Photo of Jesus in the library. Lord knows I need help with PowerPoint.

Having attained a fresh visa

I flew back to Thailand and slid immediately into teaching summer school. I was thankful to have remained on Thai-time for the three weeks I taught online in CA, for it allowed me to transition without any jet lag.

I applied to teach summer school because it gave me a chance to teach M6, which is 12th grade in the US. I had a great time teaching seniors. They were well-spoken and for the most part, well-behaved. Since this is a private school, most come from wealthy families. They described their family holidays to Japan and other European countries.

Staff received free lunches served on metal plates. No offense, or offense, I passed.

However, I have to admit, I missed my rough-around-the-edges high schoolers from my first school, located in a remote city 1.5 hours north of Bangkok. Those students were definitely not polished, barely had any English, and did not holiday in posh destinations. They were naughty, flirted heavily with me, and loved me fiercely.

Summer school finished, then it was right into the new school year. The start of Term 1 began with a week of teacher orientation, and meeting new teachers. The foreign English teachers hail from the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, and South Africa.

Teacher crushing on another teacher already

We met our Thai co-teachers. While some classes we would teach independently, there were several classes we would teach with an assigned Thai co-teacher. Personally, I was flattered that my co-teachers from last term expressed sadness that we were not paired up again.

Teacher Dime, one of the teachers with whom I co-taught last term, showed off his new shawl. When we foreign staff were introduced, he audibly gasped at the sight of “Ben”, a teacher from Australia. Teacher Dime wasted no time in getting a photo snapped with Ben. Teacher Dime clapped with delight to discover they would be co-teachers.

Afternoon snack: Banana bread, delivered in a cardboard box to the English Teacher’s office.

I received my class rosters and schedule. I busied myself diving into the curriculum, writing lesson plans, and creating slideshow presentations. Although it felt exciting to start the term, I tempered my expectations given my past two jobs. I crossed myself and crossed my fingers—Jesus help me through to a successful year.

One of the kindergarten play areas in front of the teacher dorms.