Back to School...

I'd have to say my first day of Thai language went really well. There are 5 other students in my class, which is quite small especially for Module 1, but makes it super nice as that gives us more one-on-one help from the teacher. The language school is designed with 6 Modules and an array of different electives: Newspaper, Thai Folk Tales, Thai History, Household Management, Medical Terms, Bible, etc. Each Module is a month long, but there's flexibility with taking a month off whenever you want- you study at your pace. At module 3, you start to learn how to read and write Thai.

Back to class: 4 students are South Korean (2 guys, 2 girls) and one Russian lady (who probably at first thought I was Russian as well....considering my name). There are many Russians in Thailand, so I often get mistaken for Russian. The Thai teacher is very witty and comical and often makes fun of everyone...but in a kind way. For the first day we just went over and over the different tones. I already have a decent foundation in Thai- I had hopes of testing out of module 1, but figured a review and strong foundation with tones would be better. The teacher doesn't speak much English, so when the rest of the class is lost, I'm actually tracking---thank God. I think otherwise I would be extremely lost, overwhelmed, and intimidated. But I'm actually the one who can answer their questions. During our hourly 10min breaks, the Koreans all speak Korean together. The younger 23yr old boy, says he'll have to teach me Korean so I'm not left out, and asked me to lunch tomorrow after class.

The day is long- 4 hours- but we did a lot of laughing at ourselves and others which kept us joyful at least. As I rode the bus home, after riding on the sky train, I thought, 'Wow, am I really ready for full-time school again?' I love my freedom and flexibility, but now I have to say hello to structure and goodbye to sleeping in and doing what I want, when I want. 8am-12pm Mon-Fri plus an hour of travel time. In this Bangkok heat and continual brain cramps that makes for an exhausting day. But I realize how desperately important language is, so I just have to buckle down and make this my main focus/ministry- almost. For the next year I'm a student. I thought after college, I was done with school forever. Two years later I found myself back in school for Church Ministry and now here I am... Life hardly ever turns out how we think.