Yesterday, I completed (and graduated from!) a one week, 30-hour Thai Massage course here in Chiang Mai. Every morning, after a delicious breakfast of pancakes and mangos, I’d walk the two blocks from our guesthouse to ITM, the massage school.
Each morning, we would spend 45 minutes practicing a mixture of yoga, tai-chi, and qi gong. We could be found, at any particular moment, ballet dancing, marching, and bouncing our knees and wrists. The music was extremely comical, and I found it difficult on numerous occasions to keep a straight face as we humored the teachers and bounced around with them. Although I do admit, I felt pretty energized and relaxed after the morning routine, so maybe I’ll have to incorporate some aspects into my morning. Maybe.
After exercises, we’d spend a few hours learning thai massage techniques and then practicing on each other. My level one group had 9 students, and we were from everywhere: Canada, Belarus, Ireland, Australia, Portugal, and England to be exact. And my two homies, Sandrina and Darren, are currently working in Congo and Bahrain, respectively.
It was very refreshing, and really a novel idea, to be in a classroom setting after ten months of no work/study. I enjoyed the camaraderie, I enjoyed the learning, and I even enjoyed the homework, although I suspect that’s because it was mostly coloring.
It was a very quick and brief beginner’s course, but I feel confident that I have a base to build on. After all, the most important concept that the head teacher wanted us to take away is that in Thai Massage, everyone wears clothing, and that there are no happy endings. So I did learn that.
We may come back to Chiang Mai at the end of our Asia leg in December so I can take one or two more weeks of classes. Maybe. Let’s not make any fixed plans or anything.
Morning Exercise:
What we’re supposed to do:
My attempt:
And my apology:
Group Picture (all levels)
