A Great Group of Kids

There are times when being a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand starts to feel rough. Emotionally... It's a difficult culture to adapt to, the weather is challenging (whether hot or cold), and sometimes I don't feel like I'm accomplishing all that much at my "job."

But the 5th and 6th graders at my Monday-Thursday school never fail to bring my spirits up a bit. Perhaps they'll insert random English words we've studied into an otherwise Thai conversation in an amusing way. Perhaps they'll joke about the "kaab moo" (baked pig skin) that Robert offered them one day. Perhaps they'll make fun of my daily breakfast -- oatmeal -- which they find to be amusing both gastronomically and linguistically.

Or perhaps, like today, during a lesson on comparative adjectives, they'll repeatedly insist that OF COURSE I am more beautiful than Tata Young, the Thai singer. And they'll laugh when I tell them that's worth a few bonus points. But they said it even without the bonus points... so there!

The photo was taken on our field trip to the Mae Mo Power Plant in November. Ajaan Warangkana, my co-teacher, is posing in front of the yellow flowers with the kids.