Thursday 

I feel quite good this morning. I've got my best shirt and tie on and I'm clocking my reflection in the mirror 'not all five Spice Girls please!' It's a good 'money' day today - an eight lesson day with almost no breaks bar the one-hour break at lunchtime. I'm going to treat myself today. I'm going to have sausage and mash or pie and chips at the Toby Jug. Yeah, I know that rice and a few scraps of chicken followed by a bag of fresh pineapple is healthy but I'm a bleedin' farang - I need sustenance, I need carbohydrates. I need to occasionally enjoy the delights of an unhealthy diet and not feel guilty about it. Bollocks, after my sausage and mash nosebag,  I might even grab a Mars bar from 7-11 and stick two fingers up to the world.

The day was spoiled by only one thing - a lesson observation. The head teacher came and sat in one of my morning classes - a class that didn't go particularly well. After the observation, we sat down together to discuss and analyze the class in detail, as you would expect two professionals involved in Bangkok's EFL profession to do. It was a case of pinpointing my weak areas and making suggestions on how I can become a more competent and successful teacher.

"You didn't move around the class enough".

"Well what do you expect for 220 baht an hour. Why don't you get me a pair of bloody roller-skates."

"The one student participated very little in the class. It was as though you were deliberately trying to avoid asking her questions."

"I avoid asking her questions because she's a complete f***ing retard. Every time she answers a question, she's 100% wrong. That takes a special kind of talent."

"Do you feel that you used the whiteboard correctly?"

"Well, I wrote on it if that's what you're getting at. It's generally what I use the whiteboard for. I do know some teachers who take it off the wall and take the students out for a snowboarding session but they're few and far between"

Ahhhh, professional development - the cornerstone of any language school.