the fishtank.

i am proud to report being the FIRST teacher to properly break in the picture perfect BumbleBee® world. the library, play room, and art room that comprise the inside of the glass-walled fishtank have been relatively untouched since finishing construction on the project about a month ago. all of the foreign teachers are smart enough to know that the perfectly arranged bottles of rainbow paint in the art room and the color coordinated building blocks in the play room will not last a second when combined with a classfull of energetic kiddies. of course this is not a worry to the thai teachers, who understand the room for exactly what it is: a moneymaking perfect image for the school. actually using the room would only mess things up, making it look not nearly as nice, so they wisely bring their students, mostly the pre-kindergarten classes of 2-year-olds to the art room and the play room not to do art (too messy) or to play (too fun) but to sit quiety while an “educational” dvd plays on one of the three extra large flat screens that the tank is equipped with.



imagine everyone’s surprise when today, my class of 3-year-olds, surprisingly on their best behavior for such an exciting excursion, comes lumbering in to be donned with smocks, loaded with paintbrushes, and let loose to have their way with the blank white sheets of paper in front of them. i saw the worried glances being passed around from one thai assistant to another as i remove the cute little bottles of paint powder from their perfect places on the spotless shelves to mix cups for each 4-person table of painters. i couldn’t help giggling to myself as i noticed the bright red, blue, and yellow tables were still plastic-wrapped. that technique may work for 80-year-old retirees hoping to keep their new furniture undamaged, but for a school of 300 2-to 6-year-olds, you have got to be kidding me.


my kids definitely enjoyed their painting, but even they could feel the apprehension of doing something they weren’t supposed to. i encouraged their beautiful works of art, even as bright paint spots appeared on the lovely hardwood floors and animal-shaped chairs. we had, after all been told over and over by the school owners to use the room to “do something interesting” with our kids, because sitting in the classroom all day ”has them very boring.” well, i quite agree!


the thai assistants did not hide their disapproval of the messiness of the painting activity i had endeavored. my thai teacher did not hide her irritation at having to help me clean up our paint-covered kiddies (though i smilingly told her to stop, happy to take all responsibility for my happy messes). the owner, watching from outside the fishtank, did not hide his genuine surprise that someone had actually worked up the nerve to properly break in the new space.


even so, it was one of my first genuinely GREAT days at school…no stress, happy kids, and a smile plastered on teacher emily’s face all day long. is it wrong to get such satisfaction from other peoples’ disapproval? is it wrong to get such amusement out of the looks of alarm and disgust caused by my audacity to *gasp* do art in the art room!?! is it wrong to get such happiness purely from injecting a little paint-spattered chaos into their perfect world?


well, it benefits the kids, so i say no, it’s not wrong :)