It never ceases to amaze me how quickly children learn to use language, without worrying about the structure or how silly they may sound. Tom is becoming quite the little star at BTN and is getting slightly concerned about the children that follow him around, particularly girls. So he hangs out with the boys and I caught them playing paper, scissors, rock on the school bus last night on the way to temple. “Mum, you don't actually need too many words for them to understand. I use my hands as well and smile a lot”. Ahh, my work is done!
We spent the morning and some of the afternoon at the BTN kindergarten, watching Olivia teaching English. She has been here for 4 months from Sydney and is doing a great job with the little ones, whose English skills were impressive. It is so wonderful to see how enthusiastic most of them are to suck up any learning that is on offer.
Like Tom with his new Thai friends, children learn while having fun. (I am sure I have heard that before somewhere!) My kids felt at home in the Montessori classroom and its beautiful equipment and set about doing some “work” with the children.
Late morning we ventured off for the first time to check out the beach and were kindly transported in this luxury vehicle. Great fun.
The beach was beautiful, a long empty expanse of white sand, with crabs darting to and fro. Hannah, Tom and Meg were delighted by the tropical temperature of the sea and made good use of their (waterproof) cameras. You can't do that with an iPhone! It is, however, also sobering to remember that this is where the Tsunami hit the worst and we have yet to go to the memorial.
Straight after lunch, our tropical paradise was rudely interrupted by Meg being stung by a jellyfish, not too badly, thank goodness. Despite Hannah's pleas, I don't think Meg was too keen for Tom to “pee” on her leg, so the beach restaurant staff brought out the vinegar. We headed back to the kindy for the rest of the afternoon, where they made a welcome and soothing compress of aloe vera for Meg. She is fine now.
We rode back to BTN in the preschool bus, which is an adventure in itself, everyone squeezing in, with babies on knees and giggling preschoolers, keen to continue their English lessons with Tom.
As soon as the older children get back from school, they all get straight into chores, water blasting, sweeping and clearing up. It is all very organised. The arrival of the annual bike riders on the 23rd is a very major event in their calendar and we need to have everything looking spick and span.Our plan to hand out the first batch of Teddy Bears, was postponed, when it was announced that everyone was going to the temple for the evening. Khun Rotjana, the BTN Director, has gone there for 3 days to meditate and get away from her phone. She works very long hand her dedication to these children is unwavering but finding her balance again is, on occasion, essential.
At 7pm, the children all piled into the school bus and room was made for us to squeeze in. We arrived in a dark back alley to a simple building with tiled floor and florescent lights with robed monks and Buddha at one end. Mats were laid out in rows for children and babies and even a kitten were passed around to keep them entertained and quiet. The monotonous and very soporific chanting started and continued for over an hour. I was impressed by the (mainly) good behaviour of the children, although there was some prodding and pinching of the younger ones, who had started to fall asleep. Hannah and Meg did well. Tom, Tiger and Gean occasionally shook with giggles, that they were trying so hard to suppress, especially when Tom was irreverently turning his eyelids inside out. Unfortunately, he was not within my pinching reach.We were back home by 9pm, ready for a well-deserved night's sleep in the knowledge that the clatter and clanking of the breakfast kitchen would be our morning alarm.
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