No Vacation

So, I’ve been teaching for 9 days now and I have 5 more classes before the October term ends. Our semesters are usually not this short. The normal length is about four months. This term is a lot shorter because it’s during the students’ break from school. They have a few weeks off before Term 2 starts, so we make use of this time to offer a condensed version of what they usually get during a regular term. I know it can be confusing. Just think of it as a crash course. We meet every day instead of once a week. Shorten the time but still get the same amount of lessons.

Anyway, I have 9 students total. They are all different in their own way. Some are quiet, some are energetic, and others are just… uhmmm… there. They’re simply content on what they are doing. I could tell that they are listening, their just very reserved. Observing them in class makes me think about how I was as a student. Was I the reserved one or was I the annoying student who wouldn’t stop answering every question? I wonder what my teachers would say. That would be interesting to know… or maybe not. Hahaha!

Two of my students are sisters, Prim and Dream. I have no idea how to say their real names so I stick to the nicknames they shared in class. I had both of them in my class before when I was an intern. They were very timid and quiet then. I guess that’s because they didn’t really know me. Having them in my class now is awesome. We laugh and have fun. They are the sweetest girls. They always bring me flowers. They pick them up before they come to class and they always surprise me with a different kind every day. Sweet huh? I know. I just hope they didn’t get it from someone’s yard. That would be bad.

These flowers are called Gasalong or Peep. Dream braided them together to make a beautiful haku lei.

No idea what the name is, but I was told that it's in the same family as Marigold.

We called it "mutated" Hibiscus because it had so many petals.

You would be amazed to know that students here in Thailand are always in classes. EVEN DURING THEIR VACATION. Example, most of my students have 4-5 classes a day. They start at 9am and end at around 5:30 or 6pm. They don’t get any break at all. They take Math, Science, and English classes to be better prepared when school starts. Some also take special interest classes like sports or learning to play a musical instrument. I am just dumbfounded with all these classes they have. Maybe it’s a Thai thing because I don’t remember having all these extra classes when I was growing up. For me, and probably for a lot of Filipinos, having a break in school means playing as hard as you can.

I don’t understand the reasoning behind all these extra tutoring classes and I’m not complaining. After all, I wouldn’t have a job without it. I just feel bad for my students sometimes. They are young and all they do is study. Yeah, they get to have their free time, but it’s different. I admit that I don’t understand it because I am an outsider… and that’s OK.

I am proud of all my students who work so hard to gain an education. I hope others value it the way my students do.