Hello, my name is Giraffe

So, I'm moving on now to week number 11. It's come around really fast but I think I'm ready. I've been mentally preparing myself since week 8 but leaving my students will still be hard. Even more than China being in Laos makes one realize how easy we have it. I wish I could stay longer just to give these students some consistency if nothing else. Here's a list of things I've been thinking about lately. Some of them just apply to the novices but most apply to everyone.

We think school is boring but we don't have to listen to lectures in a room with 59 other students, in high school.

We think having to stay at school for lunch isn't fair but we don't live 9 hours by bus and 6 hours on foot away from the school.

We think our teachers are unreliable but we don't have to worry about them not showing up, or showing up drunk.

We think we give up a lot for school but we didn't have to convert to another religion and then lose the ability to hug our mothers.

We think educations are expensive but we don't have to send our sons miles from home just to get a discount, for primary and secondary school.

We think school food is bad but we can at least eat after mid-day.

We think getting As is hard but we don't have to bribe our teachers for good grades.

We think teachers don't get paid much but we can't buy two snickers for the same amount as their monthly salary.

We think the school day is too long but we go home every day, not once a year.

We think schools have too many rules but we get to shed them once class is over.

There's definitely more but these are the biggies. I can complain all I want about my high school experience but I never had to do anything the students here do. These things are normal for them. They may wish things were a bit easier but they deal with these things very well. They're aware that there's so much they can't change and that they may as well make the most of it.