Week One Summer School

Sawatdee kah! Hello to you. I write this from the room right next door to the apt. where I lived last time. I've moved into my own apt. after orientation and feel a little more settled in Bangkok. I have my own place again! It's been a year since that's happened! I lived at other people's homes while I was in Minnesota. Fun fact.

This new apt. is totally void of brown wood, which is a nice change since the last place was entirely decorated with wood. I'm in a two-toned turquoise room that is quite pleasant. It has all brand new furniture, including a nicely sized kitchen cabinet with an actual exhaust fan, complete with three speeds and a bunch of lights! Now I just need a couple of burners and I'm set!

The apt. is not broken into two parts like the last one. I have one huge studio room with a lot of nice white furniture and a big bed and new lime green couch. Trust... it all looks very nice to me. I'm happy with the choices. A glass table with four chairs (FOUR!) completes a dining/work area and I have a bathroom exactly like the one in the old room. It is one cute little room. I'm pleased to have a place to call my own. Now, I vowed to not stay in this apt. building and have been looking for a place in the neighborhood. Maybe a one or two bedroom place. I've seen some nice places but yet to choose one. I've got a couple more weeks in this school-provided apt. I can always stay here if I can't decide on a different place. Prices are high in the area near school and I've decided that I want to be able to walk to school and the gym, so it's this area that I'll stay. I'm starting to get so cozy in this place that I may just stay here a couple more months until visitors start arriving. VISITORS: when are you arriving??? :)

School last week was quite uneventful. The Thai teachers had the boys for the majority of the week. I spent a little bit of time with them the first day and that was it. They had various activities all week including learning the school songs, a science presentation, practicing lines and playing cool games. Each day was something different. I hope to start right off on Monday with some basics and get through a lot by Thursday. It's a more laid back atmosphere in summer but this is the beginning for these boys in Grade one and I want them off to a good start.

I did spend a little bit of time with the class when they were playing games and chatted with a few boys, discovering that I have a boy who speaks and understands English quite well, so happy about that! A helper! I would almost guess that, if he hasn't gone to English Kindergarten, he's got an English speaking parent. And I must say... he and ALL of the rest of the boys are ADORABLE. Absolutely adorable. Something else notable is that I have one half of three sets of twins in my class. One of the sets of twins are the younger brothers to one of my former students and all three of them look identical. All in all, the class is shaping up quite nicely. There are two, maybe three notably 'hyper' boys who like to wiggle quite a bit... will deal with that in due time.

Something else quite odd is that when I entered my classroom, which is the same room I had last time, it looked/looks EXACTLY like I left it. The teacher last year changed not a single dingle thing. Some of the paper on the bulletin boards was ripped, so I spent fair time ripping things down and washing them (dusty!) and changing things how I want them for this year. It's so exciting to have the same room and all my stuff that I left (all that hard work) and to just be able to jump right in and feel comfortable. I even have the same Thai co-teacher that I had for the last school year. She's lovely and is speaking more English and actually refused to translate for me (which is GOOD!! Total immersion is best!), so there really have been many improvements. I have to say it was a little bizarre to walk into my classroom and have it look exactly as it did the last time I walked out of it. :) Funny.

With summer school comes free Thai lessons for the Newies and whomever else would like them. I attended and am hoping to become much more fluent with Thai this time around. It's really fun to practice with taxi drivers or whomever is willing to speak to a white person. (Literally some store clerks will ignore me out-right, from fear of being confronted with English and being embarrassed because they don't understand.) Evelyn is teaching us Thai which is extra fun because it's pretty informal.

What else is new? Hmm. Oh. I've noticed several changes since last time. First, is that Thai people in the markets aren't saying "hello" anymore but "hi" which is a little strange for some reason. I've noticed that more young Thai couples are showing more affection in public. Holding hands and cuddling a little on escalators and I've even seen a couple of kisses. I should mention that I see this behavior only in the high-end mall area of Bangkok called Siam. The next thing I've noticed is that after dining and asking for the "check bin duai ka" (check please) the server will bring the bill to the table and walk away. In the past the server would bring the bill and stand firmly next to the table, no matter if you've asked for a few minutes or not, and wait for the money to be paid. I prefer that they stand and wait for the money because it then gets things moving a little more quickly. If we want to sit and chat it's still fine to do after paying the bill. The restaurant etiquette here is much different than at home. After food is ordered it comes piece-meal, as the food is finished in the kitchen, instead of all at once. It's definitely different.
The last thing that is notably different is that the city is void of cockroaches, or there are very few at all. They used to scurry about under and near your feet all night long, mostly in the areas near sewer grates or garbage piles. But now they are all gone. I haven't seen a single rat either. I asked one of my coworkers and he said that some prisoners came through and cleaned the gutters and then they sprayed the whole sewer system to kill the pests. I am not quite sure how this effects the environment or my own health but it has certainly worked very well. Translation: don't swim in the nearby river, not that you would've anyway.

Now is it Sunday, my favorite day in Thailand. Everything slows down and weekend markets come out. I purchased a couple dishes today on uber clearance and had a cheap breakfast with my friend and next door neighbor. Luke is back in Bangkok before heading home to Montana (where he's been staying with a friend). He and I spent a good part of yesterday bumming around the city. Who knows what this evening will bring but I'm hoping to read, read, read!

Have a great week and hope to hear from you soon!
Lots of love!