And there it was! Pancho woke from restful sleep and was right in the middle of it. His first day on the job. Still hesitant on how things worked around here he just jumped right into it and clothed himself the way he expected it to be correct. At 7:30am on the dot he was in the living area ready to eat breakfast. This generally consisted of the left overs of the previous day.
Although Pancho did not mind a healthy helping of day old pizza and all, the Thai left overs were a different matter. Not feeling any great pangs of hunger he would have like to avoid spicy food in the morning. But he knew that it was a big day ahead and there was no way around a healthy breakfast. Without sufficient food he would not make it through the day, especially considering that he did not know what to expect.
After being instructed by as per usual Kunyay on what was spicy and what not, he was whisked away by his father in the car. The drive itself was only a matter of 2 minutes as the school was practically adjacent to the house.
As they drove into the school ground Pancho saw the entirety of students lined up in a more or less orderly fashion upon the sports field. More or less ordered as he saw that at the edges of the formation pupils seemed to be not so sprightly at submitting too the given order, chatting, lazing about and all.
As soon as the car stopped Pancho stepped out into the scorching sun in order to greet his coordinator and advisor who were already waiting. The charming fellow that Pancho was he greeted them in the correct way with a broad smile. In seconds he was drenched in sweat, however ignoring this very mild discomfort. And soon after an agglomeration of teachers formed around him that were keen to bask in their new colleague’s glorious aura. All of these Pancho naturally greeted in the well mannered fashion as well. As it had been the evening before however, he had no possible chance of remembering the lush amount of fantastically difficult names that were flung his way.
And before he had a chance to think about it, his dream of taking centre stage had come true.
In between the school road and the sports field there was a lengthy row of low shady tress that was only interrupted by a concrete stage sporting a mast with the Thai national flag attached.
Pancho now stood beside this extravagant structure together with his coordinator waiting for any signal to step up. As the students in the field in front of them, both were able to enjoy the full glory of the sun. His coordinator did not make any indications but Pancho did feel the slight toastiness that gently caressed his face.
Additionally he sincerely hoped they did not expect him to know his cue for entering the stage, considering he understood not one word in the director’s speech. After a few minutes of insecure waiting he was finally gently nudged towards the steps. The stage was mounted in an instant. The microphone was handed to him and as 1300 pairs of eyes were set on him he eased through the speech without even noticing. The crowd devoured the spectacle of a white person trying to speak their language while breaking larynx and tongue in multiple places in the process.
After Pancho had been presented with multiple bouquets of flowers he was again whisked away, this time into an air conditioned meeting room. On his way to this location he noticed the unyielding curiosity of his new students. Their gazes hit him from every direction, which made Pancho conscious of every move he made. Not one bad move now, or else my reputation will be ruined before I even start
As adept as Pancho was at mastering situations of great importance he managed to manoeuvre himself into the meeting room without falling over any steps or bumping into gawping people. The room itself was welcomingly cool. Not since his frigid experiences with hotel and bus air conditioning had he enjoyed such a piece of technology.
All that Pancho understood concerning the meeting was that it was populated by the English department, held in Thai and that his timetable was decided on.
After about an hour of his avidly watching strange sounds being expulsed, his advisor gave Pancho the tour of the school, which was followed by a spicy lunch with some of the teachers.
At this point Pancho remarked for the second time that he needed to watch out how much he ate. When he was reaching the point of feeling full, for some reason even a normally tasty dish could make him feel like wretching. The day a sausage had suddenly made him feel that the company of other people was a bad idea. This time it was the obnoxiously smelly fruit called durian (Strangely enough it did not smell one bit). He had already made sure to inform his hosts that he had eaten quite a satisfactory amount. However as the durian appeared Pancho could not really refuse an insistent desert. A minute later, with his mouth full of fruity goodness he regretted this decision and luckily found a handy glass of water to wash the pulpy mess down
The greatest surprise that day was however the occasion when he was allowed to teach his first lesson. This occurred right after lunch when Pancho had just sat down at his brand new desk. He was just in the process of testing out his new authority with intense stares at the doorway when his host mother, who also was an English teacher, came in to take Pancho to her class. While imperiously strutting out of the teacher’s room, Pancho glanced at his new timetable and recognised that this was indeed the allocated timeslot.
At this point Pancho was not worried in the slightest however. He would sit in the class and watch quietly how his mother held an English lesson. This would help him judge the students’ command of the language as well as the correct methods to teach.
To Pancho’s ghastly amazement however his mother asked him to step in front of the class and introduce himself. A polite smile and a curt nod later he stood at the helm of these floppy teenagers desperately hoping to impress.
Backing down now would cast a dark shadow on his short but possibly bright career as a teacher.
Pancho, not knowing the students’s level quickly fell into a slow monologue. To his disappointment the clueless faces of his students did not really reveal whether they understood or not.
He finally ran out of steam after about 5 minutes. It is difficult to keep talking about oneself for 50 minutes straight even if one is greatly enamoured with oneself as Pancho was. His next task was even more down his alley. His mother asked him what questions he had for the class, about the town of Punee and also the school.
For the second time in the space of a few days Pancho had been caught flatfooted with this disgusting tactic to undermine his goodwill. He would certainly have to practice coming up with endless questions that required immense amounts of time to answer.
As you can imagine Pancho felt an intense pain in his heart over the course of the lesson. This was no way to teach English. However this was the best he could do, without preparation. Nothing to be proud of he realised sadly.
In order to top Pancho’s taste in what and English lesson is supposed to be like his host mother asked him to teach the children a song.
Pancho initially stood there dumbfounded. A song? He knew that it would be benevolently smiled upon if he taught English through music, but having to teach a song in his first lesson, without any preparation?! Pancho was initially thrown. And his panicked expression most likely displayed this most spectacularly. Luckily Pancho had an ace hidden up his sleeve.
During the mock school lesson that the foreign teachers had to perform at the hotel, they had learned a simple children’s song. While everything else seemed to fail him, Pancho could not possibly forget how “the wheels on the bus go round and round”. And what a success this was! The children mumbled and jumbled their way through the verses and finally dropped into their seats glad that it was over.
To conclude his lesson Pancho could tell he had made an impression. His mother told him that she had never been able to engage them so fully during class. And despite Pancho wanting to attribute this to his excellent teaching skills he understood that this fact probably lay mainly in the reality that he was the first foreigner these children had ever witnessed in full splendour.
Following this highlight of the day Pancho was relieved to know that his second lesson would fall through due to the fact that there was a 3 hour meeting to be attended. Pancho was delighted for the reason that he did not know that the meeting was going to be 3 hours. As a matter of fact nobody knew this yet.
Pancho thought it was a matter of 20 minutes, but once sitting inside the cool conference room, caught in the clutches of Thai style bureaucracy, he was informed that these meetings normally took at least an hour.
After the full hour had passed Pancho was hoping for a quick end. However his hopes were dashed as he found out that highly eminent guests, who had donated significantly to the school, were expected.
Two hours later, the speeches for the late coming donators had been given and farewells were taken.
Pancho was content that he had no need to battle the drowsiness any longer that invariably creeps up when one understands nought of 3 hour meetings and is required to sit in silence.
In complete contrast to that afternoon Pancho was invited to a match of gentlemanly badminton with his host father after school. Gratefully for any change Pancho accepted and so a wonderful tradition was started.
Their first duel was not to be mentioned in Pancho’s books, however he knew that with more practice his skills would reach such stratospheric levels as in tennis, football and golf.
By the end of the day, Pancho could knowingly say that his first day of work had been a full success and he keenly enjoyed the sweet repose that waited for him in his bed.
Although Pancho did not mind a healthy helping of day old pizza and all, the Thai left overs were a different matter. Not feeling any great pangs of hunger he would have like to avoid spicy food in the morning. But he knew that it was a big day ahead and there was no way around a healthy breakfast. Without sufficient food he would not make it through the day, especially considering that he did not know what to expect.
After being instructed by as per usual Kunyay on what was spicy and what not, he was whisked away by his father in the car. The drive itself was only a matter of 2 minutes as the school was practically adjacent to the house.
As they drove into the school ground Pancho saw the entirety of students lined up in a more or less orderly fashion upon the sports field. More or less ordered as he saw that at the edges of the formation pupils seemed to be not so sprightly at submitting too the given order, chatting, lazing about and all.
As soon as the car stopped Pancho stepped out into the scorching sun in order to greet his coordinator and advisor who were already waiting. The charming fellow that Pancho was he greeted them in the correct way with a broad smile. In seconds he was drenched in sweat, however ignoring this very mild discomfort. And soon after an agglomeration of teachers formed around him that were keen to bask in their new colleague’s glorious aura. All of these Pancho naturally greeted in the well mannered fashion as well. As it had been the evening before however, he had no possible chance of remembering the lush amount of fantastically difficult names that were flung his way.
And before he had a chance to think about it, his dream of taking centre stage had come true.
In between the school road and the sports field there was a lengthy row of low shady tress that was only interrupted by a concrete stage sporting a mast with the Thai national flag attached.
Pancho now stood beside this extravagant structure together with his coordinator waiting for any signal to step up. As the students in the field in front of them, both were able to enjoy the full glory of the sun. His coordinator did not make any indications but Pancho did feel the slight toastiness that gently caressed his face.
Additionally he sincerely hoped they did not expect him to know his cue for entering the stage, considering he understood not one word in the director’s speech. After a few minutes of insecure waiting he was finally gently nudged towards the steps. The stage was mounted in an instant. The microphone was handed to him and as 1300 pairs of eyes were set on him he eased through the speech without even noticing. The crowd devoured the spectacle of a white person trying to speak their language while breaking larynx and tongue in multiple places in the process.
After Pancho had been presented with multiple bouquets of flowers he was again whisked away, this time into an air conditioned meeting room. On his way to this location he noticed the unyielding curiosity of his new students. Their gazes hit him from every direction, which made Pancho conscious of every move he made. Not one bad move now, or else my reputation will be ruined before I even start
As adept as Pancho was at mastering situations of great importance he managed to manoeuvre himself into the meeting room without falling over any steps or bumping into gawping people. The room itself was welcomingly cool. Not since his frigid experiences with hotel and bus air conditioning had he enjoyed such a piece of technology.
All that Pancho understood concerning the meeting was that it was populated by the English department, held in Thai and that his timetable was decided on.
After about an hour of his avidly watching strange sounds being expulsed, his advisor gave Pancho the tour of the school, which was followed by a spicy lunch with some of the teachers.
At this point Pancho remarked for the second time that he needed to watch out how much he ate. When he was reaching the point of feeling full, for some reason even a normally tasty dish could make him feel like wretching. The day a sausage had suddenly made him feel that the company of other people was a bad idea. This time it was the obnoxiously smelly fruit called durian (Strangely enough it did not smell one bit). He had already made sure to inform his hosts that he had eaten quite a satisfactory amount. However as the durian appeared Pancho could not really refuse an insistent desert. A minute later, with his mouth full of fruity goodness he regretted this decision and luckily found a handy glass of water to wash the pulpy mess down
The greatest surprise that day was however the occasion when he was allowed to teach his first lesson. This occurred right after lunch when Pancho had just sat down at his brand new desk. He was just in the process of testing out his new authority with intense stares at the doorway when his host mother, who also was an English teacher, came in to take Pancho to her class. While imperiously strutting out of the teacher’s room, Pancho glanced at his new timetable and recognised that this was indeed the allocated timeslot.
At this point Pancho was not worried in the slightest however. He would sit in the class and watch quietly how his mother held an English lesson. This would help him judge the students’ command of the language as well as the correct methods to teach.
To Pancho’s ghastly amazement however his mother asked him to step in front of the class and introduce himself. A polite smile and a curt nod later he stood at the helm of these floppy teenagers desperately hoping to impress.
Backing down now would cast a dark shadow on his short but possibly bright career as a teacher.
Pancho, not knowing the students’s level quickly fell into a slow monologue. To his disappointment the clueless faces of his students did not really reveal whether they understood or not.
He finally ran out of steam after about 5 minutes. It is difficult to keep talking about oneself for 50 minutes straight even if one is greatly enamoured with oneself as Pancho was. His next task was even more down his alley. His mother asked him what questions he had for the class, about the town of Punee and also the school.
For the second time in the space of a few days Pancho had been caught flatfooted with this disgusting tactic to undermine his goodwill. He would certainly have to practice coming up with endless questions that required immense amounts of time to answer.
As you can imagine Pancho felt an intense pain in his heart over the course of the lesson. This was no way to teach English. However this was the best he could do, without preparation. Nothing to be proud of he realised sadly.
In order to top Pancho’s taste in what and English lesson is supposed to be like his host mother asked him to teach the children a song.
Pancho initially stood there dumbfounded. A song? He knew that it would be benevolently smiled upon if he taught English through music, but having to teach a song in his first lesson, without any preparation?! Pancho was initially thrown. And his panicked expression most likely displayed this most spectacularly. Luckily Pancho had an ace hidden up his sleeve.
During the mock school lesson that the foreign teachers had to perform at the hotel, they had learned a simple children’s song. While everything else seemed to fail him, Pancho could not possibly forget how “the wheels on the bus go round and round”. And what a success this was! The children mumbled and jumbled their way through the verses and finally dropped into their seats glad that it was over.
To conclude his lesson Pancho could tell he had made an impression. His mother told him that she had never been able to engage them so fully during class. And despite Pancho wanting to attribute this to his excellent teaching skills he understood that this fact probably lay mainly in the reality that he was the first foreigner these children had ever witnessed in full splendour.
Following this highlight of the day Pancho was relieved to know that his second lesson would fall through due to the fact that there was a 3 hour meeting to be attended. Pancho was delighted for the reason that he did not know that the meeting was going to be 3 hours. As a matter of fact nobody knew this yet.
Pancho thought it was a matter of 20 minutes, but once sitting inside the cool conference room, caught in the clutches of Thai style bureaucracy, he was informed that these meetings normally took at least an hour.
After the full hour had passed Pancho was hoping for a quick end. However his hopes were dashed as he found out that highly eminent guests, who had donated significantly to the school, were expected.
Two hours later, the speeches for the late coming donators had been given and farewells were taken.
Pancho was content that he had no need to battle the drowsiness any longer that invariably creeps up when one understands nought of 3 hour meetings and is required to sit in silence.
In complete contrast to that afternoon Pancho was invited to a match of gentlemanly badminton with his host father after school. Gratefully for any change Pancho accepted and so a wonderful tradition was started.
Their first duel was not to be mentioned in Pancho’s books, however he knew that with more practice his skills would reach such stratospheric levels as in tennis, football and golf.
By the end of the day, Pancho could knowingly say that his first day of work had been a full success and he keenly enjoyed the sweet repose that waited for him in his bed.
So... Who was this sweet response waiting for you in bed?? haha
AntwortenLöschenhaha no you misread. REPOSE! please Simmy, Pancho is a serious man, on a mission. He will not be mislead.
AntwortenLöschen