stay away from the Durian!

I tried a Durian the other day. It was the most disgusting thing that I had ever eaten. I have wanted to try one for awhile, because they are EVEYRWHERE here, but I never knew how to cut into it (it's a brown, hard, spiky fruit for those of you who don't know). At Tesco, which is the huge Supermarket here, they had already cut Durian, so I had to get one. I have now realised that the smell of Thailand is the Durian. It smells like dirty feet, not a smell that usually accompanies something edible. I couldn't eat it the first night, because I was too scared, so I put it in my fridge. I woke up the next morning and my entire room smelled like Durian. I decided that I had to get rid of this thing, and I didn't want to just throw it away, so I tried it. People told me that it smelled bad, but once you got over the smell it tasted alright. Those people were wrong. It was the most disgusting thing ever, and I spit it out immediately. Although it was disgusting, I am glad that I tried it so that I know for sure now that I do not like it. Other than the Durian, though, the fruit here is amazing. Watermelon, guavas, pineapple, grapefruit, oranges, apples, bananas...they're all so much better than at home!

A bunch of new teachers just arrived, and the old ones are leaving at the end of this week, so things around the school will begin to calm down and get back to normal. The staff room has been crazy lately, some desks are being shared by three people right now just because there is no space. I am lucky, because I took over a nice corner desk, and I don't have to share with anyone. Some people have desks right in the middle of the room, which is kind of annoying because there is no privacy at all.

My kids are still cute, and I, hopefully, will be able to upload some pictures so that you can all see just how cute they really are. I really do have the best situation, because I get to teach and play with these two and three year olds, but I have three Thai teachers in the classroom with me at all times who take care of the runny noses, bathroom runs and crying or misbehaving children. It's great, and I really like my Thai teachers. Some foreign teachers have had problems with their Thai teachers being too strict or taking over, but mine are great. They ask me what I want them to do, and they help me out a ton. They also laugh at the kids with me, because two and three year olds are constantly doing funny, ridiculous things, so we have fun together.

As I said, I posted some pictures, so there are pictures of my trip to Ko Samet, my kids, and of my ugly apartment...which I will be leaving soon!

I hope you are all doing well and hope to hear from you all soon!