Back to Work

Well not a lot of excitement has happened but is always nice to talk about your day and the things on your mind, so here goes.

Yesterday was one of the lowest days I have had in a while. I was exhausted before 9am and I had a lot of work to do to make up for missing a week of work. Those papers I refused to grade last Monday because I was "having such a bad day" had tripled and I had hundreds of papers to grade, no lesson plans for this week and I had my normal classes to teach and before I even started I was worn out. But I pulled from that invisible and unfathomable reserve of strength and got through all my work. I graded every last paper, catching myself if I felt like skimming instead of giving each paper the attention it deserved, I made worksheets and I even managed good lessons yesterday on the fly. I will find endless benefits to my debate training. I also did an entire week's worth of lesson planning yesterday between classes and when I look back on it I am unsure why I just had to get all of that done yesterday. Tuesday morning is my most lax morning of the week and I could have easily and without consequence gotten the work done today. Sometimes I swear I am going to kill myself over nothing.

I finished reading Gone with the Wind between last night and this morning and somehow that book eased my homesickness, despite how racist it is. Now, I am torn between doing next weeks lesson plans or downloading another book. I think I will compromise and do some lesson planning (as in, look over the topics for next week and write down the lessons that come easily and leave the lessons that require more thought for the rest of the week) and then download a new book. I mean I do need to have work for the rest of the week and something to do when I get home.

So other things on my mind. Sunday night I think I found my adoptive Thai grandparents. My usual motorcycle man was not working and I was trying to get a ride home from the bus station. I hate when I am put in a tight spot and there is nothing I can do about it. The drivers were demanding double what I usually pay and even when I called them out for it, they knew they were my only option home. I was about to admit defeat (If I was willing to play the defenseless fool, I could have been the poor hopeless tourist who did not have any money, and probably could have gotten the price down at least some. However, I was tired and between the 8 hour drive from Bangkok and my pride, that was not happening.) But just as I was about to agree, an elderly grandma came up to me and grabbed my arm. "Where you go?" She asked me, distracted by a conversation on the phone. "Rajabaht aajan flat," I reply and she points to herself and tells me "I go Rajabaht" and pulls me with more force than I ever expected away from the motorcycle men. She cast a backwards scathing glance to the motorcycle men and inwardly I was cracking up because I knew that in Thai she was not saying nice things. She introduces me to her husband. They are both professors in the affiliate University, she in Education and him in Humanities. She does not speak great English but I think it is from her I will learn most of my Thai. She says I speak lovely Thai, which was sweet. Turns out she lives right behind my flat and when they dropped me off at my flat, she said, "You come to my house, yes?" They have a son in the US who goes to MIT and something about 15 years (I am guessing he has been in the US 15 years but the communication barrier there was thick). But yes, that was amusing.

I am also learning that I can be mad as I please about the whole healing process but it doesn't make a lick of difference. I am just going to have to wait while I heal. I am exhausted most of the time, no matter how much I sleep and rest but I know I am healing faster than I ever did in the states. I am watching as my knees heal to see if I can get away without scars. My foot still looks like Frankenstein's monster and I really wish it would grow skin faster. Don't worry, in my time here I have said and thought things that sound incredulous and ridiculous but here they are downright true. Sometimes the pain is more bearable than others and I am trying to find the minimum amount of pain meds I can take so I don't end up with ulcers by this time next year. Also, I cast out any delusional thoughts that I will just teach sitting down. I will never be a seated teacher and I should have known that, as was proven by my classes yesterday. I should not have been standing but when you are in ESL situations, chalk and a board are necessary and I do have to be tall enough for the overabundance of students in each class to see me. My tiredness and pain led me to be a little more strict with my naughtiest class of the week, which is the first class I have Monday morning. I ended up punishing the whole class and I can now silence students with a look. Usually, managing a class is easy but I swear this class is half made of naughty misbehaving ringleaders. I made them all stand up and pat their hands and rub their bellies in complete silence for 1 minute. Anytime someone speaks, giggles or stops another minute is added. For once, the strong sense of collectivism in Thai culture works 100% to my benefit. But now I can enjoy the rest of my week with better students.

Now another thing that I keep forgetting to mention! In two years Thailand will become part of ASEAN and the language of that is English. It is going to be vitally important to speak English in order to do anything outside of their village at that time. And for many, these students speak more English than anyone in their families. So there is a drive of importance for impressing English on them.

Okay, well my post about little things has grown quite long! It is now time to work and read. And how much I love reading for pleasure!