What a long strange day.  I was asked to do a speech before the entire school this morning.  They said keep it short, a few sentences.  I did and they they said, so short?

I taught a half a class.  Then the teacher, Pat, who has been helping me took me to the cell phone store because my phone isn’t working.  It turns out that the sim card I have won’t work in this area of the country so I had to get a new one (with a different company).  It’s working now.

It’s sports day at the school so when we went back the students were all playing sports and there were no classes.  Pat took me to get noodles for lunch.  So, now it’s 10:30 am and I’m carrying around soup in a bag in a bag.  Everything in Thailand is in a bag with another bag to carry that bag in.  She tells me to go sit with Mae, another teacher.  So I do.  Mae then takes me to watch Wallyball (I’ll need to work on W and V apparently).  After that she takes me to the library and gives me a book about the king written in English.  She basically doesn’t know what to do with me.  After awhile, Pat comes and gets me and brings me a bowl and spoon for my soup.  So, I eat lunch even though I am so sick and tired of noodles and rice that I just have lost interest in eating.  Then I meet with the School director and sign a ton of papers and my contract.  Then we go to find out what my teaching schedule will be, but no one knows.  One of the other teachers brings me a rice cooker.  Oh yea – now I can make my own rice.  She also gives me a small purse like bag because they all think my backpack is too big.  There is no way I can put school things in that small bag.  They take pictures of me as they are giving me the rice cooker and the bag.  Then I get a copy of their text books so I can look at the type of stuff they have been learning in English.  This will be helpful for later on.  Now they are asking me if I will teach math and science.  And will I teach the teachers after school?  I don’t want to teach math and science, but have no issue teaching English to the teachers.  There is supposed to be a closing assembly every day, but it was canceled for  spots day so I go home a little early.

Tomorrow I am supposed to teach 4 classes.  Wish me luck.

I get home and just want to take a nap.  They tried to put a hot water thing in for my shower, but the water pressure is too low for it to work right.  When I get home, the guy trying it was just leaving.  I decide that a shower while it’s still warm outside is a good idea vs trying to take a cold shower once it’s cooler outside.  It’s been very cool here in the evenings and very warm, but tolerable during the day.

I haven’t finished drying off when I hear my name being called.  I throw on clothes and see who is at the door.  It’s teacher Noi.  She brought over the rice cooker that I wasn’t able to take with me earlier.  She wants to know if she can help me in any way.  I have no idea.  She asks if I want to go for noodles for dinner.  Oh god, no, I don’t.  I tried gracefully to back out, but it was never going to work.  I know that if a Thai invites you somewhere, you just have to go.  No is not the correct answer.  So I agreed.  She drove me up to the dam which I hadn’t seen yet.  We live near the largest dam in Thailand.  We hung out there for awhile.  Then she took me through a couple villages and took me to dinner.  I haven’t paid for a meal since I got here.  Most western teachers get a Thai mom at some point – someone who decides they want to take care of the foreigner.  It’s not a set thing, it just happens.  At one point she told me she was 53 and asked if I was sister.  I told her I was 46 and she smiled and said “sister”.  So, it appears that I don’t have a Thai mom, but a Thai sister.

I know that culture shock has set in and I’m depressed and wondering why I ever thought this was a good idea.  So, I just have to try to learn Thai and say yes to invites and get involved or the culture shock will just be more painful for longer.

I am exhausted and my brain is foggy.  I don’t feel clear and I’m having trouble remembering things.  Granted, there’s a lot to remember.  But, I’m thinking that the change in my diet is part of why I feel so foggy.  I not getting nearly the same amount of vitamins I use to get when I ate mostly fruits and vegetables.  Now, it’s mostly rice and noodles with a small amount of veggies.

At this moment, there is a wild band of pissed off wasps trying to get through the bug screen.  If I turn the light off, they go away, but then I can’t see anything.  It’s the most annoying noise.  I didn’t get a nap so I’m going to bed.  Enjoy the pictures of the day:

(c) all rights reserved Kimberly Fiore