Teaching English in Thailand: Day 14, 'Good Boy-Girls'

Day 14: Tuesday 7th July

My students on a songtail (public transport)

Hey, beautiful people!

I feel like, because today was such a dreary day, I need to inject some positivity into this one. Firstly, the good news: my parents came home from Italy today which means I can finally message them! They had a major lack of wifi in the rural Italian countryside, meaning their main way of keeping in touch with me was through this blog, when I was asleep, (first world problems!)

Second, the bad news! My pal Rowena has the flu so she didn't grace my day with her wonderful, bubbly and positive presence. Another slice of negativity is that its really bloody cloudy! Its quite ironic really, as my topic for the week is weather (as I mentioned yesterday). I also told you about how I taught yesterdays classes the word 'cloudy'; well today it came in handy too! Rather than showing them a picture of a cloud, the students could just hang their little heads out of the window and see the grim sky for themselves..

I've found that playing hangman with the kids is a great way for them to practice the new vocabulary that I give them. I first teach them the vocab, allowing them to repeat the words aloud so to practice some unfamiliar facial movements, such as the 'oh' sound for 'snow', which they naturally pronounce as 'o' for 'orange'. They all get a bit rowdy when we play hangman,  and I like it that way! (The first game one of my classes class played, they didn't celebrate or have any sense of competition. That was until I named one team Manchester United and the other Liverpool; then they understood that they were meant to hate each other.) They were great at hangman, but not so good at picking team names. 'Good Boy-Girls' and 'Even Team' were not team names that I'd expect from 14 year olds, but hey, we rolled with it.

Lunch

Peanutty goodness - Pad Thai

Lunch was amaze. Pad Thai, from the place that I have only been once before didn't disappoint. Kanang and I had our lonely lunch, as Rowena and Teacher Ju were not there to join us. We shed a little tear at the two empty chairs. *sniff*

In the afternoon I taught class 6/3, who are all 18 years old (and look about 14) and can probably count the amount of English words that they know on one foot. They are 'industrial engineering' students because they are in the bottom set in level 6. I believe this means that they aren't taught science or maths, unlike 6/1 and 6/2 who apparently qualify to be given a chance. Class 6/3 are notorious for being the naughty ones, who also have pretty smelly feet! (Because they have to take off their shoes in some rooms.) So when they do decide to turn up to class after playing football in the heat or smoking in the bushes, there can be some pretty funky smells around. It was the first time I had taught them, because there was no school last Tuesday and I was glad to see that the classroom was full- probably because they were intrigued to see what the English girl had in store for them. At first, most of the boys were too cool to co-operate, but after some coaxing and sitting down next to them (to make them feel uncomfortable, because I am a cruel human being), they had no option but to co-operate! I think they all just needed a little push, and once the barriers were broken down they started to enjoy English!

School has been absolutely wiping me out, so when Kanang and I got home and it started to pour with rain, I found no reason not to have a nap. Mind you, I say that like its a one-off... It's not. Whilst miss Lazy over here was snoozing, Kanang had an hour long yoga sesh. The woman is a legend. I can't even touch my toes, let alone get into some of the positions that she gets into!

KrAzy Kanang

Dinner consisted of vegetables, again. We are supposedly attempting to diet, which I am finding rather hard to do in Thailand! Nothing is healthy! Even vegetables, which are supposedly healthy, are cooked in high sugar/ salt sauces, so it's bloody hard. And when I can't cook for myself it's hard to control what I'm eating. At this rate, I am going to put on a lot of weight, so something needs to change! 

Yum

Apologies for the late post- I know how desperate everyone is to read my mundane ramblings about being tired and unhealthy food. Things will perk up soon; I'm just getting into the swing of things!

Peace out,

Olivia