What's in a name?

Sorry for the delay in posts. Now that school is in full swing, I've been in teacher mode or trying to go out and do things in the city. So the blog has been a tad neglected. But I had some down time and thought I would share one of the stranger things I've experienced thus far at the school itself, Thai names. Thais have very long, complex official names. Nearly everyone, therefore, has a nickname they generally go by. Naturally, I've had to learn the nicknames of my students. When I first went around with a seating chart trying to fill in everyone's name, I discovered that nicknames in Thailand are not quite like nicknames in the US. If your name is Christopher, you might go by Chris. I'm sure you all know what a nickname is. But here, nicknames are completely arbitrary and totally strange. I have students named Beer, Porn, Snooker, and Benz (yes, like the car). I play basketball with people named Golf and Cartoon. Obviously, they know what these words are. I doubt that whoever gave them their nickname randomly assembled these letters unknowingly. What I don't understand is the choice for the nicknames. But, that's Thailand, gotta love it. I posted one seating chart below, complete with nicknames, so that you can experience it all for yourself. Enjoy.