The Droll and the Dragonflies
Things have pretty much returned to normal here in Bangkok, in fact, they have been normal for some time. The Coup d'etat was a hiccup in daily life here. A few days after the tanks rolled in there was still a small military presence--soldiers on foot on the occasional corner--but no perceptable anxiety among the city's population. One thing is for certain; it takes more than a political revolution and some tanks in the streets to prevent these people from shopping. The malls and markets were crowded this weekend with natives and Farang.
It's finals week, being the last week of the semester, and that means proctoring. Exams are given a little bit differently here: a random proctor gives an exam in a random classroom, and the students have assigned seats within that room. One gets the impression that it took a hundred secrataries ten days to work out the scheduling and organization of it all, given the number of students, classrooms, and finals involved. Not to mention gettting the right number of exams in the right envelop to the right proctor. It's an astonishing feat in a country that has a cultural aversion to logic and efficiency.
Actually proctoring these three hour exams is perhaps the most mundane experience I've had since my flight here. There's little to do but sit and and attempt to intimidate the students into not cheating. Which is a hard thing to do when you;re yawning and looking as though you might pass out at any moment.
My utter boredom was given a brief reprieve this morning when I looked out the window and saw literally hundreds upon hundredds of dragonflies flying in a frenzy around the trees below. It was momentarily mesmerizing. I imagine all their winging about had something to do with the propagation of the species, but whatever the reason, that many large, winged insects was disconcerting. It looked like something out of a bad horror film, and I found myself checking to be sure that all of the windows were tightly shut. I can only imagine the chaos/hilarity that might have ensued had the dragonflies brought their mating flight inside to join our final exam. At least it wouldn't have been so boring.
It's finals week, being the last week of the semester, and that means proctoring. Exams are given a little bit differently here: a random proctor gives an exam in a random classroom, and the students have assigned seats within that room. One gets the impression that it took a hundred secrataries ten days to work out the scheduling and organization of it all, given the number of students, classrooms, and finals involved. Not to mention gettting the right number of exams in the right envelop to the right proctor. It's an astonishing feat in a country that has a cultural aversion to logic and efficiency.
Actually proctoring these three hour exams is perhaps the most mundane experience I've had since my flight here. There's little to do but sit and and attempt to intimidate the students into not cheating. Which is a hard thing to do when you;re yawning and looking as though you might pass out at any moment.
My utter boredom was given a brief reprieve this morning when I looked out the window and saw literally hundreds upon hundredds of dragonflies flying in a frenzy around the trees below. It was momentarily mesmerizing. I imagine all their winging about had something to do with the propagation of the species, but whatever the reason, that many large, winged insects was disconcerting. It looked like something out of a bad horror film, and I found myself checking to be sure that all of the windows were tightly shut. I can only imagine the chaos/hilarity that might have ensued had the dragonflies brought their mating flight inside to join our final exam. At least it wouldn't have been so boring.
posted by Ryan at 9:15 PM
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