Greetings
I have left the village. Weird. It is strange to be so rapidly approaching the end. My mind is a bit of a blur at the moment, so excuse me if this message comes out in a blur. I dare not wait until my mind clears or you may not hear from me until the end of July. I do not think getting home will end the rush I’ve encountered since leaving the village.
My first night in Ubon we went out for Korean Barbeque (I think I got that right). It was amazing! They bring out a tub of coals. Over that they put a shaped metal sheet with a trough around the outside and a rounded island in the middle. The rounded island has slits cut in it. They also bring out a pitcher of water, a tray of vegetables and noodles, and a bowl of meat.
You put your own meat on the island, you put your water and veggies in the trough. The meat’s juices run into the trough and mix with the veggies and noodles. You take veggies and meat for yourself as they finish cooking. I am not sure how well I described the process. I know I cannot describe the taste. I will say again, amazing!
The last two days I’ve taught at Benjama school (The school where Lynn and Kris teach). I will teach there again tomorrow. I am filling in for Kris who is in the states with her father who just had brain surgery. She and her family could use your prayers. Teaching here is a whole different game from anything I experienced in the village. Here I am alone. I am not helping Joe or Ma. I am not being helped by Fon. I am in the English Program of a very nice school. The schools we went to from the village were operating on a much lower budget. All science, math, and English here is taught by foreigners, so coming in as a native speaker doesn’t make me instantly special. Here I am not just doing one class once a week per school. Here I am a regular feature in the day.
Saying yes to teaching was scary. I haven’t done it before. I will only be here for three days, not enough time to really get the hang of things. Doing the actual teaching wasn’t as hard in the ways I feared. I did, however, in one class manage to spell three words wrong on the board in quick succession. It is a little embarrassing to be teaching English and have non-native speakers correcting your spelling. Oh well. Also, I’ve learned how miserable grading a worksheet can be. Another challenge is knowing how long to let a question sit in silence, or how long to let students work on an in-class exercise.
One thing that has made the whole teaching thing easier is several classes (including some of mine) are away at Buddhist camp. I only have two one-hour periods a day.
Well, that about wraps it up, or at least that’s what my unlunched stomach is telling me.
Peace
Micah
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