Preschool visit and small Christmas meal w/ students

Chanpen, Jit, and Mouy helping make a small Christmas lunch
Champu and an adorable little girl at the preschool
Kids playing tug-of-war


I am really enjoying my time off from teaching! I'm finding enough to keep me busy here this week, but it's nice to have a change of pace. On Wed., I visited my friend Champu's preschool (she is the head teacher there) in Lam Kaen. I've been planning to do this for a while but hadn't found the time. It's one of the 4 Step Ahead preschools. The head teachers are all really neat people; they meet here every Thursday. They had a Christmas party when I visited, so there were games and a gift exchange, a Christmas tree, lunch and ice cream. It was really fun.

On Tues. Benz and I went to Takuapa to get the cable boxes (T.V. cable, that is) fixed, and I thought I might do some Christmas shopping, but really there aren't any good shops in Takuapa. It's bigger than Khao Lak, but actually we have to go to Phuket to do any real shopping. Benz and Ton are emceeing the big Christmas outreach celebration that will take place on the 25th at the big boat that was washed on shore in the tsunami (it now serves as a memorial). So I helped her look for a dress to wear and tuxedo for Ton to rent, but I think that will be too expensive. We had lots of laughs that day; once again, I went to the wrong side of the car to get in, but this time, I fooled her also, and she was about to get in on the passenger side and then said, "oh man! You made me go to the wrong side! Since you went to that side, I just figured I should go to the other side." It seems like no matter how long I live here, I'll always get confused about which side of the car the steering wheel is on. John Quinley told me that if he's supposed to be driving and he goes to the wrong side, he just reaches into the glovebox to "look for something." That won't work for me though, since I'm never driving!

Today three of my/Paul's students came over to make a small Christmas lunch. We made basically the same stuff I made for Thanksgiving, just much less complicated, thanks to the stuffing mix I go in the mail (thanks!) and my decision to buy already cooked chicken! These three ladies, Jit, Chanpen, and Mouy, love to cook and we always have a great time together. I am so happy that they actually like to eat Western food! (a lot of Thais think Western food is gross).

Tomorrow Benz and I are going to Phuket, and the evening, I'll go to Kuraburi to stay the night w/ some of Paul's friends on my way to Ranong to do my visa run. That will take all day Saturday. And now I should go to bed before it gets too late.