End of Term Class Party!

My lower intermediate class, left to right: Jeab, Amnuey, Kerk, me, Jit, Mouy, Barsan

They brought so much food!

And Mouy brought a cake.

Kerk eating a Chinese steamed bun. I love this picture!

This is why I love my job. Not actually because my students bring us lots of yummy food and cook with us & for us, but because they like to spend time with us at Step Ahead! Yesterday was the last day of this 8-week term at Step Ahead, so I told my class that we could have a party, and I'd bake chocolate chip cookies, and they could bring something if they wanted. But they went all out! They brought all sorts of food: several different kinds of fruit (rose apples, bananas, longan), dried seaweed, Weet-a-bix, cake, a couple kinds of steamed Chinese buns, and nuts. We sat around eating and talking for about an hour, and then I gave them their final exam. After they finished, they decided it was time to eat again! Somebody ordered sticky rice and spicy pork salad, and we went back to the table and ate lunch. It was really relaxed and fun. I am always happy to see that our students feel comfortable just hanging out at Step Ahead.  The young boy in the picture just above (Kerk) is the nephew of the tall man on the far right (Barsan), two pictures up. I think it's great that uncle and nephew are studying together! They work together at a photo shop down the road in Khao Lak. Occasionally Paul and I stop by to see them there if we're out and about in the evenings. This group has been my favorite class since I've been here. It was quite small last term, but a few more joined this time, and we've had a solid core of about 7 students who never or hardly ever missed class at all. I am so excited to see their progress; several of them understood very, very little of what I said when I met them, and now all of them understand a lot! And they can speak much more, too. I love language learning, because it's something you can see tangible results with.