Attention Class!

Ryan and I have survived our first two days of teaching!!! We are teaching 4th, 5th and 6th graders at a primary school in Nong Khai. The children are simply adorable and come running and waving to us each morning as we bike up the path to the school. They know a little English and many are eager to learn more. The first day we were told we were simply going to be introduced to the class. . . next thing I know. . . we are teaching and the Thai teacher has left the room. Ryan did an amazing job entertaining the kids and singing to them. I was a bit overwhelmed but today we arrived more prepared and we had three good classes. The favorite song of the director (principal of the school) is "If you're going to San Francisco, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair. . . ." so he has asked us to teach the students that song. I think we might need to practice ourselves! The Director and another teacher friend took us out to lunch on our first day, very kind people. Then we had a Thai culture class where we learned the "Do's and Dont's" of the culture and people. After that we had a Thai language class and Thai cooking class (very spicy) so needless to say we were exhausted last night.

A little about the other volunteers. . . as we expected we are the second oldest of the group. The oldest volunteers are two women from Sydney. We don't feel completely old but at the same time we are still getting used to the time so we tend to go to bed early!!! (shocker!) It is a large international group who are here for various lengths of time and for many different reasons. Some on holiday, some a break from school, other are expanding their studies it's fun to learn more about all the different people and where they come from.

A few funny things. . . Ryan was offered a job as a master teacher after his first day on the job by the Director!!! The Thai toilets are exactly what you expect, thank goodness our dorm has western toilets and warm water! I have become a vegetarian! We are becoming Lance Armstrongs on our bikes as this is our ONLY means of transportation other than our two legs! We had no electricity last night in our house. . . looks like they forgot to pay the bill on time. Many, many more to come.


Any teaching ideas or American songs we can teach them, send them our way!!! Also, we are having a hard time uploading photos to our site. We hope to get some up here soon~