Preston Faggart? In Thailand?

If Harmony Baptist Church is missing their piano player, I think I spotted him in a grocery store in Chiang Mai!

He kept saying he wanted to come over... So maybe he did?

They call me Teacher

So I ended up accepting the position at the bilingual school. They pay is great, the fellow teachers are fun, and the kids are adorable- even when they're wild and crazy demon-spawn.

I'm becoming accustomed to my new life: My commute is about 20 minutes, sometimes rain and sometimes shine and occasionally both! I'm teaching 3rd grade science and math to two classes and health to one of them. I came in at the end of the term, filling a vacancy from a teacher that just split to the US. In my first 2 weeks I've had to create exam outlines and the tests. That was [not] easy, seeing as I didn't really know what the previous teacher actually taught. But the other teachers have been supportive and remind me that this is Thailand, the due dates for these tasks don't really matter. This laid-backness has it's pros and cons.

I went to Mae Sai, a town on the border of Thailand and Burma/Myanmar, this past weekend. It has pretty good shopping for counterfeit everything- Nike shoes and Crocs to motorcycle gear, Viagra to Johnnie Walker and Malibu, and of course a plethora of pirated dvds. While I looked forward to potentially scoring some cheap goods, I went to activate my second entry on my visa. I can now stay until November 13 unless I extended my visa for 30 days or replace it with the work visa. Ideally, I will be going to Laos in early October to get the work visa. I didn't take any pictures in Burma because there wasn't much to see where I was, but I plan on taking lots of photos in Laos.

Switching gears, actually to something 'mechanical,' I have become very comfortable riding a motorbike in Thailand. Maybe too comfortable. First of all, let me say that I have been complimented on my abilities. People are surprised when they find out I never road a motorcycle prior to coming to Thailand (so about a month). I'm often told I 'drive like a Thai.' I'm taking that as a compliment, though I suppose it could go either way. Along with this comfort has come confidence, and with that confidence risk. I'll keep my helmet in  my basket, on my seat, or between my knees if I'm just going down a soi. I will wear it if I go longer distances on main roads and always on the highways or big roads. I quickly moved to flip flops from basketball shoes because the shoes made my feet dirty, they were a hassle to change in and out of when going somewhere, and I'm lazy. I think I also tend to drive fast. And I like to pass cars between cars. I watch and learn- that's the key to survival. Even more key- God's grace and protection. I've done some stupid things on two wheels- some on accident and some on purpose, but God has protected me through all of them.

Time to go to work

This past weekend, Friday through Sunday, I worked at an English camp for a language center. The camp was fun and a title challenging. I've heard about how schools and language centers can be disorganized, but I finally got to experience it. Day 1: I never said I would teach, I was just coming to a meeting to talk about teaching at it. I was greeted with a buttons with my name on it and asked if I need to print anything. I had no idea that I was teaching, much less what to teach, so I had nothing prepared. Finally, the following four teachers asked, what are we teaching? By the way, only one of us had done a camp like this. Well, of course we got different answers from different people. We did the past we could in the hour we had until the camp started. Day 2 and day 3 were similar, except at the end of the previous days we were given suggestions on what to teach the following day. "Maybe you can teach some conversation. And maybe you can teach some listening. Maybe read them a story and then ask questions. Maybe some grammar, too."

This brings me to today, Monday. The language center also operates a bilingual school. Actually, two of the days of camp were held at the bilingual school. They want me to teach full-time here. I will have 3 class at 1 hour each per day, but I must be at the school 8am-5pm to 'help out' with other ESL activities. From what I gather, schools promise light class loads to make the  comparatively low pay seem reasonable, then they add on extra classes or bury you in extra duties. The plus side to this offer is they will provide me with the necessary visa and work permit. I have no idea about the pay. The school is about 20km from my apartment, not a fun drive on a scooter when it's pouring like today. Alas, I'm about to hit 'Publish' and be on my way to the school.

I haven't talked to the universities or many other schools, so I doubt I will accept any offer today. I'll keep you updated.