Just Life

I'm watching one of my students play a bartending game. It's a crowd favorite among my class. I ask them to NOT play it at least 3 times every time we go into the computer lab. I seem to be the only teacher who does not think that it is an acceptable game for 5 and 6 year olds. If I were home, I would assume that they would not understand the purpose of the game, but I'm in Thailand and things are different here and I just am confused. haha Anyways, it bothers me that the website isn't blocked.

That is besides the point though. Their is not a lot going on. Just normal everyday things, which is great. Going to work and hanging out. I did a lot of shopping over the weekend and watched some movies. I get a lot of emails from people telling me that "their lives just aren't as interesting... blah blah blah" haha. But basically it's the same as everybody elses. haha Don't get wrong- I still wake up every morning in disbelief that I live in Thailand, but it isn't like I'm on vacation and at the beach or elephant trekking everyday. haha

But...

I have a week and half left of work and then I'm on a two week vacation for Easter / Songkran. I'm pumped. There are so many things that I want to do, that I change my plans every few hours. At the moment I'm thinking of hitting up Koh Samet (an island) for a few days, get in a few Thai cooking classes (I want a certificate, haha), seeing some Muy Thai, and the big trip to Chiang Mai for Songkran (plus maybe some rafting there... hopefully)!!! Like I said, I'm pumped.
I guess things aren't completely normal. haha But really, most days I go to work and come home and hang out. haha I just have more opportunities than most at my age to do things like go to an island for a few days and participate in a nation wide water fight.

Also, I bought a mango today for less than 50 cents. Can you imagine buying a mango for that cheap in the states?? I love mangoes. Not the easiest things to cut though...

Pandas and Polar Bears

I'm in the middle of teaching computer. I have to say- I got pretty darn lucky when I got to teach computer. It's a lot of fun. I usually join the kids in playing mario. haha

So I have nothing to really post about, but I thought I'd tell you about my class because I'm finally reaching the point here where I'm not the new teacher and everything is comfortable for me and the kids and we've got a routine. It took a while because the other K3 teacher has been here all year (plus a couple years) and they were so used to her. I teach K3- which is the equivalent to American kindergarten. Their are two K3 teachers, me and Sharon, and we divide the class and the subjects in half, so normally I only teach about 11 kids at a time. Except maybe computer and swimming. It's great. Each half of the class has a name, the Pandas and the Polar Bears. How these names came about, I have no idea, but it's pretty cute. All the kids are very proud of whether or not they are a Panda or Polar Bear. haha

My class has all sorts of nationalities in it. Thai, English, Austrailian, Singaporean (?, haha), Malaysian, Chinese, Greek, Korean, Russian, Japanese. It's nuts. I'm learning about a lot of different cultures. I have 3 kids that stand out the most. The first is Vladimir. If you guessed that he was the Russian, you are absolutely correct. haha He came a few weeks ago and did not know a word of English or Thai. Not even a yes or no. He's picked up English so fast. It's amazing. He's like a sponge. Another standout would be Callum. He makes me laugh because his parents are Austrailian, but he was born in England and has lived here since he was 2 or 3, so he tells people that he is Thai. The other day at lunch I overheard him talking to a Chinese student and got very confused because I couldn't understand a word that he was saying. I thought maybe he just had food in his mouth or something or was just being silly, so I asked him if he was speaking English. He just looked at me like I was stupid and said "no, Thai". Oh well, of course. haha Why wouldn't I assume that a English student and Chinese student were speaking Thai at an English/ International school?? The next major standout would be Pavlos. He is, of course, Greek. He stand out because he speaks the most random languages. haha He speaks Greek, French, and Madagascan. He learned English at school a few months ago and doesn't speak any Thai. Madagascan... can you believe it? haha

I always feel like I have a lot of boys in my class, but really the boys are just extremely loud. They all fight with each other all the time about anything, everything, and nothing. They are continually talking or punching or throwing something. Don't get me wrong, they are extremely sweet kids, but they have a lot of energy. They also do everything very fast and everything is a race. It's kindof obnoxious. I always need to plan extra things for the boys to do. The girls, however, are the exact opposite. Always quiet and always trying to help me. Plus, they are very very slow at everything. The last to finish their work, last to finish eating, last brushing their teeth. I am constantly trying to find more time for them to finish everything. haha

I should probably get back to teaching computer. haha Sharon is absent today, so I think we'll be playing lots of games this afternoon, possibly watching Kung Fu Panda for recess because it's raining, but that's okay. We're all Kung Fu Panda lovers here. haha

Being Blonde

Before I begin- I should explain. My hair is somewhat of a circus attraction here. It is very blonde on top and has this silly ability to 'fro out of control (especially in this weather). It is very rare to see a natually blonde curly headed girl walking around. Even in Bangkok.

I finally got my haircut. It needed it. Badly. Not saying that I hadn't gotten any haircuts at all since I've been here, I've had one, but it was quite a while ago. Anyways, I've been extremely tired and sick lately, so I decided to make things easy on myself and walk down to the nearest high society salon and pay way more baht than I should. haha I thought it would be the less stressful. It was worth it though.

The place I went to was completely empty of customers except for a guy who was about done. I walked in and proceeded to get my hair washed. I had two different people wash my hair. One did shampoo, the other did conditioner. And no, I am not kidding. I should also mention that each one did at least a 5 minute head massage. haha

Then a separate girl came to strategically wrap up my hair in a towel.

I was taken to the haircutting chair. A different girl came to cut my hair. I told her I wanted a trim. haha Nothing special. She nodded like it was the most important direction anybody has ever given her. She proceded to comb my hair. She combed my hair for a very VERY long time. She kept parting it and re-parting it. She examined the different colors and layers of my hair by clipping it up in layers.

She FINALLY cut my hair.

Then the combing began again.

I was about to ask her if she was finished because I was very tired and needed a nap, when...

Three other girls walked over, each carrying a blow dryer. I recognized them from the towel wrapping and hair washing. I had three different blow dryers pointing at my head and three different round brushes trying to flatten the frizz at the same time. It was a surreal experience. I felt like the lion on Wizard of Oz when they all curl his mane.

I was finally finished. It was a good haircut. Not great- but good. I got a head massage at the same time though and I needed one, so I was pleased. I paid and left a tip. I have no idea who the tip went to because their were so many different stylists. I walked out the door and looked at my watch. I had been there for a solid 2 hours. That's quite a long haircut when you are the only customer, you didn't have a to wait at all, and all you really wanted was a trim.

Hua Hin

My shoes broke today. This is the third pair that have broken in the past couple weeks. They literally fall apart when I'm wearing them. I think they are melting or something... I don't know. I'm pretty sure that this pair can be salvaged. I'll try to get them fixed at the market. It'll be an experience.

I took a weekend getaway to Hua Hin on Friday and Saturday! We woke up Friday morning and headed to Victory Monument to catch a minibus for the equivalent of $6. Good deal for a 2 1/2 hour trip to the beach. Once we got there we found ourselves a cheap little guest house that was right on a dock. It was so nice falling asleep with just a fan and listening to the waves. We had a nice dinner on one of the dock restaurants, so we had a great view of the ocean. Then we wandered around the Hua Hin night market looking for the famous Hua Hin dessert... which ended up being a banana pancake. Apparently the writer for Lonely Planet didn't travel around the rest of Thailand??... maybe. I don't know. haha When we were walking through the market we saw a bunch of cameras and a crowd of people. After they passed by us we realized that it was the Prime Minister of Thailand! Ya, it was pretty exciting. haha It explained why we had never seen so much security in Thailand before until we got to Hua Hin. haha Then we decided to go get pedicures! It's the first pedicure I've gotten in Thailand and I needed one desperately. Feet here are pretty disgusting. You walk around barefoot everywhere and Bangkok air is the opposite of clean and pure. It literally settles on every surface imaginable and then you walk on it and your feet pick it up. Anyways, after the pedicure, my feet look about 22 (that's for you Ashley... haha) times better!

The next morning we slept in really late. It was great. Then we went and found out how we were supposed to get home, because we weren't really sure, found some lunch, and headed to the beach! As we were laying out our towels, I kept laughing at the ponies. haha Their were ponies and horses on the beach for riding. I think ponies are funny looking. haha They are midget horses. haha I personally would much rather have a horse. Anyways, it occurred to me that I really wanted to ride one. haha Tricia offered to watch my stuff and I grabbed myself a beautiful palamino to trot down the beach with. I felt really cool. haha

The rest of the day was spent being lazy and sleeping on the beach. I got a lot of sleep this weekend. I love sleeping. Before we headed back to the bus station, we stopped at the night market again for the some food. We found a new dessert here, which we both LOVED. haha Tricia told me that it was made of mulchi (sp??) which is flour made out of ground rice. They pan fry that and then cut it up and toss it in sugar, salt, and sesame seeds. Very exciting culinary experience. I also ended up buying a dress. I just can't help myself. The dress is Thailandy though, with changs (elephants) all over it, so I figured it was a justified buy.

All in all- great weekend. I would definitely go back to chill and getaway. It's a sizeable town, but it had a small town feel, beautiful white beach, and clean water! Lots of fun!