Wai Kru 3: Meet the New Team

It's Wai Kru again!

Teacher's day.

One of my favorite days of the year.

Well, actually it was about a month ago, but let's get caught up on the goings-on.

Everything is different this year. My good buddy James, who I've worked with for the last two years, is getting ready to move back to the United States in less than a week. James, who can speak Thai, has been a huge asset to our office, and he will be greatly missed! He's going to give me his TV though, so that's the bright side of the situation.

That leaves me as the most senior farang under Geoffrey, and somewhat of a manager to the new teachers. The guys who I've worked with for the last several years are now gone, and for the first time since my first year I've got an entirely new group of colleagues to work with. Luckily for me and for the students, I suppose (good colleagues make my job much easier), this year's group is very friendly, professional, and easy to get along with.

This year, the Wai Kru ceremony progressed as usual, although now the proceedings were run by Class 46, the first-ever class I taught when I arrived in Thailand. I can't believe that they are in M6 (grade 12) already. Seeing them through to graduation was one of my big motivators in deciding to stay in Thailand for a third year. I looked out at the M6 students during the ceremony, and saw more than a few tears. After twelve years at the same school, not including the three of Anuban (kindergarten), it's their final Wai Kru Day.

This year was especially fun for me, because I got to see some of my former students who had graduated last year and are now preparing for university. I was quite pleased to see some of those who I wrote letters of recommendation for are doing quite well. We were each presented with several floral garlands, which made the office smell really nice for the rest of the day.

Happy Teacher's Day to teachers everywhere!