Before I came to Thailand, I would never have really said that I was great with kids. It's not that I don't like kids or anything, I simply haven't had that much interaction with them, outside of the random babysitting job here and there while in middle school. There are no young kids in our family, no nieces or nephews (hint hint Andy and Amy), so one of the biggest things that I was worried about when I decided to do this whole adventure, was would I even be able to teach and connect with these kids? I shouldn't have worried about it really. The first day that we met them, we spent 2 hours just playing with them on the playground. I had not had that much fun in so long! They crack me up all the time with their broken english and just their copious personalities. (see what I did there? I totally looked up a different way to say "big" because I feel like my vocabulary is so far gone, I need to try expanding it again for when I can actually talk to people without having to mime everything and use very simple words again.)
But anyways, they have turned out to be one of the greatest joys that I have over here in thailand. Traveling is great, seeing new things and trying new foods are awesome, and at times it seems like it's all I really talk about or focus on, but these kids really are a blessing in my life. I'm their teacher? No way! I can't even begin to explain all the different things they have taught me. I just hope they are learning from me as well. Yeah I really hope that since that's the whole reason the ILP program sent me over here haha.
I teach the older classes at Imperial. There are 12 students in total, and their ages range from 5 to 6. Yeah, still pretty young to be the oldest group at the school, but they are extremely smart for their age. I have actual conversations with the kids. This is Phuvit. He is kinda the class clown. All the kids love him and call him Silly Phuvit.. He loves the color pink, being tickled, making crazy faces in every single picture, and singing the hippopotamus song.
These two are as thick as thieves! But they are the sweetest little girly girls. On the left is Yada and Gui is on the right. They constantly have to be sitting by each other, and have to be doing the exact same things whether it's dotting all their i's with hearts, or showing teacher Charlotte how to properly bend her hands when performing a thai traditional dance. They are incredible at it! I will get some videos of the girls dancing and put it up later. They are very artistic and love anything girly and pretty.
Now this little guy, there's not enough room to write about. His name is Ongry, which at the beginning of these four months, I may have though was a little appropriate. It's pronounced Ornery, like someone is being a pain. He is very touchy and is always being told to keep his hands to himself, but it's just because he's such a loving kid. He has gotten so much better over the semester anyways. But he is definitely the most affectionate. Almost daily he comes up to me and says "teacher teacher" really quietly while motioning for me to bend down with his finger, and then he gives me a kiss on the cheek. Or he will kiss me on the hand, and even the stomach because that's about how tall he is hahaha. Tonight, actually, I had the sweetest moment yet with him. Usually, outside of the school, the kids are shy whenever they see us and they are with their parents. They will act like they hardly know us even though they act so differently in school. But tonight, we were out at the Chinese festival and I hear a child yell "TEACHER!" and I turn around and Ongry is running toward me and just jumps in my arms even though his dad was right there. It just completely melted my heart. :)
Again Gui on the left, she is such a beautiful girl. And Ongry. I want to take him home with me!
Haha Fei Fei. He looks like an old man in this picture. Fei Fei is obsessed with Ben 10, and Spider Man. He is by far the brightest kid in my homeroom. I can ask him normal everyday questions and get a fairly good response. He comes to me with questions about bigger words or things that done make sense (because I never noticed it before, but english is so messed up, there are so many words that sound like they shouldn't sound. Try explaining to a confused Thai kid why you pronounce Wednesday "wensday" but spell it like you do. All you can really say is, that's just how it is.) The poor kid. He is exceptionally bright though, and doing so well for being only 6. Gotta admit he is one of my favorites. Yada and Gui both love him and it's so funny to watch them flirt with him.
Oh those two. Best of friends
Oh dear, there is Phuvit and his crazy face again :) And that's Max on the left
Max is a little ball of energy. If your not careful, he can have the class riled up and off on some random tangent about buffalos within a matter of seconds. (buffalos seem to be a hilarious topic around here to the children). But behind his mischievous little grin, he is a sweetie pie. Sometimes I don't know about him though. He will be telling me a story, and I kid you not, this is exactly what it sounds like every single time: "Teacher! And...My like this....and.....and like this.....and my like this....and THIS!" and he sits there waiting for a response, and I just have to try to guess what his story was about by his hand gestures and pointing. I'm pretty pro at miming now.
Haha Max, such a ladies man. Look at his little face. Gui is eating her ice cream cone she made with Teacher Jessi earlier, and Yada is wearing Teacher Charlotte's glasses.
hahahahaha That may be the first time I have seen Max not smiling! (well, other than when he's in trouble) haha
This is my entire home room class. From left to right, it's Phuvit, Gui, yada, Fei Fei, Ongry (is hiding) and Max. LOVE these kids. Best homeroom class ever!
This is the other group of kids I teach! They are such a joy as well! From left to right it's: Bonus, Mhew, Preawa, sydney, and Yindee.
Yindee is probably the most beautiful Thai child that I have ever seen. He has this little demon face that he likes to make just to freak us teachers out. He will roll his eyes up into his head and then tilt his head down and sneer at us and then bust up laughing and look so cute again! It's like what's up with you child! But he is such a pleasure to teach. He is very good at reading, and can actually read some very basic small words just by looking at them.
Now this is Bonus.....I should really leave it at that because if I get started on her, it might be a couple paragraphs later that I finish. Oh well, I have time if you do. If all of teachers were asked in one word to describe this child, every single one of us would say without hesitation: "creepy". She's not possessed or anything, it's quite hilarious, her creepy status, but at the same time, I wonder what is going through this child's head. You really would just have to meet her to know what I'm talking about, but she's one of those that your standing waiting for the class to line up and you realize one kid is gone, and your looking around for Bonus, but she is standing behind you, staring up at you with this smile on her face and then busts up laughing when you finally see her. I will ask her questions, and she looks like she is just not getting it and stares at me with this blank expression, but then slowly, ever so slowly, she starts grinning, slowly sticks out her tongue, and just sits there, grinning evilly at me like the Cheshire Cat! But seriously, all in all, she is a great, beautiful child. She is very advanced in reading when she is not spacing out. She has made me fall into fits of laughter during the middle of lessons for a good minute or so just because of some of the stuff she does or says. 
Mhew Mhew Mhew. She is one unique individual. She has this really deep raspy voice, and the greatest laugh that sounds almost like a maniacal child show villain. haha it's the funniest thing. She and Max are brother and sister. She has a very spunky attitude and loves to be first at everything. She is very competitive, but still so eager to learn
Preawa is the brightest girl in this class. At times I have to ask her to stop and not answer the questions so that the other kids can have a turn to answer because she literally understands most everything that I say to her! I can ask her about her weekend and she will tell me all the things she did, places she has visited such as Bangkok and Singapore. She has the sassiest comebacks all the time. Sometimes, something will happen in class that no one else will get and I will be having a moment by myself laughing or making a face because none of the other kids understood what was just said, and she picks right up on it and is like "teacher you laughing at Bonus because she is silly" because it's usually Bonus I'm laughing at. If I am not careful, and and not keeping the class on track, she will completely take over and run everything. She is going to be very successful one day I can just tell.
Last but surely not least is Sydney. She is probably the most polite and kind girl ever. She is constantly remembering to push in her chair, she always helps me hand out papers and the counting cards. Whenever she has afternoon class with her little sister MeNee, she is constantly making sure that her little sister is saying all the correct phrases and participating in the activity because she wants her little sister to get tokens. You can really tell who the siblings in this school are because they really look out for each other. The thai people really emphasize the mentorship of the older children to the younger ones. Whenever it's someones birthday and their parents bring a cake for the kids, the Thai teachers always pair an older kid up with a younger one to help them get their dishes and pieces of cake. It's the sweetest thing because the older kids aren't shoving or wanting more cake or complaining about sharing their cake with the younger kids, they just take care of them so well! Nothing like spoiled American kids. But Sydney is by far the kindest and most polite child. She is so beautiful too. She just went to Spain this past week or so. Her family is kinda loaded.
So those are my kids! Aren't they just the sweetest, cutest, and best students any teacher could ask for? I love them all so much and am going to be sooooo sad when it comes time to say goodbye :( But till then, I'll keep teaching, and hoping that they are learning something from me. And hopefully they will remember me at least a little bit after I'm gone :)
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