achjan mac (mac, the teacher)

in thai, "achjan" means "teacher."
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achjan mac (therdchai chumphoopong) is the man who taught marty mizenhimer (beth's husband) how to administer thai massage, and he's our guru for 2 weeks. mac runs the class and he cooks our thai lunches. he works with his brother (mos) and his mother (mom).
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mac is hilarious. he speaks excellent english, in a way that allows us to grasp the meaning of every sentence. mac doesn't waste words.
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instead, mac delivers every, single sentence with the most gigantic smile that you could ever imagine.
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here are some of mac's philosophical comments. those of you who aren't in class might not get some of these, but they are awesome:
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in regard to asking questions, mac (with a giant smile): "ask me anything. you ask more, you learn more."
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in regard to any question or issue:
mac (with a giant smile): "no problem."
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jennifer: "these techniques are great, but what about my client who weighs 300 pounds?"
mac (with a giant smile): "no burger." "no coca cola."
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when you begin to doze off in class:
mac (with a giant smile): "my coffee good. you like my coffee."
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in regard to the level of effort that you should use, as you are struggling through a thai massage: mac (with a giant smile): "it easy. yes."
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in regard to happiness:
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mac (with a giant smile, to jason): "you smoke something before class?"
jason: "no. i perma-happy. i'm gay."
mac (with a giant smile): "i know."
mac (with a giant smile): "it's okay. no problem."
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the follow-up line to any time mac says anything that might seem the least bit critical:
mac (with a giant smile): "just joking. no problem."
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when he demonstrates a technique, but uses too much pressure on the model:
model (pang): "that hurts."
mac (with a giant smile): "sooooorry." "it happen."
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at any moment:
mac (with a giant smile): "don't worry. we have fun!"
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in regard to healing:
mac (with a giant smile): "thai massage fix what broken." "but no fix heart."
nicki: "it can't fix a broken heart?"
mac (with a giant smile): "broken heart?" "see my brother."
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in regard to eating strange foods:
mac (with a giant smile): "you know frog? taste like chicken."
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...and on and on and on...
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here's to mac, a massage instructor who we will never forget.

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below: the school, and our lunch area.

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