More Classes, More Humor

This is so awesome. I am officially in love with my life. I know people say they love their life, but has anyone you met said they are 'in love' with their life? If it's possible, I am. A big big reason is my job. I wish that I could blog throughout the day about all the funny things that happen, but frankly, that would be rude to the students. I want to laugh too, but that would be even more rude. So yesterday was just a teeny dose. I taught one class yesterday. Today I taught four. One in the morning, then I hold office hours for awhile, then I teach another class. I have about a half hour to eat lunch, then I teach two more classes back to back. I'm done by 4pm.

By the end of the day my voice is just about gone and my hands are so caked in chalk and I've sweat out a tenth of my body weight and my cheeks hurt from smiling and it's absolutely awesome. To start from the beginning, I had a hard time again finding a red truck taxi to agree to drive me to CMU. The third one that stopped I recognized from yesterday and he shook his head again. I know he remembered me. Here is the best part - there was a sign on the window that said CMU. What's that about? If I see him tomorrow I'll ask him about it.

I love the part of class where the students come in and they haven't heard me speak yet. They get to class early and I just do my thing getting ready for class and just as it's the top of the hour I can tell they are anxious to hear me say something as they stare in silence. It's a little bit of a rush to have their undivided attention. I say good morning and they repeat it. I say, "My name is Ajaarn Mia" and they repeat my name in unison. I say, "You can call me Ajaarn Mia" and they repeat that again. I have a choir! Or a classroom full of robots!

I then ask them to introduce themselves to me. Let's talk about nicknames, because the Thai are absolutely brilliant in choosing their nicknames. They have names like Surangkhana and Narongchai and Kanockran. There is no way I'd be able to learn them all. They choose nicknames that they go by from a very young age. They choose English words for their nicknames. Not English names. Regular words. Words like Eye, or Nice, or Cloud. I have a Batman in one of my classes. I have a Pooh in another class. It's amazing. When the first student said her name is Nice, I almost stopped her and asked her what her 'nice name' was.

I speak too fast in class. I try to slow down and I try to repeat the same phrase in different ways so they are able to (maybe) understand the second or third time around. A couple of times I spoke at my normal pace on purpose just to see their faces. That's mean, I know. When I ask them questions I get no response. Thai students are very very shy. I even pulled a Bueller. You know how it goes, "Anyone, anyone, Bueller, anyone?" I giggled on the inside at that one.

Not only do I teach Thai students, but apparently I teach stray animals and birds too. They sure like to show up to class anyway. The windows are open, so sometimes a bird will fly in and do a lap around the room then exit through the door. When I was passing out papers to the students I almost stepped on a dog. Yeah. A dog. I tried not to look surprised that there was a dog sleeping on the floor in my classroom! Talk about a zoo. The day an elephant comes in I'll have to put in a complaint.

There were too many funny things that the students said - I can't remember them all now. I'll try to keep a notebook in class and discreetly write them down as they happen. They are all really sweet though. I love their matching uniforms and how they try to individualize themselves with fancy shoes or shorter skirts or shiny belt buckles or spiked hair. I had the students ask me questions and when someone asked if I was married, I said "No. Are you married?" They laughed for about five minutes. I think the joke was on me though. The whole 'Mia is the Thai word for wife' thing. Those little stinkers. I just thought of that now.

This is going to be fun, I just know it.