New Day Cambodia where Emily volunteered

Busted.....

The pics I posted were taken by the English teacher and given to me on a CD. She focused on the teachers and you see Liz, Kelsey, Shandah, Shera, Ed and Al. My pics are more student focused and I hope to post them today.
The bad news is that Joanne fell on her way into church Ash Wed. and broke her left arm near the shoulder. She has to be in an immobilizer for six weeks. That's one version of busted. The other version is what happened to me at the Bkk airport. When I checked in for my NWA flight the woman said, "Oh oh, bad boy, you overstayed your visa by two days. It's going to cost you." At passport control the officer looked at my passport and motioned me to desk behind him without releasing my passport. The woman at the desk said, "Said you've been a bad boy. 1000B please." Turns out the fine is 500B a day so it cost me about $23.

Wat Salapoon School #6

Wat Salapoon School #5

Wat Salapoon School #4

Wat Salapoon School #3

Wat Salapoon School #2

Wat Salapoon School

On my way home.........

I'll arrive home on Feb. 25. Shortly after that I will post my pics and share some final stories and reflections. It's been a great trip, thanks for sharing it.

When an elephant sneaks up on you....

It was a lovely evening in Cha-Am and I was enjoying my dinner at a sidewalk cafe. I saw a begging elephant approaching. However, the young woman at the next table had her back turned to the approaching pachyderm. Elephants have padded feet so they move silently down the street. The woman felt some thing at her ear and turned to find the elephant's trunk nuzzling her. She did look like a deer caught in the headlights but didn't scream and was a good sport about it.
Listed on the breakfast menu is a cafe in Cha-Am; Cornfrekes. That's ok because R always sounds like L. Kristine Nymoen taught me that spelling a word the same way twice lacks creativity and I agree.

The story of Ms. Thiy.

The Moon Cafe in Ayutthaya was the hang out place of choice for off duty volunteer teachers. Working at the Moon was Thiy, in her 20s and maybe the manager. She opened the cafe every morning at 9:00am and closed at midnight, later if there were customers still hanging out. She does this seven days a week with never a day off. When she heard I was going to the beach she said she's always dreamed of the seeing the beach. She grew up in Isan, the poor northeast section of Thailand and moved to Ayutthaya looking for work. Besides her working hours her pay astounded me. She makes 5000B a month which translates to approximately $140. or less than $5. a day,

When the culture values white skin......

The little adventure to the beach is over. Cha-Am is my kind of place if I'm going to the beach. There's a village next to the beach so when I quickly reach my quota of time on the sand I can go explore the village. I even carefully timed my sun exposure so have no painful sunburn from which to recover. Cha-Am is on the Gulf of Thailand about a three hour bus ride south of Bkk. If you cross the Thai peninsula to the west you find the Andaman Sea. Cha-Am is combination fishing village and a weekend resort for Thai. Development looms on the horizon so it's charm will not last long.
Thai have a strong prejudice in favor of white skin and against dark skin. White skin symbolizes the rich and powerful and dark skin is equated with peasants. When a culture values white skin the behavior at the beach changes from those that value tanning. While, the westerners lie in the sun and tan, the Thai gather under beach umbrellas to avoid the exposure. The children frolic in the water and occasionally a parent will venture in with a child, always wearing street clothes, but 99% of the Thai spend 99% of their time in the shade. A practice we would do well to emulate.

At the beach!

It was a bit of a marathon getting here, Cha-Am, with tuk-tuk, train, taxi and bus all in the scorching heat, but I made it. It's a good place for me because the town is right on the beach so when I get bored after an hour on the sand I can go explore the town. Cha-Am is a combination of Thai fishing village and Thai's weekend retreat. Many more Thai here on holiday than foreigners though I did see a Thai Massage place that described it's offerings in Norwegian. I'll likely find my way back to Bkk tomorrow for my last R & R before I brave the cold and snow

It was a tear jerker!

Yesterday (Friday) I said goodbye to my favorite 5th grade class, which, I knew would be hard. It was going OK until they all presented me with 'thank you' cards that they had made. Many of the girls were crying and so was I. The school presented me with a King's Medallion and the English teacher and students want to pose with me for pictures. (I'll post the pics when I get home.) It's a good feeling to thing that I made some small impact.

Just when you think.......

My teaching is down to one class, 5th, left for tomorrow. When I completed the 6th today I announced that it would be my last. A girl, with a little prompting from the teacher, stood and thanked me from the class and said the class was sad I was leaving. Then, these uber-cool 6th graders, all came up to shake my hand, walk me to lunch and pose for pictures with me. Just yesterday they didn't want me to take their picture. Just when you think you haven't reached them they respond like that. The teacher also said goodbye because she's taking the 6th grade camping tomorrow. She was very kind and gave me a beautiful hand painted cup and saucer.
While teaching I noticed a thermometer so sauntered over to take a peek while I taught gender. It was only 88 degrees so it must be the humidity, though it was almost 100 here yesterday afternoon.

There is hot, then there is really hot.

While I was teaching the 5th grade at 8:30 this morning I became aware my shirt was soaking wet. It then dawned on me " it is really hot" or there is something wrong with me. But I felt fine. Shandah confirmed it is really hot and then she went off to teach 1st grade in an upstairs room with no fans or open able windows. The locals are complaining about how hot it is but the students don't let it slow them down with their lunch hour games. It's probably a good thing that I don't have a thermometer. But, if you think of it, check the Bkk temperature for Wed. in your local paper.

Credit where credit is due!

As best I can tell there is not much creativity in teaching methodology at Temple School Wat Salapoon. I see teachers sitting in a chair in front of their class appearing to drone on and on. There is quite a bit of group recitation. When Shandah asked how I was going to get the class involved in the lesson about gender in English, I made a brilliant decision, I asked, "What do you suggest?" Her idea was, after listing examples of masculine, feminine and neuter on the board, giving the students slips of paper with one example put on each slip. Then the students were to get up and put the slip under the proper heading on the board. I did as she suggested and after a review of about 30 examples I had the students close their notebooks and erased the board. They got about 66% correct on the first try. We reviewed all the answers and I kept those that were incorrect and handed them out again. This time there were only 2 mistakes.
Teaching the 5th grade at 8:30 went very well. At 10:30 I taught the 4th grade and, because she wasn't teaching that hour, Shandah came to observe. The English teacher walked over to Shandah while I was teaching and said, "Al is such a good teacher. This is a great idea." The moral question here is, should I say something to the English teacher? :)

Why does the elephant have CDs tied to his tail?

Thailand, a relatively poor country, has universal health care. Government workers, who are paid very little have a plan that covers their dependents and themselves, employed people have insurance paid jointly by employer/employee and everyone else is eligible for care when they pay the first 30B, less than $1. US. Even the homeless people, and their are some, get medical care. I'll leave the commentary to someone else.
The teacher's challenge; how do I reach the really competent students and those who are almost clueless in the same class? I try to harness the ability of the best while teaching those who are far behind...ah, yes, and I don't even know their language!
Shandah was teaching a younger class yesterday. While she was teaching the Thai teacher left the room and didn't return until 20 minutes after the class was to end. Shandah was 20 minutes late to her next class. Yes...it's a bit laid back. Candy and ice cream are sold to the students in the lunch room. There are virtually no waste baskets so the students just throw the wrappers on the ground/floor and the custodian sweeps them up.
Yo Yo's are the rage with the students. I should've spent more time with them as a kid...my "walking the dog" leaves something to be desired. While I was trying a yo yo a girl walked up to me and said; "Teacher, I like chocolate." One of the questions in class was "raise your hand if you like chocolate. Her declaration was one of the little victories because the students are very reluctant to try speaking English individually.
So, why does the elephant have CDs tied to his tail? Because he doesn't have tail lights! :)

The tigers passed up a 'super size' meal!

Not having been tiger lunch means I'm back teaching this week. I taught 4th, 5th and 6th grade today. We are working on the English sounds that are most difficult for Asians. The hardest is the difference between L and R. I devised a drill today that worked. On the board I wrote; 1. L, 2. R. Then I stood in front and said either L or R having them respond with 1 if they thought I said L and 2 if they thought I said R. After about 10 minutes of this drill they were approaching 100% accuracy. My dream is that they will never say 'flied lice' when they mean 'fried rice'.
It is stultifyingly hot but the classrooms remain bearable. The ceiling fans are a life saver.

PS to Tiger Temple trip

The Tiger Temple is in the jungle near the Thai/Burma border and it was blazingly hot...100+ would be my guess. The animal rescue has turned into such a major commitment that the monks have become quite adept at fund raising. Much of the work is done by a cadre of young volunteers who sign up for a month, live on the grounds, get room and board plus 70B, (about $2.) a day. Most were Thai but there was at least one American in the group.
There was an area with 3, four month old cubs. A man began petting one of the cubs on the head. An English speaking volunteer told him not to do that, he might get bitten, the cubs don't know their own strength. The man took off his cap and continued petting the cubs head. Fortunately he didn't get bitten. When he finished I asked him if he spoke English. It turned out that he was German and didn't. In my broken Deutsch I told him what the volunteer had said.

If the tiger lifts his tail, stand aside.

After we'd visited the bridge over the river Kwai we took a side trip to the Tiger Temple. It's become an animal sanctuary housing water buffalo, cattle, wild hogs, pea fowl, 4 kinds of deer, a leopard, two lions and 38 tigers. One tiger is Bengal, the others are the slightly smaller Asiatic Tigers. Most of the tigers have been born on the temple grounds. They are taken from their mothers at 4 weeks and raised by people so they are accustomed to people so that their mothers don't teach them to hunt, though they continue to have contact with their mothers. The tigers were being fed chicken until the advent of bird flu, now they are fed cat food.
We arrived at the temple about noon and at 1pm the tigers were walked to the canyon (sort of like a gravel pit) for their afternoon exercise which is a romp in the pool. Tigers act like cats in many ways except they love water. We walked down to the canyon with four of the tigers the others had been brought down previously. At the canyon we were divided into two lines for photos. The right hand line paid 1000baht ($28.50) to have their pictures taken with a tiger's head in their lap. Once the picture was taken a handler would lift the Tiger's head, and not very gently, and the person would get up. If the tiger was too sleepy for the 'head in the lap' routine the tourist would lie down using the tiger as a pillow. We were told that tigers usually attack the smaller object so I tried to stay close to a small Thai person. :) The left hand line was for those of us who just wanted to pose with a tiger. I thought, "Well that's cool, I'll have my picture taken with a tiger". As it turned out I had my picture taken with a half dozen or more and lived to tell about it.
We had an excellent guide for our trip to the bridge and temple giving us wonderful information about crops, religion, culture, life and Thailand. She suggested we not accept the offer to bottle feed the cubs because on previous trips some of her customers had been injured. The cubs rolled over quickly and raked the women doing the feeding with their claws though not intending any harm. We all, there were 8 of us, 6 Australians and 2 Americans, on a large bus with a 'happy room' (toilet) in the back, took her advice.
Oh yes, the tail...walking to the canyon we were told, "If the tiger raises his tail step aside, he's about to mark his territory." I'm not aware that anyone got sprayed.

It brought tears to my eyes!

Perhaps it is morbid fascination but I've always been moved by cemeteries. Reading the headstones makes me wonder about the lives so marked. That was particularly true yesterday at the military cemetery by the Bridge over the River Kwai, or Kwae as the Thai would say. To see the railroad, walk over the bridge built by POWs during WWII, and, visit the cemetery where many of them are buried, was a profoundly moving experience. English, Dutch and Australian men are buried there, the Americans, a small group of about 30, have been reburied elsewhere. There is a helpful museum that tells the story of the prisoners, the building of the railroad and the bridge is across the street. It made me think of my friend, Alf Larsen, and his experience in the Bataan Death March and as a POW. When I get home I think I'll rent the move "Bridge Over the River Kwai" and watch it again.

Valentines Candy

The only class I taught on Friday the 13th was 5th grade. One girls gave me a votive candle many of the students gave me candy for Valentines Day. They're so sweet!

...and the elephant came later.

Gai, our local contact person who brings us dinner, etc., along with her husband, Mai, and their 3 children had as to dinner at their house last night (Thursday). They live on a narrow street of newer (3o years old?)houses, that we would call town house because they are all linked together. There is a small court yard (20'x20'?) in front of the house that also serves as kitchen and dinning room. Gai cooked us a superb Thai meal. Many Thai don't do much cooking at home rather they buy prepared food from the ubiquitous vendors. Gai had to borrow dishes from the house in which we volunteer to serve us.
At the mall on Wednesday Ed & Shera were shopping for presents for Gai's children. The youngest child, age 4, threw the mother of all tantrums when it looked like the older siblings would get a bike but not her. They ended up buying two bikes, a tiny one for the 4yr old, and full size for the 8 and 10 year olds. When we brought the bikes to Gai's house the older children showed no emotion about the gift. Last night at dinner we saw how they felt about it as they spent the whole evening taking turns giving each other rides up and down the street as the 4yr old pedaled furiously on her little bike with training wheels. The street is about 25' wide and very quiet, a good place to rides bikes...and feed elephants as it turned out.
While we were watching the bikes an elephant came down the street begging for food. He really set the dogs off. For 20Baht, about 75 cents, you could buy a bag of sugar cane stalks to the feed the elephant. The elephant took each stalk out of my hand and when the bag was empty he took the bag and handed it up to the mahout on his back.

More teaching....

Now that I've been at it for a couple of weeks I'm beginning to figure out what the students need from me...pronunciation. They can read and write in English and the teacher can help them with that. They really need help with pronunciation so they don't offer "flied lice" to eat. The English teacher, who is increasingly asking me for help, and I were discussing the problem with "R" and "L". I said, "For example Thai people say "Wat Salapoon instead of Wat Sarapoon". "But", she said, "it is Salapoon, the Thai letter is ( ) which is an L sound." Someone should have told the highway department who put Wat Sarapoon on the road sign.
Tomorrow I'll catch a ride to Bkk with the driver who brings Ed and Shera; their term is done. I want a hot shower and a soft bed for a couple of nights. But, I've decided to stay on for another week. I could go lie on a beach but where's the glory in that! :)

I knew better......

The distractions around the classroom seem only to be distractions to me. The students are unfazed. A boy I'd guess to be about 7 wandered into the 6th grade class I was teaching. He stood quietly off to the side for about 15 minutes and then disappeared. As far as the 6th grades were concerned he might as well have been invisible. The little children peering through the window into my 5th grade class were disturbing no one, except me. That is, until I called attention to them by shooing them away thus violating a cardinal rule of teaching, "ignore behaviour you want to extinguish". The English teacher came to my aid and closed the shutters.

It is not 'flied lice"!

English majors help me out. Besides choir, what other words beginning in 'ch' make the sound 'q'? It is the only one I could think of. I was teaching the 4th grade class about 'ch' in English. They often drop the last syllable so, when they see 'lunch' they say, 'lun'. (Of course what they really say is "eat rice".) Then there is the persistent problem of 'r' becoming 'l' so they ask, "Would you like some flied lice?" They can actually roll their r's and Thai does have an r sound. Maybe my having them practice 'fried rice' with rolled r's made a difference. Then again....at least it's fun. I tried to teach what the American slang, "4th grade rocks!" means. Success????

Call to colors

The students were all lined up by grades on the parade ground in front of the school. One contingent of students raised the flag while a students drum corps played. A teacher made a longish speech while the students looked bored. We volunteers introduced our selves in Thai. The students marched off to class and the school day began.

I keep learning

A letter writer to the editor of the Bangkok Post was complaining about the Thai national rule that school girls must keep their hair cut no longer than shortly below the ear. This explains the universal haircut and I disagree with the writer. The universal haircut is a good thing, I think. The students have some rotation of different school uniforms, almost all showing up in matching uniforms. I noticed one girl out of uniform one day and since have noticed that she wears the same uniform each day. I assume she is too poor to afford more than one...it must be difficult. She's a good student.

Meanwhile back in Ayutthaya

Rumors of two more volunteers turned out to be just rumors; no volunteers. It got a bit hectic this morning. The English teacher was to meet us at school at 8am with our day's teaching assignments. At 8:10 she said she forgot them in her car and they would arrive in 10 minutes. At 8:25 they arrived and revealed that Shandah and Shera were to teach a 3rd grade class at 8:30. Off we went in search of 3rd grade. We found the room, though, we thought the students looked very young. Shandah and Shera soldiered on only to learn later they wwere with 3yr olds. The teacher probably was saving their face by not telling them that they were in the wrong room.
Ed and I have assumed teaching duties for grades 4 through 6 while Shera and Shandah are teaching the younger ones. Suits me fine! In fact, I'm giving some thought to staying another week. Friday is the day I need to decide.

Thai massage

The conundrum is this. How can anything hurt so much, feel so good and put me to sleep all at the same time? That is my experience of the traditional Thai massage which typically lasts two hours and costs $8. My favorite masseuse name' sounds something like "Song", is about 4'8" and probably weighs 85lbs but she is really strong.

Teaching Stories

When I enter the classroom where I am to teach a lesson the students all stand and say in unison, "Good Morning Teacher". I respond, "Good Morning Students, how are you?" They say, "We are fine, thank you. How are you?" I say, "I am fine, thank you. You may be seated." Then the lesson begins. When I send the signal that the lesson is finished a student says "Class please stand." The class stands and the students in unison say, "Thank you teacher." I respond, "You are welcome. Thank you!" Just, some thing so sweet about that tradition. They love to shake hands...not the custom in Thailand. The tradition here is the 'wai', two hands pressed together in front of them. The height they raise their hands depends on the status of the person they are 'waing'. For me the students have their hands in front of their face because of my exalted status, i.e., teacher and old. My return wai is chest high given my status relative to them. They wai me every time I hand them a worksheet. I'm teaching them to use their right hand for shaking.
The classrooms have no doors so it is not unusual for dogs to wander in and out. In fact most of the school itself has no exterior doors. I was teaching 5th grade Thursday and the 6th grade was in the hall outside the classroom being very noisy. Just before I said something to the 6th grade about keeping the noise down ("neep neep cup" in Thai) I noticed that the noise was having no effect on the 5th graders, only me, so I kept my mouth closed. :)
It was fun teaching when I wasn't feeling well...now that I feel good it is going to be even better.

Another Hospital Story

With the hospital just a few blocks away I decided to get a prescription refilled. After presenting my 'frequent patient' user card I was sent to the 4th floor pharmacy. The pharmacist informed me that I would need a doctor's prescription and that I should go to the next desk. From there I was escorted into a doctor's office, he asked me some questions, wrote the prescription and sent me back to the pharmacy. They gave me the medication and I paid my bill...all of this took from 9:00 until 9:25am on Sunday morning. The doctor's bill was $14.

Bangkok Scenes

The old motorcycle taxi driver that parks in front of my favorite noodle shop has a new motorcycle this year. It is a "Best" something. His grey hair flows out under his helmet, which is now required in Thailand. Oh yes, he also has new "Crocs".
It could be called "The Law of Unintended Titles". A new uni-sex hair salon, mildly upscale, has opened on Silom Rd. a few blocks from the guesthouse. It is called, "Gay-cut".
Thai drive on the left side of the road but on sidewalks they walk on the right.

Hospital on the frequent user plan

There are advantages to persistent medical problems. I have my own identity card for the Bkk hospital I used last year. I'm back in Bkk; caught a ride Friday with the other three volunteers who were coming for orientation. My stomach is still queasy after my bout with food poisoning earlier in the week so I decided to see a doctor. I walked into the hospital, presented my card and within 5 minutes I was in a gastro 'whatever' specialists office. He interviewed and examined me and diagnosed my problem as residual effect of the food poisoning. He told me to stick with bland soup, gave me electrolytes, anti nausea medication and Cipro. Total cost for the visit and meds was $34. and it all took less than 30 minutes...in fact the dr. was standing in the lobby of the clinic when I arrived awaiting a patient. Oh yes, the good news, I weighed 7 kilo less than last year. I had planned a day excursion today but decided to wait a week to be sure I'm feeling better.

Monks Need a dental plan!

Today I went solo. No Thai teacher with me in the 5th grade class as I attempted to introduce them to verb tense. Much of the challenge is not having the students academic history. What do they know? What should they know? I find a vast difference in individual ability in each class. There is a 5th grade Thai book about English in which I found a page of exercises introducing verb usage. Statements like, "I (meet)______ him at the office." The 5th grade did fairly well but it was brand new to the 4th grade. I figure at least they have an hour of hearing English and I think it is helpful for the teacher.
Ed, Shera and Shandah sat in on my last class today and I showed them around the school. The school had no clue that they will be ready to teach next week. There is no school on Monday because of some Buddhist holiday. It appears that two more volunteers will arrive this weekend. Such information is always a little sketchy. Shandah and I are hoping that she can teach the kindergarten and me the upper grades.
For this first time today I saw some computer education in the lab. A different teacher had the students working on an assignment rather than just playing games. Ed's an IT guy and is wondering if he'll have any chance to teach any computer stuff.
Ed, Shera and Shandah are going to Bangkok tomorrow for part of their orientation. I'll catch a ride with them and will not return to Ayutthaya until Monday because there is no school. I have a day excursion planned for Saturday which I'll report on later.
Several of you have asked if there is anything that they can do to help these students. I can't think of anything practical given logistics, etc. The reality is that these students are relatively well off compared to really poor students around the world. But there is something helpful you can do; give a gift to Lutheran World Relief who will make the best of the $$ you give. They've got a great web site www.lwr.org
A monk with really bad teeth was surfing the net in the lab today.

Enough food poisoning already!

When the Thai teacher leaves the room the Kindergarten class behaves differently. That was one learning this morning. The students don't understand English and I don't know their names; a situation that makes discipline difficult. They continue to parrot everything I say.
The 5th grade class can communicate in English, though there is great individual difference between the students. Some are quite able and others show little ability. I don't know how far I got with teaching them the use of a question mark, but I tried.
Being the dedicated teacher I am I timed this latest bout of food poisoning so I didn't miss teaching. I was sick, and I mean sick, from noon until 8pm, slept until 6:30am, got up did my lesson plans, ate breakfast and taught two classes. Where's my gold star?

There's a gecko in my coffee!

How old are children when they loose their front teeth? They made up my first class today and they are perfect parrots; "Good morning students my name is Al'' in unison the class said, "Good morning my name is Al." If got to be amusing; "I think I'll take another book" "I think I'll take another book." I don't think they understood a word they were saying but they do know the English alphabet, can count to 10, know the days of the week and the months of year. The big question now is what I do with them tomorrow.
My 6th graders warmed up a bit today. I gave them a picture of a Thai rock band and asked them to write a story about them in English. About half of the class could at least begin but the other half couldn't even start.
Ed, Shera and Shandah are great house mates. For Sherah, 25, from Queensland, Australia, this is the first stop on a year of volunteering around the world, Asia, Africa, both South and Central America. Ed & Shera, 37 and 29, are brother sister. She lives Buffalo, NY and he's moved to L.A.
At breakfast this morning Shandah wanted some coffee. She plugged in the hot vacuum pot and pressed the top and a gecko came out the spot. You'll be happy to know the gecko was unharmed and was released to hunt more mosquito's.
My last class ended at 11:30am, it was time to "eat rice", so I had a little lunch and the computer lab was locked so I went back to the house for a ferocious bout of food poisoning, one of those that went from "I'm afraid I'm going to die!" to "I'm afraid I'm not going to die" and back again. I can't eat anything this evening but I'm drinking lots of water! One of the little joys of life! Now I better do some prep. for tomorrow in case I'm recovered enough to teach.

After 'eat rice'.

When I returned from Bkk yesterday, Shanda, a 25 year old woman from Queensland, Australia had arrived to begin her volunteer work. Last night Ed and Shera, a brother and sister from Buffalo, NY and Calif arrived. I'm pleased. I was concerned that it would be lonely after Liz and Kelsey left. It was never definite, but I don't expect Kelsey back, and Liz is home in Australia. All three newcomers are positive and mature.
I began the day with a 6th grade class. Minimizing my preparation time I had the same lesson plan for the 4th, 5th and 6th grade classes I teach today. It began with a copy of a map of the U.S., giving each student one, after the nice copier lady ran them off from a book. It seemed the 6th graders, my first class of the day, were struggling with it. I thought "oh great...and how am I doing to teach this to 4th grade?" It turned out to be easier because the 6th grade, ages 11-15, were more inhibited, beginning to worry about being cool, and not the difficulty of the material. One of the 4th graders asked, "Where does Obama live?" So, after Liz teaching them how to speak Australian they now have their first lesson in speaking Minnesotan. I have no intention of teaching spelling!
It turns out I did not need to worry about either my size or age intimidating them. They are like happy irrepressible children anywhere. However, they are well behaved and almost insufferably cute. A pout is a pout and a smile is a smile and the later predominates here in the land of smiles.
Today the girls are wearing white blouses, blue tie, blue skirts, white socks and Mary Jane shoes, which they leave outside the classroom (teachers don't). The boys have a white shirt, brown shorts and brown, knee high socks. (Just now two forth grade girls decided it was time to chase the birds out of the room with brooms until the teacher? intervened.)
One 4th grade class to teach and then I'm done for the day. That will give me plenty of time to plan my lessons for tomorrow when I'll teach one 2nd and one 6th grade class. Shanda has pre-school teaching experience so I'm hoping to be able to trade some classes with her; she taking the younger ones and me the older.
So that's the fun and excitement until next time at Wat Salapoon...guess I missed a cremation last week...maybe later.

Birds flying in the computer lab.

All of the computers I can see from where I sit are focused on games. The teacher? just sits at his desk at a computer and the students come for an hour and play games. If they get unruly he speaks up but, other than that, I don't see any interaction. Probably it's good preparation because the e-mail cafe's are full of youngsters playing computer games. Now I will go "eat rice" as lunch is called here and finish this blog after that.