As a matter of truth, I even went to college for it (i didn't graduate, but i still went, right?) In highschool I was part of an organization called "Future Teachers of America"......I guess now i'm a "Current Teacher of Thailand!" The first day was amazing, and strange enough for me I wasn't really nervous. I guess I feel competent in my ability to speak English and do my absolute best!
Kru Su and I walked to school, pickups full of children waved to us from the road. We arrived early and spent time in the courtyard talking to students. They are so shy and our main objective is just getting them to practice the basic greetings that they've learned. I can't tell you how much i've said : Hello, Good morning, How are you? I am Fine, HOw are you? Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too! It is really fun, and there smiles are so worth it. I'm already falling in love with students! There are 3 girls in my level 5 class that are so sweet to me, little Maat, Baen, and Gaen. They follow me around a bit, and were so cute to ask for hugs from me. Kru Su takes the lower levels(grades) 1,2,3, and I take the upper levels 4,5,6. Yesterday I taught 2 level 5 classes and 1 level 6. Mostly we practice greetings, and go over vocabulary, play basic games, etc. There English isn't that great, but that's why I am here. It's so hard for me to pronounce their names, there are 2 girls whose names, im pretty sure, are shampoo....or sound like shampoo! I have one student her name is tang moi, which means watermelon!
They serve us breakfast and lunch at the school as part of our volunteer agreement. Yesterday morning I had Pad Sae Ew! One of my favorites! All the thai teachers are really sweet, most of the know a little english and we all sit around making small conversation in our partial broken understandings of each others languages. For lunch it was a soupy tofu veggie dish with a side of fresh watermelon. Kru Oy, is a plump and friendly teacher who bought me a snack, Thai kettle corn! They know i'm a vegetarian and seem confused by it especially because i told them that i am not religious. This morning breakfast was egg soup with rice. I"m pretty sure it was chicken broth, but....sigh...I knew i couldn't be as strict as a vegetarian here, but still.....it's weird for me. I mostly just ate the veggies and eggs out of the broth.
After Class yesterday I walked home, had a little dance party in my living room, looked up some uke scales and again text messaged ya'll out there. Today I don't have any classes, but i came to school anyway, just to talk to the students and do some lesson planning. Kru Su is teaching now, and I am grateful to have borrowed her laptop! Ahhhhh, a keyboad is so much better than typing on my phone, and I think i will be able to post some long awaited pictures! I also had the exquisite opportunity to visit the kindergarten classes today. I arrived and they were all snacking on little baby tangerines. A little girl came and handed me a bunch! They all laughed with me and we ate tangerines as i practiced English with them. I am in love with the fact that one phrase they knew was "I love you" and so they kept telling me "I love you" and it was so heart warming! The teacher took me in the classroom and i practiced the basics with them. They are more shy than the older children, but they did great! I said goodbye and walked out the door, they all rushed after me, taking me by the arms, laughing, and leading me to the next classroom, my heart just about burst, and I cackled along with them down the hall. Oh! what a special feeling and memory!
Well, I think I will start looking through the kids school books and trying to plan some games to play with them. I love you all and miss you all and thank you sooooo much for leaving comments on my bloggy blog!
Love you!
Gretchyn
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