Back in Action!

I've been back in Bangkok for a little over a week now. Visiting home was lovely. I was able to spend time with my family and many great friends. I went out to delicious dinners and brunches, saw a piano concert, went crosscountry skiing, gazed at many picassos and saw some excellent movies (Black Swan and True Grit). My friend Caroline visited me from Chicago at the front end of my trip. It was great to have a visitor in town, it gave me an excellent excuse to get out of my neighborhood and explore the city. Following Caroline's visit, my paternal grandmother flew in from Green Bay. We really enjoyed having her with us to celebrate the holidays! Other than seeing people, the best part of the trip was definitely eating. I got my fill of Mexican food, ate an awesome steak on Christmas, and consumed an incredible array of seafood (crab, prawns, lobster, salmon...).

Leaving Seattle after such a relaxing stay was sad, but my life is in Bangkok now. I had an uneventful plane trip back and a full weekend to recover before going back to work. Being with my students again has been wonderful. In Seattle I found myself cooing at babies and making faces at toddlers. I was a little anxious that I would return to a classroom of criers-- that they would all be sad to have left their families after such a long vacation. Fortunately for me, this was not the case. Most of my kids ran right into the classroom without a backwards glance at their parents. I have them trained so well! School has changed a bit for me recently. I typically have one class of 2.5/3s that I teach all morning. Now, a second class is starting for students around six months younger than mine. For the first two hours they will be working with another teacher and for the second two hours they will be combined with my class. They are joining me gradually, I had eight students in my class today and I'll be up to 12 by February. Yes, all you teachers out there, I am completely spoiled to have such a small class! That said, adding new students (who are much younger) and doubling my class size completely changes the dynamic of our group. So far, it has gone well. Some of my new students are fitting in easily and are quickly adapting to our classroom routine. Others will need some work... I'm up for the challenge. Another new challenge I'm facing is the addition of quadruplets-- incredibly energetic four year old boys who speak no English-- to one of my extracurricular classes. It makes my head ache a bit to even think about that class, so I won't go into details.

Outside of work, I've been readjusting into normal Bangkok life. The weather here is incredible. I completely understand why this is the high season for tourism. I never check the weather here because I always know what it will say: 90º F and sunny. That said, I never could have imagined that 90º F could feel completely different at one time of the year from another. Humidity isn't so bad now and nights and mornings are downright cool (drifting into the mid 70s). This weather means that I suddenly want to be outdoors all the time. This weekend I joined a few friends from frisbee at an outdoor concert of the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra in Lumpini Park. We bought snacks from vendors, rented a mat, and stretched out on the lawn. This is the first time I've seen a symphony play in jeans and polo shirts. While the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra doesn't really hold a candle to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, we still had a great time. National Children's Day was this past week so the concert played music that was slightly oriented towards children. I can't remember everything we heard, but I do remember "Colors of the Wind" from Pocohontas, the Indiana Jones song, a Thai song teaching children to mind their manners, and "A Little Night Music" by Mozart. There were also some pieces from Thai musicals that the Thai part of the crowd seemed to know and enjoy (they seemed a little slow and morose to me). The night ended with a medley from My Fair Lady. Apparently these concerts extend all winter long while the weather is pleasant. I'm hoping I'll make it to another one at some point. There will also be a French film festival in the park this coming weekend that I'd like to check out.

Lots to look forward to in the coming weeks! My netball league will resume soon and I also have several little weekend trips planned. The first will be to stay at a friend's house near Khao Yai national park, the next will be to Bali, and I'm also toying around with the idea of going to a frisbee tournament in Cambodia. Also, two friends of mine from college, Ashley and Elliott, are moving to Thailand this week to begin their service with the Peace Corps! I'm hoping I'll get to see them some time soon.

I haven't been taking many pictures recently, so I'll just close this post with a picture I took of a popsicle I made with my new popsicle machine that my mom bought me for Christmas. Pomegranate juice and strawberries (which are in season here!). Yum.