Friday, August 22, 2014

What do I have to do to get a phone plan around here??

*This post is a couple weeks old, but I started it, then got distracted with life.*

These last few days have been a bit frustrating in a few ways.  School starts on Tuesday (just 4 days away), and although I am teaching the same subjects again, I feel about as prepared as I did last year about this time.  My classroom is taking shape, but I haven't actually laid out my lesson plans for the first week yet, and that makes me mad at myself.  Sure, I could use a very real excuse -- I just got in 3 days ago and am still dealing with jet-lag.  Sure, I am still waking up at 4am and going to bed before 9pm.  But excuses only go so far -- especially when I'm making the excuses to myself.
Riding the curtails of work frustrations is the annoying factor of my phone (technology constantly plagues me).  I had purposely terminated my service with True the day I left Thailand for the summer so that I could begin fresh with AIS once I returned.  In theory, this was a sound plan -- I wouldn't have to pay a 2 month phone bill while State-side, I could just walk in to AIS and sign up once I got back, and I would be rid of True by June.  However, my first two attempts proved to be fruitless.  #1: I went to a mall that didn't even have an AIS store; #2: when I did go to the right mall, my phone chose that moment to die.  I even tried tracking down a new battery, but gave up my search after 3 different phone stores gave me the run-around.

Today I was going to cover all my bases -- I charged my battery last night and promptly turned it off so the battery would still be fresh by the afternoon, and I successfully made it to the right mall--with my passport and Thai residency card.  I waited in line until my number was called and walked up to the right counter when I heard soon-pbet-hok-si (0864), all the while praying that the woman would be able to understand my simplified English and halting Thai.  Thank God, she did! She walked me through the different plan options, then pointed out one that I had my eye on since my last fruitless venture to the store: the 399 baht plan that included unlimited 3G data and 100 minutes of talk time.  She even told me it was their 'special teacher discount' offer.  I smiled gratefully and said it was perfect. My last plan with True was twice that with only 2G data, so teacher discount or not, it was a much better deal.  She also assured me that I could keep my old phone number so I could avoid the task of emailing/facebooking everyone with new digits.

Things were starting to look up.  I felt my frantic heart slow down and I was able to smile at the very helpful rep without it being forced.  Even when she told me it would take 3 days for the plan to take effect, and I couldn't use my phone until Monday, I didn't sink into despair.  Because at least things were in the process of being done.  Patience is not a virtue I possess.  I hate waiting.  But two things made the thought of waiting bearable:  #1: I knew that my phone would work by Monday; this was just the process of the phone service; #2: after all the trouble I went through for this stupid phone service change, it was nice to see myself moving forward instead of standing still.  Now, I don't remember there being a 3-day wait when I was with True, but I'll take what I can get at this point.  And so I tucked my new SIM card into my wallet so I'd be ready to pop it in on Monday, thanked her profusely, and left the store feeling accomplished.

Monday came and went.

Nothing happened.

Tuesday came and the SIM card still wouldn't activate.  So with frustration mounting yet again, I marched back into the AIS store and showed them my defective phone.  The rep had to call over a manager who spoke decent English so we can work through the problem together.  As it turned out, because I had already cut my service with True before trying to set up an account with AIS, my old phone number was deactivated and was no longer usable by me.  I didn't think this would be such a big issue, but they had to call True and talk to them about my old number and the plan that I had with them.  So when all was said and done, I couldn't use my old number, and had to choose a new AIS number from their list.  Since I hate memorizing numbers, I told them to give me one with repeating digits.  They were quite accommodating, and as it turns out, I do like my number -- and I was able to use it immediately!  If I knew the 3-day wait was for them to transfer my number from True to AIS, I would have ditched it in a heartbeat!  So with my new service all set up, internet working, and phone able to receive calls, I left the store only slightly disheveled.

Needless to say, I did learn a lot about how phone companies and such work in Thailand, so if you are struggling with phone plan issues, let me know.  I probably experienced them too.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

I hate running

I almost said I hate exercising, but that's not entirely true.  Some activities don't even feel like exercise, but I know I'm getting a good workout in.  For instance: salsa dancing, dance aerobics, hiking, yoga, mowing the lawn, and sometimes playing sports.  And by 'sometimes' I mean spontaneous pick-up games.
And then if we continue going down this scale of exercise we'll reach such activities as swimming, badminton, soccer, basketball (you get the picture), workout videos, core floor work -- all activities that are exercise by definition that they require workout clothes and tend to cause quite a sweat.  These are activities that need a lot of energy and usually a mental pep talk from me before even beginning.  But once I get started, I usually enjoy the workout.

But then we come to running at the very bottom of the totem pole.  Running I loathe.  Running doesn't just take effort and a pep talk.  It takes every breath out of me.  Gravity constantly reminds me that I'm not quick, that putting one foot in front of the other is more effort than its worth.  It reminds me that I am not a runner.  I feel like I'm carrying an extra ten pound sack in my hands.  I thought that running in the States, away from high humidity and unbearable heat, would be a breeze; instead it is undoubtedly worse.  I was able to run twice as long without stopping in Thailand, yet here in Oregon, with the 75* weather and continuous wind, I feel weighed down.  Instead of wiping sweat off my brow, I'm wiping tears from my eyes (because of the wind -- not because I'm sad).
I try varying up my exercising routine with workout videos and core floor work, but running always cycles back around and I have to face the mind-numbing exercise with resigned resentment.

And so tomorrow, running and I have an appointment.  And I'll be approaching it with unchecked fury.  Too bad that fury can't fuel the running fire.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Here's to the new year. Let's hope it's better than the last.

We're now a week into 2014, and it's been five months since my last post.  I'll admit it: I have been an awful blogger these last couple years. On the sidebar of the main page, I noticed that I only posted four times in both 2012 and 2013 -- embarrassing since I call myself a writer. This year I'm hoping to change that.  Actually I'm hoping to make a lot of changes, or rather improvements, in 2014.  Thinking about it has me teetering on the edge of excitement and anxiety.

You see, at the start of the school year back in August 2013, I shifted from being a middle school English teacher to an 11th grade American Literature/Creative Writing/Speech teacher.  I expected the change to be challenging, as all job adjustments are, but it's safe to say that I struggled just to keep my head above water.  Tripling my workload, in addition to the coaching duties I retained, as well as adding advising duties for the 3 service clubs I agreed to oversee had made the first semester of school overwhelmingly stressful.  I noticed it most in the interactions I had with people.  I couldn't enjoy social interactions because all I could think of was the school work I still had waiting for me when I got home.  I chose to hide at home or go out alone when I wasn't obligated to be with people -- even if I didn't grade papers or lesson plan, at least I could keep my stress, short temper, and self-pity to myself without bothering anyone.  I was too exhausted to engage in lively conversation with anyone.  After all, I chose to move up to high school.  I chose to take on new challenges to keep my teaching skills sharp and my brain actively engaged.  I chose to advise separate service clubs when students asked because I believe they want to make a difference in the community.
None of these were forced on me, but by agreeing to do them, I made a commitment to do them well.

 But I didn't do them well.

I hate it when people do things halfheartedly, and I loathe myself for doing anything halfheartedly because I strive for excellence.  That doesn't mean I'm the best, it just means that I'm doing the best I can.  However, my constant failure to do so this last semester left me feeling dejected and self-deprecated; no matter where I looked I couldn't find success.  There was no even hand-off -- doing poorly in one area only to succeed in another.  My students were disinterested in class, complained about the lack of 'fun projects', and were unwilling to engage in critical discussions of text.  I was getting 'gentle reminders' from administration that my students needed to be pushed more, yet also told my tests were too hard.  I had somehow made multiple girls cry because of grades (one girl ended up dropping my class).  Drama constantly ensued in service clubs when I chose to defer much of the responsibility to the student leader, and the members could not cooperate with the student leader.  And my varsity soccer team hit a new low by consistently having inconsistent attendance.  A team of 15 dwindled to 12 with 4 consistent players coming to practice regularly.  Then there were the personal goals that were set (and attainable) that were not reached.  And I felt ashamed.

This was my failure.  Failure to motivate and inspire my students in the classroom.  Failure to live up to administration's standards.  Failure to unite the service club members to be a driving force under one goal.  Failure to motivate my players on the field so that they would want to come to practice everyday and give 100%.  Failure to follow through with my goals.

I don't do well with failure.  It doesn't motivate me to try harder.  It makes me hang my head like a pound dog that wasn't chosen for adoption.  It makes me withdraw from everyone so at least they wouldn't see my faults and shortcomings.

But 2014 will be different.  I'm not usually one who 'needs' breaks, but Christmas break was desperately needed; not just to rest a weary soul and remind me that life isn't as gloomy as I sometimes think, but because I was able to get a new perspective on teaching.  No, I haven't come up with exciting new projects for my students.  I haven't devised easier tests because I expect students to rise to the challenge.  And soccer season will be over in two weeks, so there's not much I can do there.

However, there are always improvements to be made, and I will strive to do the following throughout the new year.  This is not a list of New Years resolutions.  It is a list of goals I hope to accomplish both professionally and personally.

  1. Remind students (and myself) why I expect so much out of them and encourage them to rise to the occasion for their own sake -- not mine
  2. Set clear guidelines before projects/papers and give examples of exemplary work so they know what to work towards
  3. Set up monthly meetings with all service clubs to organize things a bit better and demonstrate leadership for the student leaders
  4. Remind students of consequences (late work, tardies, behavior, etc) and enforce them
  5. Find a nearby fresh market to get produce and cook more (save money!)
  6. Clean out clothes not worn in a year and give away
  7. Blog regularly -- at least once a week
  8. Take Thai language lessons twice a week
  9. Do something active 5 times a week
  10. Pay off student loans!
  11. Revise book for publication
  12. This summer travel to:  NYC/NJ, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, Seattle, Portland area, and home :)
  13. Most importantly:  Learn to let things go and not see life as a failure, but a change in direction.  I cannot constantly compare my life to the next person's -- it is in there that my shortcomings are most noticeable, and it doesn't matter because everyone falls short of perfection.
As you can see, there's a lot to accomplish in a year.  Now that they are written down, it might be easier to cross of as I complete them.  It also means that I am held accountable.  I think taking Thai lessons again will be the most humbling of experiences since language acquisition is not my forte and I tend to get discouraged easily with language obstacles.  With that in mind, I will try to preserver despite knowingly butchering a language. :)