Monthly Archives: November 2018

This time last year, I had just come off a week of hanging out with my family and close friend.  We stayed up way too late, went on a Ferris Wheel in Maryland, and made delicious pie.

This year, I woke up not to the smell of turkey, but to a pounding sinus headache.

Happy Thanksgiving, y’all.

The day got better when Grade One had their Thanksgiving party: a “taste test”.  They got to try turkey lunch meat (because when buying a turkey costs the same as buying a phone, Oscar Meyer looks pretty dang good…), pumpkin pie, apple cider, and stuffing.  Some things went over better than others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I taught my classes.  Some things went down better than others.  But I’m starting to see that some of the things I hoped to implement with my classes are going to be harder than I thought, or just not possible right now.

And that was hard.  I broke down a bit.

Thankfully, my cooperating teacher and another teacher talked me out of the funk.  It’s good to care, but it’s not good to feel like everything is on you.

I have to keep remembering it’s not about me.  It has never been about me.  This is about God, and the way He shows up through me on a daily basis.

Some days, it’s easier to remember that.

I got pizza for dinner and watched Netflix with a friend.  Hands-down NOT my worst Thanksgiving.  That would be the year we went to Disney World and my mom contracted shingles.

This past Saturday, we had a big teacher Thanksgiving, and we invited our Thai staff from the school as well.  Still no turkey, but there was mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, so I was satisfied.

What did I learn?

• I’m thankful for friends and coworkers who understand that teaching is not an easy career. Nor does it always feel rewarding.
• I’m thankful that I can get pizza in Thailand. With cheese crust.
• I’m thankful for my parents, who never fail in their advice and support.
• I’m thankful for my kids, crazy as they drive me. Because I see the potential, and dang it, they may win battles, but they won’t win the war.  They WILL improve.
• I’m thankful that on days where I realize how not enough I am, that I can relax onto God, who never asks me to be anything but His.

And now, after all that mess, begins the Christmas Season!!! Cue carols and trees and lights and 90 degree weather…wait.

Well, cue more posts with me ruminating on the irony of being in a foreign land, celebrating how the Son of God came to a foreign land.

Signing off for now.  If you could pray for my health and the health of the kids and my co-workers, that would be great.  I’ve had a bit of a cold and lots of kids and teachers are sick, too.

Love you all!

 

Hello everyone, I once again greet you from the far off streets of Nonthaburi!

Is it really already November?  Of course, here I have no weather change to help underscore the passing of the seasons.  I’m sure it’s cold in the States, but here it’s still 80-90 degrees everyday.  It still feels like I never left summer.

But you don’t want to hear about that.  I can practically hear the questions: “What’s it like, Julianna?”  “How’s teaching?”  “Is it going well?”  “Do you like the food?”  “What do you do all day?”

Like all true answers, mine is complicated.

“It” is new.  Like I’ve said before, I’m an adult on my own for the first time, and it is quite often exhausting.  It takes growing up to realize how much you don’t know.  There’s a humbling part of independence, where you begin to realize WHY God designed us to depend on each other.

“It” is also fun.  I take song taus (trucks with space to sit in the back that cost the equivalent of 22 cents) to school and grocery shop when I want and buy roti (bread with sugar icing) on a Saturday night.  I get to go hang out with people and keep my own hours.  That’s fun.

Teaching is going well.  And also hard.  I’ve realized lately that students really have no idea just what their teachers go through.  There are moments when I KNOW that I am where I am for a reason and there are others when the last thing I want to do is stand up in front of eleven boys and one girl for 80 minutes and attempt to teach them vocabulary and spelling.

My internal phrase is “herding cats”.  I love them, I really do.  It’s tiring, but I know I’m where I need to be.

The verse currently keeping me going is 2 Corinthians 4:1, “Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.”   God gave me this job quite literally out of nowhere, and He will get me through every day.

Right now, I’m trying to learn the class and the kids.  There’s all these different personalities and strengths and weaknesses and I want to teach them all well.  Second grade is currently my babies.  I have first grade for the first time this week.  I get third grade next week.  Pray that I am able to develop a teaching plan and able to differentiate how I teach each class.

I do like the food, although I haven’t eaten a ton of “traditional” Thai food.  Kao man tai (chicken and rice soup) is good, any kind of curry is good.  I love that they keep the yokes runny in hard boiled eggs.  Roti is also delicious.

All day…well, on a school day, I get up at 6:30.  Get dressed, have a quiet time, get out the door by 7:15.  Jump on whatever bus or song tau comes first and ride on down to the school.  Clock in by 7:30.  Go print papers or fix my powerpoint or frantically get everything ready.  9:00, first grade comes.  10:25, they get a break and so do I.  11:00: eat lunch.  11:30-12:50 is 2nd grade and 1:00-2:20 is third grade.  After that, I either have planning time, meetings, or chapel.  I plan until my ears bleed and then go home at 4:30 (if I’m lucky).  Weekends, I do something with people, after sleeping in, and Sundays is church and whatever else comes my way.

So yeah, that’s my current life update.  A lot of new things and transition.  I’ll let you know when something noteworthy happens.  In the meantime, thank you all for reading and let me know what’s going on with you!