Hello again, friends and family (predominantly family)!
Last week was awesome and completely random and absurd, and so is worth blogging about.
First of all, the food was much improved all week! Normally the cafeteria food is tolerable at best, but last week with the exception of fried fish Friday, the food was actually good! Lunches included, pad thai, fried chicken wings, regular fried chicken, and something else good that I'm forgetting. Great week for food. Yesterday it sucked again, but today was good (cooked kale with rice). I'm hoping we can stabilize at a minimum one bad day to one good day ratio.
Last week began being great on Monday when I was given the task of organizing the American teachers into two groups for required DANCE PERFORMANCES!! That's right! All the American teachers have to perform in either the Thai style dance number, choreographed by "Jesse," or in an American style dance number which is whatever we want it to be. I, with 8 other Americans, have been learning and am going to perform the Thai dance and I am choreographing and teaching the American dance to "Whip my Hair" by Willow Smith (song choice derived from a vote.) So, I found out about that on Monday.
On Tuesday, we had our first Thai dance practice. It was hysterical!! We were so bad! Miss Pat was there for the beginning and she started cracking up. Amidst laughing very hard, she managed to say to Nick, "No one can help you!...Not even God!" We were all very awkward and the teaching style was a little different. We would begin with the feet, the steps, and that was fine. It was either marching in place or step, step, step, touch repeated over and over. So our instructor "Jesse" (his nickname not his real name) would lull us into a false sense of ability by having us do just the feet for a long time, but then he hit us with the hands and it all fell apart. The arm movements in and of themselves are alright, but the hands have to do all of these intricate poses that require thinking a lot about which hand is supposed to be doing what. We all failed miserably during our first practice at this. There was a part where the guys had to do one thing while the girls did something else and one of the guys asked Dylan what they were supposed to be doing, to which he responded, "Improv it. Just be smooth with your pinching," (referring to the Thai hand gestures). Later Jesse was explaining to Dylan that the move was the man trying to seduce the woman. Dylan said, "Oh! This is what I've been doing wrong all these years," as if to say he hadn't been great at picking up women because he hadn't been doing the "pinching" dance move. Basically our first practice consisted of more laughter than dancing, but it was fabulous. Especially because it ended in free snacks!! (Anytime you do something extra at St.Gabe's you get free food or drink which is amazing!) The snacks were "orange drink" (essentially a very sugary orange flavored beverage, like uncarbonated orange soda) and mini hot dogs wrapped in a mini slice of bread and topped with ketchup and the Asian sweet mayonnaise. That probably sounds disgusting, but it is surprisingly delicious. I had two.
Also Tuesday, I found at, oh, 1pm that I was no longer going to be teaching Primary 3 (3rd grade) for Period 8 (afterschool class), but instead Secondary 3 (9th grade) beginning that afternoon. Now I had done a lesson plan for my P3 kids, so I had to run that over to the primary office to give to our newest arrival Nick who was involuntarily volunteered to cover my P3 class on my days for the rest of the term. He wasn't even there at the time so I just had to drop everything off and tell Ashley what to tell him. I felt pretty bad, but at least I gave him something to do that day. I, on the other hand, had nothing to do in my first class with M3, so we ended up just doing introductions, talking about the rules and how the class would be run, and repeating all of that every so often when more kids came in late. Nevertheless, we still ended 20 minutes early the first day. Having taught them more now, I've pretty much figured out what level they are and there are only 8 of them when they are all there, so that's pretty manageable as well. They're less cute than my 3rd graders were, but they're better behaved and nice kid. I also have them teaching me a Thai word before they leave each day. So far I have learned "Kang-keng" which means "pants" and "kra-prong" which means skirt.
On Wednesday, Miss Pat came in first thing in the morning to tell me I wasn't going to any of my classes that day, instead I was going to be recording listening exams for St. Gabe's scholarships as well as certain pages of the student handbook which were to be played over the loud speaker before school. (I actually heard myself yesterday morning and this morning and, let me tell you, it's weird.) What free snack did I get out of this, you may be wondering. Iced Coffee!! It was actually like an iced caramel latte and it was fabulous. Win! Anyway, recording entailed me chilling in a recording studio while the sound tech "Bob" (again, Thai nickname) gave me instructions and recorded. It was a little interesting when I would have to spot correct grammar in the questions or when I would expect a certain question only to find it was slightly different resulting in some, shall we say, "unique" inflection, but I'm sure the kids won't notice.
In the afternoon, I had some time to do some grading. As I was reading Draft 2 of M 6/6's letters of application I noticed, where on one Draft 1 I had rather cheesily written "I'm from Maryland!" (mostly I was pretty pumped people knew Maryland existed and 6/6 was the first set of Draft 1's I graded so I wasn't sick of them yet) below some kid's made-up qualifications that said he had done some kind of training or something in Maryland, he had then written below that--presumably upon having been returned the paper--"Gorgeous! Miss Jennifer" with the i's and the point of the exclamation point dotted in hearts. This cracked me up. Now, when next I have 6/6 I have to scope out who #49 is and assess whether or not he is one of our ladyboy students (you know, given the heart-dotted i's) and I'm just curious.
Thursday, I did more recording with more free coffee. This time I was recording listening tests for performance exams for every primary level in every subject...every subject. Yes, these kids have listening portions in English to Math, Science, and Social Studies exams in addition to their English exam. It is absurd to read out math problems. This time Bob and I had a few good laughs whenever we would get to social studies. From Primary 3 onward, the passages I had to read would contain names or places in Thai, like Rattakakosin, Ramkhamhaeng, and Dvarvati. So I would have to stop mid-sentence, let Bob pronounce them, and then do my best to mimic his pronunciation. I never actually heard the end, edited result, but there's no way it was good. It was pretty funny though.
Friday was a regular school day, but it ended with a meeting where we got paid (literally handed and envelope of cash) and the health insurance people came to tell us about the benefits we would be getting in a presentation given in semi-successful English, but containing gems like the one in the title of this post and "protect your health." It seemed they were really big on generalization. At the end of the presentation they asked if there were questions. The only question anyone asked was if we would be getting the information in writing. They said yes and then everyone returned to their previous occupation which was being anxious to leave.
Later in the afternoon, we had Thai dancing again. We were much, much better this time, but it was still a laughter-filled rehearsal. And again we got the same snacks! I'm honestly looking forward to them at tonight's rehearsal.
Saturday we went to see the Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho, then stopped in a local, absurdly named temple, and then visited Wat Arun. It was a good day and photos are on facebook.
Sunday, we went to JJ market again this time with Baht to burn. We just split up and went as individuals because that is really the easiest way to maneuver and bargain. I bought a school bag which I needed and a purse, t-shirt, green sort of moo moo (Don't judge too harshly. It's actually really cool.), and some jewelry I didn't need. Another good day.
Last night we had our first American dance rehearsal. It was fun and some people seemed to have a really good time. I think some of it is a little more difficult than I had thought, so I will have to bear that in mind while choreographing the rest. We'll see how both of these dances turn out come a week from Thursday.
That's been pretty much the week. Sorry I got behind and this is an absurdly long post. Kudos to you who make it to the end!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
A Day at the Temples
First, the week in review: Monday was a longish day because I was still tired from the weekend and I had to run errands after school and then skype the parents. Apologies to the parents for having been even more unpleasant than usual because I felt ill. I later spent from about 11:30pm to 2:30am intermittently vomiting in my bathroom. Good times had by no one. So Tuesday was miserable because I was really, really exhausted at this point, I still felt a little off, and I had four courses, some grading and period 8 that day. My 3rd graders were also miserably behaved on Tuesday. So, I came back after school and slept until about 7. I woke up, got food which I ate with some friends, and then went back to sleep. Wednesday began the week's improvement. I only have two classes--though I did have some grading--and no period 8. Thursday my period 8 kids were much better behaved (I would not go so far as to say "well behaved") and my activities for them were pretty successful. Thursday was one day closer to Friday and it had the best lunch of all time in the Canteen! Most days eating in the Canteen I consider it a win if I get the food and think "I can eat this." Thursday was spicy pork with some little vegetable on rice with a cabbage and carrot soup that was (for lack of a better term) "clean." It was literally delicious and something I might have ordered out. Friday was Friday. After work we relaxed for awhile and then later went out nearby.
Yesterday, I spent the day traveling throughout Bangkok to visit temples. We started by taking the Klong (mass transit river boat) to the Grand Palace. I'd been before, but the temples are definitely worth seeing twice especially when they are so convenient. We got a tour guide, "Geoffrey," (his real name was something like Kirishna, but "Geoffrey was the Americanized version of his Thai nickname) who was great! It cost us about 3 bucks each, but that was totally worth it for all the information and for the number of photos he took for us. Also, because we have our teacher ID cards now, we get to go through the Thai national line and visit places for FREE! Win! The temple and palace were beautiful. Pictures are on Facebook.
We then took ferries, the Klong and walked to see some other temples (pictures also on Facebook). We kept being stopped to try to get scammed into going to some Jewel/tailor shops, but we were intent on walking and doing our own thing. We saw a demonstration against some candidate (elections are July 3rd). There were posters, a march, and people chanting things and shouting into a megaphone. By the end of the day we were exhausted, but felt pretty accomplished.
Today, I did almost nothing. Just odd jobs I needed to get done in the morning and then had a long leisurely lunch. I'll probably spend the rest of the day cleaning, etc. as it looks like rain.
Cheers!
Yesterday, I spent the day traveling throughout Bangkok to visit temples. We started by taking the Klong (mass transit river boat) to the Grand Palace. I'd been before, but the temples are definitely worth seeing twice especially when they are so convenient. We got a tour guide, "Geoffrey," (his real name was something like Kirishna, but "Geoffrey was the Americanized version of his Thai nickname) who was great! It cost us about 3 bucks each, but that was totally worth it for all the information and for the number of photos he took for us. Also, because we have our teacher ID cards now, we get to go through the Thai national line and visit places for FREE! Win! The temple and palace were beautiful. Pictures are on Facebook.
We then took ferries, the Klong and walked to see some other temples (pictures also on Facebook). We kept being stopped to try to get scammed into going to some Jewel/tailor shops, but we were intent on walking and doing our own thing. We saw a demonstration against some candidate (elections are July 3rd). There were posters, a march, and people chanting things and shouting into a megaphone. By the end of the day we were exhausted, but felt pretty accomplished.
Today, I did almost nothing. Just odd jobs I needed to get done in the morning and then had a long leisurely lunch. I'll probably spend the rest of the day cleaning, etc. as it looks like rain.
Cheers!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Koh Samed
This weekend was pretty fabulous. On Friday we went out to actually celebrate Dylan's birthday. It was a fun night with great people and much dancing. I love that pretty much everyone in our group is not only willing to, but is enthusiastic about going to clubs to dance to pop or techno music. It is great!
On Saturday we left very early, 6:30am, to load into two mini buses we had rented (really 15 passenger vans). We drove about 2 and a half hours and then took a 30 minute ferry ride to Koh Samed--that is to say, the beach. It was beautiful and the water was so warm. We laid on the beach and played in the water all day.
A few of us took a walk down the beach and then decided it would be a good idea to scramble over some rocks to get out to one particular rock in order to take pictures of us acting like Ariel from The Little Mermaid. However, some of those rocks had unavoidable barnacle-esque remnants that sliced open my hands and feet some and having not broad appropriate bandaging material/having another 24 hours or so of walking either barefoot or in sandals on sand, the cuts may be mildly infected/they hurt a lot.
Later in the evening we went to dinner and stayed for the "Fire Show." Basically some really cut teenagers and twenty-somethings perform various silly hobbies like baton twirling, poi balls, that game with three sticks, etc. except everything is on fire. The whole show is set to techno music and they stand on one another's shoulders and dance around. It's pretty great all around. Then there's the audience participation part where we all got to play limbo with a flaming limbo stick. About halfway through that I left to go to the bathroom, put my water bottle away, and take a walk down the beach. Evidently in my absence, they brought out a big ring of fire that people could jump through. One girl in our group, having already made a successful leap I believe, decided to do a round-off through the ring. She knocked the ring down such that it was kind of stuck around her and it took her a bit to get it off. She has some pretty nasty burns on her leg now, but was totally fine then and continued to dance the night away. I really wish I had witnessed it for myself.
The rest of the night the restaurant plays pop/techno music (in fact, several songs they like so much they play them way too many times) and everyone was dancing and there was blacklight paint. I did not get painted and was for a majority of the evening trying not to dance. My feet really hurt and I was trying not to get them too disgusting so I kept off the stage and took long walks through the salt water which made them feel better. I was also trying to help people in our group find their things that had gone missing for awhile, etc. I did end up dancing later in the evening when one of the fire dudes had gotten a whistle and was just blowing it and dragging people onto the dance floor. Oh! Funny things to note. The fire people that spoke English did so with a thick Thai-Australian accent meaning with the loud music, they were essentially incomprehensible.
Throughout the evening, down by the beach, small children like 5-10 year olds would give fire twirling demonstrations/practice for themselves I guess. They were pretty freaking awesome. Near the end of the evening, there was a break dance show wherein some of the fire guys, but also some other kids break danced on the stage. They were ridiculously good and I am always happy to watch dance, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Sunday morning, Amanda and I got up to watch the sunrise...and by watch I mean photograph. Yes we only got a few hours of sleep for the second night in a row, but it was definitely worth it. Then we had to hangout until breakfast opened. When we did get it, we had a delicious coffee, juice, eggs, meat and toast breakfast. The great thing about beach areas is that though they may be comparatively expensive, they have widely available Western food.
The rest of the morning it rained a bunch. I walked up and down the beach (I was really enjoying being outside in a non-urban environment) in the wind and rain and got soaked, but it was great.
In the afternoon we ventured home where I, sunburned and cut up and exhausted, showered tried to clean my cuts as best I could, and then went immediately to sleep.
I'm now at work and still tired, especially after teaching 6/2 this morning--6/2 being a bunch of rowdy clowns. I will write again when I am better rested, I have finished cleaning and organizing, and/or there is something worth writing about.
'Til the next!
On Saturday we left very early, 6:30am, to load into two mini buses we had rented (really 15 passenger vans). We drove about 2 and a half hours and then took a 30 minute ferry ride to Koh Samed--that is to say, the beach. It was beautiful and the water was so warm. We laid on the beach and played in the water all day.
A few of us took a walk down the beach and then decided it would be a good idea to scramble over some rocks to get out to one particular rock in order to take pictures of us acting like Ariel from The Little Mermaid. However, some of those rocks had unavoidable barnacle-esque remnants that sliced open my hands and feet some and having not broad appropriate bandaging material/having another 24 hours or so of walking either barefoot or in sandals on sand, the cuts may be mildly infected/they hurt a lot.
Later in the evening we went to dinner and stayed for the "Fire Show." Basically some really cut teenagers and twenty-somethings perform various silly hobbies like baton twirling, poi balls, that game with three sticks, etc. except everything is on fire. The whole show is set to techno music and they stand on one another's shoulders and dance around. It's pretty great all around. Then there's the audience participation part where we all got to play limbo with a flaming limbo stick. About halfway through that I left to go to the bathroom, put my water bottle away, and take a walk down the beach. Evidently in my absence, they brought out a big ring of fire that people could jump through. One girl in our group, having already made a successful leap I believe, decided to do a round-off through the ring. She knocked the ring down such that it was kind of stuck around her and it took her a bit to get it off. She has some pretty nasty burns on her leg now, but was totally fine then and continued to dance the night away. I really wish I had witnessed it for myself.
The rest of the night the restaurant plays pop/techno music (in fact, several songs they like so much they play them way too many times) and everyone was dancing and there was blacklight paint. I did not get painted and was for a majority of the evening trying not to dance. My feet really hurt and I was trying not to get them too disgusting so I kept off the stage and took long walks through the salt water which made them feel better. I was also trying to help people in our group find their things that had gone missing for awhile, etc. I did end up dancing later in the evening when one of the fire dudes had gotten a whistle and was just blowing it and dragging people onto the dance floor. Oh! Funny things to note. The fire people that spoke English did so with a thick Thai-Australian accent meaning with the loud music, they were essentially incomprehensible.
Throughout the evening, down by the beach, small children like 5-10 year olds would give fire twirling demonstrations/practice for themselves I guess. They were pretty freaking awesome. Near the end of the evening, there was a break dance show wherein some of the fire guys, but also some other kids break danced on the stage. They were ridiculously good and I am always happy to watch dance, so I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Sunday morning, Amanda and I got up to watch the sunrise...and by watch I mean photograph. Yes we only got a few hours of sleep for the second night in a row, but it was definitely worth it. Then we had to hangout until breakfast opened. When we did get it, we had a delicious coffee, juice, eggs, meat and toast breakfast. The great thing about beach areas is that though they may be comparatively expensive, they have widely available Western food.
The rest of the morning it rained a bunch. I walked up and down the beach (I was really enjoying being outside in a non-urban environment) in the wind and rain and got soaked, but it was great.
In the afternoon we ventured home where I, sunburned and cut up and exhausted, showered tried to clean my cuts as best I could, and then went immediately to sleep.
I'm now at work and still tired, especially after teaching 6/2 this morning--6/2 being a bunch of rowdy clowns. I will write again when I am better rested, I have finished cleaning and organizing, and/or there is something worth writing about.
'Til the next!
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Wai Kru
Yesterday was Wai Kru, or basically bow/pay respect to teachers day. It was really cool. Formwe students returned from university to bring flowers to their teachers as did current students. During the Wai Kru ceremony (there were in fact several ceremonies throughout the day for different grade levels), students presented rather ornate floral arrangements to their homeroom teachers and we, the foreign teachers, received the traditional Thai flower bracelet things. I wrote "received," but that doesn't begin to cover it. I was presented these flowers from a student on his knees. And when I say "on his knees," I don't mean he walked over, knelt down, and gave the flowers to me; I mean the students literally traveled the length of the stage on their knees, stopped in front of each teacher, if space allowed, bowed to the floor, if not lowered their head to the knees of the teacher, and presented them with the flowers. It was unreal and unlike anything I've ever experienced before. Family, I should like all of my food to be presented to me in this manner on subsequent birthdays that I celebrate in the US. Thanks.
Despite how great it was, I think I would trade one day of excessive respect for a year of the students simply being quiet and self-disciplined in class. I don't need kneeling and bowing if I can just get attentiveness and diligence.
My 8th period class didn't so much grasp the concept as many of them continued to stand on chairs and to punch one another and to read comic books and draw. I do however like to think they are in fact learning something.
Last night was also Dylan's birthday, so I bought him a "sausage pizza" (this is a packages snack item from 7-11), koala snacks, and I made him a card during a free period when I had nothing to do. We tossed a frisbee (I'm horrible) until it began to really rain. The rain felt great! It had been so hot and muggy up to that point that the storm was quite a relief. We later went out to dinner and a casual brew in Khao San which was an adventure because the rain was still coming down hard at the time.
Now, it's Friday and I have only two more classes to teach, but many hours yet to sit in the office. I'm looking forward to the weekend. I think the beach (potentially in the rain) will be involved.
Until the next, my friends!
Despite how great it was, I think I would trade one day of excessive respect for a year of the students simply being quiet and self-disciplined in class. I don't need kneeling and bowing if I can just get attentiveness and diligence.
My 8th period class didn't so much grasp the concept as many of them continued to stand on chairs and to punch one another and to read comic books and draw. I do however like to think they are in fact learning something.
Last night was also Dylan's birthday, so I bought him a "sausage pizza" (this is a packages snack item from 7-11), koala snacks, and I made him a card during a free period when I had nothing to do. We tossed a frisbee (I'm horrible) until it began to really rain. The rain felt great! It had been so hot and muggy up to that point that the storm was quite a relief. We later went out to dinner and a casual brew in Khao San which was an adventure because the rain was still coming down hard at the time.
Now, it's Friday and I have only two more classes to teach, but many hours yet to sit in the office. I'm looking forward to the weekend. I think the beach (potentially in the rain) will be involved.
Until the next, my friends!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
As Promised: Brief, More Approachable Posts!
So this restaurant by our school, Fresh and Spicy, has phenomenal Pad See Ew (Sometimes Pad Siew) as validated by Mark, the British guy in our office who claims it's the best he'd had and he's lived here a few years now. I had it again for lunch today. Delicious!
I try to have lunch off campus at least once per week. As much as I love the "Staff Canteen" for its free, but also risky daily lunches, it's nice to have something once a week that was prepared fresh for you, individually. And Fresh and Spicy Pad Siew is only 50 baht which is pretty reasonable ($1.50 ish). They also give free water (a rarity here)and an appetizer snack. The first time I went it was pineapple jam filled crackers and this time it was a banana. I just ate my banana after my last class and it was fabulous! Love Fresh and Spicy!
Also, my 6th period class today, M6/5, was horribly behaved--well, some of them were just asleep. But apparently 6/5 is horrible everyday to every teacher, so much so that two thirds of the way through the class the director of the secondary school and two other male teachers showed up outside the classroom to watch and pulled some kids out of class to yell at them and to pinch their ears and take them off to get in trouble I guess. The kids were actually decently behaved during that segment of time.
But that didn't really put a damper on my day because I only have two periods on Wednesdays and also Miss Pat brought a big thing of pineapple jam cookies for our office! Delicious cookies trump ill behaved kids any day! I think they're for Wai Kru (or Wai Krou) tomorrow. I look forward to seeing and reporting on those festivities.
Cheers!
I try to have lunch off campus at least once per week. As much as I love the "Staff Canteen" for its free, but also risky daily lunches, it's nice to have something once a week that was prepared fresh for you, individually. And Fresh and Spicy Pad Siew is only 50 baht which is pretty reasonable ($1.50 ish). They also give free water (a rarity here)and an appetizer snack. The first time I went it was pineapple jam filled crackers and this time it was a banana. I just ate my banana after my last class and it was fabulous! Love Fresh and Spicy!
Also, my 6th period class today, M6/5, was horribly behaved--well, some of them were just asleep. But apparently 6/5 is horrible everyday to every teacher, so much so that two thirds of the way through the class the director of the secondary school and two other male teachers showed up outside the classroom to watch and pulled some kids out of class to yell at them and to pinch their ears and take them off to get in trouble I guess. The kids were actually decently behaved during that segment of time.
But that didn't really put a damper on my day because I only have two periods on Wednesdays and also Miss Pat brought a big thing of pineapple jam cookies for our office! Delicious cookies trump ill behaved kids any day! I think they're for Wai Kru (or Wai Krou) tomorrow. I look forward to seeing and reporting on those festivities.
Cheers!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Waithing for Jew...
The title of this post is dedicated to the fabulous singer at the restaurant we went to Sunday night. She was actually a pretty decent singer. Her English pronunciation, however, was less than perfect, most notably in the line "waiting for you," and consequently her performance was rendered laughable. Her outfit was also fabulous, featuring the sort of animal paw shaped Crocs you find here and some absurd sunglasses.
Picking up with Saturday evening where I left off, we went that night to a club called Route 66 on RCA. It was on the expensive side for Thailand (it cost me $6 to get in), but it was rather swanky and I got to dance a lot, so it was a win. Getting back was a little difficult because it was rather far and cabs were reluctant to drive us when they could get many more closer fares instead. That was frustrating, especially because I was tired, but not so much that it ruined an otherwise fabulous night.
On Sunday, most people were incredibly hungover, so I, not, got up at 7 and cleaned my whole room, did laundry, skyped Dad, and had a generally productive day. In the evening we went to The Water Front for Amanda's Birthday which was quite nice with the breeze out on the porch and the aforementioned performer.
Monday, I went to school, but we had no classes because M 4, 5, and 6 were off signing up for or participating in or something their military training. The first half of the day I got all my grading and power point finished, but then after lunch (which by the way was a much improved canteen experience as compared to last Monday's disgusting scenario), I had nothing to do and literally doodled and watched "Rob and Big" on my ipod for the rest of the day. In the evening, Meg's friend Sage came to meet me. We walked to Khao San because she hadn't seen it, but had heard about it in her travels. After walking down Khao San and refusing many an invitation to see "Ping Pong Show," we stopped in somewhere to grab a beer and she told me all about her travels. She had some great stories and it was a good time. Then we walked back and got Falafel and snacks from 7-11. I was briefly locked out of school, but after 2 or 3 minutes of mild panic, the gate guard returned to his post from goodness knows where and let me back in.
Tuesday, I did some actual teaching of the students via the powerpoint I made of common mistakes in their first drafts of cover letters. One class was terrible and my coteacher spent 15 minutes yelling at them, but then left me alone with them, the period before lunch as well, so the last 5 to 10 minutes of class were chaos. The other class that I had to teach, teach went much better as the class is generally better behaved and my teacher didnt abandon me. 8th period yesterday was crazy. Evidently all of my 3rd graders got over their timidity and now they're all like standing on seats or jumping up and down or talking to their friends or reading comic books or drawing (or some combination of any number of those things). I do have 1 student who is the best and he sits quietly nearer the back and participates and seems to enjoy it. He is not the best at English of my class, but he's not the worst and he's actually trying to learn. So, Peem is my favorite. Among the others though some are actually paying half attention and participating in the lesson while running and jumping and talking to their friends.
Today is my easiest day, only two classes, and the first one went well. 6/4 is the best section in M 6. Even though we couldn't get a projector, I just wrote on the board and it worked out pretty well. Oh! Of interesting note, they have white boards here in the secondary rooms, but they still use chalk erasers. Anyway, whenever I wrote on the board I get blue marker dust all over me. The whole of both hands, usually at least one forearm, and not infrequently my clothes and face. It's a disaster. After every class I go to the bathroom and essentially bathe in the sink. It's absurd.
That's all for now. Sawasdee ka!
Picking up with Saturday evening where I left off, we went that night to a club called Route 66 on RCA. It was on the expensive side for Thailand (it cost me $6 to get in), but it was rather swanky and I got to dance a lot, so it was a win. Getting back was a little difficult because it was rather far and cabs were reluctant to drive us when they could get many more closer fares instead. That was frustrating, especially because I was tired, but not so much that it ruined an otherwise fabulous night.
On Sunday, most people were incredibly hungover, so I, not, got up at 7 and cleaned my whole room, did laundry, skyped Dad, and had a generally productive day. In the evening we went to The Water Front for Amanda's Birthday which was quite nice with the breeze out on the porch and the aforementioned performer.
Monday, I went to school, but we had no classes because M 4, 5, and 6 were off signing up for or participating in or something their military training. The first half of the day I got all my grading and power point finished, but then after lunch (which by the way was a much improved canteen experience as compared to last Monday's disgusting scenario), I had nothing to do and literally doodled and watched "Rob and Big" on my ipod for the rest of the day. In the evening, Meg's friend Sage came to meet me. We walked to Khao San because she hadn't seen it, but had heard about it in her travels. After walking down Khao San and refusing many an invitation to see "Ping Pong Show," we stopped in somewhere to grab a beer and she told me all about her travels. She had some great stories and it was a good time. Then we walked back and got Falafel and snacks from 7-11. I was briefly locked out of school, but after 2 or 3 minutes of mild panic, the gate guard returned to his post from goodness knows where and let me back in.
Tuesday, I did some actual teaching of the students via the powerpoint I made of common mistakes in their first drafts of cover letters. One class was terrible and my coteacher spent 15 minutes yelling at them, but then left me alone with them, the period before lunch as well, so the last 5 to 10 minutes of class were chaos. The other class that I had to teach, teach went much better as the class is generally better behaved and my teacher didnt abandon me. 8th period yesterday was crazy. Evidently all of my 3rd graders got over their timidity and now they're all like standing on seats or jumping up and down or talking to their friends or reading comic books or drawing (or some combination of any number of those things). I do have 1 student who is the best and he sits quietly nearer the back and participates and seems to enjoy it. He is not the best at English of my class, but he's not the worst and he's actually trying to learn. So, Peem is my favorite. Among the others though some are actually paying half attention and participating in the lesson while running and jumping and talking to their friends.
Today is my easiest day, only two classes, and the first one went well. 6/4 is the best section in M 6. Even though we couldn't get a projector, I just wrote on the board and it worked out pretty well. Oh! Of interesting note, they have white boards here in the secondary rooms, but they still use chalk erasers. Anyway, whenever I wrote on the board I get blue marker dust all over me. The whole of both hands, usually at least one forearm, and not infrequently my clothes and face. It's a disaster. After every class I go to the bathroom and essentially bathe in the sink. It's absurd.
That's all for now. Sawasdee ka!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Mynameis Gold!
Hello again! There are a few things I left out when last I blogged and also much has happened since.
Among things I neglected to write about are the the fabulous traffic and other motor vehicle happenings in Bangkok. The other night, returning from our chicken venture, I witnessed my first motorbike overturn. When a man and woman, laden with a few parcels, emerged from the opposite side of a bus stopped at a light, they fell to one side, landing half on the curb, half in the street. They were not moving fast at the time, but still it was alarming. I wish I could have helped more, but I don't even know how to say "Are you okay?" in Thai. They both seemed to be alright.
Basically Bangkok is a vehicle free-for-all. The lines delineating lanes are essentially irrelevant and vehicles drive as fast as they please and merge whenever they feel like it, assuming the other vehicles will slow or swerve to get out of their way. At red lights, all of the motorbikes weave around the cars to get to the front. I will never drive anything here, but it is most interesting to watch unfold.
The other interesting vehicle maneuver we saw was a car going in reverse for about 100 meters down the road. Fabulous! Why turn into the correct lane of traffic to drive forward the direction you please when you can just shift into reverse and truck backwards in the lane you are in? The man then proceeded to unnecessarily double park (there was a space available. In fact, he double parked next to the empty space.) outside of McDonald's. He was clearly boss.
This week I finally met my second co-teacher, Mr. Pongpol, aka Bence. He is fabulous! He loves to chat about all of his life dramas and has one of the most expressive faces. He is also a great teacher. He well balances joking with the students and keeping them in order.
For period 8 twice a week, I teach about ten 3rd graders all by myself. They are great! One of their names is Gold, hence the title of this post. I have them Tuesdays and Thursdays and Miss Emily has them Mondays and Wednesdays. On Thursday, we did weather words. When I wrote "Blizzard" on the board and said, "Blizzard. Do you know what this is?" The whole class yelled "Blizzard!! Ice Cream!!" and one of the more adept English speakers among them said "It's Ice Cream from Dairy Queen!" It was awesome!
In M 6 we're writing cover letters, so I have been grading about 350 of them. It's not horrible and is sometimes amusing. These kids can be quite clever when they want to be, and they also make some pretty funny English mistakes.
On Friday, having taken a 3 hour nap in the afternoon after work I was able to stay up late enough to go out with everyone. We went over to ABAC to see those folks which was fun and we all went out to a bar near the university.
Today, we went to Chatuchak market. I didn't get anything other than food, but I enjoyed walking around and looking at all of the stalls. I'll be back another time for purchasing I'm sure.
Other things of note this week: People figured out that I'm Tina's little sister. Basically, from what I gather, everyone loves Tina and she may just be the best thing that ever happened to St. Gabe's.
That's all for now I think. I will try to update more frequently with more brief entries so that I don't forget things and the posts are less overwhelming.
Cheers!
Among things I neglected to write about are the the fabulous traffic and other motor vehicle happenings in Bangkok. The other night, returning from our chicken venture, I witnessed my first motorbike overturn. When a man and woman, laden with a few parcels, emerged from the opposite side of a bus stopped at a light, they fell to one side, landing half on the curb, half in the street. They were not moving fast at the time, but still it was alarming. I wish I could have helped more, but I don't even know how to say "Are you okay?" in Thai. They both seemed to be alright.
Basically Bangkok is a vehicle free-for-all. The lines delineating lanes are essentially irrelevant and vehicles drive as fast as they please and merge whenever they feel like it, assuming the other vehicles will slow or swerve to get out of their way. At red lights, all of the motorbikes weave around the cars to get to the front. I will never drive anything here, but it is most interesting to watch unfold.
The other interesting vehicle maneuver we saw was a car going in reverse for about 100 meters down the road. Fabulous! Why turn into the correct lane of traffic to drive forward the direction you please when you can just shift into reverse and truck backwards in the lane you are in? The man then proceeded to unnecessarily double park (there was a space available. In fact, he double parked next to the empty space.) outside of McDonald's. He was clearly boss.
This week I finally met my second co-teacher, Mr. Pongpol, aka Bence. He is fabulous! He loves to chat about all of his life dramas and has one of the most expressive faces. He is also a great teacher. He well balances joking with the students and keeping them in order.
For period 8 twice a week, I teach about ten 3rd graders all by myself. They are great! One of their names is Gold, hence the title of this post. I have them Tuesdays and Thursdays and Miss Emily has them Mondays and Wednesdays. On Thursday, we did weather words. When I wrote "Blizzard" on the board and said, "Blizzard. Do you know what this is?" The whole class yelled "Blizzard!! Ice Cream!!" and one of the more adept English speakers among them said "It's Ice Cream from Dairy Queen!" It was awesome!
In M 6 we're writing cover letters, so I have been grading about 350 of them. It's not horrible and is sometimes amusing. These kids can be quite clever when they want to be, and they also make some pretty funny English mistakes.
On Friday, having taken a 3 hour nap in the afternoon after work I was able to stay up late enough to go out with everyone. We went over to ABAC to see those folks which was fun and we all went out to a bar near the university.
Today, we went to Chatuchak market. I didn't get anything other than food, but I enjoyed walking around and looking at all of the stalls. I'll be back another time for purchasing I'm sure.
Other things of note this week: People figured out that I'm Tina's little sister. Basically, from what I gather, everyone loves Tina and she may just be the best thing that ever happened to St. Gabe's.
That's all for now I think. I will try to update more frequently with more brief entries so that I don't forget things and the posts are less overwhelming.
Cheers!
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