The first day of classes...

... have been a lot of fun, albeit quite hot. I have to say that being in a very foreign country is a hell of a lot more fun when you have people to talk to. We start class each day at 9:30 AM and carry on with various breaks until 6:30 or 8:00 PM each day. As part of today's class, we got to sit in on a teaching session with Thai students and I have to say that it was an absolute blast. I am very much looking forward already to leading my own session, which I will begin on Wednesday or Thursday! When you only have a 4 week course, things get rolling quickly!

I was very suprised by the diversity of my class, as so far as I can remember there are only 3 Americans and a Canadian among us. The majority of the students are British, but we have some from other places like Bangladesh, Nigeria, India, and the Philippines. In truth, I have a hard enough time understanding the English I come across, let alone learning Thai! Speaking of English, it turns out that all of our textbooks for students revolve around British English, which means that beyond grammar, I actually do have to learn English again. It's a good thing I've had Chris Hurd around all these years!

I'd like to retract any previous statements concerning the heat here not being so bad. Today proved me wrong and necessitated a visit to the hotel to use their pool. I have no idea what the actual temperature was, but even after all of my walks in the sun this past weekend, today was the first day I would consider uncomfortable. Perhaps it had something to do with the power going out and 20 of us stuck in small room for a few hours... who knows.

I am currently drinking a bottle of green tea with pomegranate, which is delightful. I'm sure if it had a nutritional label it would probably compare well with Kool-Aid in value, but it sure beats water or coke.

I have pretty regular internet access as it turns out, and today I happened across the Twins website. Does anyone else find it particlarly ironic that we take over sole posession of first in the division on the VERY day that Liriano pitches? Let's hope there are some omens there!

Tonight the school buys us dinner and a "moderate" number of alcoholic beverages, so we're all eagerly awaiting the evening! Hope all of you back home are looking forward to your long week as much as I am!

-Tom

P.S. I'm about to have Julius Google map his home in Nigeria...