So at work there is a woman named Kru Nong. She does earth sciences, but sits in the physics office. Well, ever since I came here she has sort of latched onto me. She wants to practice her English, and keeps inviting me to her house to practice. I have always been polite but noncommittal, largely because her English is so weak it is extremely taxing to hold a very basic conversation with her. Back at our first EIS seminar I had to help her with her presentation--she was talking about "swarms of earthquakes." It turns out she had taken a Thai wikipedia article and then used an online translator...it was disastrous.
Anyway, the frequency of these demands to chat have increased. Last week I was again invited to her house, which I politely postponed. Then on Tuesday morning she caught me with another invitation. She said she would come to my office in the afternoon. I understood this to mean that she would come and we would plan a visit, she clearly understood it to mean something else entirely. So after work that day I went to the market, bought a fish and some rice for dinner, and around 5 p.m. Rhea and I were sitting down to dinner at our house. We had the window open, and had just started to eat when Pee Nong's voice comes through the window. Allison, ready? Go now! Uhhh, what? I had no idea what was going on. So she pulled the curtains aside, saw we were eating, and questioned us. Oh, food at my house! It gradually became clear that she expected me to go to her house right THEN. I explained to her that I was sorry, that I had been confused about the timing, and that I was eating dinner now. But she kept insisting that we go. And go now. So very reluctantly I grabbed my bag and said goodbye to my fish (only got to eat 2 bites) to go to Pee Nong's house.
We took a random tour of town, complete with almost unintelligible English, and then I met the family. There were 5 adults and 1 little girl who studies at Lydia and Danielle's school. Let me begin by saying that everyone was very nice. They were quite friendly, interested in my life, and just trying to practice their English. But dealing with low levels of English is absolutely exhausting, especially in large doses. And this was a huge dose.
They kept asking me different things, but insisting I eat at exactly the same time. Then they would ask if I understood Thai, and test it out by speaking very quickly--not exactly the best way to evaluate my very basic language skills. So it was concluded that I spoke no Thai, and they proceeded to "teach" me to count, something which I learned my first week in country. Whenever I would try to demonstrate what Thai I did know, they would basically tell me to shut up and then repeat the same thing over again--very frustrating. And then there was there reaction to my questions. For instance, one man's nickname was "Yoot." I immediately thought of "stop," which is also "yoot" in Thai. So I said "Oh, Yoot, like stop!" And then they all got very distressed--"No, not like stop." So I tried to ask the difference between Yoot the nickname and yoot stop, but they would only say no, not like stop, over and over and over again. So much for me trying to understand anything.
Bottom line is that it was a mentally exhausting evening. After 2.5 hours there I told them I had to go home (much disappointment from them). This was actually because I had a Sype date with Andrew, but I honestly don't think I could have handled another 30 minutes of the "chatting." On the drive back home, Pee Nong was very excited, and kept telling me to come tomorrow. So I said "Yes, I will come to your office to talk tomorrow." Definitely not what she meant. She actually expected me to return to her house for another session of English practice the very next evening! So I (politely) declined. Once was enough for now.
TL/DR: Speaking English with Thai teacher and her family is mentally exhausting--I need some boundaries in my personal life.
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