Not to put too fine a point on it, this shit’s hard!!
Five classes ( @ 50 minutes a time ) today. Brilliant support from Thai teacher ‘Film’. Without him I would have been pretty much clueless as to lesson plans. He knows the syllabus, and I don’t. To soften the blow a little, I took the opportunity ( following advice from another NES teacher ) to use a part of each lesson to introduce myself, and talk a little about NZ, with the help of projected Google maps and images.
After work, I treated myself to a first swim in Thailand. The big rock groynes they use have created at Seang Chun beach produce large and shallow tidal pools. Good for wallowing in, but to do any real swimming you need to go out beyond the groynes. It was getting dark, and I had all my valuables in a bag on the beach, so I didn’t risk it. I donated a couple of teaspoons of blood to the really vicious wee sandflies, or mites, in the roadside sand. But it was a small tax to pay – the water was beatifully warm at 7pm, and of course, I always feel better after an ocean swim than before.
One more day of work tomorrow, then the main weekend mission is to find some permanent digs. Tempted to take up the Mae RamPhung beach offer after tonight’s swim. Watch this space.