Well, I honestly cannot believe it is not even seven yet. I was out of my apartment at 7:30 this morning. You have to scan in at school before eight or it does not even let you in. Today was my first real day at school. It took me most of the morning to figure out what I am supposed to do and how. By "observing" today they really meant teach without a lesson plan in conjunction with a Thai teacher. I only teach four classes a day, every weekday. Each class has over 50 students and the classes range from ages 6 to 17. Today I taught 7 to 12 year olds. You have to use a microphone in the classroom and there are only fans, no air conditioning. The day starts off with organized chaos they call an assembly. There, I was grilled by the students. How old are you, what is your favorite color, animal, and jewel, how big is your family, do you have a boyfriend, what is your nationality, what are your hobbies, do you know One Direction, when is your birthday and so forth. This happened in the big assembly and in every class. I have slightly learned my way to about half the places I need to go to in the school. Justin Bieber is on the door to the literature offices. Yeaaaahhhhhhhh.....
Okay had to take a break because I realized it was starting to get dark. There are only a few street lights so I had to stop and walk to get food. Call it whatever, but there is a place here called Smile that has a few American-like dishes so I have a beautiful healthy salad, spicy mushrooms and pork steak cooked in some yellow Thai pepper sauce. Here you have to say take away instead of to go. Also, any medium sized chunk of meat is called steak here. As I was waiting for my food, five students surrounded me and asked the same questions they did earlier, then they would run away and in a second would be back again with another question. Over and over. It was adorable. And here I was, a little sad to be eating by myself. But then I get home to find 11 messages waiting for me and it makes me feel loved.
So anyway, the big news of today is......drumroll please............I rode a motorcycle for the first time. So here is how it went (and if you immediately went screaming and/or falling off that is not nice or funny). Teacher May was going to take me to get a bucket and drop off laundry. I follow her out of the school and she starts walking to the motorcycle part of the parking lot and I start going "no way is she going to take me on a motorcycle, we must be going past that to the cars." But I was wrong. When I said I had never been on one before she laughed and said it is time to go on an adventure. So here is me, on a motorcycle behind a 100 lb Thai woman who is all of four feet tall, holding my large purse and my laundry in Thai traffic. And let me tell you something about Thai traffic. There are rarely any stop signs. Everything is fluid and people just try to watch out for each other. It is mesmerizing to watch because it really should not work, but it does. So yeah, back to me on the motorcycle. I drop off my laundry, which will be ready tomorrow evening (Hooooooraaaaaaaay) and we go to a small market to get a bucket. And then we have to go home on a motorcycle with me holding a large blue bucket in one hand and my purse and this tiny woman the other. I mean, everyone already stares at me and honks and takes pictures. This just made it worse.
So yes, that was all fun. The school actually might have/buy a bike for me. So all you people who did not think this would happen....you have been proven wrong. AND I did it in a skirt. Tonight I am going to eat dinner and then do some laundry (you have to do all underwear and bras by hand here, which is why I needed the bucket). Then for sleep, sleep, sleep. I get to have breakfast at 7-11 tomorrow with the other teachers. Oh and the beds here......it might as well be a floor for all the give it has. They put two beds in my room and one is a little more cushie then the other (as in it might give a millimeter or two more). But I am so exhausted by the end of the day that I think I can sleep on anything. But food, laundry and shower first.
Okay there are always a few things I forget to mention. Like I got a gecko friend and I didn't even have to catch him. And I can't believe I forgot this one. The students, as in multiple of them and many times asked why I was white.
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