Two of my students have recently traveled to America. First, there was Jay. Jay is a student in Year 14 (it’s a long story). Typically Thai, Jay is very good-natured, always smiling and joking. He is a singer with a CD and a contract, and when he walks into a shopping mall, all the girls go wild. Kind of like Ms. Stanton goes wild when Jay walks on campus. He went to America to study with a singing coach that had trained Michael Jackson. When he came back he was beaming.
“Jay! How was your trip?” I asked.
“Fantastic!”
“What was the highlight of your trip to America?”
“Well,” he laughed, “some black dudes walked up to me in Panda Express and said, ‘Yo, gimme two dollars.’”
“That sounds pretty exciting,” I said, “so what did you do?”
“I talked to them in Thai,” Jay said proudly, “Pii, mai kao jai, mai mii thaang.” (roughly: respected older brother, I don’t understand, I don’t have any money)
“So then what happened?”
“They just walked away,” continued Jay, “they were pretty pissed off. They thought I was Chinese or something.”
Now, whenever I see Jay, I tell him, “Yo, gimme 100 Baht.” Because he can’t pretend he doesn’t understand, he gives it to me. Unfortunately, I have to give it back.
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