Feeling alone...

Things have been all fine and dandy...and then we moved into our new house, which has been great...but we are all alone. This past week it kind of sunk it. Our evenings consist of being at home, on our computers, occasionally going toTesco for goods. I was feeling a bit alone. It wasn't a good feeling. Just when I was feeling a bit down, I was at the pool after school  a few days ago and I met 2 young, English speaking people! It was quite exciting! I seriously felt that Cailin and I might have been the only white, English speaking people in our town! They told us that they taught at the high school in town and that there was an International house next to the high school with about 10 other teachers. We were tickled pink! We now have friends! It feels good to actually have other people to interact with. I still feel strongly about taking thai lessons so I can delve into the people and culture here more extensively and to be a better teacher. The new people we met said that at the high school level, each grade is separated into about 10-14 sections. The top sections, parents pay to get their kids into. The kids at the bottom, like 12-14, are supposedly a lost cause. I think that is a very pessimistic attitute and I'm not a fan of it, but I guess the kids just don't care one lick. I still can't get over the fact that the parents pay money to get their kids into a better section.

This picture is of a rice field at sunset. The landscape here is quite beautiful. It is as green as can be with all the rice fields and the palm trees, and there are even some corn fields stuck in there!

One morning we got to take our students on a boyscount/girlscout sort of adventure, which ended up consisting of us walking around town in the penetrating heat, and making a few stops where the teachers led some activities and talked to them (which of course we couldn't understand!). It was nice to get to be out of the classoom with the students. We played a little, "what color is this," or "what is this" game while we were walking and the kids really enjoyed it! Here are some pictures from our walk.

When we stopped, all the kids pulled newspaper out of their bag to sit on to have a snack!

Can they get any cuter!?!?

This picture I found humorous because I thought for a second I had some gansters in my 1st grade class!

This next picture is typical for women here in Thailand. They are always carrying umbrellas or wearing long sleeves or covering clothes because they do NOT want to get dark! It is kind of a cultural thing because those who are darker skinned are those who work outside and labor. Those who have white skin are those who have good office jobs and aren't exposed to the sun. I was also told that some people will grow out one or more of their fingernails to show or prove that they aren't laborers. This is humorous to me because it is totally opposite in America.  The "in" thing is to be tan! All of the TV/movie/singer stars here are all very, very light skinned. The females my age that I've talked to here, want so badly to be white. They even have a whitening cream here. Sadly, I guess society affects you no matter what country you live in!

This is yet another picture to prove why I feel like a giant here! Maybe that's why I get stares...not because I'm white, but because I'm humongous! It is funny how many stares I get sometimes. At school I'll be walking up or down the stairs and some students will give a friendly hello, but some groups of kids will just stop and stare at me and whisper to each other! I take it they haven't seen many farangs(foreigners) around!

Another picture of my precious students!

Something interesting I found out from James was that most of the teacher are in their 50's. I had taken notice that there weren't many young Thai teachers around. He said it's because when a teacher starts teaching, they don't leave until they retire! He said that there should be a new phase of teachers soon because of teachers retiring and with the new materials and ways of teaching.

I have found it very difficult some days to get the students' attention because they are all being loud and crazy. What Nan, the Thai teacher does is she says "clap once," "clap twice," etc. It focuses the kids almost instantly...it's amazing! I've been trying to think of little tricks that I can use for the kids to get them focused and settled down. Until I learn the language better I think I'm going to use some sort of hand motion.

I ran into some parents of our students and they said that they kids really enjoy us, which was nice to hear. They also opened up their homes to us. The people are just so friendly here. I do not feel scared or threatened at all; I feel very safe, except for when I come in contact with all of these crazy dogs here...I've been chased on my bike a few times and it's not a good feeling!