A Morsel of Optimism :o)

So I thought that I would provide those that actually keep up with my blog a tid-bit of of optimism seeing as how my last entry leaves one with a bad taste in the mouth....

I have realized that I need to suck it up, deal with it, and realize that there are going to be tough times :p Sorry for those of you that read that last entry....I suppose that I just needed to get that off my chest. 

I have had an OK last couple of weeks. My classes are seeming to be doing a bit better. This could be because this is the last week before they are all let out for a month break for the end of the semester. Haha! Anywho, my classes ARE doing much better. I sat down, and thought about what I needed to do. I got some encouraging notes - thanks to those of you responsible ;) Encouraging notes really do mean the world to me here.....I find myself drawn to looking at pictures because it is my only way of "interacting" with you all. Thanks for having such beautiful faces! 

God has reminded me that I am here for a reason, and so has my mom! Thanks Mom! I am at AES for a reason, and I need to start acting like it! You know? 

Insert Funny Story HERE: So, I recently wrote Health tests for English Program Grades 2-5. I obviously saved them to my computer, which happens to be a MacBook laptop....Teacher Sharon asked me if I could save them on a thumb drive for her so she could print them off. Of course I told her. Why would that be a problem? I got them onto her thumb drive(miracle in and of itself) and gave it to her confident in my abilities as a computer savvy 21-year-old. HA! 

Well...Sharon then came and found me telling me that she couldn't print them off. Her reason was this: "All I see is squares...." Great. I was just certain that it was because of the transfer from my Mac to their older model PC. Once again my computer savvyness was lacking....So, on Friday I spent the better part of my afternoon with my laptop propped up next to me while I typed away on the school's PC copying all of what I had already typed.....

Well, a couple days went by. I had a fairly relaxing and uneventful Sabbath. Come Sunday though I got to talk to Steven Oxley. If you don't know who Steven is, he is Mike's(another SM) friend that dropped in to lovely Bangkok on his way to India for his year-long SM trip. He stayed for a week? or so.....we got to talk a bit and I rather enjoy our banter back and forth, this being the reason I was talking to him. In our conversation I mentioned my recent computer pains. Well, just call him "Super Steve". That's right Steve- I've renamed you. He quickly told me that it was not because I had a Mac. It was simply because I had saved it as a .docx document instead of a .doc.....yeah, i still don't get it other than I have the Word 2007 and they don't. All I need to know is how to fix it. So Steve kindly and accurately walked me through the appropriate steps needed. I am still honestly amazed. After "I LOVE YOU!" and "You're amazing!" Steve simply said, "Well, it's what I do." No really people, he's amazing. Just call 1-800-steve's amazing at computers-.com(that's right dot com). 

I am happy to finally have another break coming up in school though. My kids(however much I LOVE them) do tire me out. We're thinking of heading up to Chiang Mai and can't wait to be reunited with Leah and Erin-our long lost sisters! I hope this blog finds you all doing well in the land of India, Ubon, Nashville, Murray, Gallatin, and wherever you may be :) I love you all and I am really starting to feel it. I am indeed homesick but it's starting to get more and more bearable. I am learning more and more Thai every day. Hopefully I'll be able to get through a small  conversation soon enough. God Bless you - you're all in my prayers and I'd appreciate if you'd remember little 'ole me in Bangkok when you kneel down. Thanks and God Bless again....

Frustration

I'm so bewildered. I'm so tired. Why are they treating me like I have gone to school for what I am doing? I don't understand. They are expecting me to know things that I don't. I don't feel prepared every day I walk into each classroom. In fact, I dread it. I dread walking into each classroom totally unaware of what I'll be teaching that day. When I started teaching by myself it was, "OK. This class is yours now. You teach it." There was no preparation. There were no lesson plans to get an idea from. I don't even have a teacher's book for some of the classes. How am I supposed to prepare a class if I don't even have a book to look over the subject? I'm just frustrated and tired. I want to feel prepared when I come to school - and I don't. This is the challenging part of this decision that I made. I will take it and try to make the best of it. I will enjoy my time and my students here. Now, I just have to figure out how I will stimulate their minds while teaching them a language they don't know....

Thoughts & Musings

Thus far, God has been SO there for me and all of my concerns...whether they be about trials here or at home. Recently, as in today, I found out that the house I was living at in Murray, KY has just become unavailable to live in. The landlord has gone bankrupt apparently and he will need to live in that house to stay afloat financially. Amazing isn't it? I haven't been gone 2 months, and the house I was supposed to be living in this year is gone. Poof. Just like that. I would have been desperately looking for somewhere to live, and God knew that. God knew that I would be safe in my new home in Bangkok, Thailand when this mishap would take place. Wow God. Just Wow. He amazes me. Also, all of my things are still at the house. At first, I was starting to hyperventilate knowing the stress this would cause my mother to try and retrieve all my things in less than a week. In no less than 10 minutes, I got a hold of Casey Clark. Apparently he was already planning on going to Nashville to help Ruby Stover move out of her current house and into a new one. Casey said that he could very easily take my things with him to Nashville and drop them off with my mother. Not that that is going to be a simple task, but still.....how much of an ordeal would it have been for my mom to try and scramble people together to pack up my things? Thank you to Casey for being there and saving the day! (and me of worry) 

It's like God, at every moment of concern, is saying, "Ashley, I got this. You can stop worrying. I WILL take care of you." How many times throughout 1 week do we worry about something, when all along, God has a plan already set in motion?How many times have you been proved that it WILL, in fact, be okay? And still, every time, we worry, "freak out", or stress. Think about it. I know that I am one to not always stay calm about everything. And through many tribulations and thinking, I have found that this is not exactly a bad attribute, but just one that requires patience and focus. But every time I begin to go spastic, God is there with His soothing voice inside my heart, or even through someone else, showing me that the most amazing Father in the world is taking care of me. 

It's such a wonderful feeling to have such an amazing Father. I know that fathers and mothers on earth are amazing(I would DIE without my mom) but even they are in no comparison to the Almighty Father. He is One that I can always go to. I can cry or sob in front of Him. I can tell him ANYTHING, and know that I will always be forgiven. Isn't that amazing? This is amazing to me because there are still people in this world that I have to really try to forgive. I mean, REALLY TRY. I am still working on this, but God in an instant forgives us of our downfalls. I may seem like I'm repeating myself, but it's just because my feeble mind has a hard time wrapping itself around some of God's most simple concepts. 

"God, let me rely on You. Help me to focus on the only important thing at hand - loving and believing in You. I love you Lord, and you are the best Daddy in the world."

This Just In: Bangkok Flood Season In Full Swing

So You Know: If you look up "my first bangkok flood" on youtube.com the first video that comes up is mine from today :) It should be posted by 'crocodilian77'  Enjoy!

My day ended amazingly today. My kids in my high-school conversation class were wonderful. They listened and actually worked hard on their assignment! I was so proud. I heard the pitter patter of the raindrops on the metal awning outside while I was teaching. I even thanked God for the refreshing rain during prayer before class. I checked my EP 5 room on my way out after school to see if the maid had locked it. If she hadn't I was going to work on my bulletin boards. She had - oh well. I have the rest of the week. Off I went down the wet steps to the first floor. 

As my trendy crocs hit the concrete ground and my eyes scanned the basketball/soccer area, something just didn't seem right. Like any other day that it rained, everything was

 wet. But today things were

a bit wetter than usual.

 It wasn't until I got closer that I reali

zed we had a lake over our white top! I laughed rather loudly and immediately pul

led out my camera. This drew a bit of attention: 6 ft. tall white girl pulling our her Canon to capture this rather

mundane event. I giggled in excitement. Never had I seen this much water from just 2 hours of raining. Kids were trudging through the water like it was nothing. Others took advantage by splashing and kicking the water on their friends. 

It still hadn't hit me. 

I put my camera away, and pulled my umbrella out for my short trip home. I stepped down the stairs and turned right to go out the gate of the school. Hmmmmm......"That's a lot of water", I thought. It was covering the 

entire parking lot. "There must be a way around it", I thought. HA! I 

looked around for a familiar face(one that knows english) and found my student, Now(that's his name). I asked him how I was supposed to get home. He said, "Teacher, you walk." With that I understood that I would indeed be trudging through this Amazon water most definitely full of creatures only the mind can fathom. I stepped hesitantly out the gate, and my new friend Ice(that's her name too) 

came to my rescue. I had seen her earlier waiting for a cab to whisk her away from this madness. Guess she got tired of waiting. She was with a student and they started walking away. I called out "Wait for me!" It was now or never. I would have to conquer this black, murky water at some point. Although may I add that she did remember to tell me to watch out for Cobras before I stepped in. "WhAt!!!???", I cried. "I didn't know they were in this area." She said that no, they usually weren't in this area, but that the flood waters sometimes washed them out of their hiding places and homes. Oh, this was just great. 

Splash. My right foot disappeared into the black abyss. Splash. There went my left. Ha! "This is an adventure", I thought. I was having fun! I laughed out loud. They turned around to see what was so funny. I giggled and said, "This is awesome!" Ice and the student found it amusing that I was so easily entertained. Off we went. We made it out to the street only to find that it was the same conditions out there too. We trudged on, like warriors. Okay, that's a little much, but it was exciting, okay? I remembered to pull out my camera! Thank goodness! My Mom would kill me if I didn't capture this moment! Ice and our student waited for me to get situated again. I began snapping more shots of the motorcycles' wheels covered halfway up by water! All of these people just seemed so nonchalant about it! Craziness....Anyway, I thought of filming a video to get the full effect. So I got one, and I will look and see after I'm done writing if there's a way to upload it on my Blog Page. We'll see.....SOOOO, after a few more steps she then told me about how scorpions, too, can be washed into the flood waters. OK, so mental note, watch for COBRAS and SCORPIONS the next time it floods. Mkay. Well then. We finally made it to the front door of my apartment building by jumping over a dip in the street that was really deep. I thanked Ice and our student so much for letting me brave this natural disaster with them. They laughed. Wow, so thanks, God, for providing me an 

amazing walk home today.