House Photos

I know that I promised house photos a long time ago, but I have been busy and have had technical difficulties with my camera. But at long last, here they are!



Front of House. I can't get a good angle due to the narrow street and other obstacles, but here is the front of the house.


From the Front Gate



The Front Yard



The Side of the yard.



The Rather Unimpressive Backyard

All Moved

Well, I am finally moved in. Moving was more stressful than I thought it would be. I am working six days a week and the next to last weekend I got food poisoning and lost 2 and a half days. But I finally got everything sorted, either thrown away or moved, got the apartment cleaned and got checked out. On the upside I got back 11,000 of my 13,000 baht deposit. An extra 270 dollars to play with! I still haven't taken any pictures of my new place, but I will. Now I have a head cold, and am taking it easy. I have to work tonight, so I need to do some lesson planning. I also have to attend a Teacher's Exchange Meeting this afternoon, so I better get on with it.

Moving

I will start moving into my new house this weekend. (Although I expect it will take me at least a week to move all my stuff, and clean my old apartment). I will post some pictures after I am actually in the house. But as a teaser, I will tell you that it has three bedrooms, two baths, a full kitchen, a large living area, a carport, a lawn, banana trees, a full wall with gate, and a fish pond. Sounds nice doesn't it?

Thai Ukulele Craze

The latest craze among Thai teens is playing the ukulele. I don't know why they became so popular in the last several months, but anywhere you go you might see a kid strumming one. Several of my students have brought them to class, and one even played for us.

My student Nine brought hers on Friday and agreed to pose with it for me.

Update

I see that I haven't posted in a while. I wish I could claim that I have been really busy, but the truth is I have been very lazy. Time just slides away and I find that I haven't done half the things I planned to do. Oh well.

It is rainy today, and a bit chilly. This is quite unusual for March. In fact, it has been raining for three days now, which is extremely unusual for March. This is supposed to be the beginning of the Hot Season. Last week was certainly hot enough. In fact, it had gotten hot enough that I broke down and went out and bought a motorbike. I had been riding my bike everywhere, but the heat finally got to be too much. I bought a used Yamaha Spark for 15,000 baht. Not a bad deal, if I do say so myself. I still intend to ride my bike, both for recreation and commuting, but not when the weather is inclement.

We started Summer Terms this week. That means the next seven weeks will be pretty crazy. I am teaching six hours a day five days a week. But I am teaching a level I have taught (too many) times already, so my prep time is almost zero. I still have to grade writings, and other exercises, but really I have it pretty easy this term. Next term may be a different story.

We have a week off during the Songkran Festival. Songkran is absolutely insane here in CM, so I will hie off to Bangkok for four days. Bangkok is pretty peaceful during Songkran, since a lot of people head off to the provinces for the Thai New Year (which is what Songkran is).

Well, I am off to work.