A day in the life

It's been hot and gross the last few days and my body has not been handling it well. Since I had two crazy days in a row, I figured I'd take the day off (as my co teacher has done this 5 times in the last 4 weeks). I've been sleeping and sitting under the fan for a long time now and finally feeling sabai (healthy). Here's what I've been working on to post for a little while:

I wake up around 6:30, shower, occasionally shave, drink a little coffee, generally put on a king shirt like this.

I walk out onto my little side street

Sometimes I pick up a little breakfast from a street cart, like these kanom klot (fried coconut balls, or something like that)

I hop on a songtao instead of walking 30 minutes.


I get to my side street, but it's another 10 minute walk to get to my school. It's a lovely walk with a sketchy railroad crossing, a Seven Eleven, some chickens and some cows.



Finally, I get to school. I have a few minutes of being harangued and printing worksheets before it's time for assembly.


And what assembly is complete without aerobics?

Then it's time to teach! Professions to 3rd grade, god knows what to Kindergarten 1, and transportation to 4th grade. After that it's time for lunch!



After lunch (and toothbrushing!), I sit in on 6th grade getting ready for an exam, teach numbers to 1st grade, and then food and drink to 2nd grade.

The boy second to the right is ridiculously funny. He's always pointing at kids and saying "Teacher! Autistic!". They usually respond by pointing back "Teacher! UFO!". They know enough English already. I'm not needed here.
This picture conveys what teaching 1st grade feels like.

Here's an especially entertaining 2nd grader. He's an orphan as far as I understand, and he's always acting like a monkey. He likes me a lot, and I like him a lot. Oh, and his name is Bang!

On Wednesdays, I usually teach a conversational class for the teachers, but today I have to leave early to get money from the municipality office before it closes early. Gov't offices are the same everywhere. But love for the king isn't the same everywhere. Here are the two king-worshipping bridges I pass on the way to and from school.

"We love the king-god who rests on/above our heads"


Then I go home and soak in ice and cry the pain away until tomorrow. That's approximately my life. It's not so bad.

Jams

I'm sorting through the crapload of pics from my school, but in the meantime, here are some Thai jams that Laura and I have been into lately. The first one we heard at a bar among 'N SYNC, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, the Macarena, etc. Neither of us recognized it, but assumed that it came out around the same time (especially with the lyrics that are topical for the late 90s). It turns out it's an oddly skanky Thai pop song from 2006.




This one is in my head all the time. It doesn't hurt that it's my co-teacher's ringtone, and people answer their phones whenever here. Anyway, it's a serious jam that's all over the place these days.




I vow to put both of these on every mixtape for the next 5 years. Be prepared.

Prachuab Khiri Khan

Richard really promises to do an update about his school soon. It should be great! To hold you over, here are some more monkey pictures! Richard and I spent the last weekend in Prachuab Khiri Khan, a seaside town a little ways south of Hua Hin. It's really peaceful there. We stayed in a hotel with a balcony that looked over the ocean, did some kayaking, ate some seafood, and walked up to a lookout point with a temple that is completely overrun by monkeys. There were way more than at the monkey wat in Hua Hin. They were very territorial. Some growled at us. Others got in fights with each other. We enjoyed the experience, but were glad to be off the hill by sunset. We were starting to get a little creeped out.