Nanta

Well, the monsoon rainy season has already started. It changes depending on the person, but I heard that it will rain for 6 weeks straight... It started this Wednesday and it hasn't stopped once yet :( I asked a coffee shop owner when she thought the monsoon would start. I laughed, when she said in her broken English, "Two days later." Well, I'm not laughing any more. She was exactly right!

This Saturday night I went to a show called , Nanta, with my friend. It was awesome! It was a "cooking" show, but the performers used the kitchen utensils as percussion instruments. Being a drummer all through school, I loved it! I think I'll take my parents to see it too when they come.

I took a taxi to meet my friend for dinner before the show. I thought a taxi would be faster than the subway, since I only had an hour to get there. There happened to be a car accident on one of the bridges, so I was in the taxi for a LONG time. It was stop and go traffic for about an hour. I don't usually get carsick, but let's just say I started to panic. Here I was in a taxi, stomach churning, about to get sick in the car! It was raining hard, but I didn't care, I opened the window and took some deep breaths. As the rain was pouring in my window, I was praying hard! Haha! "Please don't let me get sick in the taxi!" Thankfully it passed. Whew, that could have been really bad!!

At playtime, the kids like to play different things. I always hear the girls say, "I want to be the Big Mom." I'm not really sure what a "big mom" is, but I don't ask questions... :) Does that mean there's a "small mom"? Anyway, they've been on this kick during playtime where they like to pretend that someone died! It sounds strange I know, and really it is. On Friday, as I was grading some homework I heard one of the girls say, "At playtime I want to be the big mom and I died." Haha! What does that even mean? It made me laugh!

Toilet paper pumpkin

Last night I was out with a few friends eating dinner and planning a retreat for our college group. We'd eaten dinner and were eating ice cream at Baskin Robins. I came right from work, and had to go to the bathroom before we even ate dinner, but we'd already started planning, and I didn't think I could leave. Anyway, by the time we got to Baskin Robins, I had to go really bad, but there was no bathroom. As I sat there, assessing whether I could hold it till I got home, I mentioned it to the others. My friend, JC, said I should just go to the coffee shop next door. I was skeptical, thinking it was rude to use a business' bathroom without even eating at the place... JC said it was fine and offered to go with me. I was trying to "blend in" as I walked to the bathroom. No such luck. It was locked, so JC had to go ask for a key.

He came back from the front counter with not only a key, a rather large one I must say, but also a big pumpkin container of toilet paper ! HAHA! In some bathrooms here you have to get toilet paper on the wall before you go into the stall. Never though, had I been handed a pumpkin basket of toilet paper, by a guy friend. He was embarrassed, so it made it even funnier! I was so flustered, I couldn't get the key to open the door! When I came out, he was still laughing at me, ready to take a picture of me with the key and the pumpkin. Whew, that sure was a bathroom experience! I wonder if other people think it is as funny as I did, when the coffee shop people hand them the big pumpkin of toilet paper?

I don't like lunch

One of my boys had been complaining, "I don't like lunch..." every day for about the last week. Finally, the other day I asked him why. Here I was trying to be all compassionate, thinking he was being picked on or something. When I asked why, he said, "I don't like healthy food. There is no ice cream." I busted out laughing. We've been learning about different foods this month and he literally lights up when we talk about junk food. He affectionately calls it "junkie food" and he's always talking about chocolate, fried foods and candy. He's five! Haha. Good to know that there's no bullying going on at lunch as I previously feared!

I don't know how to be a parent

I had quite an interesting day. During the kids' 20 minute playtime, I'm usually sorting things, writing out homework sheets or doing some sort of prep, but today I just sat down on the mat and played. One of my boys came up and sat on my lap. He's not really much of a hugger, so I was kinda surprised. He's a chunck, and definitely a lap full. He pretty much sat on my lap all of playtime, just enjoying sitting there. After a while, I asked him, "Do you sit on your mom's lap at home?" He looked up at me and said matter of factly, "No." When I asked why, he said, "She hits me." Woah... When I asked why she hit him, he said, "Because she says I'm ugly." Oh man, this totally broke my heart. This is a five year old boy who so desperately wants to be loved! I'm sure his parents love him, but for a child to not know that he is loved by his parents is one of the saddest things in the world to me. How much better of an effort I would have given towards loving him if I knew that quite possibly I'm the only person in his life showing him love.

Another boy today came up to me sobbing after lunch. They weren't the fake whiny tears that he sometimes produces to get what he wants. He was clutching his ear, in obvious pain, turning to me to make it better. He'd had an ear infection before, and I guess that's what it was this time too. There was only a 1/2 of school left, but he just wailed, holding his ear because any sound was making him wince. I just held him, laying his head on my shoulder, trying to calm him, knowing there was nothing I could do to make it better. What a helpless feeling to know that this little boy I love, was in so much pain, and I could do nothing to stop it. I would imagine a parent feels this so much more when their child is hurting. I'm only 23, I don't know how to be a parent yet...

On a lighter note, it's so funny (and strange) to hear them repeat the things that I guess I say throughout the day. They are like little parrots, picking up on everything when I least expect it. Recently I hear them saying to each other, "Right, Jina?" They'll make some statement like, "I am wearing sandals today, right Jina?" It doesn't really make sense, but it makes me laugh because when I am talking in front of the class and I notice one student isn't paying attention, I'll say in the middle of my sentence, "Right, Sally?" just to get their attention.

Another one is that apparently I say, "tricky" a lot, cause now they launch into a homeade song saying, "I tricked you, I tricked you..." They also picked up on my use of "just joking" and "oh man!" They truly are little sponges. It's encouraging because when I feel so tired of teaching them how to to have good character, and for the boys how to act gentlemanly (which by the way is not throwing the girls' shoes in the trash can) and for the girls, how to act lady-like (which by the way is not lifting up your dress for the world to see)...so many times I feel like I'm not getting through to them at all. But I figure, if they picked up on me saying, "oh man" they are probably picking up on all the other too, I just can't see the results. Man, being a teacher is a lot harder than I thought it would be! It's also a lot more rewarding than I thought it would be.

The outside dangers

Today I have no school! It is super nice out, so I thought I'd spend the day outside. A few times now I've tried to go to the river and lay out in the sun in the grassy park area. Each time I move farther and farther from the bike path because people gather to look at me laying there! Haha! I guess they are just curious as to why someone with such white skin as me, would want to "ruin" it by laying in the sun. So funny! Whenever people stare or spy on me when I'm doing something, at first I used to be really uncomfortable, but now I just smile and wave. I think everything I do makes them laugh... :)

I also went for a really long walk on the river. I didn't realize that there was a marathon today. There weren't signs or anything and the walk wasn't closed, so I ended up going the opposite direction, trying to dodge all the runners! I decided to cheer them on while I was at it! Once again, they laughed. Some of the runners run with balloons tied to their backs. I'm not really sure why. Anyway, one guy ran past me with the balloons and a gust of wind came by right at the same moment and the balloon smacked me right in the face!! Oh man, I laugh all the time here! My life is just funny these days...

Little People- Big hearts

Wow, it was quite the week. I am so glad this week is over. It was a crazy week because of all of the things going on at school. I was feeling pretty swamped with work, but I think the worst of it is over. I had parent-teacher conferences today. I was worried about them, so I'm glad they went well. It was actually really fun to meet the parents because I learned so much about the kids. I found out that I understand the kids a lot more now. One boy's mom told me that he is mischievious and a trouble maker because all of the attention is focused on his baby sister at home.

Most of my kids are really affectionate and want to give me hugs all the time, but there's one girl who is pretty reserved and just kind of sits back and watches everything. Today, right before she left, she came up, hugged my leg and said, "Teacher, I love you so so much." Though I hear it from all the others many times, it was really special to hear it from her. It's really going to be hard to leave these kids at the end of the year. They are truly special little people.

I'm buying a bike tomorrow. It's used, so hopefully everything goes through as planned. I'll try not to get hit, run over any kids, or fall of the bike like last time ;)

It's a 3 day weekend and I'm going to a Hillsong concert on Monday! :)