The Semi-Painted Picture

I must admit, I am pretty much on vacation at the moment. I actually get 8 hours of sleep a night, eat three square meals a day (that I don't have to cook!), have someone else do my laundry, and am pretty much spoiled. In return, I teach two one hour classes each week to a group of students who seem to think I can do no wrong. Life is good. Every morning I get up, have jam, toast and Nestea coffee (a step down from good ole Starbucks) and relax. This is followed by a quick trip to the farm to hang out with the students or a session trying to read about the culture, the classes I will teach or recreational reading. (Did I mention I am really spoiled right now?) Afternoons consist of more reading or a trip to the internet shop. Some afternoons I go into either Chiang Mai or Mae Rim to get groceries. And at night, Stacey (the other teacher) and I watch the Gilmore Girls (in order to keep our vocabulary and wit from disappearing). This pretty much sums up the extent of my days. For those that now think I am a lazy bum, this will change in two weeks when classes officially start and then I will have 5 classes and lots of work. I've decided to revel in this current peaceful period. Well, revel and prepare - I'm not a complete bum!

The Farm

Every morning during the week the students work at the farm. I have tried to get in the habit of dropping in a couple times a week just to get to know the students. It's also helpful to speak with them to discover their level of English. It makes teaching a little easier. Plus, they seem to feel less pressure and are more likely to make an attempt to say something to me. Usually I try to find a small group or one person, sit down to help weed, make brief small talk and then wait for them to start talking. Sometimes it's difficult as some of the students are newer arrivals and haven't learned much English yet.

The farm is on the bank of a river and consists of the main house, the chicken coop, a huge garden (used for our food at the school), and a smaller house (for the family that attends the school). It is landscaped beautifully with a pond, waterfall, bridge, an open green area, many beautiful trees. It is a very peaceful place and many of the students go there to get away and read.

Here is a view of the farm (through all those trees!) from the bridge over the river. All of the grasses to the right will be covered by water in the upcoming rainy season.

The house at the farm.

The School

Most of my time is spent at the school. We eat all of our meals here, and this is where most of the students plus Stacey and I live.

The ajarn's (teacher's) house.

How long have I been here?

I feel like I have been here for a very long time. When I think back to home I assume that events have already happened or that I have forgotten something important in someone's life there - only to realize that I haven't even been gone two weeks yet!
This is not to say that the days aren't flying by. Thus, far this has been a mini-vacation. Classes haven't started yet and mostly I am getting used to the area and my students. It's nice to be able to ease in. Especially since I think that getting to know my students better now will really help later.
I think this will be a very short entry as my time here on the internet is almost up.
Until next time!

Getting ready

I leave for Thailand in two weeks. I haven't really done much yet to prepare. I am sure I should be doing something. Moving overseas for a year should warrent some kind of extra frenzy starting about now. But it hasn't. This is bringing back memeories of my move to France - I packed the morning I left. I'd like to think I've matured a bit so I'll do my utmost not to re-create that scene.
Today I have the day off and am trying to get some minor things done. Like creating this blog so that everyone can see what I am up to while I am away. Mostly I guess this blog will be for me so that I can keep a record of what I see and do.
Anyway, this is just a test. Don't expect anything too interesting quite yet - I am still stateside!

PS I should clarify my blog name. As this past winter will attest - Minnesota is hardly the tundra. And we get our fair share of hot humid weather. However, we are jokingly referred to as the tundra and alliteration won out. So that's that.