Punkery
Well I finally got soem tangible work done when I went to Wat Tep fully equipped to interview the Mahachulalongkorn students with (questionable) translator in tow. Although my bag was light, I felt weighed down by my newly-purchased digital voice recorder, digital camera, and digital video camera. I thought the gadgets would overwhelm my prospective interviewees (is that the right word?) and put a wedge in your communication, but was comforted by the confines of the temple, freeing me from my fear of bandits.
The translator that came recommended to me proved to be less of a utility than I had hoped, because all of the monks were eager to speak in English with me (seeing that the language was part of their course of study at the monk university).
I had met several of the monks in the city the day before, where they had swarmed me with digital recorders when I had gone to visit Wat Nong Wen with the afformentioned Kanokporn as my guide (a short-lived association, seeing as I was unable to overcome the unending barrage of questions from a steady stream of young and eager monks, emerging from the fog dazed and disoriented). The tourist-attracting beauty of Wat Nong Wen's 9-tiered edifice seemed to be the perfect trap for their English project.
Once inside the monastery/university, I was invited to the third floor office of a monk/english teacher named Phra Narlong, who also requested that I be a guest speaker at his class. He was quite knowledgeable about muay thai, and acknowledged its recreational importance during his youth growing up in the central provinces. His enthusiasm for the sport was demonstrated by his promise that a few monks in his entourage could show me a few moves. This was somewhat suprising to me, but he was quick to note the prevalence of muay thai bouts at seasonal temple fairs and the historical role of the monk as master of the martial art. A frequent visitor to his hometown, he noted the predominant position that soccer had taken as the sport of choice, although the top boxers uniformly emerged from the rural poor.
Entering the classroom, I was greeted enthusiastically. I had hoped to have a more individualized sit-down with the monks, but perhaps it was more interesting to get a broader picture of those who had come to study at the university.
Phra Narlong was quite knowledgeable and outspoken, but with the translator in tow, i felt obligated to speak with monks with a leser command of the language. I next moved onto Phra Halls, whose spirited elucidation of his beliefs is in the process of translation (hopefully not lost). Hopefully I will be able to elaborate on these exchanges in the near future, depending on the quality of the translation, but the common reasoning behind all the monks' ordination was to become a better person and to bring honor upon the family, with many hoping to oneday study in India.
Coming into the class, I was greeted enthusiastically. I had hoped to make more individualized inquiries, but my introduction to the broad range of students studying english was enlighteneing. I was surprised to note that undergraduates ranged from the age of 20-36 ranging from distant provinces of 3 countries in a single classroom.
One particular student, who I interviewed on video in front of the class, was a 24-year-old from Bangkok who had once studied as a university layman in Bangkok, favoring a 'punk' lifestyle. He described himself as a 'nakleng', or street tough/gangster, who had broken his mother's heart when he was expelled from school. The reasoning behind choice to be ordained was expressed with unmatched sincerity, as he descrbed his struggle to improve his life for the good of both himself and most importantly his mother.
I would like to explore further the issue of monks from Laos, because their monastic ambitions may be of most import to my research.
The translator that came recommended to me proved to be less of a utility than I had hoped, because all of the monks were eager to speak in English with me (seeing that the language was part of their course of study at the monk university).
I had met several of the monks in the city the day before, where they had swarmed me with digital recorders when I had gone to visit Wat Nong Wen with the afformentioned Kanokporn as my guide (a short-lived association, seeing as I was unable to overcome the unending barrage of questions from a steady stream of young and eager monks, emerging from the fog dazed and disoriented). The tourist-attracting beauty of Wat Nong Wen's 9-tiered edifice seemed to be the perfect trap for their English project.
Once inside the monastery/university, I was invited to the third floor office of a monk/english teacher named Phra Narlong, who also requested that I be a guest speaker at his class. He was quite knowledgeable about muay thai, and acknowledged its recreational importance during his youth growing up in the central provinces. His enthusiasm for the sport was demonstrated by his promise that a few monks in his entourage could show me a few moves. This was somewhat suprising to me, but he was quick to note the prevalence of muay thai bouts at seasonal temple fairs and the historical role of the monk as master of the martial art. A frequent visitor to his hometown, he noted the predominant position that soccer had taken as the sport of choice, although the top boxers uniformly emerged from the rural poor.
Entering the classroom, I was greeted enthusiastically. I had hoped to have a more individualized sit-down with the monks, but perhaps it was more interesting to get a broader picture of those who had come to study at the university.
Phra Narlong was quite knowledgeable and outspoken, but with the translator in tow, i felt obligated to speak with monks with a leser command of the language. I next moved onto Phra Halls, whose spirited elucidation of his beliefs is in the process of translation (hopefully not lost). Hopefully I will be able to elaborate on these exchanges in the near future, depending on the quality of the translation, but the common reasoning behind all the monks' ordination was to become a better person and to bring honor upon the family, with many hoping to oneday study in India.
Coming into the class, I was greeted enthusiastically. I had hoped to make more individualized inquiries, but my introduction to the broad range of students studying english was enlighteneing. I was surprised to note that undergraduates ranged from the age of 20-36 ranging from distant provinces of 3 countries in a single classroom.
One particular student, who I interviewed on video in front of the class, was a 24-year-old from Bangkok who had once studied as a university layman in Bangkok, favoring a 'punk' lifestyle. He described himself as a 'nakleng', or street tough/gangster, who had broken his mother's heart when he was expelled from school. The reasoning behind choice to be ordained was expressed with unmatched sincerity, as he descrbed his struggle to improve his life for the good of both himself and most importantly his mother.
I would like to explore further the issue of monks from Laos, because their monastic ambitions may be of most import to my research.
posted by Max J. Karagnarok at 7:21 AM
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