Tuesday 

Standing on a crowded bus to work, I'm gripped with the paranoia that befalls someone wearing a pair of trousers that don't quite meet his shoes - a pair of shoes that could do with a polish actually. Upon arrival at work, I find myself face to face with a worried looking Thai mother who wants to know how little Somchai is progressing in his lessons - is he participating? is he conjugating his verbs in a clear and succinct manner? 

"Oh he's doing fine"I say instead of "The kid's only five years old for fuck's sake - he should be trying to get Mario onto the next level or sticking pictures in books" I go through the motions of showing concern when all I feel is sorry for the kid.

In the afternoon I have a new class of six students. I go for the time-honored warm-up of getting them to introduce themselves to the rest of the class. It never ever works, but right now I'm so snowed under with lesson preparation that it's all I can think of. When we get to the fourth student, everyone else is getting bored and fidgety - I'm getting bored and fidgety. I wonder if it's acceptable to start a new class with a word-search.

I finally have a few hours free in the afternoon and instinctively reach for the Bangkok Post classified. Usual stuff - yet another school running a teacher training course that will 'open doors all over the world' and other well-worn cliches. A Thai-run school in soi 156 is looking for full-time and part-time teachers. They promise top-rates of pay but can only afford the smallest of ads in the newspaper. 

With my brain on auto-pilot I read through all the horoscopes and the business section, looking at pictures of high-flying businesspeople who aren't teachers or who never ever wanted to be. I even have a look at Ajarn Terry's lesson plan. Is it going to be the answer to my prayers? No yet again, it's a lesson plan that focuses on football, and yet again it's aimed at advanced level students. I promise myself to write Terry a letter reminding him that in every single class there will always be one student that has no interest in football whatsoever.