When some of my students behave poorly, I think back to when I was in Chinese School. By the time I was in high school, I would be showing up an hour and a half late to class and leaving early to work a crappy entry level job at the Farmer’s Market.

I never really saw Chinese school as real school which lends to the fact that though I was a decent student during regular school, the same couldn’t be said during Saturdays in Chinese School. Although not a one to one translation, I”m sure many of my students feel the same way. Coming in as a subject teacher from a completely different cultural background makes commanding respect more difficult. This is not to excuse poor behavior, but to gain a different perspective on it.

Kingston S. Lim

November 20, 2019

Bangkok, Thailand