Welcome to "Sunday Summary" in which I try to summarize the week that came before. This is the 56th installment, covering the week ending yesterday, 16 September 2023.
This past week marked the last of the school term with a given topic, that being Seasons. We had lessons in the two seasons of Phuket (dry and wet) and in the four seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter along with types of weather (sunny, windy, rainy, snowy), activities during each season as well as clothing worn during different types of weather. The week was more or less "normal" so I was able to complete all of the points on my curriculum without any interruptions. We had a substitute Chinese teacher one day and we continued our Computer class coloring.
The one big activity of the week came on Wednesday when the Science teacher asked the children to don rain garb and grab their umbrellas for a trip to the parade ground. Once there, she sprayed them with a high-powered hose. Most of the kids thoroughly enjoyed running around amidst the water while a few were absolutely terrified of it. I brought my poncho and umbrella down as well and joined the kids in a show of solidarity. Other than the artificial shower, we only had rain two or three times during the week. I really hope that the floods of last October do not repeat.
With the end of the Por Tor Festival on Thursday, I made sure to visit several of my favorite vendors for some great takeaway street food and snacks. My favorite were the egg tarts and the really fat sausage I got on the last day. I wish I'd found the latter much earlier because it was delicious (and not spicy at all!). I will also miss the popcorn and the crowds. Those will be replaced by devotees in white garb soon enough as the Nine Emperor Gods Festival (known locally as the Phuket Vegetarian Festival) will start on the day after our school term ends.
The last couple of days of the work week were spent preparing for an activity coming up Monday morning. We will journey to Phuket's newest waterpark (it is very expensive, thus I have not yet been there) and the children will rotate around three games stations manned by our teachers. I was assigned the topic of "Numbers 1-10" and I prepared a game in which pairs will compete to draw numbers the fastest. I envisioned having pie tins full of sand, placing a popsicle stick with a graphic representation of a number in the sand, and then the kids tracing the actual number in the sand. I searched high and low looking for materials I could use.
I could not find the little pie tins anywhere and rectangular trays were prohibitively expensive. I originally thought I would need 20 so each kid could play in the allotted time which is 10 to 20 minutes (of which some time will be lost trying to explain and demonstrate the game). I found some small round items that seemed alright and bought 20 at 12 baht apiece; these were determined to be much too small. I finally found a pack of eight plastic containers that are the perfect size. I bought some large-sized popsicle sticks in assorted colors and found tiny, metallic "jewels" which I glued on for the kids to count. Lastly, I walked to the beach very early this morning where I filled a number of containers with sand (some loose, some wet and hard-packed).
There will also be one whole-group activity in a swimming pool involving throwing different sized balls into an inner tube ring. Unfortunately, the only such ring I could afford may be too small (60 cm in diameter) but I found a nice selection of rubber balls. I think that the three foreign teachers on-hand each day can form a ring with our arms for the children to toss the balls into. If the weather remains as sunny and hot as it has recently, I will be very happy to be in that pool!
Friday was a little bit unusual in that we were permitted into the library for the first time since early June! The kids went straight for the play area in the back and enjoyed "cooking" food for the teachers. Only two students sat and leafed through books. My main Thai teacher had to leave early in the afternoon in order to travel to her home province of Phatthalung (more wedding prep, I suspect) so she was scarce from naptime on. One of our students will have his birthday this Sunday so we celebrated after we woke the kids up. We had some of the best ice cream I have had since moving to Thailand -- rich and creamy in several different flavors. It was a great way to end the school week.
I spent much of Saturday shopping at Central Festival mall, finishing my list of needed not-an-English-Camp materials and purchased a few office supplies that I also needed. I stopped by two of the three bookstores in the mall and noticed that they were boxing-up all of the English-language books in one of those. Hopefully, they are just moving them to a different section of the store rather than removing them completely. I didn't buy any books but I did add a few to my wishlist. I think I will do some serious book shopping at the time of my birthday or Christmas.
I had planned to eat a late lunch at the mall and then get some KFC to take back home but then I talked myself into hopping on the Patong songteaw for my first Subway sandwich of 2023. The weather was pleasant as I arrived in the early evening and got my standard footlong Spicy Italian sub on parmesan oregano bread with lettuce, onion, green pepper, pickles, jalapeños, topped with Chipotle Southwest sauce. I packed that in my backpack and headed towards the stop on the Smart Bus route that would return me to Kata. As I neared it, I noticed I had about 30 minutes until the bus would arrive and so had time to journey to a nearby local market to buy a baked potato (with sour cream and plenty of melted cheese). I had not eaten all day and was starving. I finished eating that just a few minutes before the bus arrived. The first half of the sub sandwich was devoured soon after I got home but I saved the second half for a midnight snack.
I have not left the apartment since coming back from my early morning excavation at the beach. It is just after six in the evening so I will head out for some dinner once I finish this blog. I plan to buy some eggs to hard-boil to test my new mini-rice cooker. It arrived earlier yesterday; a friend is letting me use her address as a mail drop as I cannot get anything delivered to my home.
I did my standard Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday memes but, once again, I skipped the "5 On My TBR" entry as the prompt was "Best Friend" and I drew a big blank. Next week's "Classics" should bring a return to that meme. I thought of the topic for this week's "Thursday 13" while walking to the bus stop early that morning and came up with 15 or so questions and phrases. Most of them used to annoy me but I have become accustomed to just about all of them which doesn't mean I have to like them! My article on the "Year of the Naga" is drawn largely from a description I published on Philatelic Pursuits last week. While I didn't write any articles for that site this week, I did a fair amount of behind the scenes work on it including adding a section on my personal local post which will celebrate its tenth anniversary next month.
See you next week. . .
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