First Day of Work and Then Some

Today I started my teaching job at Payap University.  The University is about 25 minutes outside of the city and the mode of transportation was the back of Ted's motorbike.  On the way to work we stopped for breakfast which included me pointing at random things that I could not identify and then eating them.  (bamboo was amongst my early morning delicacy.) 

Work was weird.  Good weird or bad weird?  I guess only time can tell.  The English Department is an estrogen-fest, which is in many aspects quite lovely.  The office is filled with warm and welcoming Thai women, all of whom tried to make me as comfortable as possible.  They brought me bottles of water and a mug to put my pencils in and told me not to get homesick when it started to rain.  

I have my own little cubicle and across from me sits a very jolly women with lots of Pooh Bear paraphernalia.  For the first few hours there was nothing for me to do.  So in typical Thai oddness I was given a copy of "Reader's Digest" to pass the time.  A nice Western teacher took me under her wing and showed me around the University a bit.  Took me to the lunch spot and pointed out the non-squat toilets.  

Suddenly it was 1 o'clock and I was standing in front of a room full of Thai kids and was apparently supposed to teach them English.  What I learned during that class is that Thai University kids are not exactly like American University kids.  For starters there is a lot of cell-phone chattery going on even as I was teaching.  Also i am referred to as Ajarn Elena (or Professor Elena) which is going to take some getting used to.  

Another thing I discovered were the nicknames they all use.  After a rocky few minutes of taking attendance using their 30338343983982 letter long Thai names they began telling me their nicknames.  My class included Guitar (or as he said it "gee tah" and then included a pantomime of guitar playing,) Opal (a boy's name), Peggy, and Champu (pronounced like my Cuban grandmother saying Shampoo.) 

Class was difficult particularly since I did not have any idea what I was supposed to be teaching them.  Tomorrow I will be teaching "English 3."  I don't really know what that means.  

Hopefully tomorrow will be easier than today.  At least now I know how to get to the bathroom.