Beach Balls

A really good friend of mine sent me some globe-beachballs to use in my classroom. I wanted to thank her (and her mom) by posting a couple of photos! The kids LOVE the balls!

Thank you! The kids actually fight over who gets to find the countries on the globe!

Loy Kratong

Back in November (yeah this post is a little late), Tara, Sheila, Pi Oye, Pi Mie, and I all went to Sukothai for the Loy Kratong Festival. Loy Kratong is a big festival where people make little floats and release them onto water. When they let go of their float, they are releasing all of their bad energy (grudges, anger, etc) and welcoming the good.

Sukothai is one of the former capitals of Thailand, and it is where Loy Kratong started...so it was really neat to be able to go. The ruins were amazing - I liked them much better than Ayutthaya.

This lady was selling some ointment that she made...if you can see in the pot, there are horns from some kind of animal. I don't think I would use that ointment!

They had a contest going on for Kratongs (the floats) and they were awesome!!!

They're made with flowers & seeds!
There were parades like crazy!

Here they are taking one of the Kratongs to the water.

The guys at my office were very impressed by this picture. The necklaces the men are wearing are good luck charms & can be very expensive.

We went back later that evening to let off our own Kratongs.

Then we walked around the ruins again & it was amazing all lit up.

Then it was time for the sound & light show...

When I got back, Pi Nuch & her husband showed me how to make the Kratongs...

Teaching

I actually took my camera with me when I went to teach a couple of weeks ago (and the battery wasn't dead this time). So here are a few pictures of my class:

I decided to teach them the Twist. I think they enjoyed it.

Personality Test

I was playing around online & came across the Myers-Briggs Personality Test. As I was doing a little procrastinating, I decided to try it out. Turns out I'm a: INFJ which means:

Idealist Portrait of the Counselor (INFJ)

Counselors have an exceptionally strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others, and find great personal fulfillment interacting with people, nurturing their personal development, guiding them to realize their human potential. Although they are happy working at jobs (such as writing) that require solitude and close attention, Counselors do quite well with individuals or groups of people, provided that the personal interactions are not superficial, and that they find some quiet, private time every now and then to recharge their batteries. Counselors are both kind and positive in their handling of others; they are great listeners and seem naturally interested in helping people with their personal problems. Not usually visible leaders, Counselors prefer to work intensely with those close to them, especially on a one-to-one basis, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes.

Counselors are scarce, little more than one percent of the population, and can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that Counselors are flighty or scattered; they value their integrity a great deal, but they have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them.

Counselors tend to work effectively in organizations. They value staff harmony and make every effort to help an organization run smoothly and pleasantly. They understand and use human systems creatively, and are good at consulting and cooperating with others. As employees or employers, Counselors are concerned with people's feelings and are able to act as a barometer of the feelings within the organization.

Blessed with vivid imaginations, Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another's emotions or intentions - good or evil - even before that person is aware of them. Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others' feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor's remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena.

Mohandas Gandhi, Sidney Poitier, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Goodall, Emily Bronte, Sir Alec Guiness, Carl Jung, Mary Baker Eddy, Queen Noor are examples of the Counselor Idealist (INFJ).

So what do you think?

PS If you want to take the test, you can go to: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

Chaing Mai

This last weekend, we all went to Chaing Mai for one of our last get-togethers. People are starting to head back early! Here are some photos...