Chairat Kantawong (current spelling of my last name)

In July 1970 I went back to Thailand and taught year 3 in a primary school in Prupi, my hometown. In the following year I went to study part-time at a college of education in Bangkok while working as an interpreter to a USOM (US Operation Mission) advisor to Thai Police Aviation. Having finished my college, I became an English teacher in a private secondary school in Bangkok. After a year I went to
UK to study at Manchester University in 1976 and Reading University in 1977-1978. In one of the summer break I flew to New York City and caught a greyhound to Texas to visit James and Bea and Jimmy Weir, at 305 Gary Lane, my American family and friends and ex-teachers in Denver City.

In 1979 I started to work in a teacher college in Suratthani until I retired two years ago. During those years I came back to Denver City three times to see my family and friends. I went to Singapore for a year to study applied linguistics and to Sydney for four years to do my doctoral, which I did not finish.

I have always appreciated the kindness of my host family, my friends and my teachers at Denver City. I have done many inappropriate things, particularly to Jimmy, my brother, unknowingly. For examples we shared the bed room and I stayed up very late at night watching television, probably because there was no television where I lived then in Thailand. Poor Jimmy didn't get enough sleep and had to get up early in the morning to move pipes on the farm. At breakfast, because I was not used to western food and I was really air-sick flying from Thailand to the US, I was kind of feeling sick often to have western breakfast, I asked mom, Bea, if I could have rice and canned sardine for breakfast. She was very kind to prepare it for me. I only realized when I visited them years later that almost every morning Jimmy was sick because of the smell of my sardine breakfast. There must have been a few other things I have caused them and other people in Denver City problems. They were too kind to let me know. I do apologize and hope it isn't too late. There are, of course, many good memories I have of that one year as an exchanged student to Denver City and to DCHS. I will say more next time.