Paid to be BORED

This week, the students are taking their final exams, which means hours and hours of a teacher's worst nightmare: proctoring (or invigilating, as they say in the rest of the world). Proctoring is my all-time least favorite part of being a teacher. It involves hours of sitting in a quiet room, watching students take tests. We're not allowed to make any noise. We're not allowed to read, or write. We probably aren't allowed to listen to music, but most of us sneak in an iPod or something.

It's funny talking to our fellow teachers and figuring out what they do to pass the time. Some try to think of all the States in alphabetical order. Some people pace. Some people struggle not to fall asleep. Yesterday, I calculated exactly how much I make a minute. The answer is: not enough to make it worth sitting here. I try to play little games with myself. I try to stare at the clock intensely enough that time speeds up.

During all this pondering and observing time, I have noticed there are at least 10 different kinds of test-takers. Let me know if you can think of any others.

• Slow and Steady wins the race: These students pace themselves so they finish with just enough time to check their answers.
• Adrenaline Junkies: With their legs bouncing and a look of intensity, these students treat the test like they are in race and they have to finish first.
• Ponderers: These students look at the question for 3 minutes before writing anything down.
• Fidgiters: Those who can't sit still and have to change positions every other question.
• Bench Pressers: Complete one question, rest for four minutes. Complete another question, rest for five minutes.
• Auditory Learners: I have a couple of students who have to talk themselves through every question. Over the course of the year, I have tried to encourage them to not actually say the answers out loud, so now they mouth everything they are thinking. It's quite funny to watch.
• Writing on the Wall: "maybe if I stare at this wall long enough, the answer will appear there..."
• Random Chance: They think that if they push enough random buttons on their calculators in rapid succession, the answer will appear.
• The Sweet Talkers: They try to weasel the answer out of the teacher, either by asking for vocab, asking for hints, or even just asking the questions verbatim.
• Artists: These students write and write, answer and re-answer so many times that by the end, their desks are covered in eraser bits and their papers are covered in white-out.
• Nap Time: There is a surprising amount of students who write their name at the top, turn over the paper, and sleep for the period. I don't get it.
• Flat out Cheaters: some creative, some definitely not.

Which were you?

A long-overdue trip

After 7 months in Thailand, it was starting to be embarrassing to say that we had never been to the beach. So, with an unexpected three-day weekend, we finally got in a white mini-van and headed three hours South of Bangkok to a town called Hua Hin. It's a retirement community for ex-pats, mostly, and also boasts so very high end hotels. It's not one of the really pristine beaches (you have to head further South for those), but it was close and we found a good rate for a room in a small guesthouse.

The weather has turned hot. The cool season is over, and we are quickly transitioning to the HOT season, but the wind at the beach made it very comfortable.

The town of Hua Hin is small enough to walk around, for the most part, so we did all of our exploring on foot. Although we saw more fat, old men and women in speedos and bikinis than we ever wanted to see, there was a lot going for the place, especially the large variety of delicious restaurants. We splurged a little and shared a three-course meal at a real French restaurant.

During the day, we took frequent trips to the beach (about 10 minutes from our guesthouse), and spent most of that time in the water. It was pretty, but very crowded, and we're not really the type of people who like to pay for a beach chair.

Still, it was a wonderful way to relax!

My favorite time of the beach was after sunset. We made an amazing discovery the first night that if you go after 9:30 pm, the beach is deserted, and you can go for a romantic swim, under a full moon, with no one to bother you. Ah...

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was meeting this dog.

She came down to the beach to meet us while we were putting on sunscreen and decided that we would be her people for the day. She followed us all over a bunch of rocks, around a point, to another beach, and even came out in the water with us when we started going in. We went in over her head, and she started whimpering, but she kept swimming when she saw John further up ahead. She was so sweet! In the end, we had to walk back up to the beach to get her to stay. We both miss having pets around...

All in all, it was a great weekend. We were glad to get out after two months at home. The beach was beautiful, the water was lovely, but if you want my honest opinion, it ain't got nothin' on the Pacific Northwest!! :)

A Quick Note on Packages

Hello everyone!

First off, we want to say thank you so much to those who have sent us letters and care packages. We love getting them!!! so much!!!

But we are looking at moving in the next 3 weeks, so until we give you our new address, PLEASE DON'T SEND ANYTHING TO OUR CURRENT ADDRESS. We don't want stuff to get lost in transit.

We'll post our new address as soon as we know it!

Thanks!!!! LOVE YOU GUYS!

I'll write a post about what's going on with us soon, I promise...