Call me Teachaaaa!!!!!

It has already been over a week since I officially became an English teacher! I am just now starting to get the hang of things and getting used to the new job. I teach 20 classes a week, sometimes more if they need a substitute (I’ve already done that 3 times). I teach 3^rd, 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th graders. It is quite a range and very fun to see the different levels and how they change over the years. Some of the older girls are very shy, whereas the younger ones are still loud and rowdy. They all however love to chat in class Thai, just not English! Every time I come into the classroom they stand up and shout, “good morning/good afternoon teachaaa” then when I tell them they can sit down they say, “thank you teachaaa!” It’s adorable.

A few of my 5th graders

The school itself is a Catholic school composed of a boy’s school, a girl’s school (where I work) and an English Program. There are boarding houses for some of the children and the seminarians. The school has about 5,800 students. It’s like its own little town with 3 gates and more buildings than any school I’ve ever seen. Just the girl’s school has 6 floors, a large canteen, sports fields, etc. All the girls wear uniforms depending on their grade. The teachers have uniforms as well: we wear black pants and a grey polo on Monday, a dark purple suit on Tuesday (I’m not kidding, I’m still waiting for mine from the tailor), a light purple skirt suit on Wednesday, some other type of purple suit on Thursday and a green and yellow polo on Friday. Whew! And there are also special polos to wear on sport’s day.

I get to work by 7:45 am and I get done at 4. The classes are 50 minutes long, there are 10-24 children in each of my classes (this is small in Thailand, most schools have up to 60), lunch is served in the canteen, a large open cafeteria with lots of long tables, you get rice and get to choose 2 dishes, there are palm trees everywhere J. This is definitely going to be a tough yet very deserving job. I am excited to get to know the students better and maybe learn some Thai from them too while I’m at it! More about school soon to come, but I have to get to bed—6am wakeup call!