CLASSMATES

Meet my partner today whose name is unpronounceble in Thai so let us just call him Chef. It is an understatement to say the class is made up of a collection of characters. Being the only 'farang' I get a different partner everyday to ensure my immersion is complete. Brilliant idea for my sake but some of these poor souls do not know what hit them, since 8 out of 12 in the class hardly speak a word of English. Sign language in the kitchen proves to be an effective tool, it is a challenge but lots of fun as we try to understand each other. It can be confusing at times like too salty and too sweet are expressed with the same tongue-sticking-out-grimace.

Here is a thumbnail of my fellow 'wannabes' :

* a guy travels 2 hours each way so he can sleep at home in the province
* a Dusit LCB graduate from the French course who absolutely hates French food
* a Thai woman married to a non-military American who works in Afganistan
* another Thai woman who lives in Prague, but wants to cook properly
* an extremely polite brother-sister team, super pleasant but never said a word
* a bartender who wants to open a beach front bar/restaurant in Phuket
* an obssessed woman who measures everything 3 times
* a guy who wants my email address but cannot tell me his name in English
* a Japanese women exANA who takes time off from a Malaysian cooking school
* last but not the least, an old man who most everybody thought is no more than 52

The Chinese saying .... '1 crop of rice can feed 100 types of people' .... here is your walking definition!