For my first class yesterday, the Thai co-teacher, Q, was nowhere to be found.  The rest of the other teachers were in a circle meeting.  Sometimes they have circle meetings after morning assembly, literally, standing in a circle in front of the school.  I don’t usually go to these as no one tells me about them and I wouldn’t know what they were talking about any way.  So, I am sitting outside a locked classroom wondering what is going on.  13 year olds are running amok all over the second floor of the language building.  Mostly, they are running and sliding across the wood floor trying to knock each other down.  I would have loved to join them, but I wasn’t wearing socks and I think this might be one of the things I’m too old for.  It might be like the last time I tried slip and slide.  It looked fun, but it wasn’t, it was just pain.  I was sitting on a bench and at some point most of my class came and sat on the floor in front of me.  They started asking me questions.  Some of it was in English and some in Thai.  Some, I have no idea.  They wanted me to sing.  They wanted to see my eyes without glasses.  Why don’t I wear contacts?  Then they had me repeat things in Thai.  I think they were having me say student’s names, but I’m not sure.  I could tell if they were trying to get me to say something not nice, because the girls would giggle, act all offended and hit the boys.  Even though most of it was me not understanding them and them not understanding me, they sat there for at least a half hour completely engrossed in everything I said or did, until Pat came up and opened her room for us to use.

I have half of my lesson plans done for next week.  I have high hopes that they will all be done by Thursday so I can get ahead.  I’d like to be ahead by a week.  I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

The monk I am teaching two nights a week has just such sweet energy.  He is smiling ear to ear when he comes to class.  You can tell he is excited to be learning English and thinks I’m silly.  I try to be as silly with them as I am with the kids.  I have an hour between school and the Monk’s class.  I decided to stay at school and work on lesson plans.  That hour seems to go so slowly, but then class goes quickly.

Today was my busy day with only one free period so I’m wiped by the end.  My second to last class is 16 year olds – over 50 in one class.  It’s insane.  They were 15 minutes late.  I can’t keep their attention for more than 30 seconds.  You’d think it was kindergarten.  Noi is my Thai co-teacher for that class and she stepped out half way through.  The rest of the class was a total loss.  How are you supposed to teach speaking to 50 students in 20 minutes?  I was talking to Pat about it and she said that they know I can’t hit them so they think I can’t punish them.  Thai teachers hit their students to keep them in line.  I’ve witnessed it so many times.  It’s difficult to watch.  They are so much better behaved when a Thai teacher is around.  My new plan of attack for most classes is – not good = no game.  For this class, it will be no game and homework.

It’s market day so that helped me feel a little better after a long day.  I didn’t buy much, but something about the energy of the market makes me feel more balanced.  Or maybe it’s something about the day to day activity of shopping that does it.  I have been finding quite a bit of enjoyment out of the “mundane” day to day activities like washing my motorbike, shopping for food, cooking, cleaning, etc.  I like the lack of thinking.

Tonight I talked to a realtor and the rental agent for my house.  The realtor is going to take a look at my house and work up some numbers.  The rental agent is very helpful.  I don’t want to have to put the house on the market, but I can’t just sell it to the current renter wondering if it’s really worth $30,000 to $70,000 more than he’s offering.  He offered $30,000 less than it was listed for last summer.  I also am looking into moving my furniture out of the house and into storage.  All of this house stuff has been weighing heavy on me lately and I try to not let it bother me, but it does.  I know it’s stupid because something will happen and it will be fine.  Even if it doesn’t sell and I try again next summer or move back in, it will be fine.  After talking to both of them, I feel so much better.  I’m not sure if I’ve really started to let it go or if this is a lull in the worrying.  My next door neighbor is the one who recommended the real estate agent and I like him.  Yay – a real estate agent I like for a change!

It’s been much cooler lately which is a relief.  It’s very humid which almost undoes the benefit of cooler.  But, at least it’s not hot and humid.  Instead it’s very warm and humid.  One advantage of the daily rains is that there are more lemon yellow butterflies.  There are more butterflies than I’ve ever seen – more than the butterfly pavilion in Denver or the butterfly garden in Singapore.  Everywhere you look the sky is moving with yellow.

(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore