23 years...

Woke up yesterday at about 7:30 for the 8:30 start of PD day. On my way to the staff room I passed the the Thai library where all the Thai staff were meeting. They asked me to come in and stand in front of them and I wasn't really sure what they wanted, then they started singing happy birthday and gave me a cake with a candle on it. I had forgotten that it was my birthday. Kru Nong gave me a book that she and some other staff and grades 6-7 students had written in. It was fun to see what the students had written. One girl, Kaimook, said I was a good teacher for her, but I don't even teach her so I got a kick out of that. Another kid, Yuji, said that even if some students don't like me he wanted me to know that grade 7 still wants to learn from me. So the day got off to a good start. We talked with Mr. Paul, a British guy who has been working in Thailand for 20 years for about 3 hours. Went to lunch at Sohm Baht's (the usual place). Some people told him it was my birthday so he brought out some Tom Yum Goong for us. In the afternoon we went around and shared areas we had improved in and areas we still needed improvement in. Spent the late afternoon and early evening getting ready for the Thanksgiving dinner. Went over to Craig and Michelle's and helped peel potatoes and stuff. Every staff member signed up to bring something and it turned out pretty good. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, salads, casseroles, deserts, drinks, etc. Tim and Nathan got out some of their fireworks and we had fun watching that. All in all a very memorable birthday. This morning I went to Big C and got a month and a half's worth of contact lenses. Then after lunch went downtown to pick up my suit. I got a dark grey suit with a blue shirt with a diamond-like pattern and a white shirt plus a red tie. Looking forward to trying it out for the Christmas program.

Feels Like Spring?...

Today felt like spring. Working in your classroom, you open the doors and windows and let the cool breeze in. Same feeling you get after being shut inside all winter and finally getting to open your window. Today was only about 27 degrees. A number of students were wearing jackets. I met with Ajarn Surong on Monday after a particularly depressing grade 8 math class. She talked to a couple of the students and the last two days went a bit smoother. Yesterday, Kru Nong gave me a poetry book. Kru Nong teaches Thai Language to grades 6-8. The poems are in Thai but translated into English. She told me she reads them when she feels sad. She often gives me various treats and stuff. Below is one of my favs from the book, and I'm gonna dedicate it to my future soulmate, whoever that may be.

______________________
"Would you come with me?" ~ author unknown

Would you come with me?
Our journey is waiting far ahead
asking yourself
Because you're the one I love and care for
Not that I fear the dreadful loneliness
But along the long way of our journey
And till the end of it
I want you to see as I've seen
And feel just as much how I'm feeling
And help me go beyond the reality of
dream together
I may or may never reach the peak
That's not the point of important
Each step that we take passing the moons
and suns
I want you to be by my side
That's my dream destination of my journey
Would you come with me dear?
______________________

You're Beautiful...

Here's a tune I like.

______________________
"You're Beautiful" ~ James Blunt

My life is brilliant.

My life is brilliant.
My love is pure.
I saw an angel.
Of that I'm sure.
She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won't lose no sleep on that,
'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

Yeah, she caught my eye,
As we walked on by.
She could see from my face that I was,
Flying high,
And I don't think that I'll see her again,
But we shared a moment that will last till the end.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

You're beautiful. You're beautiful.
You're beautiful, it's true.
There must be an angel with a smile on her face,
When she thought up that I should be with you.
But it's time to face the truth,
I will never be with you.
______________________

Opa...

Pretty busy week coming off of overnight camp. Sunday night I watched Napoleon Dynamite at Mike and Vicky's. That was my 11th time but my first time in Thailand. Tuesday night I went to Post Cafe with Emily and Heidi for some coffee, reading, and visiting. Wednesday was some sort of festive day (sadly we didn't get it off work). It is called Loy Krathong. Here is a quote from some website that I can't access anymore: "One of the most beautiful and popular festivals in Thailand is Loy Krathong. This takes place on the full moon in November. During the evening, many people will go down to their local klong (canal) or river to float their krathongs. They believe this will bring them good luck. The krathongs contain a flower, a candle and three incense sticks which are lighted before being placed on the water. The people usually make a wish at the same time. Some people believe that if the candle remains burning until the krathong is out of sight then their wish will come true. By the end of the evening, there are hundreds of flickering lights bobbing up and down on the water. Quite often there are also firework displays as well as shows and beauty contests for everyone. Overall it is really a memorable evening." So a few of us and some of the Thai teachers headed down to the pier. It was more crowded than I anticipated. Had to walk through like a kilometer of very crowded market just to get to the pier. The rest were gonna cross the river to check out the festivities but I wanted to get out of the crowd so I headed back with Nathan. On my way back I bought my own copy of Napoleon Dynamite. On Thursday night almost all of the foreign staff went to this greek restaurant called Atheno. It was for Melisa's birthday and sort of for mine I guess. The food was aight, and after the owner and a waiter started dancing and a bunch of us (myself discluded) joined in. On Friday I went downtown with Mike, Vicky, Craig, and Michelle. After supper we went to a tailor. Craig, Mike, and I are getting tailored suits for the Christmas program. We had to choose the style of suit we wanted as well as the material. They took measurements and stuff but we have to go back on Tuesday for a fitting. After we got back we watched "50 First Dates" at Mike and Vicky's. This morning I slept in and then finished book 6 of Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series. Bummed around the staff room in the afternoon doing pretty much nothing. This evening I went to Harry Potter with a few teachers. I have read the first 4 books (but have only seen the first movie) and thought the movie was fairly entertaining. In terms of teaching the week was pretty rough. The grade 8's are annoying and rude and I almost felt like crying after I had them on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. One of them sometimes plugs here ears and yells when I try to talk to her. Another (the owners' son) told me to go away when I was offering to help him with a math question. Another girl told me she had the right to stand up when I asked her to sit down and then when I asked her to stay in at recess the class told her to fight for her freedom on their way out. I won't be missing those punks when the semesters over. But I really enjoy the grade 6, 7, and 9 kids so that sort of makes up for it.

Overnight Camp...

The new grade 8's came on Tuesday, but luckily they were not put in my homeroom. They have Kari for ESL for a half hour in the morning, then a Thai lady teaches them science for 3 hours straight in the morning and then a Thai guy teaches them math in the afternoon. Over night camp if done with. It was something we had to "look forward" to for the whole year so its nice to get that out of the way. Spent pretty much all Thursday night till 11 on last minute preparations for it. At about 3 on Friday afternoon it started pouring. As a result, we could not set up tents outside (which saved us a lot of work) and instead the kids slept inside. After supper we played Mission Impossible and then after had a bonfire. During the bonfire us teachers did skits and stuff. We roasted hotdogs and marshmallows over the fire. After that we watched Indiana Jones in the gym. After that the grades 4-7 girls slept in the gym and the 8-9 girls slept in a classroom. The grades 4-7 boys slept in a big room above the church and the 8-9 boys slept in a different classroom. I slept with the 4-7 boys. The floor was a little hard but it was aight. Probably didn't get to sleep before 2 and I woke up several times throughout the night because the kids were pretty noisy. I had to get up at 5 for my supervision shift. After breakfast Saturday morning we went into the chapel where the teachers did some more skits and then we did some singing. After that we broke into smaller groups for a "discussion" (I was with older kids and I have trouble getting them to say anything). After that the kids divided into 6 groups and went through 6 stations at a half hour each (baking, tying knots, first aid, compasses, starting fires, slingshot). I was in charge of the compass station so I had to do plan that and then be in charge of the station for 3 hours straight so that got kind of boring. In the afternoon we had a big water fight. After camp was pretty much over the teachers played football with some of the grade 8 and 9 boys and then played soccer againt kids from grades 4-6. For football we won easily and we also won the soccer game (they scored more points but after awhile we said next goal wins, and after about 20 minutes of goalless competition, I made the winning goal). All in all overnight camp was fun, but it was a lot of work and pretty much took care of a large chunk of the weekend. I'm glad we only have to do that once this school year. Went to O'Reilly's last night with some teachers to celebrate camp being over. This morning after church we were invited to the Hanson's for another barbecue so I went there and had some good food, fun, and fellowship. Mike bought Napolean Dynamite last night so we're gonna watch that tonight.

Scared?...

I'm somewhat concerned. Rumour has it 9 new grade 8 students are entering the school tomorrow. (I heard from a Thai lady who apparently is teaching them science from 9-12, nobody in the office bothered to let me know). I'm not sure who's teaching them the rest of the day. I guess I can only wait to find out...

Expo...

Headed to The Mall Ngamwongwan with Mike and Vicky at about 9:30 Saturday morning. We had to hang out at the GES booth for some sort of Nonthaburi private school expo. Once we got there we ran into Tim, who had been asked to sit at the NCA (Nonthaburi Christian Academy, same owners as GES, just across the street) booth, even though he doesn't work there (but it looks good to look like you have lots of foreign staff working at your school even if you don't). We were supposed to stat till noon but stayed till 1 because some kids from our school were doing performances at 12:30. Some grade 6 kids did Jesus Loves Me with bells. Some grade 4 kids did some sort of dance. Some grade 2 kids did some sort of solar system presentation. Afterwards I watched Saw II. After the movie was done I headed back to the booth to meet up with Craig and Michelle. Headed back to GES and kinda bummed around the rest of the night. Yesterday went to CCC as usual. In the evening had a skit practice for overnight. Overnight camp starts this Friday after school and goes till late afternoon Saturday. So that will take care of a lot of the weekend. On Sunday after church we've been reinvited to the Hanson's for another barbecue so that should be sweet.

Welcome to Nonthaburi...

Well, I'm back into the swing of things. I thought it would be tough going back to school after 3 weeks off but half way through Monday it almost felt like I had never left. Mike went home for the break so I got him to pick me up a copy of the "One Year Book of Family Devotions." So I use that for devotions in the morning. My homeroom students never seem to show any interest in anything or ask questions. At least I get to end most days on a positive note with the Grade 6's. Monday night I went to Post Café to write a letter and then read I Corinthians. I wanted to read the whole thing at once instead of a few chapters here or there. Otherwise I forget what the beginning was about before I got to the end. Back in the day I used to read from the Bible just because I thought I should, but it seemed like a lot of the time I just read the words without giving much thought to them. Now that I have to do devotions with my homeroom it has sparked my interest in the reading the Bible. It seems so much more interesting now, but the more I read the more questions I seem to have. I write down verses that don't really make sense to me, maybe someday I can get my dad's opinion on some of them. While I was sitting there some random lady came up to me and asked me if I spoke Thai. I told her I didn't adnd then she said something about seeing me often at Post Café. She asked if I had a phone and I said no and then she left. 5 minutes later she came back and said, "I come to tell you, welcome to Nonthaburi." I said thankyou and then she left. Tuesday night I went to The Mall Ngamwongwan to buy a cell phone (I've been thinking about getting one for awhile), but they were pricey and it was hard communicating with the sellers so I decided to forget that idea and go see a movie instead. I figure I only have 5 more months here and I've been managing without so far. I saw the movie "Doom" which originated as a computer game. Pretty entertaining, even if the plot and acting wasn't spectacular. Wednesday night we have Bible study. We watch videos from the Alpha series and then have a discussion after. Its kinda fun getting together with people with different backgrounds and from different places. Here we pretty much live with the same people we work with, so we see a lot of eachother. And we're basically the only farang people we have contact with (other than church on Sunday) so it makes for an interesting community. This evening I went to Post Café with Heidi to do some reading, then she headed back to go to an overnight camp meeting (overnight camp is next weekend :( ) . On my way out, some random creepy Thai guy asked me what I thought of Thai women. I told him they're ok and left before he could say much else. As I was leaving, bumped into Nathan and Tim who were just coming in. Nathan showed a place I could buy good chicken and then we took motorcycle taxis back to GES. On Saturday and Sunday there is some sort of private school showcase at the mall so we all had to sign up for a shift to be at the booth. Basically we're their show they can show off their farang teachers. So I have to be there 10-12 on Saturday morning.