Fun Stuff and Traveling

Ya know almost every day I think to myself, "oh yeah, I want to write a blog about what just happened. Great idea, Nick. Smashing." And then Wednesday rolls around and LOST comes on, and I realize I have to write the LOST blog first! Then by the time I finish that, I have already forgotten about the blog about me living in a foreign and exotic land. Okay fine I'll admit it I am still WAY more interested about what is going on on the Island than I am about what is going on in Bangkok. Or the Islands that I will soon by visiting.

You can't blame me. The Islands in Thailand aren't magical and mysterious....at least not that I know of.......

So let's start with the Photo Shoot. A few weeks ago my boss Ploy told me to make sure I looked extra handsome for school tomorrow. I calmly replied, "Ploy, I always look handsome." She agreed, but said to make sure I was EXTRA handsome for tomorrow. A photographer was coming by to take pictures for the school's new brochure. Well I got to school that day, and like she said, the photographer took pictures of our department, and then Ploy said later they would need a few more photos with me. I said sure. Waited in the office for three hours (classes were canceled that day, how can you expect students to concentrate on showing up to class when something as exciting as a DIGITAL CAMERA comes into town?), and then decided that they didn't need me after all, and headed home. Only then I got a phone call from Ploy asking me to be in the school library for further pictures in half an hour (I had only learned our school had a library a few days prior to this.)

So I get to the library expecting other teachers from me department and whatnot there, ready to take pictures. No no. It's just some of my IEP students, and a bunch of other seemingly randomly selected students. Oh and ONE other teacher. Roger. The Brit. The only other white person at the school. We were the only two teachers present for the next three hours of photography that took place. Even though I find it hilarious, I am not surprised.

So for the next few hours we took picture after picture of us ridiculously point to things and having an expression like, "See! That means THAT!" While the students have similar, fake, shit-eating grins on their faces saying things like, "Ohhhh Teacher! I understand!" Ha. It was silly. But it was fun. It took longer than a normal school day would, but it was far less work. And it felt silly to all of a sudden be the center of attention just because I am white. Isn't it normally the exact opposite? But I mean, you can see how it is. It's a school that teaches English, it doesn't hurt to prove you have native English speakers teaching there. Like I said, it's not surprising, it's just silly.

I used the same book for every shot. It was a book about the history of popular American music, so whenever I am explaining something to the students, it's really something, "so Bob Dylan was the grooviest cat ever." I know. I teach because I care.

So now on to exciting venture number 2: My friend Dave and I went to a SHOOTING RANGE! I have never fired a gun before in my life. And now, I have. Boom. It really was a lot of fun. We shot a revolver, six shooter with a wheel (a 45 I believe), a 9mm, like a regular 'ol cop gun, and then we fired off some SHOTGUN SHELLS. Ha. It was awesome. My aim wasn't too bad either. Nothing spectacular, but I hit some stuff. It was really cool. I need to go again, just so I can get pictures of me holding a gun. Most important.

Number 3 on exciting things: I took a Thai Cooking class! My friend Dave's good friend Ning just opened up a little shop to teach different Thai dishes. We went on the first day of classes and learned how to cook quite a bit. First we learned how to make an actual curry paste. I was really excited to learn how to make curry, because before that I was never really sure what it was. Like, I had eaten curry before, but...what WAS it? It's just different asian herbs and spices and vegetables all ground up together with different chiles, and then mixed usually with coconut milk to give it a rich thick saucey flavor. It's quite delicious. And there are about 40 million different kinds of curries, depending on what chiles and spices you use. We learned how to make green curry.

After the curry we made some different vegetable and chicken dishes. One was called Chicken Sate, and that was quite delicious. It was chicken marinated in this one kind of curry powder sauce and then dipped in another kind of curry sauce. It was fantastic. I have wanted to take a cooking class since I've been here, so it's great that I actually know some people who are doing them.

So my travel plans have changed considerable since the last blog. I was being a bit unrealistic with the amount of places I wanted to see in such a small amount of time. As of now, I am leaving for Ko Pa Ngan (ko pan yang) on Sunday for two weeks. That is the Island with all the crazy fun beach parties. There's plenty of internet bars and places like that, so I will be on the internet still, and will be able to tell everyone about how much fun I'm having. The bus trip there is a doozy of one, and will take all night. That won't be fun, but the rest of it will. I'm going alone, but Ko Pa Ngan is kind of like Farang central in South Thailand. However, it's not as touristy and gimmicky as Koh Samui (a nearby Island). And I know a lot of people in Bangkok who have been there a million times and will help me figure some stuff out when I am there. It will be very exciting.

Next month I am going to go to (hopefully) Cambodia, and maybe even Chang Mai for part of Sonkran (the new years). I will hopefully be able to update this blog while I am in Ko Pa Ngan! Until next time!

Holidayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

It's about that time again for another one of these.

I wouldn't say I've been very busy lately, but I have found myself getting into a bit of routine, which is nice. My own little Bangkok routine. I have been going to work out after classes are done. If i go home to get my stuff, I'll never get back out of the house. I pretty much have to go directly from school to the gym, otherwise it's just not going to get done. LOST has been going for a few weeks now. That's been great. I've been writing a weekly blog on that, and that is keeping me busy. I puppysat for a friend for a little less than two weeks. He is an adorable tiny little bastard. It was fun having him, but I wasn't upset when it was time for him to go. He's still a young pup, and did quite a bit of whining pretty much all the time. Now that he's back at his home I can take a nap when I want to. Or just relax, dog free for a while. Having him didn't make me change my mind about wanting to own about a million dogs in the future, but I know that I probably wouldn't get a tiny baby puppy. I'd probably get a shelter dog that was at least a little bit older. And a girl. I just like girl dogs better.

I made my final exams and I am ready to give them. The school year is practically over, and I can't wait. I have decided I am going to stay for the second semester as originally planned, because that means more $$ and more importantly, paid holiday. I've only just started to prepare my travels.

I am going to go to Chaing Mai first. That is in the North of Thailand (where they talk about how COLD it is there, when realistically it's still like 72 degrees everyday). It's got a lot of beautiful nature, mountains, and most important: elephants. I pretty much just plan on riding elephants every day. Don't worry. There will be pictures.

After that I am going to go to the South of Thailand. It's tricky going down south because so much of it is just expensive and touristy. A bunch of my farang friends who have travelled all over are helping me out with destination ideas and suggestions. I am going to go to some different islands for sure. I can't wait to just sit on the beach and do nothing. It will be just like what I do here all the time, except...on the beach.

Then hopefully I'll have enough bhat left to go Cambodia and Viet Nam. I've got a lot of ideas and a lot of plans for my two month holiday, but I am going to have to wait a little bit and see how feasible it all is. Luckily all my all farang friends have gone to all the places I plan on visiting a whole bunch of times. My original plan was to go to India with my friend Brett who is (hopefully) going to be able to come visit, but that might be a little too much (money, time, plan-wise).

What else what else what else. Well it seems more difficult to write these blogs because things are becoming pretty normal out here. I am sort of falling into a pattern. Not in a boring way at all, just in a, I am starting get get a feel for Bangkok. I know what there is to do (at least, more than I did), I know how to get to some places (at least, more than I did), and I have a group of some different people I like to hang out with (at least, more than I did), so things are going pretty easy ya know, smooth. I go to work, I work out, I like to try new places to eat, I relax at the Marina House and have some drinks on the riverfront. I'm pretty much doing a lot of the same stuff I would be doing in Chicago, just hangin out and digging and trying to find some new stuff. Lately I'd say I haven't done too much exploring. In the back of my mind I know I am gonna need to save as much $$$ as I can before these trips, so I've been trying not to just spend and spend (it's an ongoing battle, there is no clear winner or loser yet).

Oh! In some VERY exciting news, my friend Dave has a Thai friend who is starting a cooking class program right off of Koasan Road. A bunch of us from the Marina House (Dave, Jessica, the Freds) are going to all take some cooking classes together. It's like 1000 bhat (30 bucks) and you go in for a few hours and she'll teach how to make a paste (green curry, kapow, etc) and then show how that paste or sauce can be used in three or four different dishes. I am really excited to start learning how to cook the food I have been eating for almost four months. I already have a pretty good idea of the ingredients and such, but I want to get really deep into learning these flavor profiles, so that when I come back to the states and start learning modern American and classic French techniques (oh yeah, I'm gonna do that too, I decided) I will be able to make a Fusion, making classically prepared dishes with Thai and Asian flavor profiles. Sounds pretty fancy right? Well, I watch a lot of Top Chef.

I suppose that's all for now, or at least all I can think of. Finals start this week. When the semester is over I'll write a rather reflective entry about how I think my first crack at being an educator (sorta) went. Hope everyone is doing just lovely.

Oh fine here. This is the dog. Isn't be so damned cute you want to eat his face?

S.F. Sorrow is Born

I think it's the fourth week of class since the midterms. I write this blog as I wait for my IEP class to get to their 8 am class. It's Tuesday. Today is my friend Jessica's birthday, so I'll go over to the Marina house later. Right now I'm just waiting for the students.

Classes have been patchy since midterms. I wouldn't say that the kids are all generally checked out for the semester, but...yeah no, that is exactly what I would say. There are still those few good kids in each class (who get about 84% of my attention while I teach), but for the most part I think most kids have kind of seen what they can get away with. It pisses me off sometimes, but I try to just not let it bother me.

I'm complacent with the job most of the times, but every now and then I get into a fit or irritation and annoyance. Like when there's 25 minutes left in class and three students all come in, immediately walk right up to me and (in their rather young shrill Thai voices) scream "Teacher, CHECK NAME!"

Yeah. You're only an hour and a half late. Of course I'll mark you down on the attendance. Pshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

So that's where that stands. I haven't been formally told I am hired back for a second semester. My contract is only for one semester, but when I discussed this with my boss prior to moving to Bangkok she seemed pretty intent on having me around. So, we'll have to see where that stands. I should probably actually ask about that, huh. Honestly, I don't even know how I'd deal with teaching another semester. I feel like by the end of teaching two semesters I wouldn't even say anything during class. Just sit with my feet up on the desk and the attendance sheet next to me. And I'd be wearing sunglasses.

I'm listening to a record called "S.F." Sorrow by The Pretty Things. I've listened to it probably five times a day for the last week. Released in '68, it's one of the first concept albums ever recorded (and is WAY better than Tommy). It tells the story of a young man named S.F. Sorrow and his adventures through life, death, love, and himself. This doesn't really hold any bearing on anything related to Bangkok, but it's a really, really good record. You should give it a listen.

13 minutes late. IEP is usually either totally on time, or everyone is 45 minutes late. The problem with that is (and not to sound like an uninspiring teacher) but after waiting for 45 minutes I'm kind of done with the idea of teaching a class too. We'll see how it turns out. I bet a few of them will show within about ten minutes.

So tonight is my friend Jessica's birthday. As a kindness to her I won't put how old she is turning...She is is one of fine folk who live over at the Marina House, an apartment complex right on the river that is filled with farangs. (Oh damn, two just showed up, 8:16. They're on their phones. I'll finish this blog later.)

So our good Aussie friend Dave is in Singapore until the 4th of February. That's a long time. But since he was going away, last weekend before he left, he texted everyone saying it was Jessica's birthday. He had simply declared it her birthday early because he wasn't going to be there for the actual date. That night at the Marina House, every person came up to Jessica at some point to wish her a happy birthday. Mrs. Tim, who owns the shop directly next to the Marina House, brought her chocolate cake. Jessica was red and kept trying to explain to everyone that it was not really her birthday (every time she did, of course, Dave and I assured everyone it was). The strange old German couple (and I mean strange) would NOT believe Jessica that it wasn't her birthday, seeing as how they saw her holding a piece of cake. I kind of can't wait to go over there tonight and tell everyone it's her birthday again.

So one thing that is good about Dave being gone for so long, is that he gets back even AFTER LOST premieres! It might not seem obvious how that's good, but in my mind I think, well Dave isn't gonna be back for like over a week....then I think, but wait, LOST premieres on February 2nd! Dave will get back in like a week and LOST WILL ALREADY BE PLAYING?!

More and more of my waking hours are now spent thinking about LOST. It's coming back, finally, but for the last time. This is the LAST time I am going to nervously anticipate a series premiere. This is the last first episode of a season ever. I'm getting lightheaded just typing this. It's a bit of a shame that I have to watch it on my laptop, purchased from itunes (which means I won't be able to watch it at the same time as you greedy American bastards), but it's fine. I'm a half glass full kind of guy when it comes to LOST. I'll be able to put season 6 on my iPod, which is actually pretty badass.

Well all that doesn't have much to do with Bangkok either, but it doesn't matter what country I was living in or what blog I am writing, that has got to get there.

Final thought, I saw a bus-side advertisement for the CSB yesterday. It made me laugh. Like, I laughed pretty hard. It had fake student actors on it smiling. It was pretty funny.

Quick One

So I recognize it has been a while since my last real blog, with words and everything in it. I apologize for that and chalk it up to my own laziness. It seems so much easier to spend my free time watching television shows online than to actually have to think and write about things going on. But I'll write a quick one to keep it going.

I am back in class after having almost two weeks off (from midterms and a small holiday). The break was fantastic, but it was difficult getting back into the swing of things. I still haven't really gotten a solid lesson plan done for the week, or for the rest of the semester, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. While the kids aren't any worse behaved, many of them seem to be even more done with the whole "school" thing for the semester. I guess they smell the end of the school year approaching, and it's making their brains shut down (even faster than they were before).

Christmas and New Years were both very good on this side of the world. I hung out with my friends over at the Marina House (which is the apartment complex where my coworker Roger lives). I have met a few really cool farangs over there, including a brit named Jessica and an aussie named Dave. The Marina house is right on the river, and there is a big back porch, so it is the perfect place to just relax, enjoy the cool breeze, and drink some beer from the lovely Mrs. Tim (the woman who owns a shop next door to the apartment, and stays open till 2 or 3 almost every night, mostly to accommodate us drunk foreigners).

We went to Koa San (big surprise) a few nights over the break and had a lovely (if not debauched) time. Getting back to school was tough after spending a week being able to sleep late and lounge around watching movies.

I'm pretty sure there are no days off in January. Just straight-through classes all month. I'm sure I'll be able to handle it. I don't know what February looks like, but I think that finals begin at the very end of the month. Although I may be wrong considering I am getting this information from a student, I think the semester will be over at the beginning of March. I am not sure what the future will hold for me after that point, but there are several places in Thailand I still have not seen and really want to. Cha-am, Phuket, and Chaing Mai just to name a few. And I still want to see Vietnam, and Korea if possible. I still have time to figure it out though. There are about two hundred and fifty thousand travel agencies on Koa San Road, and I can find prices for trains, planes, and automobiles well in advance.

Well it's time to actually educate some of these bright young minds. Wish me luck.

Photos Photos Photos

So here are some pictures from English Camp. As I predicted, there was very little English going on at the resort. It was actually a lot of fun (until the last day when it took about 7 hours to make a 3 hour bus drive back to Bangkok). I got to see my students as actual people, just regular teenagers who want to hang out and drink and have fun. And let's face it, I am not much older than a lot of these kids. I'd say the average age of my students is 17-18, so I have more in common with them than is noticeable when we are in the classroom.

Most of the pictures are from the last night of Camp, "Fancy Night" as the kids coined it. They all dressed up nice, and we had a talent show for the kids to get up on stage, and mostly just dance to bad pop music. But they had a great time. Other than that we went a waterfall, had some activities (loosely based around the English language) and just relaxed for three days without having to go to class. It was a fun time, though, I am happy I don't have to do it again.

Even though most of them are just lazy lazy students, a lot of them are good kids.

This is one of my students. One of my boy students.

Students and teacher.

Yes. They misspelled the word "School" for the banner at English Camp. I love my school.

The girl on the right has a total crush on me. It's sort of cute. Sort of.

Joel and Jill!

More students.

My coworker Jill and I played a song for the kids at English Camp. Video Available upon request.

Yup. Some of them dressed as cowgirls.

This is Orapin, one of my favorite students. She jammed tambourine during our song.

Supanida. Don't tell anyone, but she is my favorite student. You wouldn't believe it if I told you, but she is 21. She is one year younger than me.

This is a coworker, Cat. She looks like Sun Kwon if you ask my opinion.

IEP students. They are the highest level I teach. Do they look like good kids? I don't even know anymore.

We certainly have not been drinking. Certainly.

Roger being Roger. Oh Roger.

Ploy and Liu, preparing for the teacher skit presented at English Camp.

A Farang's Gotta Do What a Farang's Gotta Do

I don't remember how I described time as feeling in my first blog, but regardless, I am almost in shock that I am already into my fifth week of teaching. When I think about it, all the days and weeks just sort of meld together. But it's good. Classes are going, life is happening, ya know, sabet sabet (which I believe is like the thai equivalent to c'est la vie).

Lots of stuff is actually going on with the school right now. I didn't know it until recently, but the end of November and pretty much the ENTIRE month of December is riddled and crawling with....HOLIDAYS! During the last week of November, Thursday and Friday were Sports Day. It's sort of like field day (if you ever had that in Elementary school). There are no classes, and there are different activities and, you guessed it, sports to play. Each day starts off with some choreographed dancing and singing and routines and it's all very....thai. It's all really super thai. The kids had fun, though. And I was happy to have two days off from teaching, of course. But it doesn't stop there.

In December I don't think there is a single full week in the entire month. This week, the first week of December, is the week awaiting the King's Birthday. It's really interesting to me how much everyone here loves the king. It's not like in America where you have Fox News screaming at Obama, and everyone everywhere is arguing and fighting and slandering everyone in office (not that I blame it really, I hate every politician too. Oops). But because of his birthday we are not going to have classes on Friday, but instead have different activities as a school that I'm sure in some way honor him. And because his birthday is on a Saturday, we get Monday off. So there's that. Tuesday, class. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, no class, because of English Camp.

What is English Camp? What are these kids doing going to something called English Camp? To be honest I am still a little in the dark myself. English Camp is when all the IEP and LVT levels 1 and 3 get on busses and drive about two hours away to camping ground with lodges and housing. There will be different activities incorporating English, and some fun time to socialize and hang out. Basically, I was told by my British coworker that it's a chance to get the students out of their parents' hair for a couple days. The kids pay about 13 hundred bhat for the three day trip. Not only do the parents get a break from their kids, the school will make a pretty penny for taking all the kids away. And the teachers are there to do what we do every day in class: babysit.

Apparently quite a bit of drinking goes down at this thing, from both teachers and students. I don't know how much of the talk from the teachers is real and how much is joking, but I do know that the students are "allowed" to drink on this trip, even though I think we are supposed to discourage it. It'll be nothing less of exhausting, I can guarantee that much.

So next week only has one class. Then the week after that we finally have a full week of class. Which is lucky, because the week after that is for Midterm Exams. Now all these sports days, and birthdays, and english camps would be nothing but a pleasant break from having to always be in class, but then, of course, the fates make it a difficult bitch. After not having regular scheduled class for almost a month, I have to give these kids a midterm exam that is worth a decent part of their grade. Now I am already not expecting them to do well on it (well, they probably will because they will copy the one smart kid's test), but now I have to cram half the semester's lessons into a very small amount of time. My level one classes only meet once a week, and one of the classes, 1/7 E Group 1, only meets with me on Friday. Now if you've been counting, that's three fridays in a row I won't see them. I still have to give them the FIRST quiz that the other level one classes got almost two weeks ago. It's sort of a big mess. Having all these days off would be more relaxing and rewarding if it didn't screw up the entire work schedule for these kids. But hey, everyone here tells me to relax and not to worry about small stuff, so I'm going to put this in that category, and just not worry about it so much. I'll make the midterms easy so that they all have a fair shot. Although, that doesn't really matter because they will all copy the two or three smart kids in the class anyway. So in the end, everyone will pass, and everyone will be happy.

I just recently found this out, but the reason that the private schools (which is what I teach at) are not as prestigious as public government schools is because, unlike in America, private schools in Bangkok are for the students who dropped out of regular public school. So you drop out of regular school because you either didn't work hard enough, or were kicked out, so to finish your schooling, you go to a private vocational school (like a business school) to learn a specific trade (like English, or tourism, or computers) that will hopefully help you get a job. It's not like in America where the wealthier population pay for private schools because they're more specialized and prestigious. Here they pay for the private schools because they have to. Once I learned this my entire school made a lot more sense. And it also made perfect sense why these students pass at the end of every semester. Because, let's face it, they're the customers, and the customers are always right.

I am excited for English Camp though. I think it will be some great silly fun. The students know I play guitar, and my fellow teachers have asked me to bring it to play a song or two during our nighttime activities. I just found out the girls like a few Oasis songs. Considering the Western music they know, Oasis is like a godsend. I'd much rather play them some Oasis songs on guitar than Jason Mraz or...Michael Jackson or something.

Rock and roll music is not so big in Bangkok. Now I know there are a lot of places I have yet to see, and I have been told about a small underground music scene that exists, but for the most part it's just Eagles cover bands. Yeesh. Everyone here just wants to hear the old safe songs that they know and can sing along to. That, I do not dig. I want to start a band and play in bars, but I don't want to have to play covers to do it.

So what else what else what else. I had my first Thanksgiving away from home. While I missed my family terribly (awwwww) I still had a very nice night. I went to a pub on Sukhumvit 33, which is a slightly pricey and very western part of the city. Lots of English pubs that are just as expensive as the pubs in America. There I had a delicious Thanksgiving Buffet with my friend Andy and his girlfriend Bo. The food was great, and there was everything I could have wanted for the meal. Stuffing, ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, crispy potatoes, noodle salad, regular salad, chicken terrine, broccoli and cheese, more potatoes, ah, I am getting hungry just writing about it. I ate and ate and ate until I hated myself, like a true American. We went to a part of town I had never been to after dinner, Nana, to get some drinks and play pool. Nana is a fun part of town, and I'm glad I know how to get there now.

I have been using the BTS (skytrain) to get around more often. It's great, simple, and easy to use. The trains here are definitely nicer than the CTA. God, trains everywhere are nicer than the ones in Chicago. For as much as I like that city, it sure has the absolute worst public transportation ever. The only problem with using the BTS is that there are no stations within walking distance from my house, and no bus line appears to go to a nearby station, so the only way to use the skytrain is to take a taxi to a station. The whole idea for me to use the skytrain is to eliminate the charges a taxi brings, but it isn't quite that simple, huh.

Last weekend we went to a big bar/show/dinner/concert for a duel birthday celebration of two coworkers at the school. I took about two hundred and fifty thousand pictures from the night, and will load them for perhaps my next blog. It will be proof that I actually have friends! It was a fun night. It's just the tiniest bit hazy in my memory, but that's just more proof that it was a fun time.

I also went over to a wedding party at my Roger's apartment (my British coworker). It was fun because there were plenty of farangs. A farang is a slang term for a white person. I was called a farang before and didn't really know what it meant, but now i do. Farang actaully means guava fruit (guava seeds!). Since the inside of the fruit is white, they call us farangs. Hilarious right? It sort of makes sense...but the party was a lot of fun, I just ate more and more, and talked with plenty of brits and aussies who have traveled all over the world. I got some good advice on where to go when I travel to India. Roger is one of the coolest people I've met at the school.

Last week I hung out with another coworker, Jill, who also plays guitar. We hung out in her tiny little apartment and learned some old songs together that we plan on playing at English Camp. I guess she used to be in a cover band that would play at different bars around the city, and actually made some good money doing it. Like I said earlier, I don't really want to be in a cover band, but I'd still do it just for an excuse to play music. And if I can make money from doing it, well then, ya know, shit. Why not? Jill is another really cool coworker I am lucky to have. She's from the Philippines.

So this blog is getting a bit too long, isn't it? Maybe I should have broken it up, or written one last week so that this week's wouldn't be so long. Oh well.

Oh! I did yoga for the first time at California Wow. It was intense. I was more sore after that work out than I have been in a long time. It felt really good, even though it was ridiculously difficult. I plan on making it a weekly thing, because I really liked the way I felt when I finished. Well that will conclude this very long post. Hope everyone who's reading is doing well.

Further Bangkok-ing

So what has been happening in Bangkok.

I signed up for a gym yesterday, at California Wow! Pretty awesome name, huh? I've never been to California so I can't tell you how accurate the name really is, but it's a nice gym. I think working out will be great. Gives me something to do after class, keeps me in shape, boosts my self-confidence, all that crap. They even have a swimming pool on the roof. I mean, I'd pay the monthly fee for that alone. Also, all the classes you could want to take are included in the monthly, so I think I am going to try some pilates, maybe yoga. I could definitely use a little more flexibility in these old bones.

School has been definitely getting better. The kids aren't exactly better behaved, and I wasn't really given any further instructions how to actually educate them, but each week it gets a little simpler. I know how to deal with the kids a little better, and know how to keep them occupied for the full 2 hours (although, I don't think I've ever had a class actually last 2 hours. I am one of those 'cool' teachers that lets their students go just a little bit early each class. Hey, let's face it, I'm cool). I am not scared to go to class any more like I was two weeks ago. Some of the classes are even, dare I say, fun? I also finally got the textbook for my IEP (Intensive English Program) class, and I am about to use it for the first time in about 40 minutes. It has those exercises with an audio CD, and all the people speaking have the funniest fake accents from Europe or Australia. "Voeecaaano, Reeva, Mawntains!" It will be a riot I think (as long as it eats up time, I'm happy).

Last weekend I went all the way across the city (and got a little lost along the way, thanks cabbie) to watch the Old Bangkok Bangers play against the Japanese team. I think I understood rugby a lot better watching it up close, and in a much slower fashion than the professionals. Some of the guys asked me if I was going to be joining them next weekend for practice. I think I told them yes, but the entire time I was thinking about the guy who just had to be carried off the field with a broken elbow. So, I don't think I was lying, but, I might have been? Hey, at least I'll be better shape from pilates.

Also, side not, Bistro 33 catered the game with a buffet of burgers, pizza, and beer. I don't think I had ever been so full in my life. I would have loved to have another beer or two, but I had eaten so damn much that I think my stomach was about to explode. Probably a good idea I got that gym membership.