Holidays are Coming and Making Merit, Isaan Thailand.

Holidays are on the horizon. I can smell the holidays they are that close. Tomorrow is the last day of school for students. They sat exams today and also will tomorrow and then it will be absolute bliss.

I don’t have to return to school until the 26th of October. That is if all the paperwork is finished, which it is. I have had some late nights writing report cards and filling in scores. My students have already sat their English exams, and the students that needed to be retested have been retested.

I still have a handful of students who need to sit a retest a third and final time, their last chance to be proficient. I already know these students will probably not be able to pass; their English ability is just not up to the standard.

Sadly there are a few students in each class that are just too far out of their depth. They are miles behind other students and no matter how much extra help you try and provide, how many times you tell their parents they are struggling and need help, these students just don’t seem to have the self motivation to want to try and make progress in the class.

Thankfully, the exam marking is done, all the official paperwork is complete, I think! There are so many forms to fill out and then duplicate scores over and over again for some ludicrous reason. Why I need to fill scores and totals out so many times is frustrating, but it is no point demanding the reason why, as the answer would only make me more frustrated.

I have spent many hours on the computer collating scores in excel, writing reports and so forth. This time has been broken up here and there by this little angel above. Nong Ja my amazing niece (we have had Nong Ja living with us for two months straight).

As soon as I move away from the computer and the seat is vacant, Nong Ja will prop herself up on the chair and start to bang away on the keyboard and play with the mouse that has amazing colours illuminating from it.

My rabbit, Cola is going strong. He is so domesticated now. He was born on December 13th, 2007. I cannot believe rabbits are so smart. They are great pets and not too much work to look after. He loves being petted, brushed, massaged and just having attention sent his way. He clicks when he is happy and thumps his legs when scared. I hope and touch wood he has many more years with us.

Nong Ja, I love her to death. I was marking exam papers and went to the toilet and when I returned she was sitting in the chair with my red pen scribbling over some of the papers. I am not sure if she thought she was helping or was just having fun.

It is pretty easy to entertain Nong Ja, she has this large set of markers, pencils, paints, crayons and more. Nong Ja loves to scribble I would call it but I am sure she thinks she is creating masterpieces.

Nong Ja gets bits of recycled paper I will take from work at times and also what I create at home. She often colours the floor as well but thankfully it is very easy to clean off.

Four times a month we buy flower garlands and Miss Noot makes an offering to Buddha. These times fall at certain times relating to the moon and its new phases I am pretty sure. We have four major images in the living room that have flowers placed over them. Moss Noot lights 3 incense sticks that represent the Triple Gem (or ratanatri). That is the Buddha, his Teaching and the Sangha (the monks).

Miss Noot will ‘wai’ a respectful gesture to each image before placing the garland over it. It is an easy ceremony to perform and doesn’t take long and makes Miss Noot happy she is making merit, which Thais love to do.

Only one day to go before 4 weeks of absolute bliss, not a student in sight or a piece of paper to mark.

Brunty