Right, well today it was back into the routine of school for me, with a brand new set of classes. Things were really straightforward. First I had Ethics in the Media which sounds really interesting, in looking at different codes of ethics for the media of different countries. One of the things we’re going to be watching is the movie “Outfoxed” about the sensationalist journalism of Fox News. I do have a bit of concern about the teacher though. She just arrived here a few days ago and there were times when she was treating the class as children, which was something I really didn’t like about a teacher I had last term.
My other class is Thai Language II, and despite having a different teacher than my phenomenal one last term, I think it’s going to be great. There’s a greater focus of reading and writing this term, as well as some more practical vocabulary and conversational skills, like asking about transportation, hotel rooms, and dealing in restaurants. Our teacher, who is Thai, mentioned that after we learn about dealing in restaurants we’re actually going to go to dinner as a class to deal in Thai (for free too). She also mentioned that we would have to interview various Thai people (in Thai) as well. Should be interesting.
In other news, I had requested an absentee ballot for the election in a couple of weeks which arrived actually before I left for Vietnam, though I wasn’t informed of it till the bus was pulling out of the school and it was too late to get it then. I picked it up today and was all set to mail it in, but today was a national holiday here so the banks and post office were closed (we still had school though under the excuse that we are an American university, yet we don’t get the American holidays off either). It’s Chulalongkorn Day…a celebration in commemoration of King Rama V on the day he died. He’s the most beloved Thai King in history. The current one is close on his heels though. I’m thinking I’ll probably go to Bangkok on Thursday to drop the ballot at the US Embassy and pick up a new digital camera. I might go to Kanchanaburi as well. I’m a bit apprehensive to go anywhere further north as there has been a lot of flooding there recently.
The unfortunate bit about the holiday was that banks were also closed, so I need to go early tomorrow morning to change more money so I have enough to buy my books. Anyways, this term should certainly be interesting! Wooo…there’s a wall gecko right next to me. They’re quite common here! Right, well I must head to bed!
