Here's something I wrote June 9th. Computer difficulties prevent me from posting more now, but I will try to soon.

I have been teaching 2nd grade girls phonics on my own for two weeks now. They spent the first 3 weeks on the short “a” sound. We spent the last two weeks on the short “i” sound. This week we are doing a much-needed review of the short “a” and “i.” They enjoy coloring, playing Simon-says, and slapping my butt. They do not particularly enjoy sounding out words with the aforementioned short vowels in them, but I have high hopes for the short “o.”

Adjusting to a new city and job had worn us all down a bit, so everyone from Baylor needed the stress reliever that the tropical island of Koh Samet provided so well. We rented a couple “beach houses” about a 55 second walk from the beach for a little less than ten dollars per person, per night. The water there was a bright blue, and it was the warmest ocean water I had ever felt. It actually felt a bit cooler than Bangkok, but that’s not saying too much. (Today it was in the 90’s in Bangkok, and I can’t even imagine what the humidity level is.)

The seven of us who are contracted with Systems have all pretty much settled in two our new apartment, which is incredibly small---think small dorm room size---no kitchen or living room, but it does have a bathroom. The very bright side is that it is RIGHT next to the sky train, which is the best transportation to all of Bangkok, and also has a bevy of street vendors right outside our back door. I have fruit smoothies every night, and am trying the various omelet, rice and noodle dishes the different vendors have to offer.

The people here are friendly, the shopping centers are MASSIVE, and the taxi drivers don’t speak English.

I’ll post later this week about my experience subbing for a kindergarten teacher. It turns out there is a big difference between kindergarten and second grade.