When she was transferred to Thailand from her Homeland and was forced to continue her studies there, she definitely encountered a lot of struggles.
From the change of palate to confusing road maps and daily noise from the close-knit neighborhood. She was definitely overwhelmed, but not as overwhelmed with the language. It was a nightmare for her. Although her mother was Thai, she's a sweet, considerate woman who would always use Cantonese in an effort to let her husband in to whatever topic of discussion was, so growing up, the only words that Lingling Kwong knew were Sawadee Ka and Suay Mak.
Her Thai was at rock bottom to the point that she flunked all her subjects except English because that's all she can understand. Although she was discouraged, she's not one to quit easily, as she perseveres all throughout, and that's the time in her life where she met her crazy best friend, Junji.
Maybe it was because of the work opportunity, but there's a lot of Filipino teachers that teach English in Thailand. Some of them even fell in love with the country and became citizens of it, and that's what Junji's mother is. She is her English teacher. The patience personified as Ling couldn't understand how one could have enough patience to teach the rambunctious crowd of them. She's the first person outside of her family that she could easily talk with, and she was inevitably introduced to her daughter.
Since then, they have never separated. Even if she and Junji have a stark contrast when it comes to personality, she still knows all the deepest secrets of Junji and vice versa. She would always hang out at Junji's house every week, and her sweet mother, who was retired by then, would cook her infamous adobo. A Filipino dish of pork or chicken, simmered in soy sauce, vinegar, peppercorns, and some other spices. The smell of it alone would make her mouth foam. Along with it, she got familiar with Lumpia, Pancit, and her favorite, Sinigang, a stew of either pork, fish, or shrimp that tasted delectably sour and with tons of vegetables that, if mixed with rice, tasted heavenly.
Junji is not just her friend. She is her confidante and teacher as well. Aside from self-study and language lessons, she was able to practice her Thai without judgment by talking to Junji, and they would just laugh everything off even if she would mistakenly call Junji a demon for mispronouncing what she spoke. But aside from Thai, Junji taught her other parts of the culture. She taught her Tagalog phrases.
"Ling, say Putang ina mo."
She frowned a little bit and asked Junji to repeat the phrases one more time as she listened intently, trying to mimic what she heard.
"Pothang Inah mho..?"
And Junji would clap her hands proudly. Her friend was beaming with her thumbs up.
"What does it mean?"
"It means I love you in Tagalog."
Ling nodded. She tried to say the phrases one more time, tucking that little information at the back of her mind so she could use it when opportunity arises. And it definitely came in the form of World Teacher's Day.
Although her former teacher had already resigned, she decided to give Junji's mother a printed coffee mug to show her appreciation to the kind teacher.
