Latest developments

On Friday we delivered the books and games that I purchased in Bangkok to two of the centres, and next Friday we will do the same at the other two. They were received with much excitement and appreciation. We had been told that the local ministry officials would be invited for the occasion, but in the end that was not the case, so it was rather more low key than it might have been! Nevertheless, we still did the obligatory photo-shoot:

While at one of the centres I also demonstrated a few simple home-made games for one of the teachers, who seems particularly interested to try out new things. Earlier in the week I had noticed that one boy in her class, who can sometimes be a bit disruptive, was fascinated by pouring sand into and out of a plastic bag when the children were playing outside. The teachers are generally quite reluctant to use sand and water play in class, because of the potential for mess! I took in an alternative - a small tray of rice with a few containers. Here is the little lad in question, absolutely engrossed, and the other children itching to have a go!

One of the key points of early childhood education that I am still trying to get across is that the starting point for teaching and learning should come from the children's own interests and stage of development, and that observation of children is fundamental for making appropriate teaching decisions. It is a slow process...

Meanwhile, at home, it has been an exciting weekend! Yesterday we had a little traffic jam on our street, as there was a big Caterpillar earth-mover filling in all the potholes on the road with gravel.

Now, this was a welcome event, as the potholes required some nifty navigating by motorbike and made for a very bumpy ride by car, and in the rainy season filled with water to become mini-lakes of uncertain depth. I wondered, however, how long it would be before they made a reappearance.

So imagine my delight (and that of all the neighbours - we were out in force with our cameras!), when they came back today to resurface the road with tarmac!

 

 

I can't wait to go and try it out, though I suppose in some ways it will have taken the element of interest and challenge out of my morning ride to work!

This morning I managed for only the second time to meet with the young lady that I have agreed to do language exchange with. We are both very busy with our respective jobs and activities, so it is not easy to coincide! At this rate, I am not going to make much progress, and I have been considering taking proper lessons. I am starting to pick up more when Thai is spoken around me, and I have built up a large vocabulary, but I haven't really mastered putting it all together into coherent sentences! I know how frustrated and disappointed I will be if I return home at the end of two years without being able at least to hold a basic conversation, but being already one third of the way through my placement (yikes!) I am going to have to start making a serious effort!

My blog has made it on to the VSO website, together with a selection of others, so if you would like to see what volunteers are up to in other parts of the world, have a look here!