The Real Beginning

So this is my fourth day at my new school in the outskirts of Hua Hin. The new place I work is a humongous private school in between Hua Hun and Pranburi, about two hours south of Bangkok. It's very different from Phuket. The nearest Family Mart of 7/11 is NOT right around the corner, like it is everywhere in Phuket. And there's not a thousand street vendors vying for my business. But there are benefits! My apartment is not surrounded by a bunch of barking dogs at night and its quite peaceful. It's nice to finish a long day at work--with 3000 kids all screaming hello at you as you want by--with a nice, cold glass of Fanta while I peacefully binge on The Good Wife. It's so much simpler here. And that is one of the reasons I wanted to move to Thailand, for the simple life. And although I did enjoy Phuket, this is something I will really have to get used to.

At this new school, Rakwittaya, I am the sole English teacher for grades 4-6. There are four classes in each grade, so I teach twelve different groups of children. Learning names isn't even an option. Of course you always remember the name of the kid you call on all the time for being too loud, but other than the trouble makers, I only know the generic names like Ice or Pear. The school is very laid back and I have a lot of curricular freedom, which is something I lacked at my previous school. It's not as great as it sounds since I only see every class twice a week, but it does mean I only have to make 6 lesson plans a week, and at my last school I had to make 20. Unlike most government schools, I can do whatever and go wherever I want as long as I sign in at 7:30am and sign out before I leave for the day! On Thursdays, an English teacher gives "general knowledge" at assembly. I have yet to know what that means. Maybe I could just read one of my blog posts and explain that it's technical general knowledge about myself! We'll see how that goes next week.

After being here for the last few days I've realized that being in Phuket was just training for being here. A genius part of God's perfect plan. If I needed to trust Him in Phuket, then I definitely need to trust Him here. Things are not as easily accessible and hard times will intensify. But God taught me well in Phuket that He will provide, and already He has. I came to this place with very little money because working part time for half a month while also playing other bills doesn't add up to a big amount of money. But He provided a nice apartment that was very affordable. Left with around 2000 baht, I thought I would be fine! My school was in walking distance of my house but all the stores were not, and I wanted, but didn't need a motorbike. My awesome land lady told me that she knew someone who rented them and could get me one. I explained that I didn't have the regular 3000 baht for one. She smiled, as she always does when she sees me, and told me it was only 2500 and I didn't have to pay until the end of the month! I was a little shocked because that is a very, very rare deal. I skeptically said yes, and that afternoon, she was waiting for me outside my school with the motorbike. God will always provide everything you need, and even sometimes the things you want.

I feel like this is the real beginning of my adventure in Thailand, and Phuket was just the practice round. I can't wait to see what God has in store for me in this teeny town at this massive school!



Here's a picture of what the kids have been doing during their free periods and lunch this week. When I first saw the Spiderman float, I was confused because at first glance it looked like Spiderman was squatting and holding up his clenched fists like he was pooping out little Thai kids (because it was a slide). At second, third, and fourth glance. That is exactly what it looked like.