Bangkok Life Update: Summer in Siam - School Updates and Whatnot

I have been kind of debating how much to post this summer. You see, as many of you who know me personally (pretty much anyone who visits this page, to be honest) probably already know, my brother is studying Turkish in Ankara, and I have been working hard editing his blog posts for him. Check out his adventures here! It seems like he is having an amazing time; I truly believe that traveling and experiencing other places is the best way to grow as a person. He's come a long way from the 13-year old terror-child of a sibling that I remember. (I'm just joking, Kyle!)

Also, I know people on the Internet don't have that much time to spend reading blogs written by people named Desrosiers, and I get to jabber away on here all year long. For the next six weeks, follow Kyle and learn some things about Turkey. You won't regret it! And I'm not just saying that. I really find his blog to be entertaining, inspiring, and informative. He wrote on this blog as a guest writer last year during his visit to Bangkok, and I really think his posts were quality stuff!

That being said, I'm going to use today's post to catch up on some goings on at school. Nothing too important, so I'll use this time to selflessly plug Kyle's blog. I am such a good brother. Really a stand-up guy.

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I have to thank the late Mr. Garnier. On the day of his passing, my boss Geoffrey had to help attend to his affairs on behalf of the school, leaving me in charge of meeting a very special visitor: the principal of Wesley College, a very good 150 year-old private school in Melbourne, Australia, and our sister-school through a traditional exchange program. Some of my all-time best students have attended this exchange program in the past, and I find that this type of immersion environment is more beneficial to them than any amount of classes could ever be.

So on that Friday, Aj. Cherry (and English teacher and the head of international affairs) and I headed out to the five-star Grand Erawan Hotel downtown to meet our VIP guest and bring her to our school.

chilling at the hotel

During lunch, I was invited to dine with both principals and the head of the English department in a private dining room at the school. I felt completely honored to be included in that, and I was seated right next to our Ajarnyai! They even served one of my favorite Thai meals, roast duck with ginger.

In slightly less fun news, my good buddy of three years, James, and his wife, Nan, are getting ready to move back to the States. This past week was James' last at work, so now I'm taking on some of his old responsibilities as the most senior of the Ajarn Farang (Geoffrey and Suzie excluded).

Our department had a very nice dinner to bid farewell, although he'll still be in Bangkok for a few more weeks. The upside to all the recent events is that I'm getting more and more responsibilities, which I very much appreciate! Thus far, things are going quite well for me in Bangkok this year.

In other news, it's hot. Really, really hot. Officially it's rainy season, but the monsoons haven't started yet, so it's just humid and generally unpleasant outside.