Hello everyone on the other side. Hope all is well and summer is going swimmingly. I had meant to send an update earlier and many problem got in the way. I needed some time to settle and and find my way around the area. I have also had to learn new subject matter and how to teach in a different way than I am familiar with. That is my excuse and I am sticking to it. Please feel free to write to me. I love to hear from people back home and would especially like to hear from my students, friends and colleagues, and family. You must all be getting ready for the start of the new school year.Back to school signs must be everywhere. (sorry about that, I couldn't help myself)
After a very long journey, I arrived here on July 17Th and was greeted by three Thai teachers. I was taken to my room on campus. I am living in a building designed to reside special visiting guests. It is small, but nice and has beautiful teak wood floors and yes, I have my own bathroom with a western toilet. The room also has a balcony overlooking a lush courtyard filled with beautiful plants and trees and is quite private tucked away in a corner of the campus next to the Ping River. The room I reside is located on the second floor and since I have been here, I have been the only person on the floor. Downstairs is a kitchen that I share the visiting teachers/students from China. Mostly I eat out as there is food to eat everywhere. Learning my way around the city without getting lost hasn't been as challenging as I thought it might be. Taking a tuk-tuk is an easy way to get around and so is on foot.
It is monsoon season here now. It rains everyday at one time or another and it rains hard! I love sitting outside at night on the balcony and watching it rain. It's hot here! The humidity is the worst part of it. The city itself is beautiful. It is surrounded by mountains and looks very much like Vermont from a distance. Lots of rolling mountains and lush green vegetation. The food has taken a little getting used too.
The school is huge and the students all wear uniforms. Their uniforms consist of long dark blue shorts, white shirts and socks. Today I was fitted for my uniforms. They are very nice, two shirts of different styles and two shirts also of different styles that can be mixed and matched. The class size here is about fifty students per class and I teach about eighteen classes per week. Each class is fifty minutes long. The school consists of all boys. That will change next year when they introduce a female population. The students spend a great deal of time on special activities and a class can be cancelled at a moments notice, and they often are. Today, as I am writing this, the students are all lined up in the outdoor auditorium singing and practicing songs for the special event of the Queen's Birthday. This is a special holiday here. Not to many places you can go in this world and see tee shirts, bumper stickers, and almost everything else with the phrase, "Long live the King". I think that is kind of cool.
I am learning a lot here. I have learned what it is like to work with people who are working for the good of the group and people who take care of the other person first and themselves second. They are a very kind and caring people and much can be learned from them. I love it when I walk across campus and a student bows and says hello in Thai. They call me Teacher Care-O
Elliott, I will try to send you that picture you wanted. Send me an e-mail. I would love to hear from anyone. E-mail me at carolhindale@yahoo.com
After a very long journey, I arrived here on July 17Th and was greeted by three Thai teachers. I was taken to my room on campus. I am living in a building designed to reside special visiting guests. It is small, but nice and has beautiful teak wood floors and yes, I have my own bathroom with a western toilet. The room also has a balcony overlooking a lush courtyard filled with beautiful plants and trees and is quite private tucked away in a corner of the campus next to the Ping River. The room I reside is located on the second floor and since I have been here, I have been the only person on the floor. Downstairs is a kitchen that I share the visiting teachers/students from China. Mostly I eat out as there is food to eat everywhere. Learning my way around the city without getting lost hasn't been as challenging as I thought it might be. Taking a tuk-tuk is an easy way to get around and so is on foot.
It is monsoon season here now. It rains everyday at one time or another and it rains hard! I love sitting outside at night on the balcony and watching it rain. It's hot here! The humidity is the worst part of it. The city itself is beautiful. It is surrounded by mountains and looks very much like Vermont from a distance. Lots of rolling mountains and lush green vegetation. The food has taken a little getting used too.
The school is huge and the students all wear uniforms. Their uniforms consist of long dark blue shorts, white shirts and socks. Today I was fitted for my uniforms. They are very nice, two shirts of different styles and two shirts also of different styles that can be mixed and matched. The class size here is about fifty students per class and I teach about eighteen classes per week. Each class is fifty minutes long. The school consists of all boys. That will change next year when they introduce a female population. The students spend a great deal of time on special activities and a class can be cancelled at a moments notice, and they often are. Today, as I am writing this, the students are all lined up in the outdoor auditorium singing and practicing songs for the special event of the Queen's Birthday. This is a special holiday here. Not to many places you can go in this world and see tee shirts, bumper stickers, and almost everything else with the phrase, "Long live the King". I think that is kind of cool.
I am learning a lot here. I have learned what it is like to work with people who are working for the good of the group and people who take care of the other person first and themselves second. They are a very kind and caring people and much can be learned from them. I love it when I walk across campus and a student bows and says hello in Thai. They call me Teacher Care-O
Elliott, I will try to send you that picture you wanted. Send me an e-mail. I would love to hear from anyone. E-mail me at carolhindale@yahoo.com
