life is but a dream

     It seems that the word "settled" wasn't quite fitting for my last entry seeing as how we've been moved to a new town. However, the move was welcomed after seeing how perfectly everything has turned out! There's so much to write about for one single entry, but I'll try not to leave too much out. Allow me to play a little catch up with you.
   
     Our new town is called Uttaradit (you-tar-ah-deet). It is much smaller than Lampang, but it seems to fit me just right. It seems an even cleaner and safer place to live. There is a college here, so it almost feels a little like Jacksonville...ya know, if Jacksonville was a small town in Thailand, had way more places to eat, much more to see, and everyone spoke Thai...

     Our new apartment is perfect. It's on the top floor of an apartment complex that's specifically used to house the teachers at my school. It's clean, well-lit, air conditioned (in one bedroom), and the best part is it's in walking distance to my school--only takes me about 10 minutes to get there every morning. If I so choose, I can stop by one of the local vendors for some sticky rice and muu (pork on a stick) for Thai breakfast.

     The school is giant. There are about 4,000 kids from ages 5 to 15. I've never seen anything like it. They treat me like an absolute superstar. They gawk and point in awe any time I pass them. Today I had many of them asking to take pictures of and with me, and was bombarded by my morning class of 60 five year olds wanting to shake my hand. It's standard procedure for them to bow their heads at each teacher any time they see them, so even that makes me feel like a princess. My first day, I was made to stand up in front of the entire student body to introduce myself during the morning gathering. I've never spoken to that many people at once before. Usually, I hate public speaking, but it wasn't terrible this time, especially seeing as how 90% of them had no idea what I was saying. They presented me with the most beautiful bouquet of red roses to welcome me. I was in love with the place long before the roses came, though.

     The school schedule here is interesting. The students gather from 7:30-8:00am or so, getting dropped off my their guardians. A song is played over the school intercom, signaling that it's time for students to gather. As the morning assembly starts, they sit in perfect lines all together. The teachers make announcements, students say the traditional prayers, and the marching band plays songs. Then at 8:30am, they go to their classrooms to start the day.

     My schedule is pretty exciting because it's always different. I teach about 4 to 5 classes per day, traveling to different classrooms and different ages for each lesson. There are 50 to 60 kids in each class (and here I was, thinking 30 was a lot in my classes at OMS). Even though I see over a thousand different kids a week, it feels like I don't even scrape the surface of the number of kids at the school. My main job, as told to me by the head of the English department, is to make learning English fun for the students. That's all I've ever wanted to do! There's never a dull moment because of the giant age range. I get to see the sweet little Thai babies and teach them the names of common classroom objects, and then I get to switch it up and teach the 12 year olds what the present simple tense is. And I'll be darned if the first thing my 13-14 year olds asked me wasn't about my love life! Except for their wording was "Have you boyfrraaaannn?" Makes me miss my OMS kiddos somethin' fierce! All this just goes to show...whether it's America or Thailand, I promise you I have the best job in the world.

     The other teachers here are so wonderful. All of the ladies in my office are hilarious and always so much fun to be around. They are always so sweet, and they constantly make sure that I'm happy, having a good day, and most importantly, that I've eaten. They keep feeding me all this wonderful food, and I keep wondering how they stay so skinny. It's a good thing I walk everywhere (and sweat like a man all day).

     The language barrier can be a tough thing with which to cope. I feel like my English is getting worse because I have to break it down so much, but this gives me a reason to strengthen my Thai. The ladies with whom I work have the greatest sense of humor, and I know we'd get along even better if my Thai was up to par. One of the teachers was listening to Justin Beiber in the office (where we go to work between classes) today, and when I commented on her selection of music, she told me he was her boyfriend. She is my favorite. They all want to take me out for karaoke and dancing, and I can't wait.
   
Monday, the 4th of June, climbed the charts as one of the best days of my life. I remember the first time Meredith and I even talked about teaching in Thailand. I laughingly said, "We could ride elephants there!" thinking about how that would be one of the perks. Ride elephants, we did. I can't express to you what it felt like finally getting to do that. Not only was it an elephant ride (which is an amazing experience in itself--one that makes me miss my sweet mother even more because elephants are her favorite animal. I can't wait to take her here when she visits!), but also the realization that the goal I'd set and worked so hard to reach has now been met. I am in the process of living one of my dreams. Life is so sweet.

Things I've learned after over a week of living in Thailand:
9. Being from America will get you everywhere as far as popularity goes.
10. Thai children are smart.
11. Thai people eat. All. The. Time. (my kind of folks!)
12. Girls love Hello Kitty, boys love Angry Birds.
13. The students respect their teachers and will trip over themselves to say hello first.
14. My tolerance for spicy food is rapidly growing (thanks to my fellow Thai teachers who are ensuring that it does!)
15. I no longer have to live in fear of lizards sleeping with me at night thanks to our new apartment. This is the greatest gift. One more good scare, and I was sure heart failure was upon me.
16. I really, really like this place. Everything is just as amazingly adventurous as I imagined it would be.