"Words want to be free"

Well, this week was our last week teaching! I would say it was very bittersweet. It was fine leaving the Thai school where we worked part time, but it was very very hard to say goodbye to our students at the organizations where we were volunteering. We have both grown really attached to our students there and it was very hard to say goodbye to them, especially because their situation here in Thailand is precarious. But, we can't say too much more about that here... so I'll talk about English teaching in general:

My Saturday classes (at GEE, which Phil has talked about previously) were crazy- I had one class of 7-9 year olds and one class of 4-6 year olds. So, needless to say, it took a lot of energy. The 7-9 year old class was pretty good. We usually worked from the book and then played some games at the end of class, which they liked. They were always askin "Teacher, Teacher, play game!?!" and so I liked to indulge them once and a while. But the 4-6 year old class was pure chaos. I haven't learned nearly enough Thai to tell them to "sit down, sush your mouths, and listen for five minutes and then we can run around like crazy". Nope, never learned that. So, instead it was just running around like crazy time all the time. Which was fine, I just got a little worried when the running got a little out of hand and they started biting and kicking each other. That's when Teacher had to put on her mean face and, luckily, that is understood in all languages. I also teach a few other classes- one of which is a private class to a 6 year old girl who is off her rocker. Crazy and wild, but we have a pretty good time together.

the front of our GEE shirts say "words want to be free"
and that is exactly what we were doing-freeing words like 'over' and 'family'

This week I also finished up another class for GEE which was a class of 30 10-12 year olds. I would go there for two hours almost every afternoon for three weeks. It was pretty fun because they were relatively well behaved and we got to do a lot of silly games and drawing. Then, on the last day I was presented with a big fake orchid flower arrangement and gifts from the kids which included jelly sandwiches and my favorite- a huge piece of notebook paper which I unfolded and unfolded to reveal, in very small writing: "I Love teacher Julia". Oh it made my day.

Teacher Phil and Teacher Julia on a field trip with some of the hooligans from GEE

Aside from teaching for GEE, I also taught Interns and staff at a non-profit organization which is totally run by women. They are amazing and, if you would like to know more about the organization and the awesome work they do, shoot me an e-mail. But I loved teaching these classes. They are all very eager to learn and we have a lot of fun together. The classes are pretty intense, but when we take breaks we head outside and pick star fruit or sugar fruit right off the trees and munch and chat. Plus they invite me to lunch every day and a lot of times teach me to cook with them. It's really great, and I can't get over how wonderful they are. I wish that there was more I could do for them besides teaching and editing their reports and funding proposals.

adorable

I like teaching there the most because it is a very rewarding experience, but it also makes me think that teaching is something I would like to maybe do for real someday. I honestly never thought I'd be teaching English, but there are some things that I really like about it. Like how it's rewarding. And how, for the first time in my life, I am learning English grammar. And how the students can totally surprise you and make you laugh so hard. For example the other day I was reviewing body parts so we could start a health unit about illnesses and health care. When I pointed to my elbow one of the girls shouted out "bus station!" and then shook her head, probably thinking 'oh, no no no, that was wayyyy off'... Or another time I was playing hang man with my 7-9 year olds and most of them chose words like 'cat' or 'dog' and then one busted out the word 'dictionary'. I also really liked writing on the white boards. Especially with new markers...

So, that portion of our trip is now complete... we have a few more days in Chiang Mai, this wonderful city that has become our home, and then we are off onto more adventures! We will definitely keep you posted!