only opportunity for his son, Narah, to learn
English.
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| The Wongwang family enjoying dinner |
You see their village is so small that
several years ago, the primary school that served the students closed
down. Their is a one-room-school house in the village in place of
the larger primary school but Au-sa and Pisak opted to homeschool
their children, one of about 2,000 families in Thailand who also
choose this type of education. Both Pisak and Au-sa are involved in
Narah's education. They rely heavily on the internet for videos and
website with English content. When Narah is five his baby sister
Myda, is born and they also speak to her in English and Thai. Not
having the opportunity to speak with natives, they aren't sure what
sort of language proficiency their children really have, they are
just eager to expose them to as much English as possible.
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| This Dad has a lot of love (and knowledge) to give |
How did I stumble upon this family in a
tiny village that isn't even on the map? Again, it is my faithful
warmshowers network of hospitality for cyclists. Au-sa was eager to
have “phalang” visit and come to her village from a cultural
exchange point-of-view. A friend of her's mentioned warmshowers and
not being a cyclist herself, although they frequently ride bikes
around the village, she signed her family up, on January 2, 2015 to
be precise. I ready their profile a couple of weeks later as I was
traveling through the area. It read: “No smoke, no pets, peace full place Kakaiarts ceramic at garden, we have painting thai arts.” I
chuckled! I should compile a list of the funny warmshower profiles I
have read in non-English countries. Sometimes they scare me so, I
wouldn't even think of contacting them, but then there are profiles
like this, where I stop and reason. This is a new user, perhaps
very proud of their house and eager to show foreigners a traditional
Thai lifestyle, with limited English. Just because they can't speak
perfect English doesn't mean I should disregard them as warmshowers
hosts, afterall, their house was en route, and would make for a nice
stopover.
I decide to write and I'm surprised
when they respond. We work out the details via email, and they come
pick me up in the city of Lampang, because they are unable to give me
specific directions to their house. I can't help but form a mental
image of what they are like; perhaps a very wealthy thai art
collector. Maybe the husband cycles while the wife goes shopping?
My mind is drifting and envisioning their house and decorations when
I'm greeted by Au-Sa who waves from a pick-up. We were suppose to
meet at the 7-eleven across from the bus station at 4pm. It is now
4:20, wouldn't you know there are two 7-elevens within 200 meters of
each other at the bus station, but not visible from one to the other?
Only in Thailand. He husband gets out of the truck and we load my
bicycle in the back of the truck with buckets of paint and
construction working gear. I speak slowly and use simple sentences
and basic vocabulary, but their English is much better than portrayed
in the WS profile, I'm shocked.
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| Narah playing Mindcraft, he's addicted! |
We are off to pick up their son, and a
baby daughter at home awaits. They inform me their son speaks
English too. It is rare to meet a Thai adult who speaks English
rather fluently, so I can't imagine a child. Narah is shy at first,
but active. We pick him up from an after school learning center
where he occasional goes while his parents run errands in town. We
all pile in the pick-up truck and start driving home. I'm conversing
with Pisak and Au-sa while Narah is in the back seat with me playing
a video game on a tablet. I try to stay focused on my conversation
with the couple, but I can't help but listen to Narah, who is
narrating the entire video game in English using such natural
English, you'd think I was sitting next to a little American boy. I
listen intently, I can't believe what I'm witnessing. I comment out
loud that I'm blown away by his English and his parents start to
explain to me the way they have brought up their two children.
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| Myda, her name suits her well! |
We arrive home and I meet little Myda.
When asked how to pronounce her name, they told me to think of the
“My Darling”, and truncate the word at Da. She is 2 years old
and 4 months, she speaks clear English and answers all her dad's
questions and talks to everyone in English, she even has a British
accent that can be heard ever so slightly, especially when she calls
for her “Mummy”. I'm speechless. Yes, I'm an educator and work
with a lot of multi-lingual children, but they speak multiple
languages because their parents have different mother tongues. They
are also typically from elite families and have a wealth of resources
and opportunities for their children. I've never witnessed bilingual
children from parents who aren't native English speakers, not to
mention who live in a small village in a third world developing
country with few resources, including a spotty internet connection.
Unbelievable!
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| Everyone is there to help, always. It's an incredible family |
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| Myda is so easily entertained and enjoys everyone's company |
In Thailand, as witnessed in several
other southeast Asian countries, they take the phrase, “It takes a
village to raise a child” literally. Pisak has 2 other siblings in
the village and their families as well as other extended family and
all participate in their children's education and upbringing. One of
Pisak's sisters was the English teacher at the village primary school
before it closed and she also talks with the kids solely in English.
Another one of Pisak's sister was a music teacher and sings songs
with them frequently in English, even though her conversational
English is limited. During my time with them, I see Myda spend time
with a number of different relatives in all sorts of activities.
Although it is hard to get Narah unglued from the internet and
Mindcraft, when he isn't playing video games or watching youtube
videos in English on Mindcraft strategy, he is in his Aunt's garden,
drawing, playing by the river or paddling their boat in the river, or
helping out the family with the ceramic factory.
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| Paddling a boat is a challenge with a language barrier and without facial contact! Little did I know we weren't going anywhere, just collecting weeds for their pet rabbits |
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| Pisak working on one of his paintings for the inside of a local temple |
Yes, that is another coincidence.
Pisak's family is incredibly artistic and so is Au-sa. Pisak is a
freelance artist, he remodels old temples, is commissioned to make
decorative paintings for their interiors, really, he is a
“jack-of-all-trades”. He has a studio set-up at their house,
which is also the corner store in the village. He works all day on
the various projects he has taken on during the day, and at night, he
paints trying to finish up the piece he has been commissioned to do
recently. But he also finds time to be with his kids, teach them,
and play with them. I stayed with his sister's family, the house
across the street from theirs. Ampa, his older sister is a live wire
and a creative soul as well. In fact, I'd say she's the Thai version
of me, almost double my age. No sooner did I arrive, she gestured if
she could try my bike, and off she set. Very few people dare to ride
my bike, but she didn't hesitate for a minute. Au-sa told me to hop
on her bike and follow her, and so I did, leading me to their
property where they have both an organic farm, access to the river
with a dock and boat, and a small ceramic factory.
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| Ampa has two hired workers helping with production |
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| In the background you can see the pieces ready to go into the kiln |
I was in heaven! Ceramics is my
passion, and something I have been longing to get back into after my
trip. Although they don' have potter wheels, they had plenty of slip
cast dishes, and on day three I found myself decorating mugs and
platters getting ready for the firing that would take place that
evening. It was like a dream come true for me, my soul was dying for
some sort of creative outlet and this was it!
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| I was so happy painting ceramics, Ampa caught me humming! |
I was only going to stay a night or two
at most, but in the end, before going to bed, I asked if I could stay
one more day. They were all thrilled to have me. Ampa and her
girlfriends gave me cooking lessons. I learned how to make Pad Thai,
and Som Tam (papaya salad) as well as my favorite sweet treat, Caw
Lam (sticky rice with coconut milk and beans) stuffed in a bamboo
shoot. I discovered that Au-sa had always dreamed about making
western cakes and sweet breads, and bought a small over and electric
mixer, but was intimidated to try a recipe. Narah, on the other hand
wasn't. He'd mix up concoctions and experiment in the kitchen and
the microwave with his mixtures with an incredible sense of
curiosity, which is why he was delighted to partake in the baking
demonstration. They took me to a baking store in Lampang and I was
shocked to see all my faovrite ingredients, cocoa powder, yeast,
baking powder, and every type of flour imaginable. They even had
McCormick spices imported from the United States and I was able to
get cinnamon. We baked consecutive nights so that Au-sa had the
recipe down and could make it on her own. They were intrigued by the
western sweets I saw each pan pass through the hands of anyone and
everyone who entered their store, yet I couldn't keep my hands off
the sweet sticky rice in bamboo shoots! I refuse to take
responsibility for introducing Ban Pong Ho San to these sweet treats.
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| Making cinnamon rolls |
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| I simply watched over as they made banana bread |
Oh the food! It was ever so tasty and
endless. I would wake up and there was a feast waiting for me on the
table from noodles and pork soup to grilled catfish. It seemed like
we had just finished breakfast when it was time for lunch! Ampa took
my comment about loving Som Tam literally, and papaya salad appeared
at every meal! I also participated in a Thai barbeque which involved
going shopping for massive quantity of groceries at Makro, the
European/Asian version of Costco, but this one obviously was “Thai
style”. I participated in the grocery shopping and felt like my
Warmshowers guests Raimon and Ma Joana when they visited me and
stepped foot inside Costco for the first time. In Thailand,
customers pick out the meat they want, collect the shrimp themselves,
making westerners and their shopping habits of being served, seem so
sterile and uneventful. After visiting so many local fresh markets,
I wondered why anyone would go to Makro for food, but then again,
globalization is a world phenomenon!
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| Buying seafood like this would not fly in the western world! |
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| It was quite tedious to fill each shoot with sticky rice, and to think it sells for 60 cents a shoot! |
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| Ampa stuffing the bamboo with sticky rice |
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| Making Pad Thai, I wrote this recipe down for future reference, I will call it "Ampa's Pad Thai" |
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| A typical Thai BBQ |
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| Overwhelmed by all the delicious food! |
My days in Ban Pong Ho San were action
packed from visiting temples, sightseeing in Lampang, and tasting
strawberries on a farm, a novelty in the area. It seemed every time I
sat down in their store for a bit of a break, a neighbor from the
village showed up, eager to talk with me and practice their English.
Kim was ever so sweet and showed up in a football Barcelona jersey
and ended up joining Au-sa and I baking, and on another occasion a
young monk sat down and conversed a bit. Here I was always taken
back by their presence on the streets in the morning, curious about
their daily life and here was a 13 year-old monk in training seated
in front of me, eager to know what I was doing in his village. I
also met Ed, a friend of Au-sa and Pisak who ran a motorbike mechanic
workshop and was famous in the area for his skills. He was an avid
cyclist so on two different mornings he took me for a ride around on
the most incredible peaceful back roads at sunrise. One morning I
also went on a long ride on my own, craving a bit more of activity
and some “me time”, not to mention I had to make room for all
the food they were feeding me. There is an impressive network of
roads around their village and the great metropolis area of Lampang
and I road effortlessly for a 100 kilometers or so one morning with
little to no traffic and plenty of scenery.
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| Sunrise outside of Ban Pong Ho San. The red is from the field burning and fires in the area unfortuntaely |
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| My loyal guide for two morning rides |
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| We even had time to give offerings to the monk before riding |
Let's just say, I felt right at home
with Au-sa and Pisak's family. I could have stayed for weeks or a
month with this gem of a family. It was almost eery just how much I
had in common with them and shared similar values and perspectives on
life, a family hundreds of thousands of kilometers from where I grew
up. A family with a huge heart, making the most of all their
resources, living a very simple yet fulfilling life in a tiny village
in Northern Thailand. Again, my trip has showed me that things just
happen for a reason, and some things are just meant to be and
completely out of our control.
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| Simply adorable little kids |
I had a hard time leaving their house
after 4 nights and 5 delightful days. I gained an incredible amount
of insight into the Thai culture and experienced plenty of daily life
that felt so natural and welcoming. Something tells me I'll be
back.......and I'm sure other Warmshowers guests will be through, we rewrote their profile to reflect who they really are!
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| Their corner shop and house in Ban Pong Ho San |
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| Leaving the village on the back roads |
