What.
So, I'm in the middle of reviewing 200 students. Since I'm now teaching the English Promotion and Development kids, I have to review their progress. To this I say, well, shit. Thankfully I was smart and have already started. I have them maybe a third of the way done. That still leaves a BUNCH left to do. The ones that are really good and really bad have stood out since the beginning and are easy to review. It's all those pesky middle-grounders that blend into their desks that I don't know what to say about. To help future me, I'm taking in my camera and having them all line up with a little sign that has their number on it so I can have a visual reference when I finish their reviews. That will happen next week. Probably.
I've given some of my kids a conversation that I have presented as their final, but really it's just a way to waste time and keep them busy. So far my plan is working. The rest of my kids have finished a listening test which has been great in some ways and really disheartening in others. Kids that did great on their spoken questions test a couple weeks ago have apparently pushed all knowledge of question words out of their minds. Ask a question like "Who likes noodles?" And I get the answer "chicken." "What day does Natalie eat breakfast?" "Pad thai." "Where is the cafe?" "Sergio." "How many people eat meat?" "Yes."
For the past two weeks, we've either had half of our Friday classes or no class Friday at all. This week is one of the latter. It's a fancy Buddha day (can't remember the name) so school is closed. Lucky me that it also is Valentin's day. I think Fang and I will be going to eat hotpot at his house... But he apparently has some sort of surprise. Erp.
In two more weeks, we'll be proctoring the finals for the other teachers. After that, I've got one more week to come to work with few to no kids, where I'll be entering grades, finishing reviews, and just generally shooting the shit with the other teachers because I hope by then to be either completely or nearly finished and therefore have little to do.
Then Deanne comes. We'll meet in Chiang Mai and spend a few days there, and then come back to Lamphun and take a tour of the Wats here. Then a train or bus to Sukothai for a day or two, and we'll be off to the islands. I've let Deanne decide where she wants to go because she has graciously offered to pay for the flights and accommodation while there. Which I'm thrilled about because I really wanted to see the islands one more time before I left. The few days on Koh Chang last October were just not enough.
We'll fly back to Bangkok for a few days before we both leave. Deanne will head back to Georgia, and I'll be off to Osaka for a couple days. I get to go to Japan! I'm pretty excited, though I will be damn near broke. I have some US cash dollars I'm holding on to enough for I think a week or so while I try to find a job and not bug my friends too much that have already offered me their spare rooms or couches.
Hopefully I'll have something more blog worthy soon.
UPDATE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magha_Puja If you want to learn about the Buddha day, here's a Wikipedia page explaining it. Fang gave me a box of chocolate donuts (3 creme filled, 3 chocolate filled, all chocolate glazed chocolate donuts. I think it's safe to say he knows me) and a dress that I liked. Fun fact, I bought the dress in blue months ago, and he bought me the gray version. So now I have two! Which is awesome.
