Kitchen

So, my amazing friend came over tonight before Katy (my roommate) and I got home (he has a key since he's my landlord) and put up amazing cabinets for us! So, I can now declare another room finished and thus post more pictures :D.

This is the best view :D. Aren't the cabinets pretty? I'm excited about them. They're even dark wood!!! You can also see our handy water filter. No buying water for these ladies :D.


Cabinet view number 2. He did both of them, the bottom ones and the top ones. The microwave is a total blessing that I kinda feel bad about. The one that was in the house was broken, and my friend's mom asked me about it. Before I realized what I said, I told her it didn't work. The next thing I know, my friend is walking to his car with their brand new microwave. I looked at him and said, "I didn't mean that! I can get another one. I don't wanna take y'all's new one." But he told me not to worry about it and other people have told me to just take the blessing, so I'm so thankful for it! Thai culture.

And here's my stove top and fridge. There is an oven (as you can see), but it's SO OLD that I was scared to even attempt to turn it on for fear of blowing the place up. It was freaky. So I got a conventional oven that you can see in the above pictures.

I would love to put a coat of paint on almost every wall in this house! But I think that will have to wait. Enjoy :D.

First Day

Well, my first day of teaching is officially over. I woke up at 6 am (horrid hour!) and left for the bus stop by 6:45. It only took me 20 minutes to get to school instead of an hour (traffic) like my friend told me, so I may get to sleep longer :D. My first class was at 9 and I think it'll be fun. It's a writing class and Ting (our exchange student from 5 years ago) is in it. It's a big class for a writing class. Right now I'm up to 30 students in that one class and possibly more on the way. Plus I'm teaching 3 writing classes, so I'll be grading A LOT.

My second, third, and fourth classes on Mondays is a Foundations 3 class. The first class (30 students) is good. My second class (35 students) is fun, but we'll see how studious they'll be. My third Foundations class (17 students) is going to be tough because they won't talk! However, it shouldn't be too hard to get into a groove soon. Tomorrow I teach 3 more classes. I have 2 Writing I classes in the morning and a Listening and Speaking class in the afternoon. Total teaching hours . . . 21 per week. Plus planning and grading. I'll be at work from 8-5 at least everyday. I've officially entered the working world.

When I got home today, I was out of it. I don't have a ton of time for lunch everyday except Wednesday, so I was tired and hungry. After getting something to eat, I went to show my roommate how to use the washing machine that's out on our balcony. When I came back inside, out of habit, I locked my door and went to take a shower. Before I got in the shower I heard my roommate saying "Danelle!" I yelled up, "What!" She said "You locked me out here!" I just started laughing because I couldn't believe I had done that.

So now I'm about to make a calendar of all the vacations, quiz dates, and other project due dates. It's kinda simliar to when I was a student, except my work starts on the due date rather than a week or two before. haha. I pray this finds you all well. God bless.

My holiday and home

The long awaited pictures of my room have arrived. :D This is only one part of my house, but the rest isn't finished yet, so it'll give y'all something to look forward to :D. This is my KING size bed! It was already at the house and it's the mattress my landlord's family hates because it's SOFT. So, with an already mildly squishy mattress, I added some foam and I have an American bed!!!! I'm so excited.


This is my desk.

My wardrobes and shelf. My amazing friend put the shelf together without even being asked! I have amaing friends.

This is my amazingly comfortable couch that can lay down into a bed. See, I have a place for people to sleep :D. Please visit!

Today we had a holiday. I know what you're thinking, "You haven't really started working yet!" However, I have been going into the office for the last week and a half and tomorrow I have to wake up at 6:00 :( . . . so I am starting to work. ANYWAY, I went to a park and Chinatown today. Here's some pictures from that. I LOVE this park and wish it was closer to my house.

These two little kids came up and started talking with me and playing ball with me. That's not normal in Thailand since most kids are really shy around foreigners. Especially me because I have blue eyes and red hair. It was fun to play with them :D

And Chinatown :D. It was fun, but it's not that different from the rest of Thailand, but the shopping is great. :) They have a lot of beads and things, so I bought some beads and I'm going to make picture frames or something with them. :)

This week is going to be fun. Please pray for tomorrow as I'll be getting my visa and work permit again. I just pray that everything goes okay. There are so many papers that have to be filled out and prepared before hand. Thankfully the university has someone prepare them for me, but if she forgets something or just didn't tell me something, it could be a problem. Also, on Thursday I have my first staff meeting at the university. I'll be meeting a lot of new people and I pray I'll remember all of their names. I'm not the best with names. Then, I start teaching on Monday! AHH! I know everything will be fine after the first week, but I'm always nervous during the first week. Please pray God will calm my nerves and help me to trust Him to help me prepare. Thank you all!

Long Awaited Bangkok Post

Hello to all! This will be a photo blog as I have FINALLY taken pictures of the university I'm working at. In my defense, I only got my desk yesterday. How could I post pictures without actually putting a picture of my desk online when it's actually clean? I'm sure this will be one of the few times it is clean so enjoy this picture :D.

This is the front gate of the unviersity. There's actually 3, but this is the

most decorated gate. Gotta show the best. I teach at Kasetsart University.

This is a shot from the street outside the university. It's a beautiful campus

with tons of trees (as you can see) and small lakes/ponds all over the place. :D

Some of you know Ting (an exchange student who stayed with us my senior year of high school). She's a 4th year computer engineering major and this is her building. KU is definately an engineering school.

This is the sign in front of my building and the next picture is my building. My office is on the 6th floor and there are no elevators. Can you tell the difference between the engineering building and my building? There's actually 3 engineering buildings and 2 of them are REALLY nice. But I think I'll like my building. Gives me exercise and it's surrounded by trees :D.

And these are pictures of my office. I have a cubicle now :D. There are 3 other teachers in this room. One Thai woman and 2 foreign men. I have met the woman, but I haven't met the men yet. I'm glad I have a window.

And possibly the only time my desk will actually be clean :D.

And these are some pictures of Bangkok I took while out with some friends. A slight change
from Chiangrai, but I'm more comfortable in this setting. :D

I hope this makes up for me not posting for quite some time. Everything is moving smoothly. My roommate is arriving late Friday night. Pray for her as she is closing up her life in the states. It will be a hard final week followed by major adjustments when she arrives in Bangkok. Yet, we know God is good all the time. :) Praise His name for all the ways He's provided and will provide :D.