Sabaydii,

 

Here is the continuation of a series ‘Coming home’ entitled ‘The old Lycee’

 

Hakphaang,

 

Was told

My classmate since Sixieme B

Manh

Forgot his last name

Was a math teacher

At the Lycee

Now called

Matthayom Tone Pai

Before Oudom Vientiane

The time I graduated

 

With time to kill

And an attachment to the school

I studied for so long

I went to see both

 

 

Hard to put into words

My school in front

Looked different

Maybe the strange looking blue color

Ai Nong[1] style

Or the students too young

To roam this once a sanctuary

Of our Lao finest institution

 

 

I remember

In my early days at Lycee

Back in 1971

Students were far older looking

 

From Troisieme up Terminale

Virtually everyone was

A PhuBao[2] PhuSao[3]

Fully bloosomed

And ready to take on the world

 

Now very much

Like kids in primary schools

A far cry from the good old days

 

Was also told

This school was still much coveted

A thing to be bragged about

No much difference from before

 

 

Like the olden days

Black Benz Mercedes

Parked at the front yard

The right thing to do or not

 

Once inside the campus

In the teacher lounge

I asked for my friend

 

To my dismay

He wasn’t scheduled

To teach that afternoon

Maybe too much an overload

With close to 50 students in class

Far more too much of a quota

Than anyone could handle

 

Not letting anything dampen my spirit

I strolled around the school

Walking along the corridor

Many times I used to pass

 

 

Not far

I saw a lot of scooters

Numerous to count

 

Then at another side

Bigger lot for the bicycles

Not much different

From the olden days

 

 

Was that so?

At close look

At the buildings scattered

In every direction

My eyes caught sight of

The broken windows

 

 

Too painful to watch

I looked away

 

Like a passer-by

I just recorded

The deteriorating of my beloved school

Through the lens of the camcorder

And let my happy old days

Swept away the sad picture I saw

 

Hopefully

When I came back

Next time around

My ‘Lycee’ would be in a better shape

 

With a longing look

At the institution

So much meant

To all the Lycee alumni

I formed a word ‘Thank you’

 

In my lip

And let it embrace the school

Beautiful as ever

In our longing hearts

 

 

9.11.03

 

Notes

Sixieme B is equivalent to 7^th grade. The strange thing was that usually it would take 8 years to finish Lycee compared to only 6 years of secondary school in the U.S. (junior high and high school). Here is how the Lycee system worked at that time:

Sixieme B

Sixieme A

Cinquieme

Quatrieme

Troisieme

 

I guess those five levels are equivalent to the junior high plus 9^th grade. Generally, if you are really good with the exam taken at the Lycee after you have finished primary school, they can place you even in Cinquieme but very rarely. I saw some students had passed the exam with high grades so they bypassed Sixieme B and went straight to Sixieme A.

 

Then

Seconde

Premiere

Terminale

The last three is equivalent to

10^th grade

11^th grade

and 12^th grade

respectively