I'm Alive!

I've been really bad at writing but it's because I haven't really had the energy but I'm going to try to get back in the habit of writing every few days.  I went back to the hospital yesterday and was diagnosed by yet another doctor who put me on five more meds (brings the count to 16 different medications in the last two and a half weeks) and I'm PRAYING that they work this time.  If they haven't worked by next Monday, I'll have to be admitted into the hospital for them to give me intravenous antibiotics and drain my ears.  But no worries, I had a good feeling about this doctor and hopefully I will be back to one hundred percent soon...

Because let me tell you, having a classroom of kindergarteners for 9 hours a day and feeling like crap is not the best situation.  And that leads me to my next topic - NEW SCHOOL!  Like I said before, my school is an all kindergarten school and I have the youngest class or as they're known, "the babies."  About two weeks before I got there, they split the youngest class into two separate classes because the enrollment numbers had increased significantly for the second semester.  I have the smallest class with nine little ones and since the school wasn't really prepared for the increase in numbers, my classroom doubles as the library and is connected to the front office.  The good things about this is that I have books everywhere to use and that if I need anything like materials or extra assistance, I can ask the two administrators for help.  The bad things about this is that I don't have a blackboard or wall space to hang anything or storage space.  I also don't have a CD player, which is a huge downfall because having kindergarteners from 7:45 to 4:30 without any music is very hard and not as fun as it could be.  I did borrow one for my last class of the day today and it was amazing, they paid attention for a surprisingly long time before scattering and I think the administrators noticed that the presence of music was a good thing because they told me that would get me one after January 1st (definitely won't believe it til it's sitting on my desk).  Apparently they are building two new classrooms starting in March so maybe I'll have a real classroom eventually.  But seeing that it's Thailand, not too much runs according to schedule so it could be a while before they actually get built.  I can't even describe how different this classroom is compared to the other four classrooms I was bouncing between at the old school.  I would post a picture of the previous ones but it's not even worth it.  There is a picture of my classroom at the bottom of this entry.

I am the classroom teacher and I teach English, Math and Social Science and my Thai teacher teaches Thai.  They have one extracuricular class a day - art, sport, song and drama, computer and KLC (not sure what it stands for but we go to a big room with lots of toys and they're supposed to play nice with each other).  I also teach "Extra English" for an hour after school for parents who make their kids suffer through more classes - just kidding, we usually just review stuff and color and sing.   My kids are very young but they speak and understand more than my previous 130 kids combined.  I get a "Good Morning Teacher Ana" and a hug every morning.  Unfortunately, I'm going by Teacher Ana because Annaliese is a bit too much for them. 

Let me introduce you to my class:

Suri - one of the littlest and one of my favs because she always wants hugs

Lily - doesn't really say much but is well behaved

Gianni - my half Italian, half Thai little devil

Eye - The bane of my existance, don't let the smile fool you.  She's the youngest student in the school and yesterday she peed her pants four times because I threw her in the shower each time and she likes the way the water feels.  I made her wear a diaper today. 

Sarah - doesn't really talk and I think she's scared of school

Luca - another one with a cute smile but is definitely NOT the definition of an angel - he does have a lot of potential but all the Thai teachers in the school are obsessed with him after he hits someone or something, they pick him up and say "no" but he likes being help so it's kind of counterproductive

Dam - haven't quite figured him out yet, rocks a ponytail so that's cool

Leo - Love of my life, he's actually ten times cuter in the morning because he comes with a mohawk

Ethan - biggest spoiled brat I've ever met, am I allowed to say that? But is actually super smart and when he feels like paying attention, he brings a lot to the table.  However, he bites to get his way and that is definitely no good. His mom is Taiwanese, his dad is from Finland and they speak Chinese and English to him so he is learning Chinese, English and Thai right now.

Teacher Maiyan - My Fillipino assistant teacher who actually teaches computer class and song and drama class to the whole school but assists on a lot of my lessons and she is the best!  Speaks very good English and definitely knows what she is doing. 

Teacher Tudktuk - My Thai teacher who helps assist with some of my classes and teaches my class Thai.  She doesn't speak too much English but is really good with the kids and is laughing all the time - not sure if she's laughing at me or herself but I think herself and that's why I like her.  

Two of my little nuggets 

My Classroom - not a full shot of it but most of it minus my desk, Teacher Tudktuk's desk, some cupboards and bookshelves

I stayed at school today until 5:30 because I wanted to make my room feel more like a classroom.  Since no one had really used it as a classroom before me, it doesn't really have much in it that is personalized for our "Panda" class (all the classes are named after animals).  So I made a bulletin board out front with a panda border to post our schedule and all the children's photos and a class picture that we took today.  Another good thing about this school is that Christmas is in full effect here because we have so many foreign students and students with mixed backgrounds.  Literally, the school looks like Christmas threw up on it and it's awesome.  Imagine all the tacky decorations you possibly can and more garland than you have ever seen in your life - I had no idea pink and blue garland was so popular.   Teacher Tudktuk made a Christmas tree out of garland on our door and today Eye's mom brought us a little white fake tree that I decorated with ornaments from Ethan's mom and put it outside our room.  We'll have to see how long it takes for it to get eaten or knocked over - I'm guessing by 9 am tomorrow.  We have a large (fake) tree in the center of the school and Santa is coming next Friday the 23rd!  I'll be sure to take more pictures when everything is fully decorated...