Well, it's finally over. Teaching English, that is. And it feels kind of weird-- I don't know whether to feel happy or sad... and having that mixture of both leaves you with this really weird feeling...

One thing I do know, though, it has been such a priviledge to get to teach. It was great working with the Fredericks-- I learned so much from their experience and advice. Mrs. Frederick, especially... even though half the time I felt like I had no clue of what I was doing, she kept encouraging me to hang in there and to keep going. And it was great to work with Matt and Hannah and Josh... they're like family, and we had a lot of fun together. Hehe... you should hear some of the stories they can tell about teaching English here in Thailand... (If you're reading this, Josh, I hope you don't mind me telling this story!) But anyways-- he said that when they first started teaching, one of the things he and Matt did was write something on the board and have the kids copy it down about twenty times, and that's all they did-- write. But yeah, we liked to joke about finding ways to kill time when you run out of things to teach...
Seriously, though-- it wasn't as if I had to prepare a detailed lesson and give point-by-point explanations. Yes, they copied words down, and did worksheets, but most of the best learning times were when we had games and contests. In the 1st-3rd grade, we usually had it boys against girls-- and they got really into it, I'm telling you. But yeah-- we sang songs. We played Simon Says. And Hangman. And we just had a lot of fun.

And the kids were great. That's one thing I love about teaching kids-- you have so much more interaction with them. My 1st-3rd graders were fighing to be picked to help me... but when I taught the 4th-6th grade, I had to pick volunteers myself, lol. And the younger kids are more willing to ask for help, too. Sometimes that can be hard, but for the most part I like it, because it gives me something to do. Really, though-- I liked both classes. I loved teaching the 4th-6th graders because they were just such bright kids. They caught on quick-- and they had a much longer attention span. =] But they were a lot of fun, too!

And yesterday, Mrs. Frederick told the kids that today would be our last day-- so they all wrote little thatnk you notes... it was really cute. And then, one kid handed me a piece of paper and a pencil and said something in Thai... and they all the kids were stuffing paper into my hands and yelling something... I asked Josh what they were saying, and he said, "I think they want you to write your name." So, I made them geting in line and wrote "P'Atalie" (the "P" in the front is a title of respect, apparently) on their papers. And then on little kid said, "telephone!" and then all of them wanted my telephone number. It was so funny. I doubt I'll ever hear from them, but still, it was cute.

And so, thus ends my account on teaching English in Thailand. It's been an awesome experience, and knowing firsthand what teaching English on the mission field is sort of like, I'm even more excited to see if that's where God is calling me. If He has plans for me elsewhere, I wouldn't mind-- but I wouldn't mind comeing back here and teaching... specifically these kids. It's amazing how much you can bond with your students after a couple of weeks. I don't even know all their names, but I do know that I will never forget them.

~Atalie Habal (Jun 2009)