my class

so here goes try #2 for my post tonight---uugghh!!! i lost the first one.

today i met the group of burmese people i will be teaching. they are the f.t.u.b.--federate trade unions of burma. there are 4 women and 3 men in the group. they are super kind and caring and worried about how comfortable i am going to be. they have rented me my own "apartment"---i quote this because we may have very different ideas of what this means! (this may be a very good idea, as the building i would have stayed in is also the neighbourhood farm! there are chickens, ducks and 11 cats that free range the yard and bottom floor of the house! and i'm sure we will have a chicken attend a class or two!!) we had a small meeting so we could see each other, discuss when i move in, arrange the class time, etc. they reminded me many times to tell them any concerns or questions i have. one guy told me that i am part of their family now---their little sister. (this man is also part of the burma political prisoner's union. he told us that he was imprisoned twice before---once for 4 years and than again for 7. when we asked him why he was arrested he said "because i was part of the student's union and then because i was part of the teacher's union" well holy! if that's not a hard core criminal.....i don't know what is! and we're not talking simply behind bars......we're talking 11 years of hard labour and torture.) the group decided that they wanted as much time with me as possible so they don't want to be broken into two classes.......they all want 3 hours of english instruction per day. so we decided that we will have class from 8am-930am.....break 'till 10......then have class from 10-11:30am.......then i'm free for the day. not so bad.

i also signed my contract today. the volunteer program coordinator and i decided on a finish date of june 9th (yea!!!). this means that i will finish teaching on june 9th........go south 'till the 15th-ish......be back in korea the 17th (which is only one day after t's bday!)........and be in canada in time for my high school reunion, which is the 21st-23rd of july.

i will spend the next couple of days making up the placement test.....lesson planning.....and relaxing. i move into my apartment on sunday and begin classes on monday. i'm sure i will have more stories as i get to know my students. i hope all is well with you.

oh yeah......mom.....here's my phone number (actually the office number) starting with the country code: 66 55 533357. we need to arrange a time for me to be in the office and then you can call......otherwise i'm not likely to be there.