This and that

November is an awfully long month here in Thailand. I think about how everyone in the states is getting ready for the big turkey dinner. All the men have been crowded around the television screens for weeks now watching football games. The yards need to be raked and raked again. And as if there isn't enough to do, I know some of you are already starting to think about Christmas festivities. Well, over here, November seems to go on forever with no climax at the end. No family gathering to kick off the holiday season. No buildup for anything. Just another month. What makes it even worse is that I know I only have to work eleven days in December. So if November would just hurry up and END ALREADY, I will be most happy.

Since I have been here for over three months, I decided it was time to buy some kitchen supplies. A wok, a saucepan, a rice cooker, a frying pan, measuring cups--all that jazz. I bought one batch of stuff, but then I realized that I needed a cutting board, a colander, knives, storage containers for rice. It is hard to believe that I have not done any cooking since I was in Virginia. Eating out is just too easy here and can be pretty economical, also (unless you go for Italian and have wine). But there are times when I don't want to go out and try to decipher the menu. Or when I want a particular dish that isn't served anywhere nearby. Then there are times when I just want to eat dinner in my pajamas. So, I am now equipped and ready to cook. My first meal was fragrant brown rice with chicken (a recipe from my Thai cookbook that Momma gave me). Fresh ginger, garlic, lime...my little apartment smelled quite scrumptious. I had forgotten how nice it is to make something at home. I'm already thinking about who I can invite over for my next dish of stir fried rice with pineapple and shrimp.

School continues to go well. My school is under new administration this year and we are doing a lot with curriculum development and formulating assessments. This is the first time I've really been involved in anything like this. Up until now, I have just been handed a curruiculum and been told to teach it. As far as assessments go, tests and compositions have done the job in the past. However, this year there are buzz words and jargon flying around my head like a pack of flies. It's kind of making me dizzy.

My quiet little Asian students are a bit louder now. I still have one or two students that I have to stand right next to in order to hear them, but for the most part, they have come out of their shells. I laugh on a daily basis at their shenanigans. We are doing a poetry unit now and I am impressed with their insight, the way they craft words together...
"The book is a generous god that takes us away into the world of dreams."
~Kanit
"The theif's hand is a key that can unlock and steal almost anything."
~Mint
"Her smile is as beautiful as the ocean when the sulight shines on it."
~ Kai Mook
My wonderful kids.

I have bought my plane ticket to the Philippines for Christmas break. My brother-in-law's parents are kindly hosting me for the holidays. I need to decide where I want to go in February, though, for Chinese New Year. I'm thinking somewhere tropical--Loas, Malaysia, Burma. I had planned on going to Vietnam in April for the Songkran break, but I have been toying with the idea of taking a graduate program in education over here. It is through a stateside college and classes are offered for ten days in April and ten days in June, two classes each time. I would have my masters in two years with (what sounds like) minimal time. The best part is that I would not be working while I was taking the classes, just have ten class-intensive days. And the total cost for the whole degree is only $4500. Having a master's degree will make me more marketable for some of the more competitive international schools...Italy, for example.

I am making friends and have settled into a little group of people that I hang out with. We went to tea at The Oriental Hotel last weekend. Very posh and tasty. Monica is planning a ladies night out for my birthday. She is going to try and find out if the Thai Beatles are playing anywhere the weekend of my birthday.

I am going to a conference Saturday and Sunday (8am-4pm) on authentic assessment. Since I am not really getting a weekend to rest, I may need to fit in an evening at the spa. Pedicure, manicure, back and neck massage, and a facial. Sounds like a plan.