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THERE AND BACK AGAIN...
by Bill Myers '97, Faculty
Kristin, my wife, always has the best ideas that rattle me to the bone. “Let’s teach abroad next year,” she casually tossed out over dinner three months before we were to be married. She continued that she worked with a colleague at Hinsdale Central who spent two years in Brazil. Her friend had said that the experience changed her life. Reflectively, I asked myself, why would I want to change my life? I was happy teaching at my alma mater, about to get married to the woman I love and living the care-free life of a twenty something in Chicago. Kristin knew how to handle me. Let me fester; give it time and I would come around. I did.
Dennis Cabrera, a fellow teacher, and Bill meet Miss Thailand
Five months later, thirty-six days as newlyweds, we arrived in Waterloo, Iowa for a career in international schools at Northern Iowa University. It was a whirlwind experience. Within 24 hours and a series of five rapid interviews, we were given the choice: Bangkok or Guatemala City. Faced with this momentous choice and given only 12 hours to decide, we consulted the only opinion we could trust, the US State Department. We logged-on to the travel warnings about the two countries. Te State Department website alerted us that in Guatemala, “the violent crimes reported by U.S. citizens… have included, but are not limited to, assault, theft, armed robbery, carjacking, rape, kidnapping, and murder”. Rationally we knew thousands of Americans come and go in
Guatemala every year with no problem, but we decided to read about Tailand in order to make our decision. When the State Department said the largest threat to safety in Tailand was along the border lands between Myanmar and Tailand, I thought to myself, I could stay out of the jungles of Myanmar. We signed the contract and bought tickets to Bangkok.
6 | Benet Connections Winter 2010
After twenty-two hours on planes, we landed at Don Muang International airport and were immediately impressed with the heat at 1:30 AM. Later we would learn that the weather in Tailand is not a conversation topic like it is in the United States. Tere is no need to talk about the weather because depending on the season, little changes. Tere are only three possibilities: Hot and Dry, Hot and Very Wet and amazingly perfect (November to February…expensive time to go but worth it).
Bill (top row center) and some of his students
Teaching in Tailand was a challenge, but things that are easy are rarely of value. On the first day, I did not know what to expect. I knew I was teaching world history with limited resources and that according to my principal, my students’ English was “pretty good.” Shocked, I learned that half of my freshmen students read at a fourth grade level and speaking English was considered a punishment. For the first few weeks, I tried to teach as I always had before but I could see that it was not working. Frustrated, I threw out the syllabus and started over. I had to be reflective about my teaching in a way that I had never had to before. I tried to stay positive. One does not travel 11,000 miles away to live in his comfort zone. I realized in any given 60 minute class, my students might only learn 5 or 6 ideas. It was not because they were dumb, but because they were pushing themselves by learning about complex topics in a new language. My students were courageous and I had to really ask myself what was essential to understanding. I reflected how knowledge builds on itself. By going slower, I became better. Eventually, I developed a good exercise to keep me patient. I imagined how I would react if I attended a high school in Spain or Mexico when I was only 14 years old. Over time, the new methods paid off. Not always, but occasionally, I could almost see the “light switch” flip on in a student’s head. A non-verbal, hesitant student would begin to raise her hand and develop into a classroom leader. I was and still am very proud of those students.
Bill during the rainy season
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