La rutina

This is my fourth week at school. I can now actually talk about my routine.
Just a little review: I'm teaching at Chitralada Palace Prathom (grades 1 through 6). Everyday I wake up between 5:00 and 5:30. Ok, realistically, more like 5:45... A bus/van from the palace comes to pick all of the Baylor teachers up at 6:00. After about 30 minutes of crazy Bangkok traffic, and only thanks to our awesome driver who can maneuver through it all, we arrive at the school. We buy breakfast at the mini-market. I usually get the yoghurt. I alternate between honey lemon, vanilla, strawberry, and one that comes with a lot of different fruits. There is also a yoghurt with corn and kidney beans, which isn't my first pick, but it's got some extra protein. Other breakfast foods that are popular are the many fried pastries, little muffins, and the fried rice with chicken. Of course, I make my daily coffee. And, of course, it is instant Nescafé with some Coffee Mate. I brought some coffee with me, but it's too precious to pull out just yet.
The group usually eats breakfast together, and then we all go to our respective offices. There we make our lesson plans for the day. Mondays are Speaking day; Tuesdays, Spelling; Wednesdays and Thursdays, Grammar; Fridays, Reading. I don't actually get to teach Reading class. I help the P 2 teacher with speaking, and she helps me on Mondays.
My kids are at very different levels. We split them up for Grammar classes and I get the intermediate level (a.k.a: Teddy Bear group). I take my group to the art classroom, where we get to review grammar and do our own activities. So far I don't have any favorites or any stories to tell (that I can remember), but I expect to soon.
I am usually done with class before lunchtime. Lunch is different everyday. It's an adventure. Our first day, when we were given a tour of the school, we were told how to serve our food. Rice goes on the plate, not in a little bowl. The bowls are for soup (there are usually a couple of choices) or for dessert (the most interesting desserts I have ever tasted, typically a jelly substance in coconut milk, sometimes with kidney beans or fruit). There are no knives in Thailand, at least not for eating. One uses a fork and a spoon for everything. There are normal spoons and what we call boat spoons (with a flat bottom). There is always rice, soup, a "Western" dish, something spicy, and dessert. A lot of the time I'm not sure what I'm eating, but I try to like it.
After lunch, I usually grade for most of the afternoon. If I have any free time, I just hang out and chat with co-workers, try to learn some Thai, or read. By 16:00, our bus is there to take us back home.
Once home, I either work out (there is a girl here who teaches zumba sometimes, or I just use the machines our apartment gym has), rest a little, or go straight to eat. I usually eat with some friends at a little market across the street that I think I mentioned in my last blog. After that, I usually just hang out for a little while and then go to bed.
That's my day! It's about time for me to end this one and get ready for the next.