Happy Halloween

Back To School

It seems odd to write a “Back to School” post when I’ve been going into work at our school every day for the past three weeks. But the students did (finally) return today. Having them back caused me to feel rather relaxed and happy throughout the day. There have been quite a few changes, notably the lengthening of each period from 40 minutes to 45 which makes a BIG difference. Lunch is thirty minutes earlier as a result which I think will make for a long afternoon once we get into the swing of the new term (today, it seemed like the end of the day came way too quickly).

Heavy Flooding Hits Entire Country

From The Nation, published 27 October 2007:

Heavy flooding has been hitting all parts of the country since last month, making hundreds of families homeless and inundating large areas of agricultural land.

Nakhon Ratchasima has been the hardest hit of the northeastern provinces while Ayutthaya has been under water for weeks.Floods are now affecting the southern region, putting many provinces under water, particularly Surat Thani and its resort island of Koh Samui.

I don’t recall the last time I saw the sun and I believe the day will soon come when I’ll be taking a boat to work…

We’ve seen flooding in parts of central Phuket and there was a landslide off Nanai Road in Patong yesterday, burying a construction workers’ camp and leaving a large apartment block dangling in mid-air. The pictures I’ve seen of Ayutthaya have me concerned as Tim’s daughter and granddaughter live south of there in Bang Pa-in. Their home is a stilt house very close to the river; last year, the water reached the second story (the primary living area) and this year’s flooding is much worse.

There’s no word as to when the rains will cease. Last year at this time we were already well into the dry season. The official start of high season (when the tourists begin arriving) is this coming weekend and officials are worried the rain will continue through mid-November.

Millions Offer Prayers

From The Nation, published 27 October 2007:

King is becoming more active, while his elder sister, Princess Galyani, remains conscious

Millions of Thais are now praying for the good health of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, who have both been receiving treatment at Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital.

His Majesty was admitted on October 13. As of yesterday, he had regained his appetite and could perform more active exercises.

His elder sister, 84, is being treated for cancer. On Thursday, the Royal Household Bureau issued the first announcement about the princess’ health, stating that her condition was being closely monitored.

A Busy Week

The last week working before the return of students and the start of Term 2 was a hectic one, to say the least. With more than a few delays encountered, along with the loss of two members of the Language Activities book team (one left the school permanently, the other had to travel to Malaysia on a visa run), our already-impossible book-writing/assembly schedule served to fray nerves and increase tensions. It all came down to completely producing the P5 book in three days and the P4 book on the final day! We actually had to kick other teachers off of the computers in the Resource Room on Friday.

Since I was bound to the team per the school director’s orders, I didn’t have time to do much prep work for my classroom. I attended a couple of meetings on Thursday (a general one for all Primary teachers and a level meeting for P3) which served as welcome breaks away from the computer screen. I was asked by my level coordinator to write lesson plans for the first few weeks of classes and to turn these in by the following day. I did these at home (once I get into “lesson plan mode” it’s fairy easy to put these together) and turned them in the next morning before resuming work on worksheet selection/recomposition.

P3 Language Activities Book

I spent some three weeks (including weekends) pouring my heart and soul (and everything else I had to give) into putting together the Language Activities workbook for P3. Instead of just compiling a collection of worksheets in the manner of Term 1’s book, I wrote much of the material from scratch. I worked extremely hard on the layout as well, designing many double-page spreads and checking every detail to make sure it would be something I would be proud of whenever the students used the book (not to mention something I wanted to show my colleagues and staff). I spent a great deal of my own time at home — nights and weekends, not to mention my holiday — working on it in addition to the hours at the school itself. I was really looking forward to the end product representing the amount of care I put into the project.

Term 2, Same as Term 1

After weeks of hearing rumors and wondering when the decision would be made, I finally found out today that I would remain in the same class for Term 2 (which begins in less than one week). I had tried several times last week to set up a meeting with the school director to let him know that I wished to remain in this particular class, that it would make the most sense and and be most beneficial to the students to keep things the same. I had a speech all ready to plead my case, pointing out that the ideal situation would be to also keep the same co-teacher to handle the Math classes (I’m not yet confident enough to teach Math).

Chulalongkorn Day

Each year on 23 October, Thailand honors the 1910 death of King Chulalongkorn the Great (Phra Chula Chumklao Chaoyuhua, พระบาทสมเด็จพระจุลจอมเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว, known in the West as Rama V) with Chulalongkorn Day (Wan Piyamahraj). He is highly regarded as one of the greatest kings of Siam; the Thai people call him “The Great Beloved King” because of the many reforms he initiated in order to modernize the country.

Chulalongkorn was born 20 September 1853 as the first son of Queen Ramphai Pamarapirom (Thepsirindra) and the ninth surviving son of King Mongkut (Rama IV). His father gave him a broad education, including instruction from European tutors such as Anna Leonowens. He ascended the throne on 1 October 1868 at the age of 15 but because of his young age chief minister Chao Praya Si Suriyawongse was appointed as regent for four years.

Siam in Europe

From The Nation, published 22 October 2007:

Continent marks the visits of King Chulalongkorn

The Foreign Ministry is holding exhibitions in several European cities to mark the 100th and 110th anniversaries of King Chulalongkorn’s grand European tours.

Tracing the Siamese king’s journeys into the heart of Europe provides us with a glimpse of how he manoeuvred to steer Siam from European colonialism and how he used his first-hand knowledge gained in Europe to modernise his own country.

For the Love of HM the King

From The Nation, published 22 October 2007:

Taxis were giving free rides between Sanam Luang and Siriraj Hospital for those visiting to wish His Majesty the King a speedy recovery.

His Majesty was admitted to the hospital nine days ago.Thousands of people wearing royal yellow have flocked to the hospital each day to wish His Majesty a quick recovery. Motorists park near Sanam Luang before catching public transport to the hospital.

“I have chosen to take people for free as a good deed for His Majesty,” driver Attawut Sangkhaphan said yesterday. He covers the cab rental and petrol costs himself. “Many other taxi drivers are doing the same thing,” he added.