Updates and Whatnot

I confess that I really don't have much to say but that I just feel like writing right now. I think i'm still getting used to my new schedule and just a lot of new things in my life in general. After having 2 months of vacation, i think it might take a month or so to get used to being back teaching. I am loving many things about my new job at Yonok. Most importantly, i'm enjoying working with the students and they seem pretty actively engaged in my classes. Also i couldn't ask for a better schedule. I'm finished teaching by noon on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and by 2:30 on Tuesday and Thursday. I am fitting in with all the teachers and staff and feel like everyone has accepted me. I'm also teaching a special class on Saturday mornings. My first one was this weekend and I really enjoyed it. The students are studying for their Masters in Business Administration and so most of them are older and have a lot of business experience.

I feel like i'm superbusy these days. I'm in a new relationship which is exciting so i've been spending a lot more time with Otto in Chiang Mai. i'm also in a new band which is fun though i'm feeling a bit nervous to perform in front of people. We have a show lined up for next month. it's been great writing music though...finally putting some of that poetry to good use. we're still doing yoga a couple days a week and going over to Karen's house once in awhile. i think that i'm still just figuring out how to juggle everything but enjoying the ride nonetheless. this weekend i spent a lot of time by myself just decompressing and watching movies. i also called a few people from home. sometimes i forget how much i miss everyone until i hear their voices. i honestly can't wait to see everyone in october! so in case you are one of those people i haven't gotten the chance to talk to recently, please know that i love you and am thinking about you.

First Week Jitters

Well i have safely made it through my first week teaching at Yonok University. Monday was probably the best first day of teaching that i've ever experienced. Maybe this means that i'm finally getting comfortable teaching or maybe it was just that the students were great and enthusiastic. The students actually showed up on the first day which is always a good sign. There have been many hassles this week which are mostly the same things that bothered me last year. I am all for the laid-back lifestyle of Thailand but not when it comes to school. Nothing is organized, books have not yet appeared, schedules keep changing, classrooms keep changing and every class brings a set of new or disappearing faces. I'm not supposed to start teaching from the book until next week so you could imagine that i'm getting pretty sick of "icebreakers" and "getting-to-know-you" exercises.

I have one group of English 101 students. These are the wide-eyed freshmen who have absolutely no idea what's going on and may or may not know any english. I teach 3 days a week and on the other 2 days we work in the computer lab where they do exercises that correspond to the book. Then i'm teaching the sophomores English 201 which is just a more advanced class. These classes are for non-english majors. Every student must take 4 English classes before they can graduate. I'm also teaching 2 classes for english majors. One is Public Speaking which should be fun once i can actually start my class. More than half of the students are finishing their job-training in Bangkok and won't be back until the 18th. So i can't really start my course until all the students are there. Now there are 3 students so we just practice speaking and listening. My other special class is Reading 2 which is going to be a lot of fun. This is the more advanced class so i'm starting out the semester by talking about fables, fairy tales, and folk stories. After the midterm we will read magazines, newspapers and journal articles and hopefully work up to reading abstracts. I had a great time in this class yesterday discussing "The Tortoise and the Hare." Most cultures have their own versions of these stories so it's easy for them to understand and they are genuinely interested.

Next weekend I will start teaching an extra course for MBA students. Most of them are adults who have been working for a few years and want to come back to school for their masters. Many of them are small-business owenrs. Their english is great and I think it will be a good experience for me. The schedule is not bad (Saturday 9-12) and it doesn't hurt that it pays very well!

I'm really enjoying getting to know everyone at Yonok and haven't had too many problems. It's butterfly season now so there are butterflies swarming all over the campus. I still can't get over how beautiful it is out here! Everyday i come to work and i smile because i just feel so lucky to be here!

Magical Creatures!

Sorry about the serious lack of blogging! I've been superbusy during the week before and the first week of the semester. Saturday before the party, we met up with Otto and Jamie who came down from Chiang Mai. Much of the afternoon was spent prepping the house, perfecting our costumes and dancing around the living room. Soooo the party was fabulous and everyone really got into the theme. There were lots of fairies and butterflies, a pixie, a gnome, some dwarves (really just guys in Santa hats), a unicorn, a Japanese ghost, a naga (Thai serpent), a tewada (Thai spirit/angel), a sphinx, a doppleganger and a chupacabra (I will explain later). I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

These are some of the gals. Hilary was a pixie. Our friend Bert was a butterfly. She works at the vegetarian restaurant where we like to go for lunch. Jamie was a naga. She's one of our friends from Chiang Mai who came down for the weekend. And then I was a unicorn but I don't have my mask on in this picture. The mask ended up being a bit creepy and actually scaring Alex (our friend's 3-year old son)! Anyways, I call this picture "Magigals."


Karen the woodland fairy. Her costume was amazing and she looked really great!


Here is my unicorn costume...


Me and Otto :)


Pixie Hilary. I think this was the perfect choice for her!


This is Karen being chased by Tao (a Japanese ghost). Tao came with a friend of ours and we all ended up really hitting it off with her. I love new friends!


Justin was a Chupacabra (which is an Andean creature that sucks goats blood), Ilona was a sphinx, Tony dressed as Justin and said he was a doppleganger and Josh just took the opportunity to dress like a freak.


And here is the party in full swing:


Dwarves? Elves? or just lazy? Rick and Richard.


And their gals Orawan and Chanika.


Our friend Sudha also came down from Chiang Mai.


Hilary calls this picture "Pixie seducing unicorn with pixie dust." That's about right. You know me and glitter...


And my favorite picture of the night goes to: