The People in Red Take Khon Kaen

I'm sure plenty of you have been watching the news carefully over the past few weeks, keeping your eyes on the red shirts of Thailand.  And yes, things became far more serious today.

The government gave the red shirts until 3pm on Monday to leave their encampment in Bangkok.  As of this morning, the military entered the encampment with armored vehicles.  And, as of this afternoon, the red shirts set fire to the city hall of Khon Kaen.  The city hall is located directly across the street from my school, and the smoke came billowing over the school as the students were quickly picked up by their parents.  I left the school after my students went home.  I came home to water the plants, and stay away from the action.  There are multiple fires throughout the city right now, but I am safe.

The red shirt leaders turned themselves into the police in Bangkok this afternoon.  Protesters are upset, but they no longer have any power.  Without the leaders and the funding, the protest is over.  There are still fires throughout Bangkok, Khon Kaen, and various other cities, but we have been told everything should be under control by tomorrow.  Bangkok and Khon Kaen have both issued curfews from 8 pm this evening until 6 am tomorrow morning.    

I am still safe.  I promise.  The teachers at school are even positive that we will have class tomorrow!  Personally, I'm hoping for a day off, but we shall see.  

If things become any more dangerous I will leave the country, but at the moment I am just fine.

I promise to keep you updated on the situation.

Love, Meaghan

PS- Only in Thailand will the vendors remain in the streets to sell snacks at a time like this!

Back to school! Back to school!

It's here.  School begins again tomorrow.  My stomach is already in knots.  When I was a student, and now that I am a teacher, it is always the same.  My stomach becomes knotted, and my nerves go through the roof.  I probably won't be able to sleep, but I won't tell myself that.  I will probably begin sweating the second I wake up tomorrow, and have clammy hands all day.  Well, actually, that's what happens every day in the Thailand heat, regardless of the semester schedule.

I'm nervous to meet my new students.  I'm nervous to teach older students.  I'm nervous to see my new schedule.  Heck, I'm even worried about what I will wear tomorrow!  Despite the nerves, I know this year will be great.  I was moved to a third grade class with the best Thai teacher.  And that is no exaggeration.  Teacher Saew is known as the best Thai teacher by every foreign teacher in the school.  She is very fun, easy going, and a great teacher.  She and I get along very well, and I know we will enjoy this year together.

This year, the English Program has also changed the class schedules, so I will be teaching two classes.  Instead of teaching my 33 students in every subject, I will be teaching both grade three classes.  I am splitting the classes with the other grade three teacher.  I will spend this year teaching math, health, sport and art.  Sweet, right?  I know.

Have I prepared for my classes?  Ehhh, not quite.  I have become swamped with far more important things to do over the past few weeks.  For example, I moved into my new house.  And when you move into a new house, you have to unpack, so of course I did that.  Then, once I was unpacked I had to celebrate the new house, so I threw a housewarming party.  And to throw a housewarming party I had to do lots of food shopping.  Once the shopping was finished, we partied all night!  So, of course today I was very tired.  And what is the perfect thing to do when you are tired?  Watch a movie on the great couch in your new house!  So Paul and I watched a movie.  As we were watching, it began to rain.  Obviously Paul wasn't going to drive home in the rain, so we put in a second movie.  When I did finally sit down with my computer and my subject frameworks, I realized that I hadn't posted on the blog in a while.  It seemed to be the perfect time to post, as my lessons sit beside me on the table, untouched.  Now that it is almost 8 pm, I should probably go to sleep soon in preparation for classes that I haven't prepared for.  It has been the classic "if you give a mouse a cookie" situation, but mine should be called, "If you give Meaghan a new house."  Maybe someday I can have my own series of children's books.  "If you give Meaghan a new motorbike," "If you give Meaghan a new friend," "If you give Meaghan an oven."  Gosh, the possibilities are endless!

May Eighth

It's beautiful today.  Bright blue skies and billowing clouds, both uncommon in this part of the world, but just as it should be.

Thanks, Gigi.

Awesome Things

I am a huge fan of Post Secret.  Post Secret started years ago as a social experiment where people were asked to anonymously send their secrets on one side of a postcard.  The experiment exploded, and has now been made into multiple books, and an ongoing blog that is updated every Sunday.  I check it every Sunday, religiously.

Through this blog I found another new personal favorite, 1000 Awesome Things.  This blog began in June 0f 2008 and is updated every weekday with a new "awesome thing."  After reading this blog over the past two weeks or so, I have decided to make my own list of awesome things.

So, at this very minute, here are my awesome things, in no particular order.

1.  Getting an extra dumpling in my noodles from my favorite noodle stand.  4 dumplings and an entire bowl of delicious noodles for only 35Baht?!  Fine by me.

2.  Making it back to my apartment seconds before the rain starts coming down.  Because being on a motorbike in Thai rain is painful.

3.  Having a cool breeze hit me when I open my door to the balcony.  It doesn't happen very often, so it makes the event that much more awesome.

4.  Having the Asian Food Channel on my cable.  The station lineup is constantly changing, and the AFC is amazing, and always a wonderful surprise while channel surfing.

5.  When people comment on my blog.  I'm not saying this to make you feel guilty for not commenting!  I promise!  I just really love getting comments.  It makes me realize that people actually read what I write... uh oh.

6.  Talking on the phone with my grandma.  It is even better when Grandpa is on the phone at the same time.  Those conversations are never boring.

7.  Having my grandma end our phone conversation prematurely because she doesn't want me to waste so much money on her.  No matter how many times I tell her the calls are free, she will not listen, and still hangs up on me after her routine "be safe.  Don't do anything I wouldn't do.  And if you do anything crazy, invite me!"

8.  When my magicJack phone rings.  I don't often keep it plugged in, so receiving phone calls is totally awesome!  Especially when it is someone other than my parents, no offense, Mom and Dad.

9.  When my friends call me while I am at Paul's house.  They can hear my motorbike coming down the road and they know when I stop and park at Paul's.  When my cell phone rings and New demands I come to hang out with them, I love it.  It is a small reminder of the real friends I have made here.

10.  Being able to read something in Thai.  That's right!  I have taken on the challenge of teaching myself to read and write Thai.  It's not easy, but it is oh, so rewarding!  It is a thousand times better when I can actually understand what I read, but I'm taking it one step at a time.  Someday, someday.

And, number 11:  Having Bri come to Thailand.  Awesome, in every way possible.