College Girl

So I've been sitting here working on my thesis and it struck me that I'm definitely playing the college girl part. My music is blaring and I've got on jeans and a t-shirt, hair in a pony-tail - and the need to procrastinate. So here's the college girl now...hopefully not for much longer!




PS - I will blog about more important things soon - maybe as soon as I get this thesis DONE!

PPS - That smile actually isn't fake - the thesis is kinda fun tonight!

Feast Recap

I always have such good intentions of keeping my blog up-to-date - at least every two weeks. But time always seems to get away from me. I have a list of posts that I planned to do - a list I haven't looked at in awhile!

At any rate, I will write about what has been going on lately. We are already starting the third week of second semester. Since my last entry we had a three week "break" for the Feast. The Feast is always a busy time of year, and this year was no exception. We had families that came from the camps to stay at the school and I helped by going up to the border to retrieve everyone and then bring them back.

This year we have a big first year class so it adds when students come for the first time. As usual I really enjoyed keeping the Feast with the students. The activities are more fun if we are all together.

Big FOT highlights are the following:

- FOOD - Lots and lots of Empress hotel buffets, foreign food at the Duke's, Butter is Better, Jerusalem Falafel, etc.
- MUSIC - The students' performances and all of those who participated in the music at the Feast, it was wonderful to hear. This year I directed the choir and am mightily thankful that I started out with a talented bunch!
- Chiang Mai Zoo and SNOW DOME - Not only did we get to see many animals, but some of the students got a taste of a Minnesota winter when we went in the Snow Dome.
- Bowling - Every year the student activity is bowling and every year I think it is fun - however, my score gets lower with time!
- Swimming - The last night we all get to enjoy the pool under the big, beautiful sky. And during the Feast I get to enjoy it and soak up the sun! It never fails to relax me!
- Talent Night - This year I laughed so hard! These students can be total hams! I'm not surprised, I've seen it around school too, but still, they were very funny in their skit!

Here are some pics so you get an idea of what it was like:

Delicious Italian meal on the night of the first day
Students at the zoo.
My favorite fella at the zoo - he was very entertaining!
Quick mid-Feast trip to Minnesota!
Good times bowling! I got over 50 - wahoo!
Special music
Our version of the Beatles (at Talent Night)
The crew minus three students.
Beautiful girls
Handsome boys
See my swimming gear underneath? Yup, about to hop in the pool!

The Feast was really enjoyable not just because of the things above, but also the fellowship and chance to hear so many messages! It was a very positive time.

The week after was not so relaxing as I had hoped and before I knew it we were back in to round two! This week I feel like I'm starting to get things under control and not feel so behind. I hope this keeps up!

A Little Garden Obsessed...

So I realize that I write more about the garden than almost anything else. I'm not even really sure why. I think it has to do with what the goal is for it more than the reality. Eventually, the school would like to be as self-sufficient as possible. This obviously entails growing our own food. While our garden definitely has spurts of production, it hasn't reached maximum output yet. In the meantime, I rejoice over the little things (case in point, check out the watermelon!). And, as someone on the receiving end, I do think this garden fresh food is especially tasty!

Take a look at a few of the vegetables that we were reaping a few weeks ago. (I use the term we a little loosely there - I mostly end up in the garden asking questions!)

An ear of corn
Green beans
Long beans
Eggplant
Watermelon - which never actually took unfortunately.
Pea eggplant
Corn planted down in the river - it's all flooded now!

Now, wouldn't YOU like a delicious soup with eggplant and long beans or a Saturday night treat of roasted corn? I thought so!

Not Just Apples!

So, what does a teacher get in Thailand? Well, I don't know about the norm, but when my students go home they generally bring back some fruit. Something like this...



I would say I'm pretty lucky! Coconut, mangoes, dragon fruit...don't mind if I do!

For the record, I would say even this is a bit beyond the norm for what I usually get!

Great Orators - or something like that!

(I actually wrote this a little over a week ago, but our internet was down for about a week so I wasn't able to post it.)

I just wanna brag on my students a little bit. Tonight the second year students gave their first speeches of the year.

We all worked really hard, and after a lot of writing and rewriting, the students got to a place where they could give practice speeches. After watching themselves and making suggestions for self-improvement (along with my suggestions) they were ready to take on the whole school! This year they had a decent sized audience with 25 people staring at them.

They all took it so seriously and were nervous. I was even nervous, although I did feel confidant in their abilities to do a good job. As the time drew near for speech night to start, I felt myself feeling like I used to when going to a special night in elementary school. The same nervous excitement.

Having all those students really helped with the atmosphere. There was a real feeling of support and enthusiasm. You could hear it in the applause and reactions to the speakers. They even kept their chitchatting to a minimum! That says a lot for this talkative bunch that is almost half girls!

As I listened to the speeches I found myself being impressed. Of course, I’d heard their speeches once before, and I’d read all of their outlines. Obviously this helped with my overall comprehension. They surprised me, though, and snuck in some new things – most of which were really good!

My confidence in them was well placed and then some! At the end of the speeches, I was so proud of them and I felt like they were proud of themselves, which is more important.

I’m definitely looking forward to more where that came from!

The following pictures are just stills we took from the videos.
DaNi giving us some information about his life...
...and Peto doing the same!


PS - I've added a subscribe feature at the top right of the blog. If you are interested, you can keep up with me that way. This will save you trips to the blog if it hasn't been updated!

July 4th Fun!

July 4th in Thailand, you ask? Well, yes! We have some Americans here, and it sure doesn't hurt for the students to learn a little of that culture. Plus, it tastes good and is fun! This year was no exception - we had a great time playing games, eating food, and listening to or playing music.
Students gathered around making delicious hamburgers!
Two of our 1st year students - Spy and Soda.
Playing balloon toss.

Getting wet!
Another 1st year student - Sorawi.
Me having a taste of home!
No party is complete without ice cream!
Students adding music to the fun.
Clapping along and singing.

Another 4th has come and gone! It makes me miss the US. This year we didn't have firecrackers (which we usually do - and they're usually pretty awesome!) because we couldn't find any. Maybe a residual effect of the protests here where they used them to scare people. Anyway, it just doesn't seem as much like the 4th without fireworks - but, it was still a great party. And the hamburgers were delicious!

PS - Photo credits go to whatever student was holding the camera at the time.

Jungle Flight

About three weeks ago (ahhh, so far behind on blogs!) I got the chance to go "flying" through the jungle. After a three hour motorbike ride (I drive slooooow) and some steep hills, we got to "Jungle Flight". It was a beautiful day and we spent the next 4 hours going from tree to tree on zip wires. We also got in some intense walking, and a few jumps from as high as 40 metres. Now, these were not free fall jumps - just abseiling. It was a really good time! We also lucked out because we got to go for a greatly reduced price. Just one more awesome thing to do in Thailand!

The three monkeys - or birds... me, Bouy, and Elainea.
Cool winding staircase that scared me more than the zipline! Not a fan of uneven steps!
Me "flying"
Me abseiling
Elainea and I going tandem.
The three of us crossing the hanging bridge.
The last abseiling "jump"
Us with our fun guides

I had a blast on our little excursion, and loved getting to see more of where I live.

...The Making of a Garden

When I thought about my bench, I envisioned it at the end of a path in a little garden by the teachers' house. These are more ideas that I shared with the boys before school. Well, reshared actually. We'd already started part of the process for the garden awhile back when they made the compost bin.

DaNi, Uaorawet, and Atiwat putting up chicken wire for the compost.

The overgrown area by the teachers' house.

Samuey waters the newly planted squash, tomatoes, corn, and cucumbers.

Taking a break to eat a snack - fruit and chili!

The finished garden with the gravel walkway and bench!

Now we are just waiting for the vegetables and flowers to grow. The vegetables are growing really well, but it looks like we will have to wait on beautiful flowers lining the walkway!

The Making of a Bench

A few years ago at a local garden I saw a bamboo bench that I really liked. I've thought about that bench since, and wanted one here at school. A few days before school started, I stood around with some of the boys and shared my ideas. Before I knew it they took them and ran with them! They gathered bamboo at the farm and made me a very cool bench!

The boys discussing the design.

Atiwat holding in the bamboo so it could be nailed.

The stripped pieces of wood they put inside the bamboo to make it stronger.

Surachai checking out nature's cup holder!

The three "movers and shakers" on this project - Atiwat, Uaorawet, and Surachai.

The bench getting some use.

When the bench was being hauled away in the truck (to the school) Atiwat said, "My company has a guarantee, if you have a problem with your bench tell me!" Well, no problems to report yet!