Sometimes, I look around and just have to smile.

Sometimes, I look around and just have to smile. Today I left my room to go forage for breakfast at around 12:30pm, and one of the first things I saw was that the basketball bleachers were filled with students singing and dancing. There were bongo players, some hype kids with mics, and about 60 students just dancing, laughing and having a grand old Saturday. That was one of those moments when I laughed out loud, thinking 'man, I'm so glad to be here right now.' While continuing my walk to meet a friend next to the pond, I came across a Thai woman sprawled out in a really committed napping position (no way she just nodded off; this lady was fully dedicated to the task of sleeping as comfortably as possible on the marble bench). She had a plastic bag full of those hot pink eggs (don't ask) sitting atop the table near her head. Again, a great Thai sight. And finally, when I sat down to chat with my friend, I got to spy on a young boy of about 8 years old as he molded clay into large dinosaurs. He looked totally content with life, which mirrors exactly how I feel today.

At times like this, I think voyeurism should be considered a legit pastime.

Silly ABAC

I hate this university sometimes (often). Classes are okay - some good, some just all right - but let me right off the bat express my thanks that this semester is already better than the last. My bosses aer infinitely better and we finally have a clear understanding of what we're actually supposed to be doing here. So, thanks for all that.

For the past two weeks, I've been rolling with the punches. I've patiently adapted my lesson plans to fit no less than 7 schedule changes. But here's the new crisis: yesterday evening and this morning I received two emails telilng me I must vacate my room in Hua Mak and move to Bang Na by 2pm tomorrow. This after I just moved to a new building in Hua Mak 3 weeks ago and was told I could stay there for the semester. Absolute BS. Thanks, ABAC, for telling me I have less than 36 hours to move all my crap AGAIN. So... I'm refusing to move to Bang Na, which means that I need to find an apartment or room to rent ASAP. Awesome.

I just faxed a letter explaining my frustrations to the director of HRM, but I doubt that they'll reconsider my request to stay in Hua Mak. The letter was a little mouthy, so I guess there's a slight chance I'll lose my job. Wouldn't that be a shame.

Teaching again

My second semester teaching at ABAC started this week. My class schedule changed almost twice a day, making it very difficult to prepare for anything. I taught 11 or 12 different sections at 5 different levels, each time thinking that class would be mine for the semester, only to find out I’d have a new schedule again a few hours later. It was frustrating!

We’ve all had to learn to be ridiculously flexible here, and I thought that by now I was able to roll with the numerous changes sure to come my way working in this culture. But this week was a serious test of my patience and adaptability. But I got through it, and hopefully by next week I’ll be able to settle into a routine and actually prepare some lessons.

For the moment I have 8 sections – 5 sections of English I Convo, and 1 section each of Basic English I, Basic English I Convo, and Basic English II. That’s just slightly more than my contracted 18 teaching hours, and apparently I’ll get a little bit of overtime for the extra classes.

I’m looking forward to actually beginning to teach. I feel confident about the course material and how to teach it this semester. And I’m also very happy with the new department chairs. I feel like I’m receiving much better guidance now than we did last semester. So… overall, once the schedule settles down, I think I’m in for a challenging but great semester of teaching!