Check out my newest pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/briswann I finished my first week of teaching! This will be a long entry b/c I had a very busy week, so now I have a lot to share w/ you guys. I was kind of stressed out about it last weekend b/c I didn't know what to expect, but it went really 
well. Paul was at the Sarojin all week testing the level of the students, and he apparently got some pretty funny responses to his questions, like: "what's this called?" (the object was a spoon) Response: "poo." Oh, the joys of learning a language! But the flip side of that is sometimes even funnier; our director, John Quinley, is visiting this weekend and told a story about his wife, who went to the market one day and asked a lady how much this "dirty thing
" cost, b/c the word for "pineapple" and "dirty" apparently sound rather similar in Thai. John's friend David, a retired missionary who worked in Thailand and India, told another funny story: there was another missionary whose last name is Rideout, and some Thai people asked him what his name meant. He tried to say the word for "ride," like to ride a horse, but he got the tone wrong and apparently said "excrement out." The Thais apparently howled w/ laughter and said, "you farangs sure have funny names!" Oh, if language learning weren't so funny, we wouldn't have good stories to tell. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I had such a wonderful time this week meeting my students and getting to know them. I'll reiterate what I've said before about teaching Thai people: I'll never want to teach in America again after this year! The Thai students are so welcoming, enthusiastic, and respectful to their teachers. They laugh and smile a lot in class, (in fact, we laugh together quite a lot) and they really put forth a lot of effort. At the Sarojin, one of my students who works in the bakery brought me a sample of fine chocolates! (definitely wins points with the teacher). My intermediate group at Step Ahead is a true joy, though. They know each other quite well, and so there's a great class dynamic, and they really participate 100% in classroom activities.
John and David came into town yesterday, and it has been wonderful to talk to them about their experiences on the field. My busy week was just winding down as they came, so I was able to just sit and talk with them at length yesterday afternoon. John also showed me a Powerpoint presentation this morning about his family's involvement in Phang Nga province after the tsunami, and how the Step Ahead Center was born! It was very exciting to learn about. Also, he's putting me in touch w/ Matthias, a German guy who developed a German course and taught it at Step Ahead. He'll have materials for me, so I think I'll get rolling w/ a German class (pretty) soon, b/c while Paul and I were out advertising for classes last week, three of the hotels asked specifically whether we were offering German. This is a really exciting possibility for me. It means more preparation time, though! After a few weeks, I'll have a better idea of how to manage my time, what is a reasonable amount of work for me to take on, etc. OK, and then also, very importantly, I have great news about my living situation: I'll get to keep my own room! So I can finally unpack my stuff and settle in a bit better. I explained to him why it would be an emotional stress to me if I had to share a room w/ 4-5 people for a year, and he understood. He suggested that we use half of my stipend to put toward the room, b/c they'd normally rent this out as a guest room (like a hotel). In fact, I didn't even know if Step Ahead would be giving me a stipend (it's a small one, but every bit counts!), so to me this is a double blessing. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me. My mind is at ease. This afternoon, we went out to eat- everyone from the Center, and then we visited the mushroom farm and the orchid farm that Step Ahead is sponsoring (these are microfinance projects). The orchid farm is at one of the Step Ahead preschools. I've visited two of the four (?) preschools that Step Ahead runs. It is really exciting to be a part of an organization that is impacting this community in such a positive way and to share God's love with these people. In spite of some difficulties and frustrations, I am truly so happy to be here.
well. Paul was at the Sarojin all week testing the level of the students, and he apparently got some pretty funny responses to his questions, like: "what's this called?" (the object was a spoon) Response: "poo." Oh, the joys of learning a language! But the flip side of that is sometimes even funnier; our director, John Quinley, is visiting this weekend and told a story about his wife, who went to the market one day and asked a lady how much this "dirty thing
" cost, b/c the word for "pineapple" and "dirty" apparently sound rather similar in Thai. John's friend David, a retired missionary who worked in Thailand and India, told another funny story: there was another missionary whose last name is Rideout, and some Thai people asked him what his name meant. He tried to say the word for "ride," like to ride a horse, but he got the tone wrong and apparently said "excrement out." The Thais apparently howled w/ laughter and said, "you farangs sure have funny names!" Oh, if language learning weren't so funny, we wouldn't have good stories to tell. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I had such a wonderful time this week meeting my students and getting to know them. I'll reiterate what I've said before about teaching Thai people: I'll never want to teach in America again after this year! The Thai students are so welcoming, enthusiastic, and respectful to their teachers. They laugh and smile a lot in class, (in fact, we laugh together quite a lot) and they really put forth a lot of effort. At the Sarojin, one of my students who works in the bakery brought me a sample of fine chocolates! (definitely wins points with the teacher). My intermediate group at Step Ahead is a true joy, though. They know each other quite well, and so there's a great class dynamic, and they really participate 100% in classroom activities.John and David came into town yesterday, and it has been wonderful to talk to them about their experiences on the field. My busy week was just winding down as they came, so I was able to just sit and talk with them at length yesterday afternoon. John also showed me a Powerpoint presentation this morning about his family's involvement in Phang Nga province after the tsunami, and how the Step Ahead Center was born! It was very exciting to learn about. Also, he's putting me in touch w/ Matthias, a German guy who developed a German course and taught it at Step Ahead. He'll have materials for me, so I think I'll get rolling w/ a German class (pretty) soon, b/c while Paul and I were out advertising for classes last week, three of the hotels asked specifically whether we were offering German. This is a really exciting possibility for me. It means more preparation time, though! After a few weeks, I'll have a better idea of how to manage my time, what is a reasonable amount of work for me to take on, etc. OK, and then also, very importantly, I have great news about my living situation: I'll get to keep my own room! So I can finally unpack my stuff and settle in a bit better. I explained to him why it would be an emotional stress to me if I had to share a room w/ 4-5 people for a year, and he understood. He suggested that we use half of my stipend to put toward the room, b/c they'd normally rent this out as a guest room (like a hotel). In fact, I didn't even know if Step Ahead would be giving me a stipend (it's a small one, but every bit counts!), so to me this is a double blessing. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me. My mind is at ease. This afternoon, we went out to eat- everyone from the Center, and then we visited the mushroom farm and the orchid farm that Step Ahead is sponsoring (these are microfinance projects). The orchid farm is at one of the Step Ahead preschools. I've visited two of the four (?) preschools that Step Ahead runs. It is really exciting to be a part of an organization that is impacting this community in such a positive way and to share God's love with these people. In spite of some difficulties and frustrations, I am truly so happy to be here.
2 comments:
YEA for your own room! That's excellent. Every good and perfect gift comes from above :0)
It all sounds so exciting, Bri! I love reading your updates. ^_^
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