We took a tuk tuk to Wat Chaiwatthanaram which is across the Chao Phraya river from the island of Ayutthaya. When we arrived, we thought it was a Buddhist holy day because many locals were dressed in their traditional clothes. People were taking group photos and there were dance performances.

I saw a few young ladies approach Kenric. They chatted and posed for photos. Turns out, they were on an assignment to practice their English with foreigners. He was stopped by another group about fifteen minutes later. That group also approached me because they found out from Kenric that I speak English.

At the Temple To Practice English

They are students of a health and wellness promotion program. The head of the program who is a nurse was with them. Another trainer told us they are from Bangkok and that even though the girls understand and can actually speak English, they are just too shy. That’s why they were there to practice and to also take the opportunity to dress in their traditional clothing while visiting the temple. She also said it wasn’t a special day; and that the locals dress up on the weekends to take photos at the beautiful temple.

I told them to not be shy, and whatever words they can’t pronounce, they should just ask, “How do you say this?” I said no one has ever laughed at me for asking that. One of the girls wished us “Have a great day!” She immediately laughed and covered her mouth. Kenric said the second group of girls were much more shy than the earlier group, and maybe that’s why the trainers were with them. A few minutes later, we saw them talking to another Caucasian.

I Needed Help Too

Even after eleven months of studying at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan in the U.S., I still couldn’t pronounce “Kalamazoo” properly. I said it like it was a Malay word. The week before my first Thanksgiving, I was in a car accident. The car was totaled, and I never found another used car that wasn’t a damn money pit. Anyway, a few days after the accident, I got a voicemail from Kalamazoo Radiology. I called them back but got their answering machine. “Thank you for calłing Kalamazoo Radiology…….” I realized it was late and the office was probably already closed for Thanksgiving. I called back many times and hung up once I heard “Kalamazoo”. With each call, my pronunciation of “Kalamazoo” improved. So, thanks for teaching me how to say “Kalamazoo”, Kalamazoo Radiology!

Turns out, that exercise was not necessary because the replacement used car required a ton of calls to the auto repair shop, Kalamazoo Imports.

Map of Places Visited