A slight change of pace...

Hello all. It has been quite a while since my last post, so for all of my faithful readers out there, I apologize. Things are wonderful as usual and I am very excited to be at my new school. I must say, however, the new job is quite a change of pace from the last.
Instead of waking up at 7:00am and take a 15-minute bus ride to school, I now get up at 5:30 and take a 35-minute taxi ride to school. The school day starts with all the students and staff listening to the Thai National Anthem and watching the raising of the flag. This begins at 7:30am and the first period starts at 7:50am. I am now responsible for teaching five classes each day with one prep period. While teaching at the Thai school I taught two or three classes a day with four or five preps. I teach five seperate classes to four different grades. The classes I teach are 6th grade Ancient Civilizations, 7th grade Western Civilization, 8th grade Regional Studies, 12th grade Economics, and 12th grade Global Issues. My largest class is 20 students and my smallest is Global Issues with three students (they are all girls; one from Thailand, one from Japan, and one from Oman; I call them my pearls of wisdom). The students I teach, I can honestly say, are the most wonderful, respectful students I have ever taught...not to mention the richest.
In order to go to ASB, unless a parent is a staff member, the tuition cost for a year is $10,000. I paid less a year to go to college. Almost all of the students' parents own their own business. One of my students in my 8th grade has a father who owns a wine distribution company, another parent owns a resort in Phuket, another student has a father who is the Phillipino Ambassador to Thailand, and another who's father is the the Oman Ambassador to Thailand and Vietnam. I think it is safe to say that these are the people to get in with. The great thing about it is that I get to network through their children.
The school staff is a wonderful group as well. I continue to be amazed at what a small world we are a part. One of the math teachers is my same age, from Appleton, and graduated from the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. The elementary and middle school P.E. teacher is from Honduras but lived in Wisconsin and graduated from Madison West HS while his father earned his doctorate degree. I believe in all there are six teachers from the Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Michigan area. It is nice to be around people who are into state sporting rivalries. I was asked to be on the staff basketball team and play against other international schools on Thursdays. We are a pretty good team and have a good squad of guys. The staff has been nothing but friendly and very accepting of me into the ASB family. I think some of them feel a little bad for me because I teach the most classes out of all the staff. All the other teachers teach four 55-minute classes with two preps. I don't mind having to teach five classes, but I must say that it is VERY difficult to do so when you are hired midway through the quarter and only have a general idea of where the previous teacher left off. I feel I also put some unneeded pressure on myself to perform. Being that I am only employed until the beginning of June, I need to do well to get offered a two-year contract. After only being here a week, I really can't see myself going back to teaching English, so I need to perform.
That is about all for now. I have a couple stories to share but I am saving them for my next post. I will say that they involve Singapore, Thai cowboys, and Freddie Fender. Before I sign off I am just wondering if anyone would like to take bets on the lenght of Brett Favre's second retirement? Well, I am off to write lesson plans and get ready for another exciting week. Until next time, always remember that 90% of teaching is half mental.