Here is an idea of what my day at Lertlah looks like:
6:20 am - Alarm rings, snooze is hit.
7:00 am - En route to find a hopefully decent taxi to get us to school... us consisting of Sarah, Anthony, Ramon (my blog designer) and myself. Taxi rides are never uneventful and always worth a spot on Reality TV. We have made cars bottom out, have had conversations with the drivers, as they speak Thai and we speak English and have also been in an accident. Adventure always begins in the morning.
7:30 ish am - Arrive on the side of the road near the school, telling the driver to pull over, or at least we think that's what we're telling the driver, walking past the same old construction crew who is used to us by now and doesn't point as frequently, avoiding soi dogs (dirty street dogs), making the occasional stop at the fruit man for guava and signing in with the fingerprint scan.
8:30 am - The anthem is heard throughout the school which signals the time for us to make our way up the stairs to our classes.
8:30 - 11:10 am - Classes. I am either teaching English, Science or Math to 2 different grade 2 classes, of course the occaisional prep thrown in there. I do a lot of "please stop talking!" and attempted pictionary on the board to somehow explain "the natural environment of an organism" to children who cannot spell "frog". Responses consist of crumpled foreheads, tilted heads and the ever-expected "what it is Ms. Karyn, what it is?"
11:10 - 12:00- lunch. Lunch varies from a can of chicken noodle soup, to cashew chicken from the soi (street by the school) to mystery meat and rice at the cafeteria. Seems as though the caf is either a semi-hit or mega-miss.
12:00 - 3:30 - back to classes. By afternoon the kids are chatty-er than ever, longing for a break and finished with their attempts to understand my purpose in their little lives. It is getting better, or I am at least getting used to it, but the afternoons are not as dreaded as they once were.
3:30 - 4:30 - Some suckers, I mean fellow teachers, are sent off to teach homework classes. Because I have a full schedule this becomes my down time as I attempt to finish marking, plan for the next day or simply recoop. My desk is a heap of unmarked work, drawings, projects and to-do lists, but I've accepted it all as part of the decor.
4:30 - The hopeful sign out by fingerprint scan. Hopeful as there are days when it's necessary to stay for a little bit longer. I don't make a habbit out of staying late but when marks are due, exams are on the way or books have overtaken more than my own workspace, it's time to come up with an action plan and get it done.
The evenings usually involve the eventful taxi ride home, dinner at Mem's (our favorite little place by the apartment... she makes great chicken fried rice and pad thai), laundry, watching an episode of "House" online, a little bit of marking and checking the apartment for roaches. There are also the occaisional University courses, like now, which take up the entire evening and totally add a drag to the day... But, can't complain... I did make this choice afterall.
All in all, seems rather routine when I write it out this way and quite ordinary. I guess it's the random comments from the kids, the bets made over the dish at lunch, the office drama and occaisional elephants on the side of the road that take the ordinary right out of it.
I'm enjoying my days, I love being a true-blue teacher and as for right now, I really wouldn't change it for the world.
