It is hard for me to believe that 1/4 of my time at Darasumuth has already passed. Four weeks is not long at all. This week was all about getting to know the school and getting to know the kids. I have my routine down now. I wake up a little before seven and eat breakfast with the students who live a the school. It is funny and a little awkward because all 30 of them stop eating and stand when I walk into the cafeteria. They all bow and say "good morning teacha Tom!" in unison.
Then I go back to my room for a while (I live at the school) and I start my first kindergarten music lesson at 9:00 am. I sing songs with 22 different kinder classes though out the week. This is something new for me, but it's pretty fun. They love it.
At lunch I have my upper elementary songwriters for 30 minutes. It's a big group, about 30 kids, and it is during their lunch break, so they are HYPED. They are great kids though. They love to sing and make noise.
After lunch I teach a few more kinder lessons, then prep for the after-school songwriters. This class is mostly middle schoolers and lasts for an hour. There is more of a language barrier with this group, but there are some talented musicians in there, so I am able to give them a little more room to just create. The next 3 weeks will mostly be spent on creating a couple songs with both groups to share during our performance on the 27th.
----
Then I go back to my room for a while (I live at the school) and I start my first kindergarten music lesson at 9:00 am. I sing songs with 22 different kinder classes though out the week. This is something new for me, but it's pretty fun. They love it.
At lunch I have my upper elementary songwriters for 30 minutes. It's a big group, about 30 kids, and it is during their lunch break, so they are HYPED. They are great kids though. They love to sing and make noise.
After lunch I teach a few more kinder lessons, then prep for the after-school songwriters. This class is mostly middle schoolers and lasts for an hour. There is more of a language barrier with this group, but there are some talented musicians in there, so I am able to give them a little more room to just create. The next 3 weeks will mostly be spent on creating a couple songs with both groups to share during our performance on the 27th.
----
Not going to lie, living at the school is strange. I wake up in the morning to sounds of elementary schoolers playing outside of my room. After school, the vast majority of the kids leave (there are 3,000 of them), but I stick around. One kid asked me, "do you sleep here?" I said, "don't worry about it." The room is great though. I have everything I need for free, so I can't complain. However, I think from now on I might have to find somewhere else to stay on the weekends- the gate closes at 8:00 pm and last night I had to convince one of the sisters to let me stay out until 9:00.
----
The kickstarter is over! Thank goodness. It was definitely a good experience and I learned a lot, but it was not easy for me. Having said that, it was a good challenge to put myself out there and I like the fact that now have a group of backers that are invested in this project succeeding. I will do my best to not let you down. I am incredibly grateful to have this opportunity. More next week.
-T
Kinders showing off for the camera
Contemplating chords
Teamwork
Thai lyrics
RSS Feed
