I'm BACK!

I've been neglecting this. Here's an update.

It's almost time for finals!! During finals I don't have to anything but show up. I'll eventually have to grade the exams, but for 2 weeks I get to come into school and chill. After that we have a few weeks of real vacation. I'll have to teach a week or so of random break-time classes for the eggheads that aren't going on vacation, but beyond that it's my time. I'm planning on heading down south again to do research for my super ultra mega life goal, which I will not jinx in print here.

Thailand is finally cooling down a bit, but that bit is maybe 1-3 degrees c. We're in the midst of the rainy season here, which is quite different from Oregon's "rainy season" (aka most of the year, haha). It usually rains in the afternoon for a few hours. That could be anywhere from 2:00 pm on to 8:00 pm. The rain is always accompanied by thunder and lightning, which is pretty sweet.

Teaching is great. The minor stresses I feel teaching are negligible. It's also fun a lot of the time too! My astronomy class is a bit ahead and has been good all term so we're watching "Hot Rod" in class. They love it.

My Thai is moving along. There's a program in our school where a Thai teacher and Western teacher are supposed to meet for an hour once a week to get to know each other and swap language lessons. We had our first last week and our second yesterday. Initially I just started learning to speak Thai, and I disregarded the reading and writing due to the large alphabet. This week I decided to dive into the alphabet so I can understand their syllables and pronunciation a bit more. Supposedly they have the largest alphabet so I'm starting slow with just a few consonants. I feel like a kid all over again. I'm reminded of my younger days when I first learned to read in English and it seemed to open up an entirely new world for me. Signs, menus, advertisements, labels, everything is gaining new value to me. It's kind of like the difference between swimming and scuba diving, although I still haven't been diving so this is just what I imagine. Without scuba gear you are relegated to the top of the water. You know there's a bunch of cool stuff below you but you just can't stay down long enough to check it out. I'd equate language knowledge to scuba gear. The more scuba skills I acquire, and the bigger my O2 tank, the more I can explore under the sea.

Most of the foreign teachers, myself included, are growing mustaches for a 70's themed school birthday party. That will be an awesome time.

Here's a few dusk photos I took from my place. Also I got a shot of our "pests", cute little geckos!!!