Just Call Me Teacher Jacob

So there has been a pretty humorous Saga (no pun intended) of events that have been occurring at Satit Bagna over the past month or so--since whenever the latest Twilight movie came out.

It began with some simple giggles from a few of the girls on campus, which I just thought were normal because I'm white and well, I get giggled at all the time. Then it started happening more and girls were make little squeaking noises when I walked past, you know how middle school/high school girls are when they are embarassed. I still didn't think much of it until Teacher Oil told me all the girls thought I looked like Jacob, the werewolf from the Twilight movies. You know the one that everyone has been talking about with the superhumanly ripped body that I clearly possess

Anyway, so once I finally knew what the laughing was about I started hearing the name Jacob when I walked past and girls would even smile and wave to me in the hallway and say "Good Morning Teacher Jacob." Then Rally in my M3 brought here copy of Twilight to school and was sure to show me who I looked like (now, I'm gonna be honest about the only resemblance I see between us is that we aren't asian and have dark hair and eyes... but if I'm gonna be compared to someone I guess I'll take it) So I literally heard it everday before Christmas at least 2-3 times a day and of course I started to milk it. When girls would walk past and giggle or be staring at me across the courtyard I would wave or smile right at them and they would burst into hysterics. SO funny.

For the few days leading up to Christmas break I had girls coming up to me and giving me presents who I had never met before (in Thailand it's okay to give/accept gifts from students) and well, let's be honest, I gladly accepted them :) The best from my throng of adoring Jacob fans was a huge box of Lindor truffles! There is no other way to describe this obsession with me looking like this person other than: it's just so Asian haha

Other gifts I received from students that I actually teach include: a pan of brownies from Bam, Pun and Minie (my favorite siblings), candy canes from Rally, a calculator from Pink, a bucket of cookies from Palm and a mini-buddha carved from stone from Ploi. It is so cool/nice/generous of these students to go out of their way to give me something and it helps me to think that I may actually be doing an okay job!

I thought the whole Jacob thing had kind of fizzled as I don't hear my name so often ( although I still get giggles), until this past Saturday. I kind of assumed that the Jacob-thing was just a school-wide event, but it appears to have leaked into the village. When I was walking home from teaching Saturday class a motorbike of 3 women (women not girls or students) started calling to me "Jacob, Jacob, Teacher Jacob." I smiled as they pulled up and then realized they actually stopped to say Hi. We sort of talked/mimed/nodded/laughed until they finally got up the courage to ask me for my picture. Thus ensued a photoshoot with my new friends (Tahn, Jiep and Chau) that consisted of photos with my arms around each of them indivually and one of me shaking each of their hands as though they had just met the real Jacob. It was hysterical! I also found out that one of the ladies works on the lunch staff at school, so that's not gonna be weird or embarassing come lunchtime on Monday!

I'll keep you posted on any new celebrity encounters. Until then, this is Jacob signing out.