Fourteen Class Days Left...

We have about one hour of lecture in massage left, then will spend six of the next eight class days practicing what we've learned.  The other two days we have lecture in Thai herbs, and will be learning to make Tiger Balm (oh yeah man!) from scratch.  We are very excited about the Tiger Balm.  If you've ever used it, you'll understand why.  In the UK it's expensive!

Our class is special, because Olja is the first Serbian and Malee is the first Thai to take the Professional Level II course.  We are happy for them, and really proud of them both. 

Olja has struggled a lot with the language barrier - she's had to interpret what our Thai teachers are trying to say in their limited English, then roll it around in her head until she understands what they mean.  She knows Anatomy and Physiology, but not the English names of muscles etc.  She would have never made it this far had she not been incredibly clever and gifted with an honest to god eidetic memory.  We help her when she asks, and give her plenty of hugs and encouragement.

Malee is also extremely clever, but hasn't the educational background in biology or any of the human sciences.  She's basically had to start from scratch - we were lucky to find a Thai anatomy book that also has the English names of things in the diagrams.  She's wading through it but I know it's not easy for her.  What we really need is the Encyclopedia of Allied Health for Nursing in Thai and English (oh, like that's on Amazon, fer sure!).

Both Olja and Malee's English has improved by hanging around with us, way more than our Thai and Slav has!

This coming Monday Wat Po's first Professional Thai Massage Level I course in Thai, for Thai people begins.  Up till now the only courses available for Thai people were the short courses.  The long, expensive ones were reserved for the Western students.  My understanding is that Wat Po will develop a Level II course in Thai in 2-3 years' time, depending on the demand.  I guess we wait and see, kind of like what we're doing with Professional Thai Massage Level III.

The Level II course has taught me a lot.  We are now in the realms of being able to really damage people - either through incompetence or by being physically unable to do the work.  Understanding this has made me so careful.  While my commitment to keeping myself physically fit has never been in doubt, I am even more aware of the need to remain strong and healthy by looking after myself: doing strength training, cardio work, practicing Ruesi Dutton, getting enough sleep and eating properly.  You can't do this job if you are a slacker in your personal maintenance.

I am listening to Teacher Sampong and taking lots of notes, as well as asking many questions and trying my very best to be perfect when practicing.  We all get a chance to massage Teacher, so we get instant feedback when we are incorrect.  He knows how important it is for me to be accurate, so he picks me up on every little thing and this is helping me be a better MT.  To all my existing/future clients:  I'm doing this for YOU!  I'm definitely looking forward to our six days of practice because I need to know my skills are embedded in my little pea brain.

After practicing, the next five days will be spent massaging real live customers with real live bad backs, knees, shoulders and necks.  Yikes!  Well, this is what I came here for...