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.