Random Thoughts and Interesting Tidbits

-I bonded with my Chinese roommate over lunch today. Turns out she speaks pretty good English. (Maybe she was scared to speak it?) She was able to have a full conversation in English and I learned that she is a University student who is here doing a teacher training program. Maybe the living situation may not be so awkward after all?

-I am having a never ending battle with the bugs in my house. Ants are the worst. I get rid of an ant pile only to find that the pile has tripled in size the next day… The bugs here also seem to be about 10 times the size as they are in the States. 

-Mosquitoes are vicious and seem to enjoy my legs and feet despite the layers of bug spray. 

-Geckos are frequent visitors and I also found a frog hanging out in the kitchen.

-It is winter in Thailand. Even though it is 85 degrees Thai people are walking around in sweaters, coats and scarves. I really don’t want to stick around to see what summer feels like if they think this is cold….

-Word of advice: If you step on a sea urchin while snorkeling in Ko Samet, make sure you go to the doctor right away. It could end up getting infected a month later….

-Rabies shots are annoying. However, I will soon be protected in case another dog decides that I am some sort of threat.

-Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga are insanely popular here. I actually heard one of the Thai English teachers teaching the students the words to “Bad Romance” (right after singing Old MacDonald).

-A few of my students were playing scrabble before class the other day. They were so excited to show me their scrabble board when I walked into class. “Teacher, teacher!” they yelled as they pointed happily at the board. They were so proud of themselves, however I did not find a single, actual English word. There were words such as “lat”, “girt”, “sires”, “mune” etc. I can only guess what words they were actually trying to spell. I smiled at them and told them they had done a terrific job. I didn’t want to ruin scrabble for them…

-I found out that the classes in each grade level are ranked 1-11. Apparently 9 is the smartest and most well behaved class (don’t ask me why 9 is the best). 1 is essentially the “dumb” class and has all the “naughty” kids. Why would they put all the worst kids together in the same class?

-I am amazed at how different my classes are. I can teach the exact same lesson and have it be a huge success in one class and a complete failure in another class. I have already had some pretty epic failures….

-This post is what happens when you have too much iced coffee and can’t sleep J