franholmes

So, for the very last time, hello from Thailand! I can't believe that in a few short hours I will be boarding a plane and flying home after what seems like a lifetime away. Maybe not in terms of time - six months is a long and short time all in one - but in terms of how much I've achieved and how much I've changed. I feel like the person I left behind in England is a very different person to the one that's coming home tomorrow! The last few days have flown by, we said goodbye to Bully on Monday, spent Tuesday by the pool and then getting some last minute souvenirs. Yesterday, Holly took me took Terminal 21, another shopping centre here in Bangkok that I hadn't visited, then we spent the rest ... read more

Decided to sit down and write this entry as we are currently in the middle of a thunderstorm so there isn’t much else to do! After getting Holly back fromLaos, we spent one night in Ayuthaya, visiting all the temples that the old capital ofThailandhas to offer its tourists. There were some very spectacular sights, particularly the first temple that we saw at sunset on our first day there. Unfortunately, Ayuthaya is one of the places that was worst affected by the flooding back when I first arrived in Thailand and much of the area of the temple was sectioned off as the authorities are still not sure quite how much damage has been caused. All the water has obviously gone now, but there may be unknown structural damage. It was a bit of a disappointment ... read more

School has been plodding along quite normally since New Year (as you can tell by the fact that I have time to write an entry during school hours - I have just marked 36 workbooks, honest!). But, the last few days were supposed to be special occasions here in Thailand. I say 'supposed to be' because the one I was most looking forward to got cancelled at my school! First, we celebrated Children's Day last Friday (13th - not unlucky for children, apparently!). It meant that there were no lessons for the day and the students were free to do whatever they wanted. This mostly involved them running around like crazy people and making a nuisance of themselves. As far as I could see there weren't any special activities, just music blaring out loudly and a ... read more

Well, it’s Monday, I’ve been teaching all day yet still something seems to be not quite right with that. Oh yes, it’s Boxing Day and I’ve been at work for the first time in my life! My Christmas started at school last Thursday afternoon, with what was supposed to be a Christmas concert but held no resemblance to the festive season at all. Plus, virtually all the music was Thai, which is not only impossible to understand but isn’t really very musical either! Our school band was quite impressive considering they are all teenagers but there were two supposedly well-known bands who came to ‘entertain’ us and I was certainly anything but entertained. Friday was better, all lessons were cancelled and we spent the first two hours having our Christmas show. The school priest came and ... read more