It is ridiculous how out of practice I am with doing ACTUAL work. I have spent the last two years folding jeans, and it became second nature to me. But today I got a taster of the next 6 months, as today was the first day of my TEFL briefing before heading off to my placement. 9 - 6 were the hours, and although they flew due to the sheer number of activities and interaction we all took part in, it was still tiring.
Although my tiredness must have been nothing compared to that experienced by our entertainers at our welcome reception last night. With all the travelling that people did the day before, yesterday was a bit of a relaxing day. At 6pm we were all brought into a buffet reception downstairs where we all get to taste absolutely incredible Thai finger food. I swear, Irish cooking hasn't a patch on the food here. Such amazing tastes. The trick is not to ask what it actually is that you are eating.
At about 7pm, we began to be entertained by some local students. They performed a number of Muay Thai, which is a form of self defence and traditional martial arts. These kids were incredible! From the ages of about 18 down to 5 .... yes 5!! .... these children have mastered a number of impressive and complicated routines of Muay Thai. Most were done with long batons or arm shields, but at the end, two nine year old girls came out and fought with machetes. Now, they were blunt from the looks of it, but they are 9 years old, and they are wielding machetes! It was insane! Extremely impressive, and the children are well taught by their teachers and by their monk who would see no major harm done to them (although one teenage girl did break her nose as a result of a wrong step). Overall, the night was a complete success, even if I am now terrified to say no to my students. Never underestimate the potential of a 10 year old Thai child with a stick.
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