Page Four Fiil‘ll Year Abroad - Part II SCARLET AND BLACK ' Friday. October l3, I96I Thai Girls Show Disciplined Behavior, Hide Sense Of Humor With Shyness by Gretchen Schiele Since the middle of June i have been living here in Bang< 1:01: at Wattana Wittaya Acad- emy, an old and respected girls' boarding school. it resembles a rustic estate surrounded by lawns of rich green grass. cause it was the first girls school in Thailand, the people here are especially proud of its history. There are several elderly teachers who remember the days when Wattana was in the coun. try and students paddled miles tip the klong (canal) to reach it. Today it is in the city and its undisturbed klongs are cov-‘ ercd with lotus blossoms and other plants. Teaching English to girls trorn 10 to 18 at Wattana and at Jones Hayes, an overcrowdedl school in the lieait of the Chi-l nese section of Bangkok, has‘, been interesting and rewarding: d got my first impressions Thai girls from their classroom behavior, which reflects lllelr‘ disciplined upbringing. respect for teachers and careful atten- tion to formalities. lt is not. as i had thought, a joke that in Thailand people, keep their heads lower than‘ yours to show their respect. Be—, cause of my height this is no problem for my students un— less I am seated at my, desk. Then they will drop on their knees—a custom which makes, me wince a little. I am still a little baffled by the students sense of hu- mor and shyness. They some- times fail to appreciate stories that I had thought would amuse them but are tickled by little comments or facial expressions that I make with~ out even realizing it. The ex— treme shyness along with the classroom formality creates a. special problem in my older classes where 1 am supposed to work on English conversa- tion. The best single opportunity 1 have had for seeing my Wat— tana students in an informal situation was at a Chl‘istiani Youth Fellowship retreat at a camp site on the Gulf of Siam. One fourth of these students were Christian This percentage is only a little higher than that of the school, even though it is a Christian school. For these 46 girls, a retreat of this kind was a new experience. They were eager for a good time away from the boarding school rou- tine, Outside the city a few kilom- eters our overloaded bus wit temperamental brakes broke down, and we were stuck for rour hours at a garage and a rundown little country store. Having spent a number of sum-i mers as a camp counselor at,‘ home and taken American girls on similar excursions, I knew well what a nightmare a delay like this could be. Rather than complain or cause me any con— cern, these girls seemed con. tent to talk, sing. drink social pop and walk around from one shaded spot to the next. I was probably the most worried and uncomfortable one there. . We finally arrived in camp,‘ and when i came to the Cablnl which I was to share with eight of my students, they seemed excited and happy to have their “teacher" staying with them. They promptly pounded and tested each bed to see which was the most comfortable. Oil course, they offered me thel shower first, but I preferred (ill let those more adept at chang- ing clothes inside a sarong gel first Thai modesty decrees thatl notii g comes off unless some "the JD’S . Spot" otia lthing else is on, This, incidental.‘don faces a dreadful day onus). the ,ly, is quite a trick. ‘ Each morning the girls were 'Reicl Says That ZAre Social Centers Oi Na’rion i by Steve Reid The American tourist in Lone underground pavements, trains lrushing r b c iin ing pounding English Pubs ,Amcrican lunch eo- the Pub's iicarcst relative in the conversation is noti‘ limited to how the cricket tciiini lis doing, or what the weather is.l up with the sun and early forjstairs, hurtling through art gal—lwas 0,. will be. But of caursei their KP. duty, Their cagerness lows and being shouted at by'lhe conversation depends entire, lto can-y things left our strong— ,al'med missionaries feeling a icrosity along with their appre— iciativeness ot the little things done for them contributed much itc the spirit of icllowship that .‘we attained. ' The serious progrmn ,was centered around the themes of , what the word “vocation" means to a Christian and the Christian approach to mar- riage and family liic. These subjects are also discussed by . Christian Youth Groups in the states, and, though l.misscd the content at the talks, knew by the girls’ attentive» ness that they were interested. We had plenty of time for the kinds 01 group fun possible t a campiswimming, hiking, scavenger hunting and campfire singing. Though i was reminde ed time and again of my camp. ing cxperiences in America, the customs and the lorins of tun did make this exerience unique. I was both amused and embar— rassed when, after promising to be the life guard for a 6 am. swim, I awoke at 6:30 to find the girls ready but politely wa' ing tor me to wake up— without any help. On our last night at camp two had a beautiful campfire on ithe beach. Dressed in costumes which showed imaginative use ,of sarongs. dowcrs, scarves and palm leaves, the girls gave skits and performed folk dances fro dieterent parts of Thailand. This was the one time when i saw their reserve completely break down; they screamed with laughter at a couple of their “tom boys” who paraded around las cheese cake queens and were ifollowed by servants fanning Ithem with huge palm leaves. T h i s evening’s entertainment imade me even more aware of ‘the talent, originality and sense Iof humor of my students. Sitting on the porch chatting iathight and on our long hikes , p the beach, l discovered that, ,as I had suspected, all of them lean converse informally in Eng- llish and cnioy doing it, The re. turn to the classroom was also a return to the brief, tortured little English sentences from nei‘vouselooking girls. I look up. on this as a challenge, and l have told my Thai teacher friends that this situation in my class is going to change! hey only smile—shyly. lBURKLE iConl. from p. 2 the Russian, American French embassies, How many will join in we don’t know. Many students are apprehensive about getting in- volved in large mass actions, es and the reputedly Communist-led student organization, is so will- log to join in and provoke vio— lence whenever they gel. wind of student action anywhere. lng‘aild very excing. It cer— tainly beats prepping for start log all the fall term. And in case you are wondering where the toll students get all the time, no one is ever dropped from school for low grades and no minimum grade average is ircquired for graduation. I , 'guides about the marvels of what was once Cluse to civiliza- Be-‘littlc foolish, This kind of gen- non. Although it is not the best way to see a place, our tourist friend has little choice; he has only 12 short days in London, labout these famous spots would ibe utter foolishness, not to say a waste of his money. But he has a chance, if he wishes, to sec and even partake in one of the most curious and ‘chaineleonic institutions of man —alld this is the Chance of the public bar, known as the Pub. . this presents a monumental i problem, tiinewise that is, be- cause it takes time to become familiar with this strange species; it takes time to chat with some tcllow and find out what he did during the war, time to starc at an outland. l ish Dickensian character and time to observe the Pub i metamorphose through its sev- t cral stages as its patronscomc and go. Because the Pub lsoriented to vaei-yman, thc Britishcr and the Englishman (they are two sepae rate races, you understand) might both agree that a ‘pl‘opel" lPub is not to beicund in down- ‘town London. So one must go out where the city asserts its .viliage character again, to Ham- ;stead. Mile End Road, Wimble- jton or Shepards Bush, cach less ian half an hour from the city i_a Pub far enough out so that it has its regular customers, yet close enough to attract seine of ithe city characters, dissidents and students. Even though these Pubs might lack somc of the country au— thenticity, the American who is lused either to the brightly .lit llqour stores of New York, or ,to the dully lit (but also expen- sire) should discover many surprising and even pleasing things. The only unwelcome part ,about the pub might be the change in the actual liquid re- freshment (known to the Grins nell world as ice Cream) from passable Budweiser to giiastly guinesscs, awesome ales and stifling stouts, particularly when served warm, as they are in at least half oi the Pubs. (1 sus- pect that this is one of the rea- ‘sons why Britain set. the legal iage lower than the US, not ibeeause she trusts her young ichaps, but because they have lto havc a great dcal of grit ‘and determination in order to ,ilearn to drink the stud.) 1 Thus, after a couple of swal- llows of boiling ale. conversa— ,tion, the forte of the Pub, bc~ ‘omes a welcome relief. And pecially when the “Zengakurcn.”'Cmitrary to the practice of tthsleep until noon, and then, ful- l Correction l Astory appeared in last wcelt's‘become extinct m the rush of evaluate Scarlet and Black concerning All in an it is my interesg the new vision standard ior incllong ago in the American way AFROTC. The standards, printed, were wrong. as Cori-ectcd, they read — um: corrected distance vision must i be less than 20/400. l vision must be corrected to less than 20/30 in one eye and 20/40 |, in the other. WE HAVE A LARGE SELECTION OF DELICIOUS BAKED GOODS TRY SOME TODAY! DANISH MAID 818 Fourth Avenue —We feature pastries of all kinds ,and to miss seeing and hearing But to our rushing friend , liquor Stores of Newlon,l ly on thc‘typc or people who‘ come, and that depends upon‘ ithe time of day. On a Sunday afternoon, the rub takes on its most domes tic mask as whole English families descend upon it, The kids are told to amuse them- selves while the grownups hash over the latest blunders by dear Harold. outrages or our own Jack or discuss com- munity developments and decrees. l Some people come in still ‘dressed from church, others in old working clothes; some come o have a regular meal (be-, cause many of the Pubs have, ‘their own small restaurants). iand others just tor a short pint lbefore facing the afternooh’sl icliores. The illusory effect of domes- tic tranquillity prescnts itseli,. lat least until the Conversationi lis overheard, and then the resin, ‘Z'dLion comes that ll. is not by‘ accident alone that the tradition of Hyde Park and that of illei Pub exist in the same country.i The second, and perhaps more‘ interesting phase, comes in late, afternoon and early evening on week days, when the working people come in for a little re-l laxation. But as always, the em- phasis is on drinking just enough to loosen the tongue but, not enough to completely dis— able it. ' Perhaps the most interesting way to approach these people is to start them talking about some figure of authorityiother than the Queen, which is still considered foul playiand then just sit back for some lively and entertaining descriptions of ‘public leaders. Topics that always seem to raise vociterous arguments and dcelamations are ones like whether the German troops should be allowed to train on British soil, or what should be done about the Proteus and her nuclear oifspring. But the more political ques- tions should be saved for late evening, when the Pub emerges into its final stage by the en- trance of students and their dates (maybe) who have come in for a bit of refreshment, of lcitwingors to discuss policy ov— er a game of darts and of frus- trated beats to sit and think on the evils of society. But whatever may be said, the most important thing is that the' Pub is somewhat ot a grab bag' and thus avoids any stereotype which eager young exchange students would want to put on iit by discussion in college news~ papers. I So let us hope that on at least one day, our tourist friend Will :‘ly rested, set out on a leisurely] day of Pub crawling, taking time llo appreciate a species soon to ,Britain's modernization as it has‘ let sti-ire. i Danforth Grants To Be Awarded Applications for Danioitli Graduate Fellowships worth up to $12,000 are now being receiv— ed, James H. Stauss, Dean of the College, announced today. The fellowships, offered by the Dantorth toundation of St. Louis, Mo. are open to male col- lege seniors or recent graduates preparing for a career of teach- ing, counsclmg or administrative i work at. the college level. Appli- cants may be planning to major in any recognized tield at the American graduate school of their choice, but should not have already undertaken grad- uate work. Approximately loo fellowships will be awarded to candidates ‘ from accredited colleges and uni— versities in the United States. Nominees will be iudged on in- tellectual promise and person- ality, integrity, genuine interest in religion and potential for ef» fective college teaching. Winners will be eligible for up to four years of iinancial a. istance. with an annual ma. mum of 51.500 tor single men and $2,000 (as well as soon per child) for married men, plus tuition and tees, students without financial needs also are invited to apply. In addition to the annual stip— end winners will be guests of the foundation at an annual ecl— ucation conference held on the shores ot Lake Michigan, Lead» ing scholars are brought to the conference for lectures. semi» hers and personal contact with the Fellows. Danlorth Graduate Fellow- ships are unique in that they may be held tor hie, with cor» tain benefits after completion of graduate work, such as financial assistance to attend educational conferences and stipends to pur~ chase books and periodicals dur~ ing the first three years of teaching. Students may hold a Dantorth Fellowship concurrently with other appointments, such as Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Ful~ bright and National Science Foundation. Winners will become Daiiforth Fellows without sti — end until these other awards lapse. Further information concern- ing the program may be obtain— ed in the Dean's office from Dean stauss who may nominate up to three candidates. Nomina» tions must be submitted to the toundatioii by Nov. 1. LETTERS Cont. from p. 2 that an essential ingredient of any form or recreation is enjoy. merit. Uniortunately, forced hall participation in a sport not generally enjoyed docs not achieve these desired ends. Perhaps if we have reached the point where there is never even a sutticient minority ot the girls in the hall interested in hockey lM’s it is time to re- thc program rather than criticize it. Ann Hamilton SALES Distance‘ . REPAIR i. 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