Thanksgiving and Teaching

Greetings readers!

Last week was my first week of teaching. I teach M3 and M6, which are 9th and 12th grades respectively. My kids are really fun! To be honest, I feel quite awkward calling them my “kids,” because I’m only about four years older than my M6 students… And they know it. I think being a young teacher has both advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes it’s a little difficult to tell them what to do, but I’ve found that turning the fans off and closing the windows does wonders. You’d be surprised though how many of them keep chatting away while the room fills with hot, stagnant air. Other times, my age makes class more fun. Especially in the case of my M6 students. They like to joke around with me. Sometimes I have to put them in check if they’re being a little perverted, but for the most part they’re fairly respectful and fun to be around. It’s also flooded at my school everyday since last Saturday. I thought it was part of the flooding from up north, but apparently it floods like this here about every three months because of the position of the moon and high tides. Nobody seems to think anything of it, though. I expect the flooding to get worse in the next week or so, as the flood waters from up north are supposed to meet with the flooding from high tides here. It’s been about mid-calf height so far, so I’ll keep you posted on the flood situation.

This past week was also Thanksgiving. Devon and I went to the market and got a

chopped chicken and some banana bread muffins. Then, when we got home, we made garlic mashed potatoes, stirfry veggies and creamed corn. It was the most delicious make-shift ThanksgivingI’ve ever had!! Last weekend, we went to Bangkok and met up with a bunch of our friends. It was a potluck style get together. Everyone brought something–chicken, carrots, macaroni and cheese, homemade bread, daal… you name it!–and it was such a fun get together. I love our group. We always have a great time, and since we are all located in different parts of Thailand now, it’s even more special when we can get together.

This coming Monday is the king’s birthday. Usually I have to teach on Saturday’s to make up for the lost classes during the flood, but I don’t have to teach this Saturday! That means I have a three day weekend. I’m thinking I’ll either go to Bangkok or Pattaya, but I haven’t decided yet. Regardless, I have to take advantage of this extended weekend… They’re so rare!

I’ve also decided that I am going to stay in Thailand and teach another semester. What started as a six-month trip has now turned into a bit longer. I’ve not sorted out the details of what my next plans are yet, but a rough sketch is:

• Work in Thailand another semester
• Travel Southeast Asia October-December 2012
• Travel to Australia this time next year on a work/holiday visa
• Work someplace random in Australia until June
• Work ski season in Australia June-October
• Travel around Australia October-visa runs out
  OR
• Work another random job October-visa runs out

We will see what actually happens, though. I’m loving traveling abroad. I feel like I’m learning so much more than I did in my four years of university. There’s just so much to see. There’s so much more of the world than I originally thought. You can imagine how big the world is, but you can’t actually fathom it until you get out and see it for yourself. I’ve never been so hungry for the world. I feel like I’ve gone to a buffet, and who has two thumbs, likes to eat and is going to take advantage of this buffet? This girl.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading! I’ll keep you posted on the flooding here. Be sure to check out my pictures on Facebook, there are loads more!