Busy happy life!

This weekend has been another productively busy one and so has this week.  We had Elementary Sports Day on Wednesday.  Basically this is field day.  Our wonderful P.E. teacher organizes the whole thing and the teachers help with games and what not.  Moe came in and helped me run a game called Ninja Time.  It was quite fun, but made for a long day, even though it only went until lunch!  Thursday was a fairly normal day and then Friday we went to see the first 'showing'or dress rehearsal of the musical the school is doing.  There were a couple elementary students in it, one from my class, so it was very fun to see it as a class!

Thursday we got Chico neutered so we have been busy with him as well.  Total cost for it and for medication for his ears that are still gross was 1000 baht, or 33 dollars! woot.  He has a cone on for our protection!  Thursday he was quite droggy (ha! doggy!) and we were worried. But since then he has been his active self. Playing with his ball is HYSTERICAL now because he often loses it and cant see it! We are definitely blessed to have a great puppy.  I shared this on facebook but think it is too funny not to share again. Chico now has a place to store his toys!

Anyway, this weekend is productive as well.  I had brunch with a friend and then we browsed around for awhile.  I asked if she knew anyone who could sew and she did!! I am hopefully going to have a few skirts and/or dresses made, since buying things in my size here is Oh so fun!  I will say that I have been able to find some cute and cheap tops so that is great.  So we browsed for supplies.  Depending on labor I think I could get a simple skirt made for less than 100, or 3 dollars!!  Definitely like that!

Today, I also had a better appreciation for my Grams.  She often goes to the salon to get her hair done, shampoo and dry.  Well I did just that today! (actually they did trim it but I wasnt expecting that!)  When I walked in I saw people lying down getting there hair washed and was quite surprised.  This was a Thai place so I was not able to communicate much myself. I went with someone who spoke Thai and has been there often before so I wasnt too worried! I lie down and get blasted with cold water. (Hot water is a rarity here.) so I was surprised by that.  Then she was roughly scratching my head while washing it.  Now I was worried. Suddenly she began massaging my head in a way I had never felt before. It was beautiful.  My head felt amazing.  She even rubbed my neck a good bit too! It was lovely.  I then got a trim and my hair dried.  Oh funny part, she 'curled' my hair as well.  I had at least 5 round brushes in my hair holding my hair so it would curl.  I looked hysterical.  Also, I had to slouch in my chair so the woman could see the top of my head and work with my hairs.  Final cost of this adventure 220! 7 dollars.  It was beautiful.

Finally, for dinner tonight we had tacos.  Originally, Moe wanted to go to the grocery for Mayo for his Ranch dip, but we ended up splurging on lots of things.  We made tacos with real ground beef.  We haven't bought or knowingly had beef in a long time! We were thrilled! And it wasn't too expensive.  We had chips and salsa as well! mmmmmm mmmmmmm! It was delicious.  We were so so SO pleased. We ate it all! Even though now I wish we would have saved some for leftovers. OH the other thing we got at the store was HONEYCOMBS!!! I am stoked. I might eat some now... yep doing it.  It was a little costly, but Moe let me do it since I looked so pretty today... ha!

Ok off to eat cereals and play with Chico.  Then read and bed! Have a great day ya'll! UPDATE:  Moe wants it to be known that the box of cereal was (I say Only) 285 baht.  That is almost 10 dollars.  Yes expensive!!! But there was a box of Rice Krispie Treats and something else that were 450 baht! Also, Moe wants me to mention that it is HOT here.  Today my phone said it was 99*F.  And it is only the beginning of March.  We could not see the mountain today because of the pollution.  We are fearful of a LONG hot season... ugh.

Productive weekend

This weekend was fabulous.  Because of Thai Day and a Buddhist holiday, we had a 4 day weekend!!!!!  Thursday was also Moe's last day of full time subbing, so the weekend was celebration of his 'freedom'.  He is actually quite sad about being done and has said he will miss the kids!!  I am so proud of him for making it through and learning so much.

Anyway, we had discussed going away for the weekend but I am so glad we didn't.  I was so so SO productive.  I think we should have 4 day weekends more often.

Friday, I went to the market by myself, shopped and then went to school to work.  I reorganized my library. Thankfully I inherited a fully loaded library but it was unorganized and the kids destroyed it :[ so I needed to intervene. It was driving me crazy how it was.  So I spent the day there Friday working.  It is now beautiful and I can't wait for my kids to use it!! Hopefully it stays beautiful for a little while. If you really care here are before and after photos!

This photo was taken Thursday, Thai Day.  You can sorta see Moe and his Thai shirt!  Yes those are elephants!  It buttons up in Thai style.

Friday night we stayed home and watched Doctor Who together.  Yes Moe has got me hooked on the show!! I am just finishing season 4.  It is fun to watch the show together.  We also discussed a motorbike that was for sale.  We decided we were interested enough to set up an appointment to ride/see it.

So Saturday morning first thing we rode 40 minutes to look at and test drive a motorbike.  It is an older bike but it is reliable and cheap, which is really all we wanted.  It is the style of bike that I want, has a floor board and is an automatic.  We were pleased with it but wanted to talk it over some more.

On the way home we explored some new areas and got some good sun... or burnt!  We went out to brunch and then went shopping. We bought a new external hard drive to share, since we now have so many pictures and movies and teacher things from me.  Both our laptops were full so we needed more space! Now we have space for years!  It was fun exploring the electronic store with Moe though.  He gets so excited but still has to find the best deal.  I was and am pleased with our purchases.

Oh back up a few days.  Wednesday both Moe and I realized how WHITE I was/am.  I was saddened by the fact that I live in the tropics but am equally as white as I would be in America.  So I have decided to take more of an effort to lay out after work and work on my tan!  So I laid out both Friday and Saturday.  BUT I am burnt from the motorcycle ride on my neck and arms.  It is a little depressing!

Anyway, the rest of the weekend we relaxed and enjoyed it! I have been a reading machine.  I have read 2 books that I will use for school. Sure they are 5th/6th grade reading level but they count right!?!  I have finished my current James Patterson book and am now on to book number 4.  Thanks Momma and Daddio for getting those for me! They have been so fun and a great escape!

After searching for a semi-long time for the bike that we wanted and in our price range we have decided to go ahead with the bike that we looked at on Saturday.  Right now Moe is on his way to put a down payment for it!! The owners are not leaving Chiang Mai until March so we have a little bit of time before it is officially ours, but it is so exciting! I can't wait to use it. I am very pleased.  I will post pictures when I can.  This is the type of bike but not the actual one.  It will have a little basket on the front too.

Anyway, a productive weekend all around.  Hopefully school will be much better this week than last.  I am trying to stay positive and focus on the good things that are happening at school rather than the behavior issues and stresses.  This quote has helped!

Thai Day at school

Today was Thai Day.  Every year the school has a special cultural day.  It rotates with International Day, so next year we will have international day.  It is a celebration of culture, music, dance, games, crafts, food, and more.  This year Thai Day focused on the coming together of the ASEAN community, southeast Asian countries.

Brief schedule of the day:
  Normal first period... yea right!
  Second period get ready for ceremony - changing and make up
  9:30 head to ceremony
  9:45 ceremony
  11:15 (An hour and a half LATER!!)  ceremony ends. Back to class to change
  11:30 Lunch
  1:00 Games/activities begin
  2:30 LEAVE

Ok I am going to be very honest... I was very nervous for this day.  The whole school was involved plus parents plus community.  New things happening when I am supposed to be in charge scare me!  The day did not go as I thought it would.  I was frustrated most of the day.  Looking back on it though I realized my outlook affected my kids almost as much as it affected me.  I now know that I need to be energetic and try to enjoy things no matter what so that my students can try to do the same thing.  Lesson learned for sure!

Anyway, we separated guys and girls for changing.  The guys had pants and shirts - easy peasy!!  The girls were a whole other story.  Skirts that needed pinned, tops needed pinned, scarf things worn like a sleeve, hair, makeup the works!

I jumped right in pinning things saying over and over "I have no idea what I am doing!"  At one point I was not doing anything and asked a Thai mom what I could do.  She suggested makeup.  I was nervous.  So I carefully put some simple eye shadow on a girl and some lip color stuff.  The girl thought it was fine.  Later I noticed it was not fine because the mom took over and put more, LOTs more makeup on.  Make up was on almost, if not all, of the girls in K-6th grades.... crazy-ness!  OH and I had one of the Thai moms put flowers in my hair.  She thought it was so fun!

Then we headed to the ceremony.  Here are some pictures of the students who performed.  Each performance was in honor of something and all quite meaningful for the Thai folk.  For me, just seeing the costumes and the styles of dance were so fun!  The ceremony was quite long and warm but we made it.

4th Grade

4th Grade boys

4th Grade again - I couldn't resist!

5th Grade

 

6th Grade

Pre- kindergarteners.  They were SOO cute!

3rd Grade

Kindergarten

2nd Grade

High School Dancers

  

Models from fashion show...

 After lunch, we did some activities.  Each elementary class went to three different stations.  There were lots of stations with kids everywhere.  It was so fun to see what everyone was doing.  We did: Making Thai food, Muay Thai, and Painting Bags.  At the food station, we watched them cook a simple meal and sampled it (right after lunch might not have been my choice but thats ok!).  At Muay Thai (Thai boxing) we learned three simple moves, punching, kicking, and kneeing (is that a word?!).  I am sure my students would have rather learned more though!  Painting Bags was probably the favorite! We were in the shade - Thank goodness! - so that always helps.  Each student got a small draw string bag and painted it however they wished.  They turned out great!!

food making

Muay Thai

 Painting bags

By the end of the day we were all exhausted and ready to go home.  It was a day to remember for sure.
Sadly Moe and I did not get a picture together.... I guess we will just have to dress up some other time too!  I did get one picture with a kid, so here it is cropped and what not.

Sorry for the super long post full of pictures, but hopefully you enjoyed it!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's in Thailand is very different.  Only similarities:  Everyone goes out to dinner and everyone buys flowers.  Both are quite cheap here.  Other than that it is different.  Valentine cards (for kids) are not possible to find here.  There are some "Happy Valentines Day" cards like what 'grown ups' send.  Limited special Valentine's candy is made, but chocolate is popular to buy.  No fun heart candy or sweet hearts or anything like that.

Anyway, at school we had some fun.  Last week I had no idea what to do but was suggested to do the felt heart weaving basket.  It was fun! I learned a lot about my kids while doing it!

My school is blessed to be able to order some supplies for crafts and things.  I had them order me felt. I got way more than I needed.  I had about 100 pieces of 5x12 in. I am so sad that I forgot to take a picture of the GIANT stack. It was silly how much felt I had, and still have.  I gave half to my buddy teacher.  After her class and my class did it and a few mistakes, I still have 35 pieces left.

Anyway, it turned out great.  It is hard to tell in the pictures but the hearts do open.  I hot glued the edges a little so candy and things could stay in it without falling out.  I'm not really supposed to share kids pictures but I wanted you to see their crafts and the only pictures I had were with them!

The other thing that we did during our party time was play Valentine's Bingo.  It was a huge hit.  Even for my boys who HATE Valentine's Day as I was told so so SO many times! 

Finally, my Valentine/February bulletin board in our hallway.  Each student made a heart and wrote what book they LOVE reading and why.  I think it is so cute!

Anyway, enough about school.  Moe and I came home from work and relaxed for a little bit.  I took a nap. Moe played games.  Then we went out to a nice dinner and went grocery shopping.  Nothing fancy.  We enjoyed time together that is what really matters right! ;) Holidays aren't as important for us right now, especially Hallmark created ones as Moe says constantly.  I will say I was slightly sad that Moe did not buy me flowers since they are so cheap here. But he made up for it the following night by insisting I buy some clothes that I really liked.... I am trying to be adventurous with this whole clothe shopping thing here! More on that later though!

Random moments in 4B

So my class has been testing me a lot lately.  It has been frustrating. But we are all working on it.  Some of them are very cute and clearly notice when Ms. Brittany is frustrated so they try to help! It is sweet. Here are some fun things that I have had to deal with!

Today, I had a student carted out of my classroom in a wheelchair. He had tremendous pain in his side.  Nurse sent him home/to the hospital to check to see if he has kidney stones :(  poor kid.  My whole class cared for him though.  We had a moment of silence/prayer for him after he left and hopefully he will recover quickly and be back soon!

Today, I had a student tell me that I was a bad teacher because I had to look at his spelling list paper to give him the next word for his spelling list. He was appalled that I did not have his list memorized.  Additionally, he did not care that I have 4 spelling lists to work through, teach, prepare for!

I have a girl with mega ADD.  She gets distracted by everything, literally even her fingers distract her.  One day I was quite frustrated because I felt like she (or lack of learning support) was holding up the entire class. It took her 90 minutes to complete 10 of the 21 problems of the math quiz.  I stopped her there and the class had to move on.  Friday, she completed 11 problems in 40 minutes!!! We are making progress folks!

I had to explain paper cuts to half of my class.

Valentines Day, the word 'love', romance books, guys playing girls parts in a play, etc. make almost my entire class pretend hurl.

Some of my boys were fascinated by my painted toes during read aloud time Friday. So fascinated that they were touching my toes.... which in this culture is brave.... or rude, depending on how you view it!

We had a journal entry entitled: "While you were at school your mom turned into an alien.  What happens when you get home?"  Six kids asked me if this really happened and asked if what they wrote had to be true.  Creativity is NOT their strong suite.

I had to explain what a pair of something was.

Subject verb agreement is torture for ESL or ETL (English as a Third Language) students!

We are doing Country Reports.  One child is researching Canada.  They have to find 2 famous people from their country.  I learned that many many famous people are from Canada!

Google is a website with information on it.  Google is the only way to use the internet.  Not using Google is like death.

One day I said "4 on the floor" twenty times in a matter of 80 minutes.

I have a student who every morning responds to my "Good morning!" with 'Hey Bro!'

Last Wednesday, after our assembly, I played basketball and poison with my students.  We had 15 minutes left of school and they were shot and so was I.  We went outside and played.  I played too! It was loads of fun.

I know there is more fun stuff to share but currently my mind is away from me.  I will try to keep track better for you!

Blessed.

I just want to quickly write to tell you all how blessed I have felt this weekend.

It was a rough week with work and family and life.

My class is pushing the boundaries on a lot of things but I am trying to stay positive and find ways that we can work together for a common good.  This week we are performing leading the Elementary Assembly.  Each grade takes a month's virtue and leads the assembly, requiring skits and organization and pressure for new teachers like myself!  I have been quite stressed about it, having to make up scripts, assign roles, organize props, and what not.  It has been crazy. But Friday I realized that it doesnt matter. We will do our best. Come next month, no one will remember it!  Sure that might sound terrible but it is reality. A reality I needed to realize in order to move on.  My coworkers have been super supportive and encouraging throughout the whole process so that is always helpful as well.

Today, Saturday, two friends/coworkers/lifesavers and I went out to lunch and to get our nails done.  This has been somewhat routine for a group of us, but this time it was just 3 of us. It was so nice to be real with one another and talk life.  We all needed to share things and be there for one another and it was beautiful.  What a blessing!

Although Moe is fighting a cold he has been in high spirits most of the time.  We went to dinner tonight and then the grocery store and enjoyed being together.  We bought some new foods and are planning on trying a new meal for the first time tomorrow.  We have been cooking more the past couple weeks and it is fun to make meals together and explore what works and doesnt for us.

We are also considering traveling in the near future so that has helped bring my spirits up as well.  I have the itch to get of Chiang Mai so hopefully I can get rid of that soon.  Not because Chiang Mai is bad by any means, just because I WANT TO TRAVEL!!! We are here why not do as much as we can!

I have finally begun participating in school events! I have wanted to coach or help out with athletics or something since the beginning of school but struggle because of time commitments or scheduling or whatever.  I am now helping with scorekeeping for basketball and it is quite enjoyable.  I enjoy trying to talk to the refs in Thai. I enjoy sort of knowing what I am doing (they have some different rules here! the major one being 24 second shot clock for high school basketball!).  It has been fun and keeps me entertained for sure!

Well that is me.  Feeling the blessings tonight.  Even though our weeks have become fairly routine, I know I am blessed and here for a reason.

Bo Sang Umbrella Festival

This week was the Bo Sang Umbrella Festival.  Bo Sang is a small village area just about 10 kms out of Chiang Mai.  We were told that Friday night was a parade and ceremony.  Since we had a half day of school because of Teacher Appreciation Day (which is a whole other story), we decided to head out to celebrate!

We went with friends a little information about what to expect other than umbrellas!! We were not even that sure how to get there or where it was.... adventure right!?! We found a sign that said we needed to turn and when we got up to the intersection we found out we could not turn because it was right there! We found a great parking spot and let the adventure begin.

This is the entrance.... beautifully covered in umbrellas!

We walked in and were instantly confused!  There was a crowd formed with people sitting on both sides of the road, however seated very differently.  On one side was 'normal' people sitting on the sidewalk or on small stools, chatting away, with little groups all over.  On the other side was elevated stage with couches and chairs and special people sitting. We still dont know who those people were but they were special.  They had only pink, yellow, or blue shirts. Representing/honoring the royalty is our assumption because I think those are their colors.  There were podiums on one side and speakers making announcements.  Occasionally something was said in English but it was hard to hear so we really had no idea what was happening!

We decided to keep walking because it looked like the action was up ahead.  As we walked we past lots of umbrellas, lining restaurants and shops. Sometimes they were set up in fun things like this heart where you could go behind and take your picture!  It was very popular.

As we kept walking we finally ran into the parade! It was so cool.  We could hear the marching band before we could see them.  Yes it was night time but still a very lively parade. And escorted by a car nonetheless.

It really was an all out marching band! It was so fun. They played familiar tunes and we were dancing along like we would at home.

After them was a group of women dressed in white with white umbrellas.  Sorry for the blurriness but you get the idea.

Then there were pageant girls.  The girl in the middle was so so so so tall. Let me rephrase. She was TALL for Thailand!  We think she was about 6-4 with her 3-4 inch heels on.... Here that is very tall! The girls were beautiful though.

We were then surprised to see this beauty drive past!

Different pageant girls and boys!  As you can see they were holding banners similar to parades in the States, though we could only read the numbers.

More beauties being escorted on samlaws - three wheeled bicycles. 

As you might have guessed by now there were lots and lots and lots of what seemed like beauty pageant girls, all dressed differently and escorted semi-differently.  We are now on to being escorted, rather carried, by men.

More girls being carried by men.  As you can see people were still walking around and sometimes through the parade.  The atmosphere was very different.  Still lively but different.  People would run up, put there kids next to the person and take their photo, or just take photos of the people in the parade.  It was interesting!

 There were also lots of people playing music, which kept things loud! All kinds of different instruments were used, though mostly percussion.

Now we are entering the float like section of the parade.  These trucks were covered in umbrellas and lights. Each of them had a picture of the king or the queen and a girl, sometimes very young, sitting on a throne of sorts.  They did not wave or anything but sit and sometimes smile.

Oh also there were groups of people in between wearing matching clothing and carrying matching umbrellas. Sadly again we are uncertain of who they were or why they were there.

This is the turning point of our night right here! Suddenly the processional stopped.  We waiting where we were standing for about 5 minutes and still no movement. So we decided to keep walking.  We walked all the way to the end, which seemed to be forever, and back before it started moving again.  This seemed to not be standard as everyone was confused, tired, and restless.  We felt so bad for those wearing heels or uncomfortable costumes, and for the men carrying the women! It was so bizarre.

More elaborate floats

People dressed up as llamas.  They danced a little too.

 Another beautiful float

Umbrellas everywhere. Being carried, hanging, and acting as lights. It was beautiful.  Oh also you can notice the 30s everywhere. This was the 30th anniversary of this festival so again big celebrations.

 Standing in front of a wall of umbrellas!

We walked back to a section that advertised watching people make the umbrellas, but when we got back there no one was doing it.  It was sad but we still got to see beautifully hand made umbrellas.

They varied in size and design.  This one is probably 6ft in diameter.  There were some with elephants and people and scenery and everything you can imagine! Gorgeous.  The colors are amazing.

As soon as we walked out from there we saw fireworks.  No Thai celebration is complete without them! They were very fun though short.

Here is the umbrella that we bought.  It is about 3ft in diameter and cost us 50baht which is less than 2 dollars! We love the addition of color to our very white house!

After our adventures we were very hungry.  We went out to a true Italian restaurant and enjoyed ourselves. It was lovely.  Another wonderful night.