Teezur Maa-lie-ee (Teacher Malai)

So I learned today that PowerPoint is in Thai and I need to make a PowerPoint for one of my classes next week. That gives me four more days to figure out how to do all this in Thai. And if you use the help button, the answers to the query are in Thai, of course. Oh, the things I will learn.

I taught the upper level classes today. Competition is my best friend and apparently my tone can be scary enough to even get the naughty boys to listen, even when I am speaking English. You have to keep  these students' attention for every second of the class or things get out of hand since there are so many. I am about to have my 6 year old class in a few hours so that should be fun. They told me that songs are good but to get them up and moving is a bad idea because there are so many of them. This will definitely be a challenge. Also, the students love to touch me. I had a tiny child wrap its hand around my pinkie yesterday and another student came up behind me today and hugged me around the waist. They are all so adorable. Yet this is the loudest situation I have ever been continuously in. SO NOISY!

I found out today that you can get some cloth and pick out a picture and have a dress made for you. I don't think I will do that now but it is good knowledge to have. I was also told that I should not walk by myself. There is very little crime around here but my fellow teachers are protective of me. Even a teacher I did not know said that I should ask him for a ride anywhere instead of walking, even if it is close. Apparently even groups of women, when they go out after 5 pm always are accompanied by men. I do not know if this is endearing or sexist but we will see how things turn out on that front with me. I mean, I am the only white person within a two hour radius so if I go missing, I think a lot of people will notice.