Day 6: The First Day of the Rest of My Life...

So I guess you could say that today was the first day of the rest of my life. Teaching is my life now. Besides summers off (thank God!), this is how I will spend my days until I'm old and gray...and the way things are going, retirement probably won't even be an option by the time I turn 65. Haha. But today was unbelievable. The students are precious, and the teachers I'm going to be working with are simply amazing. My supervising teacher, "Teacher Chris" (as the students call him), is the perfect combination of OCD and chill. I walked in the classroom today, and he was already getting out his computer to show Allison and me our tentative schedules for the rest of our time here at BCC. My kinda guy! We got to observe his science lessons today (about physical science and states of matter...so of course I was in heaven, and Allison called me a geek every other minute). Other than that, he kind of just showed us the ropes of BCC and introduced us to most of the teachers in the English Immersion Program (EIP) that we'll be working with during our time here. I will be teaching 4 science lessons (5th & 6th), 4 math lessons (5th & 6th), and an English lesson or two each week. All of the teachers seem really nice and accommodating, but the educational politics have already been clearly demonstrated. I guess that's another one of those things that remains the same no matter what culture you're in. I'm super excited about teaching, but I'm really nervous that I won't be able to memorize all of the students' Thai names...they're ridiculous! One kid's name is for sure "Kiddyporn." REALLY!? What were his parents thinking!? Ok so anyway...there are so many differences between the way BCC is managed and how schools are run back in the States. I feel like I could write an entire book about all of that, so perhaps I'll just wait until later to get into it.

Well, no massage today. I'm not gonna lie, I'm pretty glad about that because my poor shoulder needed a rest anyway. Those Thai masseuses are rough! We did get to ride the skytrain for the first time today though. That was interestingly fun. A jam-packed subway above ground...Oh yeah, it's a blast being crammed next to people yelling random words in a language you can't understand while trying to figure out which stop you're supposed to take and trying your best not to touch anything around you for fear of some ungodly disease. Gotta love it! :) I'm already sad that Mama Jo is leaving to go back to the States on Saturday. I don't even want to think about what it's going to be like fending for ourselves here. Hopefully a Thai/English dictionary will be good enough...haha. Yeah right.

I realized today that I can't escape some things. Though I'm half a world away from home, I find my heart and my mind wandering back to things I have left behind. I want so much to focus on the things here in Thailand and continue seeking what God is trying to do in my life...but it's way easier in theory than in practice. Everywhere I turn, I'm reminded of people back home. In every conversation, every reference, every thought. Psalm 37:4 haunts me, whether I'm in Tennessee or Thailand.

I'm out.
Cwalk.