Mon 23rd Nov
First shot with the mechanics and electricians. The photos went down well so we’ll see what they can remember next week! Four hours of teaching is fairly heavy going so am always glad when it’s lunch time. I go to the school canteen with Fon and usually have the pork noodle soup. I’m getting better because I add my own chilli now, must be getting more used to the taste of Thai food.

Tues 24 Nov
Today, Sunisa dropped the bombshell that she had the subject matter for the English speaking competition, in two days time. Could I please write a piece on how the students are against violence, a five minute talk. I would meet the student the following day to practice. Nothing like leaving things to the last minute. Had Accounting and Electricians for class. Not bad classes, although I had to tell the boys that being late for class was not really acceptable! Not sure that the Thais have the same idea about punctuality as we British do! I worked on the piece for the English speech and just hoped it was what they were looking for.

Wed 25 Nov
Spent the first two hours with Jiranan – nickname Kwang (meaning deer), the student who will read the speech. This is the young girl that can also speak a little German, she’s 15 years old but really seems quite mature for her age. I had to explain nearly everything in the piece as she didn’t know what violence was – so you can imagine it took a while but for her to give feeling to the piece, she really did need to understand it first! I had a lesson with accounting students and we talked about what you can buy in certain shops. It’s so hard when they have such a limited understanding of English – just as well I can act and mime!! Met with Jiranan at Georges so we could go through the speech. Told her to practice in front of her family and that I’d see her bright and early in the morning at school.

Thurs 26 Nov
Arrived at school at 08.00 to meet with Sunisa and the students so we could drive to Phang Nga, where the contest was being held. Jiranan was feeling fine and we had several chances to practice. Once we arrived at the college in Phang Nga, she was able to stand with the microphone and practice a little more. As the starting time approached, she was understandably a little nervous. Success, she has got through to the next round to be held in Trang province (about 300 km from Thai Muang) against, I believe, 27 other students. I have to lengthen the speech and do more practice with Kwang. There was also a competition of students demonstrating something. One girl was showing us how to make New Year’s cards. She very kindly made one for me. Her name is Nutcharee. The Director of the college also asked me to stand and talk to the students about the competition and what I thought of the contestants. I’ve never been very good with a microphone but they were still smiling at the end, so I guess I did okay. Sunisa took me to a lovely restaurant where we had papaya salad, sticky rice and some vegetables. Wow, was it spicy but very tasty all the same. The views around Phang Nga are amazing so I intend going back to get a better look around.

Fri 27 Nov
Quiet day at home as there was no school as the Director was leaving to go to Trang and all the teachers go with him to the new school. I went to George and Veronica’s for pizza, lovely. They are a really friendly couple and make it all so much easier as they both speak such good English. I am off to Phuket tomorrow, to visit Andoo and Beakie so home for an early night.

Sat 28 Nov
Caught the 09.10 bus and arrived in Phuket just after half ten. Met a very friendly Buddist monk, who was off to Phuket to buy a laptop! That surprised me. Met up with Andoo and Beakie and we wandered around Phuket for a while then caught the bus to Patong Beach. Another huge shopping center and again full of foreigners. Went to the beach and boy was it crowded. It was fairly late in the day so didn’t bother hiring a sunbed and just watched the world go by, which included, of course, the much older men and their much younger Thai female friends! Back to Phuket in the evening and found a very pleasant hotel called The Chrystal. 850 Baht , just over £15.00 for the night, air con, safe, mini bar in the fridge and own bathroom. Very comfortable bed too. Had a lovely dinner close to the market, spicy papaya salad, deep fried chilli pork and a bamboo dish (not to my taste!) Watched a film on the TV and slept like a baby.

Sun 29 Nov
I went to the market to see how Andoo was doing, not a bad day for her considering it’s a Sunday. She sells jewellery, hair slides and other bits and pieces. I had a wander and went into Robinson’s food hall. Can you imagine my excitement when I spotted the sign ‘cereal’! I rushed over and there they were: Cornflakes, Frosties, Branflakes, All Bran and a few others. Picked up a couple of boxes and bought them along with a few other essentials. In my excitement I’d forgotten to check how much the cereal cost so you can imagine what I thought when I realised I had just paid £9.00 for just two boxes! Ouch! This cereal is going to last a long long time, however I’m sure it’ll be worth it! I met up with Andoo once she’d finished. We had lunch and then went to the bus station. I caught the 1 o’clock bus and got to Thai Muang at 2.30. It was very cloudy and rain was definitely in the air. Popped in to say hi to Anders and Net then got home just in time before the rain started. Another amazing storm which carried on for some time. I had the usual stuff to do at home and to get ready for school tomorrow. Had a power cut but only for about half an hour so no worries.

Mon 30 Nov
Mechanics first and I was reasonably impressed as they remembered quite a bit of last week’s lesson, the names of parts of the car. We went through ‘free time’ again and what they did and all in all it was a good lesson. The electricians were late and there were only 9 whereas last week there had been 17. Their memory was very good on the photos and we progressed a little on to nouns and their plurals. It’s another very hot day but with a pleasant breeze. Off to meet Anders and Net for dinner.

…to be continued.