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Thurs 7th Jan
I sat with Kwang again to keep on practising the speech. Fon sat with us for some of the time and I asked her to translate it for Kwang so that she knew what she was talking about and would be able to understand why I had put the emphasis on some words etc. Fortunately the college has recognised that Kwang needs as much practice as possible and so she has been allowed to miss some of her classes. Kwang is trying very hard and doing really well. I went to the beach for a little while later in the afternoon. Very pleasant but then as usual the sky darkened so I hastened home and just in time. Major storm and so I decided to stay home again.

Fri 8th Jan
Good news, Fon and I are going to Ubonratchatani! The director has approved our going and Kwang is very pleased. They are now looking at the best way to travel there. In the mini-bus which has a possibility of breaking down because it’s renowned for not being very reliable or take the coach to Bangkok and then another to Ubonratchatani. I would love to fly but it’s not a direct route and not particularly cheap and as I’d want Fon and Kwang to be with me have decided to go with whatever transport the school provides. More practising with Kwang. Anders and Net are away so I went to George and Veronicas for supper, pizza, chips and garlic bread!!

Sat 9th Jan
I decided to take the bus to Khao Lak and had sent Christin a text to say I’d meet her there if she fancied some company. I waited for a bus from 09.30 until 11.00am and not a bus to be seen!! Christin was also waiting but about 30 kms away. So the only thing to do was to jump on my bike, grab the helmet from home and go ad pick her up. We then went to Bang Niang Beach (just past Khao Lak) and had lunch. WE then went further up the coast to White Sands – called because the sand is white!! Clever. Also they have little crabs that crawl about in their shells. Hard to find but we managed to find one or two, I’d never seen this before and it’s amazing how they can squeeze themselves into their own shells! They’d never be homeless! Took Christin back to Baluga school and then I came home I was very tired, I hadn’t realised what a difference it made when you had another person on the bike and also I felt a huge sense of responsibility for her too. Picked up some spring rolls and pancakes from town and headed home for a reasonably early night!

Sun 10th Jan
I was aching on my shoulders but it soon wore off. Lovely day and so I rushed through the household chores and went off to the beach. Stopped off at Georges first for pizza and chips, again, not at all healthy but tasty all the same. Then went to the beach and watched some children rushing around trying to catch the sand crabs, occasionally they were successful and it was great fun watching them. The children are so friendly, they came over and they told me their names, Chi and Bing and I took some photos of them. I decided to go in to the sea and they joined me and we messed around in the waves for a while, great fun. I packed up and went home and then met Anders for supper. We went to Rimhad’s on the beach and had typical Thai food, papaya salad, green chicken curry and rice. The rain started again but wasn’t too heavy when I went home but certainly turned in to a storm and carried on for about a couple of hours.

Mon 11th Jan
No school today as the teacher’s were on a conference but I’d arranged to meet Kwang at school so we could do some more practising. I did the usual chores, read my book and then took some washing to the lady in town and met Kwang. We went through the speech and she remembers just over half of it at the moment. Tomorrow she’ll read the speech in front of the whole school and before we leave on Friday for Ubonratchatani she’ll say it to the school from memory. She remembers most of the gestures and facial expressions that I’ve taught her. This is a very important part of the speech and I think about 25% of the marks can be given for this. Meeting Anders and Net soon so will close for now.

Friday 1st January, 2010
Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun! 2010 is here already. Woke up to a very overcast day not that it was any cooler. The humidity is around 90 degrees and my goodness can you feel it. Therefore anything that needs energy may I suggest you do it in the early hours or late evening!! I’m talking about housework of course! I went out on the bike today for a ride around. Stopped at some road side stalls for fruit and drink. Evening meal with Anders and Net and home to watch a film. What a life!

Sat 2nd Jan
I planned to go to Khao Lak but changed my mind when I saw the sky. Still overcast and it looks distinctly likely to rain. I chanced it for a while by going to the beach and having pizza and chips at George and Veronicas. Can’t say it’s doing the waistline any good! Back home to the regular chores and just in time before the heavens opened! I was very thankful to be inside. Managed to go out in-between downpours and met Anders and Net for dinner as usual. Movie night again.

Sun 3rd Jan
Had an acute attack of utter laziness and so stayed in all day. Read, watched TV updated my CV and thought long and hard about what to do next….. no answer as yet, but will let you know as soon as I know!

Mon 4th Jan
Back to school. Fon’s classes today. First were the mechanics and I’d prepared a list of questions concerning time-keeping (which we had done in the last lesson) and asked them to write the answers in their books. They then read them aloud which the students love to do even if you ask them to stand and 9 times out of 10 they giggle – even the boys – it’s lovely to see. Second class were the computer students. I went through body part names with them and then onto how to tell a doctor that you have a pain and where. Yes, I did tell them the naughty word for ‘bottom’! I now, what a bad girl I am. Fon wasn’t in school today and when I managed to get through to her on her phone she’s had to go to hospital. She’s been experiencing some weird headaches and they were taking tests! She’ll be back tomorrow so nothing too serious. Absolutely pouring again and I have no intention of going out in that! So I stayed home, had strawberry jam on toast, good old English cup of tea and all was well. Thankfully, the electricity didn’t go off!

Tues 5th Jan
Went through again with Sunisa yet another speech she had written for the English speaking finals. I’d already sat down with her last week and we’d agreed that I’d re-write her original, so I spent a good amount of time doing just that and had it ready for last Thursday (Kwang was meant to be visiting Sunisa – which didn’t happen!) only to have Sunisa hand me another. Unfortunately again there were mistakes and this is hardly surprising when you have a Thai writing in English. I re-wrote the bits that needed it and when it was typed up, sat down with Jiranan (Kwang) to go through it with her. It’s about the advantages of Vocational Education training! Yeah well as you can imagine it’s a tricky piece. I went to see the Asst Director as this time I really feel, that for Kwang’s sake it would be a great help if Fon and I went with her to the finals. She needs T.L.C. and she’ll get it from us. Not so sure of what he made of it but nothing ventured nothing gained! Did I mention that this was the finals for the whole of Thailand – so can you imagine if Kwang gets placed? What it will do for the college? I can and so want Kwang to get as much help support etc as she possibly can. Especially as there isn’t much time, the competition is either on 18th or 19th January 2010! And the piece has only just been written! I’m not saying another word! Time will tell! It started raining again but I managed to get to Anders in-between the rain and went with Net for dinner, however, we both got soaked coming back! Home to carry on reading my book and early to bed.

Wed 6th Jan
Sat from 08.30 – 12.00 with Kwang going over the speech. She really does have an aptitude for learning and she’s picking up the new words reasonably quickly. Poor girl, the pressure is on her. Every day we’ll practice and hopefully we’ll sort something out for the finals even if I have to buy plane tickets! The finals are being held in a place called Ubonratchitani and it’s somewhere between 15 – 20 hours in a mini bus! Now you know why I’d consider the plane. Went with Fon and two other teachers to Khao Lak to a couple of hotels where the college has work experience students. There have been some problems, ie some of the students haven’t turned up! They needed to resolve them. I wondered around the hotels, had a good nose and made the mistake of sitting at the pool bar and ordering an iced coffee. I normally pay 30 Baht. This time, I paid 141 Baht and the coffee was revolting! There I learnt my lesson didn’t I? Looks like rain again so I guess I’m in for another soaking. Will close for now……….