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“Jai-yaen-yaen”

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Excuse the Instagram screen shot, but this is the only picture I have that captures the essential moment of the week: MEETING MY HOST FAMILY! The morning we were leaving the hotel, everyone was excited. We were finally going to be able to put our Thai to use. I rehearsed my lines over and over (in Thai) “My name is Emily, I am from America, I have three sisters, my dog’s name is Tilly, I like spicy food...” my teacher (aajan) told me I was ready. I felt ready, too. We ate our last meal at the hotel (which was the hotel’s attempt at mashed potatoes special for us), loaded our stuff on the bus, and headed to meet our families at the Don Chedi hub. When the busses pulled in, my heart skipped a beat. Alright Em, phase 2 of training, here we go. We got out, sat down across the aisle from the host families, and endured an excruciatingly long opening ceremony. No one was paying attention to the speakers because we were just too excited to see who got who. When it was finally over, nam...
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The Pool

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Growing up, my family and I would drive up to Boston to see our relatives every year. I remember never being able to sleep the night before, so excited to see everyone again. My sister and I are two of eleven cousins, so you can imagine that this annual one week trip was absolute, joyful chaos. Nothing but swimming, snacking, and laughing until the sun went down, only to rinse and repeat the next day. I've been thinking of these summer days more frequently since moving in with my site host family. My host mom is one of six siblings, and together they have a total of -ironically- eleven kids. They all come to my Yai's noodle restaurant (nextdoor to us) for dinner every night, which means every night it's a party. It's fun to watch: the older cousins play dominoes at the small marble table, the younger cousins run around out front blowing bubbles, and the adults sit on various benches and chairs eating and talking about their days. I understand roughly thirty percent...
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Pee-wee's and Pooches

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Here are reasons why today was EXTREMELY good: 1. Today I taught my first lesson to a third and fourth grade class. I was super nervous. I have taught kids before, but never from my own lessons. I woke up feeling slightly doubtful: what if they had no idea what I was doing? What if they badmouth me in Thai and I'll have no idea what they're talking about? I biked to school, got into my work clothes, and looked in the mirror: Woah, I look exactly like my mother, I thought. My mom, the teacher. Come to think of it, my other mom is a teacher, too. And so is my sister. And my half sister. Then, it hit me: Jeez! What am I so worried about?! Teaching is in my blood! I have the most incredible teacher role models in the world, and I know each and every one of them are in my heart and want me to succeed. I wasn't so nervous after that. I taught the students animal vocabulary. I made them laugh when I told them that "frogs" say "ribbit," and I ...
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