One week left :(

As my time here draws to a close, I am finding myself wanting to stay more and more. This past week I had to remind my students that this coming Friday is my last day here. It's so sad for me to think of saying goodbye to them. They are all so sweet and I will miss them!
I've been finding plenty to keep me busy though. On Tuesday I went with some people to see a ballet at the Thailand Cultural Center. Unfortunately, we hired a taxi driver who didn't know where he was going. After turning around in the wrong spot, we sat in traffic for a long time. Finally we decided just to walk the rest of the way. We arrived a half hour late and missed half the show! :( Oh well. That's what happens sometimes here.
On Thursday I was invited over for dinner by the parents of one of my students. It was nice to be in a home again and to eat a real meal! :) However, my student was afraid that when I came I would give her extra homework. Once we established that I would never do that, I think she enjoyed having me over. :)
Yesterday was another busy day. I got to visit Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn) with Heidi and Miriam. I have now been to the three major temples in Bangkok. This one was different from the other two and was very pretty. The walls were a mosaic pattern made out of broken dishes. The steep steps that seemed more like a ladder made me face my fear of heights. I made it up, however!
Please pray for me this last week as I finish up teaching. I am looking forward to coming home, but I will miss everyone that I have gotten to know here.

Week 5 review - Rainy season is not gone yet!

This is a picture of the crazy amount of fish at the floating market I went to today!

The floating market

Maria and me on a water taxi

This dark sky out my window is a picture of what it's been like all week

Me with some other teachers at a restaurant last Saturday

Sorry I haven't updated this is such a long time! This past week has been so busy; I have barely had a chance to check my e-mail. Anyhow, last weekend was fun! On Friday night I went to church and then to a Lebanese restaurant called Beirut. The food was so good - it reminded me a little of Uzbek food.

On Saturday I went with Heidi and Miriam to the Bangkok refugee center where they help teach English on Saturdays. I went to the more advanced class and got to meet a few of the girls in the class. That evening we went to church again and then out to a different restaurant. (You can see the picture above.)

Sunday I stayed at home, trying to relax and get ready for the coming week. At school on Monday, I got to play a review game with them for their Social Studies test. I had them choose some of the prizes that I brought with me from home. Not all of them liked the prizes, but it was fun to see the ones that did.

Starting Tuesday, it has rained every afternoon this week! By "rained", I don't mean a little shower that lasts for half an hour. I mean a downpour that completely flooded the roads around the school for hours afterwards! I wish I had pictures to show you. It's crazy. All of the people living here have said that it's never been this bad in one week before.

Wednesday was my first day to teach full time! I also was observed teaching a Social Studies lesson. All in all the day went well, even though I was tired by the end of it! In reading, the kids worked on making a tide pool diaroma out of shoeboxes, magazines, and clay. (Our story this week is called "Turtle Bay".) I enjoyed watching them get excited about the project.

By Friday I felt like I was getting more used to teaching all day. I felt pretty good about how the lessons went that day, especially writing. Please pray for me this coming week as I get all my lessons ready. We are starting science and they will be growing and disecting beans. Also, in reading we are doing an author study instead of our regular story for the week. These are fun things, but take more planning!

Today was a great end to an already good week! :) I got to go with Maria, someone I met at church, to a small floating market outside of Bangkok. We ate food cooked by some of the women working in the boats. I enjoyed just being able to relax and be outside - It was a beautiful day! No rain and not too hot! :) By the way, at some point today I took nearly every form of transportation available in this city - taxi, sky train, bus, mini-bus, boat, and tuk-tuk!

Another week done already!

These are just a few pictures of the kids in my class and from Good New Club. On Tuesday all the kids decorated shirts to wear during the club. It was nice to see their names written on the shirts to help me remember them! I love the expressions on the boys' faces in this picture! :)

I feel like I keep saying this, but this week went by so fast! Teaching more often during the day has kept me busy with writing lesson plans and grading too.
Next Wednesday I will start teaching full time! It's a little scary of a thought, but I actually do not have that many more subjects to add in order to be teaching all day.

This week I enjoyed teaching during the "Non-Thai" time. Every day all of the Thai students have to go to Thai class. This is required by the government. During this time, our 6 non-Thai students combine with 6 from another class. The two teachers take turns teaching them during this time. I was able to take this class this week. I enjoyed it because it is a more relaxed time where I can have the students do fun activities. On Thursday I had them write letters to my daycare class from this past summer. Some of the letters turned out really cute. :)

This weekend I am looking forward to relaxing. I hope to also get ahead in writing lesson plans for next week so I will be prepared for each day. Please pray for me that I would have creative ideas in presenting the lessons and that the students would be able to learn!

Where has this day gone?!

This is a picture of my work area in the classroom. After my first day they set up a computer and two desks for me. You should see it now! It's covered with papers!

I just wanted to start off by saying that today flew by! Today was my first day to teach reading to the kids. That went pretty well although I think a lot of them did not quite understand the vocabulary words. We'll have to review them again tomorrow.

I had a fifteen minute break during spelling, and then I led the Social Studies time. The kids got to share their create-a-country projects to the class. Some of them turned out really cute and funny too! :)

I taught Bible after recess. Then the class had computer time and I had them do a webquest about the Olympics that another teacher put together. (Our story in reading this week is about the Olympics.) Next, while the class went to music, I wrote a Bible lesson and did some grading.

Then I read to them for 15 minutes before lunch. I just started a new story on Wednesday - Ramona Quimby - Age 8. It's such a good story; I've read it at least 10 times! I can hear Robin laughing at the funny parts while I'm reading. :)

Anyways, it was hard to believe that the day was over this afternoon! Tomorrow I'm teaching 4 lessons so I'm sure it will go even faster!

So that's what's been going on at school...This weekend was fun for me. On Friday some of us teachers went and got a foot massage. It was only 200 baht (six dollars) for an hour! It was nice to relax after the week!

Then we went and made sushi at a teacher's apartment. I have never really had sushi before, so this was a new experience for me. It was pretty good though.

On Saturday we went to a "Living in Bangkok" fair at the hospital, which is huge, by the way. I went with Holly, one of the other teachers here, and we could not figure out where everything was!

There was also a craft fair where I was able to buy a few souvenirs! :)

I also got to visit Lisa who is in the hospital. I'm sure most of you already know that she got in a bad car accident several weeks ago. She is still in a coma. Heidi (another teacher who knows her) and I were able to visit her room and talk to her mother, who flew in from America, for a long time.

Anyways, please pray for me this week as I am teaching more. Also, especially pray for Lisa that she heals quickly! Please pray for her family too, as they wait and trust God. Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Good News Club

Today was the first day of Good News Club after school. Every Tuesday starting in September and running throughout the school year, ICS holds this for the elementary students. I was asked to lead the 3rd graders around while I'm here because they didn't have anyone. I didn't think it was going to be all that hard since all I have to do is to lead them to the different activities. However, I didn't realize that I'd have 27 kids, many of whose names I don't know. Once we got to the first station, it settled down and I enjoyed it. :)
Please pray for these kids, as some of them do not come from Christian homes. This is a great chance for them to hear more about God every week.
This week I am also continuing on working with my class on their Social Studies project. Today and yesterday they were making maps of their imaginary countries. I have really enjoyed seeing all of their ideas and creativity. Most of them are enjoying it so much that they asked to do it during their free times of the day. (By the way, I cannot take credit for the idea - one of the other third grade teachers came up with it.)
Well, that's all for now! :)

Weekend at Koh Samet

This is a picture of the beach that I visited this weekend! I was able to go on a weekend trip with some of the other teachers at my school to Koh Samet, a little island about 3-4 hours away from Bangkok. We used various modes of transportation to get there: taxi, bus, and speed boat. The speed boat was a little scary at first because it was small and we kept bouncing in the waves. It was fun though. :)

This is where we stayed on the island. This sign said "Lost Resort" and the other sign said "Last Resort" so I'm not sure what the name really was.

We spent most of the day Saturday on the beach. The water was great - it was the perfect temperature. I enjoyed standing in the waves for a while - long enough to get sunburned. :)

That night we went for dinner at a really neat restaurant. We got on a little boat to get there. The tables were all over the water, so our feet dangled above the water while we were eating. The food was really good too!

The ride getting to and from the restaurant was an adventure because the roads are all unpaved and very bumpy. We rode in the back of a truck with seats. The roads are also very narrow!

All in all the trip was a blessing for me. It was really nice to get away from school for the weekend and to get to know some of the other teachers here. I'm really glad I got the chance to go! :)

Class picture!

Yay! Today I was able to get a picture with the class and I thought I'd share it! :) They are such a great class. By the way, they arranged themselves for the picture without any direction!

This week has been good so far. I have been teaching Bible and Social Studies. This is more than the suggested schedule for student teaching, but it's nice to be able to do it. The kids listen really well.

We are starting a social studies project called "Create your own country". Today the lesson was about making a landform map using colors to represent the landforms (like mountains and valleys, etc.). They will be making a large map of this for their imaginary country later. Today they just practiced with a small space. Some of them made beautiful maps. Others I had to re-explain that I wanted them to use colors, and not little pictures. :)

Oh, and Bible was really cool today. One of the girls asked about how you can know if you are going to heaven someday. So Robin and I were able to explain a little about salvation to them. It was so awesome! Please pray for the class, that they understand what was shared and remember it!

Ups and Downs

Well, the first weekend is past and now I've started the first full week of school. This weekend was good and bad at the same time. I got two e-mails with difficult news that was hard to read. I think God is teaching me through this how to depend on Him above everything else. He is also showing me how much He loves me. I was just reading the other morning in Zephaniah 3 about how God delights in His children and rejoices over them. Just thinking about that has enough power to put everything into perspective. Anyways, please pray for me as I discover this truth more.
The weekend was fun too. I got to hang out with some of the teachers at the school and get to know them a little bit better. I was at the mall 4 different times this weekend, which was interesting. (The mall is not just clothing stores; it also has a big grocery store, many restaurants, and a bank.)
On Sunday I went to church with my friends the Ketchams. :) Afterwards I got to spend time with Liz (their daughter) at the mall. We tried to go bowling, but there was a really long wait. We ended up just going clothes shopping. She took me to this shop that has brands from America but at really cheap prices!
Oh, and today's Bible lesson went well! It was just a memory verse activity, but I think the kids had fun, and I did too!

First week of school

I can't believe it's already Saturday and I've been in Thailand over a week. I arrived at ICS in Bangkok on Monday and I've been really busy since then.
On Monday I went grocery shopping at the Central Mall (a big mall near the school) and got a lot of things that I needed. Actually, my apartment had quite a few things in it so I didn't need to buy so much. The school did a very nice job of setting it up and puting things in it that I needed (such as food, a toaster oven, and towels).
Tuesday was spent unpacking and meeting people around the school. I got to meet my cooperating teacher, Robin, and I set up the "about me" bulletin board she asked me to make.
Wednesday was my first day in the classroom. I went to the staff devotions at 7, and then met with the elementary principal, Mrs. Elsie. She took me to the classroom and I got to meet the kids. They are so cute. Robin had them sit on the carpet and they could ask me questions. They asked quite a few about my pets that I have at home. :)
In the class we have 9 Thais and a few other nationalities, including American, Korean, and Malaysian. In all there are 15 students - 9 girls and 6 boys. I enjoyed observing these past few days. Robin is a really good teacher and never has to raise her voice at the kids. I hope they listen to me that well!
I have a little work station set up in the classroom for me, with two desks and a computer.
So, on Friday I went with the class to art. It was cute because they were all whispering to each other about how I was in the room (usually I do other things during their specials). The teacher was handing out paper and he asked if everyone had a piece. The kids said, "No! Miss Janita doesn't have one!" :) Then they started begging for me to have one too. A little while later, one of the boys asked the teacher why I just sit there and do nothing. The teacher explained to him that it may look like that, but actually I was watching and learning. I thought it was funny. :)
Besides school, I have been able to do some fun activities. The other teachers have been really great about inviting me to do things with them. I have hardly eaten in my apartment so far! :) It's been fun getting to know new people and seeing what it would be like to actually live and teach here.
Well, I am starting to teach on Monday, so please pray for me because I am a little nervous. I'm starting with a Bible lesson, though, so I'm excited about that.

Firsts on this trip

Recently, I have been thinking about all the things I've done for the first time on this trip. I thought I would share them... :)
1) first international trip by myself
2) first time to have a blog
3) first swim in 85 degree ocean water! (I'm not kidding)
4) first time in the Indian ocean
5) first visit to Cha-am (where I've been for the past three days)
6) first time to eat at MK restaurant the "right" way (I took a picture to show you, Chris :)
7) first time to feed an elephant
8) first time to play Guitar hero (I know I could have done this anywhere, but I honestly hadn't tried it before this trip)
9) first time to see a live jellyfish (besides in the aquarium)

Arriving in Thailand

Well, I'm finally here! :) After going through three flights (about a total of 20 hours in flying time) I arrived at the Thai airport. Thankfully all of my connections were easy to find and I got through immigration with no trouble. The only hard part was lifting my two fifty pound bags off of the conveyor belt by myself. :) Mrs. Caynor (Lisa) picked me up from the airport and we went to a hotel near the airport.
The next morning we drove to their house about two hours away. On the way I had my first experience here using a traditional bathroom. :) Most of the day we spent in a nearby mall eating lunch and looking around. Yesterday evening I got to go to the beach which is right across from my hotel room. The water is literally 85 degrees and felt great! I have never been in ocean water that warm.
After a late dinner, I was able to go to bed. Thankfully I managed to stay awake all day, so I was able to sleep the whole night. Yay! I feel like I'm almost adjusted to the time change now.
Well, thank you for all your prayers on my way here. God definitely guided me through everything. I will keep you updated with what happens next! :)

Pre-trip: August 17

Hello everyone! Thanks for reading this! I just wanted to ask you all to pray for me as I leave on Wednesday morning at 10:20. I will arrive in Thailand the next night (Thai time - 11 hours ahead). One of the verses that has been helping me as I get ready to go is Psalms 139:9-10: "If I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." Thank you for your prayers! :)