So Katie and I just got dropped off at school on mopeds…..Let me tell you riding side saddle holding your bag and market bags filled with food isn’t very easy, but we made it safely! As I rode behind Katie, I couldn’t stop laughing, watching her ride side saddle with her feet practically swiping the ground and thinking how funny we looked to the people we passed. We walked to market after school and decided we’d stop to eat dinner at our favorite lady’s food stand. I think we were a little early because our lady wasn’t there, but our other “friends” were. There’s a guy who’s always there when we walk by her stand who always yells, “I love you Chelsea”. I’m thinking my name is easy to remember because of the football team, Chelsea. But how he knows my name, I have no idea….possibly from the Suphanburi Games, since the comment started shortly after that. And as far as the “I love you” comment….who knows?! We noticed tonight as we stopped for dinner that he sells coins and metals from a little stand right next to the food stand. There were a few other people there along with our lady’s son, who is actually in one of my M2 classes. I think the lady’s daughter made us our dinner; wasn’t as good as it usually is but that’s ok. There was another guy sitting with “don’t know his name” but his English was rather good. He asked us our names. Katie said, well you know her name referring to me and the guy said, “Same Same?!” referring to our names. We laughed… One of Thai people’s favorite phrases to say to farang is, “Same Same….but different”. As we were getting ready to leave “don’t know his name” paid for our dinner….that was not necessary at all.....we couldn’t let him do that….but that’s where the name of this blog comes from; not actually a double date at all considering there were maybe a whole two English phrases spoken to each other and we sat at our own table. More of a joke than anything J He was kind enough to drive us home on the moped though.
So far this week teaching has been fun with a few “mai pen rai” moments. I’m teaching body parts to my M2 classes; beginning the class with drawing a circle on the board and labeling it “head”. I then have students come up to the board and draw a different body part and label it. My M2/1 class today was particularly funny. They got a lot further with their drawings than some of the other classes and even drew and labeled, “navel”. One of the girls, surprisingly, drew the body and a circle in the breast area but quickly erased it. Of course, I couldn’t help but laugh since all the other students were. Mature of me right? I couldn’t help it….Next we played Simon Says. That was fun! In one of my classes one of the students kept hitting his “behind” for every word I said….also one of those moments I couldn’t help laughing at. But today was probably the worst…I had a “laugh attack” in my M2/1 class. It was hard to get myself back into teacher mode. The sad thing is I don’t even really know what the students were laughing so hard at but whatever it was made me laugh pretty hard as well. As far as my M5 classes go, well as Somnuk always says, “Mai Pen Rai”. I never really know who will show up to class, or if the class will even be controllable. So Tuesday 6th period I was supposed to teach my M5/1 class…I waited in the classroom for almost a half hour into the class period and no students. So I walk up to the department and Somnuk, my co-teacher is nowhere to be found. I ask my other co-teachers if they know where they are, and they don’t. “Mai pen rai”. This morning I come to find out from Jiranee, my M2 co-teacher, that her nephew is in my M5/1 class and he told her the class was waiting in the canteen to take their mid-term with me. I was like HUH? I had given the mid-term to Somnuk to give to them last week while I was with my family. Apparently there was some miscommunication because I was never told they didn’t take the mid-term nor was I told they would be waiting in the canteen instead of the classroom…..mai pen rai. I felt rather awful actually this morning so I talked to Toon about it. She arranged for the students to meet me in Somnuk’s room 7th period to take the test. Well 7th period is beginning and I walk to the room, what do you know, no sign of any students. Luckily Somnuk is in the classroom and tells me there was just an announcement made for M4, 5, and 6’s to go to some sort of assembly. She said there was nothing I could do about it and the mid-term will just have to wait until next week. Mai pen rai. Mai pen rai. But next week we won’t be teaching on Tuesday, when I usually teach 5/1, due to Girl and Boy Scout Camp. Mai pen rai. Mai pen rai…..
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