ทราบ Learning in Thailand ทราบ: My students!

Oh my goodness. I don't know how I am going to leave this place. Since I only have four more days of teaching (F, M, T, W), the time is seriously ticking. These children brighten every moment of my day and I'm so accustomed to them grabbing my legs or showing me random dead bugs under their desks. I'll miss their antics, enthusiasm, and most of all, their love. This sounds so cheesy, but I feel so much warmth after a day with my kids. Of course, I'm exhausted, dripping in sweat/colored pencil shavings/chalk, but I'm smiling.

Hard at work!

Yesterday while walking to lunch I was grabbed out of surprise by one of my six year olds. Walking ahead of me, Tom stopped and spun, shouting "I LOVE YOU TEACHER DEVEN!" and ran full speed, nearly knocking me over with his embrace. I almost lost it right there.

I attempted to communicate to my P4 class (10 year olds) that I was only to share one more class with them. This took lots of my acting and artistic (hmm) ability to illustrate an airplane, stick figures, and lots of thai translation for THURSDAY and FAMILY and LEAVE. My students seemed confused and one student Mod who barely spoke the whole time stood up and asked "Teacher Deven live Thailand?" The other students stood up too and started jabbering in Thai. I roughly tried to explain that I had to go to America for university, my family, etc...but then Mod asked to approach the blackboard. He erased my airplane from Thailand to America and drew it flying the other way. He looked at me with questioning eyes.

I had to take out my Thai money to explain that I wasn't sure when I was coming back. The students started jabbering again. I appeased them by saying "3 years maybe? You will be 13 years old". They started smiling again. Gah these kids kill me.

Nhaca and I are currently undertaking a mural project in the outdoor stairwell of Sanamklee school. We are painting a world map with different colored continents-planning to make the USA and Thailand the same color for symbolism. We started having the kids individually make handprints in multicolored paint today. It was hilarious to watch my kids squel with delight. THis is a very clean culture--for example, my kids all bring toothbrushes and toothpaste to school to brush after lunch. Even Nhaca's 15 year olds brush! To put their HANDS in PAINT was outrageous--and fun. They loved it and I helped them spread their fingers to get neat prints.

Nhaca and our lovely half-finished mural!