Exam week at a Thai university is not the time to question how things are done. They are nice enough to let me work here, after all, so I’m in no position to change the system, no matter how silly it is.

The root of my problem is how we, the teachers, do everything for the students. Thais start spoiling their kids from birth, and keep doing it until they get married and finally move out of their parent’s house. For instance, after class, the students leave all their garbage laying around for the janitor to pick up. There aren’t even garbage cans in the rooms.

Thirty minutes before each test we are assigned to proctor, we have to meet our group of two other teachers. We take our sealed packets of exams, usually for three classes, and go to the designated room. Then we carefully lay the exams out on the desks, one class in each row. This may involve putting a color-coded exam, answer books, and bubble sheet on each desk. Finally, we make a complicated seating chart on the board, showing where the students should sit according to class, section, and individual number.

Then we have two or three hours to kill. Sometimes the Thai teachers from the Thai program talk to me, which is nice, because other than that, I have no contact with them. One teacher pointed out a couple minor celebrities, who are in Thai soap operas. Like all Thai TV/movie/pop stars, they were luk krueng, or half-Thai, and had skin whiter than mine.

If the teaches don’t talk to me, I go through my Thai alphabet flashcards. It’s actually been a good opportunity to study, and I have re-acquainted myself with all the letters.

When they are finished, the students just leave their papers on their desks. After they all leave, we go around and pick them all up, and make sure they are in numerical order. So all they have to do is come in, take the test, and leave. They don’t have to get the tests or turn them in, since we do all that for them. If it’s a three hour test, they can come in an hour late (the few who come on time leave an hour early).

At first I asked questions, but the Thai Teachers all gave me dirty looks. So now I happily pass out papers, draw color-coded diagrams, smile at all the late students, and sort stacks of exams. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! Mai bpen rai.