You know how sports broadcasts usually have two commentators? There is the person who really knows a lot about the sport and then there is a “color” commentator—someone to keep the dialogue going and introduce some interest for TV viewers. My job is kind of like the color commentator for English. I don’t teach grammar. I’m sure that fact makes some of you more comfortable—namely, people who have had to read my papers! I don’t instruct much at all. Instead, I tell my classes about culture in the US and play games with them that help them to understand spoken English and that force them to speak English. If this seems like a pretty easy gig to you, you are correct (or ‘right on the money’—a phrase I recently explained to a class).You may recall my apprehension last month as I prepared to begin the term. Although it’s a little more challenging than I make it sound, most of those apprehensions were unfounded. Most of the teachers with whom I work are great. Most of the kids are either well-behaved or funny in their mischief; I can handle either of those. There was one thing (maybe more!) that I forgot to consider when I decided to come here. It is an important consideration when contemplating teaching high school. I have never really liked teenagers in groups. Not even when I, myself, was a teenager. And yet, somehow, I find myself teaching teenagers. I am almost constantly in their company! In large groups. I think that I have done pretty well, though. I mean, I haven’t gone completely insane and they seem to like me. Actually, on my way here, one of my students told me he loved me, but I am not taking that as a comment on my teaching performance!There have been very significant adjustments, of course. Twice this month, the school schedule has changed. All the periods shifted to different times. No one told me about either of these changes before they happened. All of this switching of times has happened to make time for Sport Day practice. All I have been able to ascertain is that Sport Day is like a huge Field Day in which several schools participate. It is really important to them. So the academic periods became shorter and are sometimes skipped altogether so that kids can practice for their sports. But I asked some of my students and quite a few kids are not participating, so basically they run around for the extra hours. Or they cheer for their friends. They use drums and scream like cornered rabbits. Have you ever heard a rabbit scream? Try not to, it’s awful. It’s even worse when 75 kids are doing it in concert. I try to leave school grounds during this time. Anyway, schedule changes and disregard for academics in favor of a one-time sport event are examples of some of the things that throw me into a fresh confusion every time I think I’m settling into my own life.Here’s another thing that takes getting used to: the absolute subservience of students to teachers. As I walk across school grounds, kids bow to me. They have to get out of my way if I’m walking in a hallway. Other teachers never clear their own dishes in the cafeteria; they grab a passing kid and make them take their bowl. When we start and finish classes, my students bow and say hello or thank me—in unison. And teachers employ physical violence with some frequency. I have seen teachers hit kids with wooden rapiers (they have them around because the kids learn fencing in PE!), pinched (hard, they were still rubbing the spot 20 minutes later!), and a science project thrown against a wall (broken to smithereens). Kids never question this, apparently. It is difficult for an American to accept. I am mostly embarrassed. I try to deal with it gracefully, of course, but my egalitarian ideals, instilled by simple existence in America, have trouble with such unmerited deference.On the whole, though, my job is fun and challenging without being overly demanding. I am glad that I am here. I have realized recently how much I am learning here. There are things that I expected to learn: language, culture and some more (or any!) humility. I certainly am learning those. But I am learning so much about completely unexpected things. My sister and I went to the Hall of Opium, a museum that traces the history, political effects and current trafficking of the drug and its various forms, on Sunday. It is in the very north of Thailand, an area called the Golden Triangle because of its prominence in the drug industry for a few decades. I couldn’t believe how much I learned. That night, Kristen and I watched the news on TV as usual. We were discussing the possibly imminent coup in Fiji when I realized that I would probably not have any idea of the Fijian political situation if I were home. I also wouldn’t know nearly as much about Sri Lanka’s problems or even Iraq if I weren’t watching and reading international news. Beyond this, I have had time to think about subjects that I’ve learned about for the past few years. At the time, I only was able to shove these ideas into my brain. Now, I’m unfolding them and looking them over in a more thorough way. I’m able to decide what I think about these subjects. In short, it turns out that a year off was a really good decision. Despite contact with my 520 or so teenage students, I might come out of this a saner person! It seems ridiculous, right?Well, that’s about as much as I should write—probably more than you want to read!Until next month,Erika