Monday, May 30, 2005

I'm now a fully fledged teacher

Ha! I wish, but I have had my first day of teaching. I only had to take three classes, and two were quite easy, because they were 16 and 17 year olds. The 14 year olds were a nightmare, plus there was around 50 of them in the class. How on earth am I meant to control that, never mind teach them any English.

Its strange. Whenever I write things on the board, they understand and can say them, but if I ask them simple questions, like "what age are you?", "do you have any brothers or sisters?", then they don't understand at all. It's kind of book smart English they have. Well, maybe not the smart!

Tomorrow I have a day off, so I will do my laundry and go for a run. I would like to go for a run right now, but am starving, so I would run the risk of collapsing, potentially on the highway. No, I'm not actually going to run on the highway, but I haven't yet found anywhere I feel completely comfortable running yet. So that will be tomorrow's other challenge. I don't fancy getting run over by the multitude of trucks that Thai people drive.

Casey has invited me down to Koh Tao to do a PADI at the end of this week. Tempting that it is, I do feel that I have to stick out at least two weeks. Having said that, it depends on how I feel at the end of this one! Its bad to have other options like that. Though to be honest, I should probably cut back on my spending and not do it. I am saving money by being here (although it was damn expensive to sign up in the first place).

I have been meaning to write this for a while, and today I noticed it again - the Thai reliance on Nestle condensed milk. I have had it so far on pancakes, as Thai iced tea (yummy), and as part of a mocha frappe thing that would give Starbucks a run for their money. Today, it was on an iced dessert. I noticed all the kids were having it, and thought, oh sugary sweet thing that children eat. Then all the teachers went and got it as well. Its a bowl of ice, with sugary pink flavour drizzled over it, and then condensed milk. There are lychees and coconut jelly (the inside of underipe coconuts) as well as sweetcorn hidden in the ice. Weird, and incredibly sweet. Not sure I'll be having again. God help the Thai dental system.

I have a new friend to visit in Bangkok - David who I trekked with in Nepal did some more trekking and seems to have done himself some damage, and is currently in a Bangkok hospital, which sucks. So I'll have to go visit him next weekend, as well as the beach trip that some of the volunteers have planned. All systems go round here.

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