In case you're wondering if we've fallen off the face of the planet, we haven't!! But nothing particularly interesting has happened either. That's the thing about living abroad: it can be very exciting and interesting at times, but we still have to work, and we still have to deal with paying the bills and getting bored and all that fun stuff. We're definitely not on vacation all the time, although it is easier to do something exciting when vacation does come around.
Speaking of vacation, this week finishes up our first semester. We have had a long, 23 week semester with no breaks, and we have two weeks of "summer school" to teach before we get a vacation. It's going to be amazing though, because MY MOM, DAD, AND YOUNGEST BROTHER ARE COMING TO VISIT US!!!! We will have a week to show them around and spend lots of quality time together! We can't wait!!
Other than that, we are working six days a week in order to save enough money for a dream trip to Europe that we are planning after we finish our contract. This was one of the reasons we stayed for a second year of teaching in Thailand. We are on a strict savings budget, and hopefully we will have enough to buy a campervan and tour Europe for a while next Spring!
And really, that's all the update I have for now. Let me leave you with my new favorite kid story:
One of my students, Kong, is totally obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine. He's got the Thomas school bag, blanket, sweatshirt, pencils, ruler, pencil case, books, DVDs, etc, etc. One day, he was naming all of his friends after the characters in the story. He told me that he was Thomas, and Ikkyu was James, Film was Percy, Top was Henry, etc. I asked him: "And who is Teacher?" And without hesitation he replied: "Fat Controller!"
I almost died laughing!
Love you all! Mom, Dad, and Joel: see you soon!
