16 November 2007

This and That

This post is deservedly called "This and That," because I have a great collection of tidbits from this past week! Again, the weeks seem to be flying right by me! The kiddies - although wildy rambunctious and raucous, not to mention the fact they love to hear the sound of their own voices way too much - make for some great stories.

However, first, me and my great spur of the moment ideas have decided to run a marathon. Yes, run 26.2 miles for no apparent reason other that to put my body under stress and pain like it has never before felt. The Khon Kaen Marathon (http://www.khonkaenmarathon.com/) is apparently "the greatest marathon of Thailand." So on January 27th, you can find me in northeastern Thailand running my little heart out! It's something I have wanted to do, so I figured, why not in Thailand? It makes for a much better story!

Another funny tidbit...this week the students of grade 1C had a spelling test on "Animals." Pet animals and farm animals to be exact. Well, #4 was the word horse. Little Supicha (seen here in possibly one of the cutest pictures ever) racked her brain for the spelling, and instead of h-o-r-s-e, came up with w-h-o-r-e-s. Yes, whores. But with a face like this, who really cares?

Another funny side note...I have slowly but surely been discovering all my student's "nicknames" or "English names" (refer to previous post for explanation). I am going to prove to you all how much the Thais (and myself included) love 7-11. I kid you not, there is one every 50 feet and am convinced the only reason 7-11 as a business is still afloat is because of Thailand. In addition to that, parents even name their children after the convenience store here! It is true, Attakan's (my little pelvic thruster) nickname is Seven.

Here is just a nice little shot I took from the top floor of the school - which looks out over a series of beautiful, green rice paddies to southwest. If you keep going this way, eventually you will run into the heart of downtown Bangkok!

Other shenanigans from the week? Well, this week in English we are working on "Clothes," and one of the vocabulary words is underwear. With each vocab word, I had the students point to someone with that article of clothing on. We got to underwear and to hopefully avoid a compromising scene, I said (with an air of firmness), "Now, don't show me your underwear!" Clearly, I should have known better because before I knew it, half the boys in my class were already prancing around the classroom, showing off their Superman and Batman underwear. I didn't know what to do, so I laughed and prayed nobody from administration would walk by at that moment. Which, thank the Lord, they didn't!

Other than that, it is the same ol', same ol' in the classroom - mass chaos, pelvic thrusting, lots of talking and me, hoping that at least one child in my class is learning something. Anything. Unfortunately, Lauren and I are still living on a budget, although last night I accidentally blew about half my week's budget at Big C - the Thai equivalent of Target. It's the things like Big C that make you feel right at home.

The plan for today is up in the air - probably going to the pool (free!) and getting myself a proper tan, since I am in 90 degree weather in the middle of November! This girl needs to start taking full advantage! We also need to pay our electric bill, which you can do at 7-11 (I tell you, you can do anything at 7-11 in this country!), and I have a big 11-mile run tomorrow to rest up for! Unfortunately, nothing super exciting for you all, but I will leave you with Pam and I - making the face that we always make toward one another. Enjoy!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

So someone once told me that you learn a lot about a culture by their cuisine....how much culture are you learning at 7-11? (j/k). All I know is they better have slushiest there, I cannot think of a better experience than walking the streets of Thailand with a Big Gulp in my hands;)