# 23 Neighbors

I got really lucky having such a great placement, living on the high school campus, Pla Pak Witiya. Most government jobs such as teachers, postmen,doctors, police,etc.. provide on-site housing. How awesome, right?! On the high school campus is a row of houses reserved for teachers only. Here is my street!

My house is like a duplex with another house sharing a wall providing close quarters with my neighbors (see My House). Again, I have been lucky to have wonderful neighbors. For the first semester of teaching there was a family living next door with a 2 year old daughter, Katjang. You can imagine my excitement knowing that I'd have a playmate around. She would always be waiting in the front when Amanda and I came home from teaching, jumping up and down screaming " PI TUEY, PI DAA" (for Pi Bai Tuey and Pi Amanda) doing a happy dance. It was interesting for me to see how they parent children and the similarities and differences between the cultures. Potty training for the most part was a free for all. They let it be a natural process unlike most American parents who pressure their children before they are ready. If Katchang had to go, where ever she was standing she'd do her business or as she got older would use Pi Yok's garden haha. This led to a lot of laundry though! Her 'crib' was a plastic basket lined with blankets hanging from rope with no guard rails or safety devices. We also got the pleasure to hear her screaming during bath and bed time or at 6 am on weekend mornings yahhh. However, as a new family, they wanted a place of their own near their family which led them to build a house in a village nearby and move during semester break. saddd

When we came home from break, SURPRISE, the Student Teachers and a chinese volunteer had moved in! They are the same age as Amanda and I (23) which has been nice to be around thai people in the same age range since many of my teachers are above 40. They definitely have changed our house dynamic and have taken an interest in learning english. Often we hear yelled through our walls, "WHERE YOU GO??" "WHAT YOU DOING?". It's been fun having them around hearing about their many many so-called boyfriends and helping each other with our thai and english. I have been able to get a taste of living next to a new family and the younger generation of thai people!

Washing mushrooms after school one day. Left to right: Chompoo, Teep, Owie, Gen