Everything's Going to Be Alright

Hello family! I reached a turning point this week. I finally came to peace with the fact that I'm going to be living in Thailand for four more months. When I first arrived, I had an initial bout of homesickness and culture shock. I wanted to hop on a plane right back to Utah. When I first came to the school, I had no idea how to interact with little kids, deal with the heat and humidity, the bugs, the girls, the food, etc. A lot has changed in the last two weeks. I have become good friends with the other girls. We can laugh and tell each other anything. They give me a home away from home. I have come to love my students even the elementary kids. At first I thought they were brats but we had a lot of fun playing a game on Thursday and they seem to really listen to me now. I have a lot of fun talking with them. I still love my kindergarteners and I also joke around with them. I think they sometimes can't understand what I'm saying, but always laugh with me. Whenever I see my students outside of class, they always say "Hi Teacher Jessie!" and give me a good hug. Teaching also seemed daunting at first, but it doesn't seem as scary anymore. My head teacher, Courtney, did evaluations this week and I got very high scores in all categories. I finally think I can do this. It also helps that everyone at the school, our coordinator, and Mom and Dad do such a good job taking care of u. The cook is such a nice lady and though she doesn't speak a word of English, she really tries to make good food for us and meals that we will like. She made us a Thai omlette today that was delicious. Our coordinator, Tang, also does such a good job helping us with teaching and adjusting to living in Thailand. She has helped us with our Thai and gives us tons of good ideas of things to do around town and is helping us plan our vacations. Her brother, Tan, has also been so helpful. I told him the other day that I didn't like my bike and he took care of it right away. He took it to the bike shop and it came back today with new brakes, tires, and a basket to put my purse in. We went to Mom and Dad's garden home today and they spoiled us as usual. They gave us chips, ice cream, nachos, and Krispy Kreme donuts. We also finally met Tang's husband, Ake, today. He graduated from BYU and said that Provo is the best city he has lived in. I have also gotten used to the heat and humidity. It doesn't even phase me anymore. So everything is going to be alright you guys! I hope you all are well!