Packer Fans all over the World

The Monday I found out the Packers were going to the Super Bowl, I explained to my co-teachers I wouldn’t be able to teach on February 7^th.  I tried to explain how important this game was to me and everyone in Green Bay, but I could tell my teachers were just being nice and pretended to understand. All they needed to see was the excitement in my eyes and enthusiasm in my voice and they were convinced whatever this thing was that I was doing was very important to me and that I had to have the day off. Even though I may have been able to come back to teach in the afternoon, whichever outcome the game could have led to would have called for either an entire day of sulking or in our case, CELEBRATION!!! The nights leading up to the Super Bowl had been rough sleeping wise. I either couldn’t fall asleep because of the anticipation or I was having dreams about being at the Super Bowl. I went in to Bangkok Sunday morning, did some shopping, and watched movies all night as I anxiously awaited Monday morning. I had to represent and wear the NFC Championship t-shirt Dylan sent to me. That drew some unexpected attention, being that I’m across the world living in a country where most people have no idea what the NFL is. I ran in to about a dozen other Packer fans throughout the day, majority of which all were also wearing some type of Packer’s gear. It was great! I actually began to feel like this is real. We are actually playing in the Super Bowl! After shopping at the weekend market, I was suddenly stopped by a very familiar sound; the sound of a true Packer fan with the “U.P.” accent. “Go Pack”, the guy says as he’s sitting on the corner with his girlfriend and friend drinking a beer. For a minute there, I thought I was back in Green Bay tailgating for the big game. I found out they would be watching the game at the Sports Corner Bar where I planned on going as well. I was happy to find out I wouldn’t be the only one cheering on the Pack come 6:30 a.m. on Monday. I woke up at 4 a.m. and was the first one at the bar, bright and early at 5. The people I met the day before rolled in shortly after me. Eventually, the entire bar was packed. The side of the bar I was on contained mostly Packer’s fans. Although, there may have been Steeler’s fans, but they didn’t do a good job making their presence known. I met a couple originally from Illinois, Bear’s fans actually, who have been working and living abroad for the past 17 years. They have a grandson who lives in Green Bay and because of that were cheering for the Pack! I give them a lot of credit being Bear’s fans and all. I also met a guy from Mexico City who has been a die-hard Packer fan all his life. Becca and Patrick, the couple I met Sunday, are from Madison and are students now in Bangkok. They made it home over Christmas and luckily were able to bring back some Packer gear including two huge beer mugs. I had my A-rod jersey on! Thanks to mom! Although the team kept me on my toes, kept my heart racing, and practically ripped my hair out at times, especially after half-time, it was a great game to watch! But nothing was more exciting than those last two minutes of the game. I was sooooo excited!! We did it!! THE GREEN BAY PACKER’S HAVE WON SUPER BOWL 45!!!

It was a moment that I will never forget!! I couldn’t be happier. I have never wanted to be home in Green Bay more in my life. The town, I knew, was going crazy! I quickly called Jaci, Jacqueline, and mom and dad to share in the special moment and find out. Finding out their were fireworks being shot off in the dead of winter in Wisconsin just screams exhilaration by Packer fans!! I was so happy to hear that! I celebrated the amazing Packer victory throughout the rest of the morning and in to the afternoon with some fellow fans! It was a blast!! I’ll never forget where I was for the Packer’s Super Bowl 45 victory celebration. Not everyone may know where Green Bay is on the map, or even Wisconsin for that matter, but they should know by now who the Green Bay Packers are!!

February 2^nd began the Chinese New Year festivities. Gan took Katie and I to a local University where the Chinese department put on an evening of different performances in order to celebrate. The performances were Chinese songs and dances performed by Thai students studying Chinese. There was one performance, however, that was sung in English. A Chinese student performed a guitar solo mixing three popular American songs. It was very well done! Before dinner, I was startled by the extremely loud noise of Black Cat fireworks. I’ve never seen this type of firework before. It was a tall strand of fireworks that just gave off hundreds of very loud, “BANG’s” and every so often, after we thought they were all done, one would go off again. It seemed like the Chinese like to celebrate and ring in their New Year with very loud noises! Later in the week on Friday, the director of finance of our school waves Katie and I over and hands us some pretty “hot” looking green, long sleeved t-shirts with a dragon on it. When I say hot, I really mean temperature hot. It was another awfully warm day in Bangplama, and the last thing I really wanted to wear was a dark colored long sleeved shirt…..but I did.  Katie, Gan and I joined a bus load of M3 students to Suphanburi’s much more elaborate Chinese New Year festival held at the Dragon. Katie and I ended up being the only other “teachers” that wore the green shirt. We matched all 100 of our students. Oh yeah, and the camera guy aka Katie’s biffle. The crowd at the festival was a sea of color. Each school that attended was wearing a different colored shirt. In the beginning, the festival was a little boring, more so just hard to understand what was going on since it was spoken in Chinese and Thai but the firework displays were incredible, like they always seem to be in Thailand, along with the variety of performances.

Towards the end of the ceremony things began to really liven up! A very popular band in Thailand performed and the crowd went wild! I turned around and see one of the teachers and camera guy dancing with all the students. I’ve definitely heard this music out at the bars a few times, especially at the Cowboy Bar in Suphan and at the bar I visited in Chiang Mai on my birthday. I also hear my students singing it down the halls and in the classroom. It’s everywhere. If only I could pronounce their name. The hand symbol that they use is identical to the Texas Longhorn symbol. Our school, hands down, wins for most energetic and fun! Katie, Gan, and I started to dance around with the students and a few of the other teachers. It was a blast! I believe we may have even made it on T.V. again in Suphan. I know for sure we were on the jumbo-tron a few times. The dance party didn’t stop there either. After piling back on the bus, it became the dance party bus! As soon as the driver blared the music, the students jumped up and started breaking it down in the aisles of the bus. I was pretty jealous. I remember those days. This bus even had flashing lights on the ceilings. People driving next to us may have mistaken the bus for a night club. The students were lovin’ it! The bus driver was quick to turn off the flashy lights and turn down the music as we pulled back in to school though.

Time to settle things down now kids, fun’s over! English Camp bright and early in the A.M.! Unfortunately, our Friday night dance party ended early since we had to be on the road for English and Chinese camp by 6:30 a.m the next day. I had a very optimistic attitude about camp and was pretty excited about it and then I found out we’d be singing. I must forewarn you, do not try singing this song at home. It will be stuck in your head for hours on end, possibly even days. “Oh English Camp! Oh Chinese Camp! Oh English Camp makes me happy. We enjoy being together. Oh Chinese Camp makes me happy!” to the beat of “When the Saints go Marching In”. Thankfully, it didn’t go over very well with the students so we didn’t have to sing many verses. I felt like one of those crazy camp leaders who are “high on life” singing to them. I can confirm being a camp leader for students is not for me. After we got the awkward ice breakers over with, we were able to do the human knot which was really fun. We broke the students in to groups of about 6 or 8, and watched as they mangled themselves together and then strategically tried to untangle the knot that was made. The students had a lot of fun with that! Before lunch was station time, where each group rotated from one to the other. The goal of each station was to incorporate English or Chinese in a fun, interactive activity.  I think it all went pretty well. The students seemed to enjoy themselves! After lunch, we went to the aquarium which was near the zoo/garden where the camp was held. While observing all the beautiful and colorful fish, it was photo-opp time! All the students had their camera phones out and were snapping pictures with Katie, Liz, and I left and right. Of course the peace sign made it in about every single photo that was taken. J

Somnuk and Lun, our van driver, took all the “volunteer” teachers to dinner on the way back to school. Dinner was delicious! “Bee gai yak sai” was the hit of the table. It’s a fried chicken wing stuffed with pork and vegetables. It is sooooo tasty! Katie was having fun practicing pronouncing it correctly. Bee gai yak sai me mai na ka? Which translates in to something like, “Do you have bee gai yak sai my friend?” On our way out we met a Thai teacher from Bangkok who actually has a child who is studying in Wisconsin. We asked whereabouts his child was studying in the U.S., and when he said, “Wisconsin”, I threw my hands up in the air and shrieked, “Yay! I’m from there! Where about?” He wasn’t sure exactly where, but I would assume Madison. I got so excited that someone actually knew Wisconsin and had a connection there. I had to stop myself from asking him if he knew about the Packers being in the Super Bowl, since that was all that was on my mind a day before the game! On our way back from dinner, Lun had to slam on his breaks to avoid a collision with some anorexic cattle that were crossing the street. That was a close call...kinda scary actually. I think the van ride from the aquarium back to school was about 2 or 3 hours, and honestly I don’t know if Lun took a breath from speaking to Somnuk the entire time. He had so much to laugh and talk about. It was hilarious! And what was even more entertaining was the sound of his actual laugh. I’m so upset I couldn’t capture it on video. I just wonder what he could have been talking about for that long none stop. If only I knew Thai…