I know it has been a while since I last updated my blog. This has essentially been due to a lack of time, a lack of exciting thingsto write about, and a little bit of laziness. I have been quite busy lately, both in and out of work and unfortunately, I don’t have much time today either, so this will have to be a fairly brief update of the last few weeks.
So, what have I been so busy doing? Basically, working and socialising. There have been a lot of birthdays among the school staff lately, so that means a lot of going out for dinners and the occasional party.
Work has been very busy lately. As the year goes on, students seem to get a bit more stressed and issues that may have been fairly minor in the past can become more difficult to cope with as the stress of schoolwork builds up. I am also running two counselling skills courses – one with students and one with staff, both of which are going pretty well. We had a big International Day at school a couple of weeks ago, which was a lot of fun. There are over 50 nationalities represented by the students in the school, so having everyone dress up in something to represent their home country was quite spectacular. The students' parents put together an absolutely amazing food expo, with huge amounts of food from dozens of different countries. That was a definite highlight of the day.
A few weekends ago a group of us from school went back to Ko Samet (a small island not too far from here), which was a fun weekend away from Bangkok - relaxing on the beach and eating great food. Unfortunately, it rained a bit (even though we are now in the hot, dry season), but not enough to spoil things too much. In an effort to save some money, I decided stayed in a very cheap (and a little bit nasty) hut that was very basic. I only mention this in an effort to stem the rumours that I'm becoming soft in my old age.
Earlier this week I also went to a soccer match. It was actually a World Cup qualifying match between Thailand and Oman. The atmosphere was great, despite Thailand losing 1-0. Here are a few photos and a video clip.
Here is a video clip which shows a near goal for Thailand and the rather amusing reaction of a couple of fans – my mate Mark is the guy in the orange shirt but I think the reaction of the Thai guy he's talking to is great. (Hopefully this will work.)
I only have one week left of school in this term before having two weeks off. I know I’ve said this before, but I do love the holidays that come with working in a school. So, I’m heading off to Malaysian Borneo for 2 weeks with my friend Jayne, who is coming out from Australia to visit me. I’m looking forward to this trip. I’ve only heard good things about Borneo – some good trekking, interesting wildlife and amazing diving.
So, apologies for the lack of interesting news, but I expect my next update will be a bit more exciting. Cheers.
