This is going to be lengthy...

Well I've survived three days in kindergarten.  Not sure how seeing that I have no idea what I'm doing and all of the teachers kind of scare me.  I'm the only person in the entire school that speaks English and out of the 130 kids I have in class, only one looks American so obviously he's my favorite.  And he's the cutest.  Kindergartener's are funny - they fall down a lot, take their pants off a lot, spill everything put in front of them and are constantly punching each other.  I have yet to figure a lot of things out about the school such as why 130 kindergarteners take my English classes and 30 do not.  Seeing that they have pay for public and private schools here, I'm assuming maybe they have to pay more for English classes?  I think I'm at a public school but I have yet to figure that out as well.  Another thing...the uniforms.  Monday, the teachers were wearing military looking uniforms and the kids were wearing yellow shorts and vests.  Tuesday, the teachers were wearing pink sweaters and white skorts and the kids were wearing pink polos and white shorts.  Then today, the teachers were in black track pants and green polos and the kids in yellow, green and white polos and white and yellow shorts.  I can't figure it out!  Another thing I am mind boggled about is how after lunch, the kids brush their teeth and the security guard (who is the only male adult at the school and acts like a father figure) comes around and dumps baby powder in the kids hands and they rub it all over their faces.  If I have a class after lunch it's like I have 35 little powder faced monsters in front of me - so weird!  Something I am loving is that I'm barefoot all day - if I ever teach in the US, it'll be hard to keep my shoes on in the classroom.  One more thing - they don't have recess!  What's kindergarten without recess!  But I guess there's only rocks and dirt around the school so that wouldn't be much fun.  Instead they nap for two hours and I get really bored sitting there watching them sleep.  Also, the teachers smack the kids and it's something I don't know if I'll get used to - it makes me feel kind of uncomfortable. 

I have a lot of learning to do and I'm already running out of ideas for lesson plans!  I do wish I had another English speaking teacher at the school so I could have someone to talk to and to tell me what's going on.  Twenty-three more weeks in kindergarten and maybe I'll get the hang of it before then. 

On another note, I've become a decent driver on my motorbike.  Driving on the other side of the road isn't so bad, it's just the fact that no one drives in between the lines and goes right thru red lights that freaks me out a bit.  Motorbiking 10km over a mountain everyday will become the norm soon enough. 

Other things:
-  I miss the gym!  Who would have thought I'd be saying that - I do wish there was one around.
-  I miss my phone! Well I miss being able to text and call people whenever I want. 
- Food: (yes I'm sick of Thai food already)  Don't worry, after about five days of not eating (the smell still gets to me), I've found my food schedule.  Breakfast - granola bars that I brought over - soon to run out, Lunch - p,b and j and goldfish or white rice if I eat the school's food which I've been getting guilt tripped by the teachers into eating, Dinner - pasta and sauce.  I miss salads! And my orange chicken from Trader Joes!  We have a burner in our kitchen so I'm going to try to start going to the market and finding things to make stir-fry. 
- Weather:  HOT - The Thai are used to it and wear long pants, flannels and coats and I sweat thru a tank top in 5 minutes.
-  Internet:  Still at an internet cafe - we're working on geting it at the house but they will only install it if we pay for a full year so we'll see.
- The Beach:  I went yesterday after work!  The water was amazing and hopefully I'll be able to put it in my schedule to frequent it more often.
- Shopping:  Only food is cheap here (minus the American food store I found an hour away but I'm okay with that if it keeps me sane).  Everything else is normal priced or more expensive, probably because we are on a tourism based island.  I miss Forever 21!

One more thing - the lady I rent my motorbike from owns a bar and wants me to tutor her "ladyboys" that work there.  I said I needed one more week to get settled and I'd get back to her.  Teaching five year olds during the day and transvestites at night would definitely be an interesting schedule.  I'm sure my lesson plans would have to be adjusted...