Trapped in my bathroom!!

Just one of those days! Well, actually I would say it began last night, when I arrived at my apartment after our holiday, I was welcomed by hundreds of tiny ants all over my floor, desk, chair, refrigerator and wall! I cleaned them up, and they came back. Mind you, I don't eat in my apartment, because I discovered these little guys the first few times I tried to eat here, but never so many at once! I bought spray, and killed them all, cleaned up the bodies, and a few hours later, there were more - which died on their way out, so I'm now constantly cleaning up dead ants in my apartment.

This morning, after my shower, I reached for the doorknob - nothing budged. I close the door, so as to avoid fanned air (I do not have hot water) and to avoid getting water in my main apartment area (there is no shower separation in the bathroom). Well, in short - I got locked in the bathroom for about 40 minutes! Luckily, there is a small window (for ventilation) above the toilet. So, I climbed up the toilet (as I'm now an expert climber!) and opened up the ventilation screen and poked my head out, as much that could fit, and started screaming for Howard. His apartment is next to mine, although with a space in between (where the stairway is on the inside). He often keeps his balcony door open with just the screen shut, so I was hoping for this to be the case. After about five minutes of yelling his name, he came out on the balcony brushing his teeth. He later told me that he was watching t.v. whilst getting ready, and could've sworn he heard his name being called, but didn't think too much of it, until it became clear that the voice seemed urgent. He was thinking, "Well, why doesn't she just come knock on my door?!" Hahhaaa. Jacqueline, too, also heard me, but she was half-sleeping still and thought she was dreaming someone yelling Howard's name.

He went downstairs to get my apartment's key from the landlady, came and tried to open the bathroom door - still, nothing budged. Finally, the helper downstairs came up along with the landlady, and tried - to no avail. So, they had to call a locksmith, who came in a hurry. She ended up having to unscrew the entire doorknob off! I got out just after 8:00 am and made it to school just in time for my first two classes, thanks to Howard who waited for me with his motorbike!

I arrived at school, only to be welcomed by a pile of ants on my desk! I didn't have much time to be annoyed or clean them up, as I had to rush off to my first period - M4/7 - which was horrible! I had about 20 students absent (due to swine flu and other various illnesses or extended holidays), and the rest of the class that did come to school acted half-dead. They were completely unresponsive, and after calling in a Thai teacher and trying to talk to them myself about their behavior, I gave up. I stopped teaching about 20 minutes into class. I told the students that I wasn't going to teach a class that didn't want to learn. I mean, I would try to pass out worksheets to them, and they wouldn't even reach out to grab it from me! So, I sat down and got my paperwork in order, which I needed to do anyway, since I didn't have time before. One of the students, Nut, who is the best in the class (class leader), asked me, "Teacher, are you angry with us?" I replied, "No, Nut, I am not angry, I am just not going to teach a class that is completely unresponsive to anything that I am saying or doing. You do not repeat after me when I ask you too, none of you have your vocabulary worksheets, half of the class is gone, and half of you here have your heads on the desk!" I noticed some of the students getting together and pulling out dictionarys. At the end of class, Nut came up to me with a note that they had all written together. It said something to the effect of: "Teacher, we are very sorry. We promise to do better next week. Please give us another chance next week, we promise to try harder. We just want another chance."

From there, my day got better... and as I type this, I only have about 20 or so dead ants in my view from sitting at my computer. Again... just one of those days, but I laughed about it, and still am, as I'm sure many of you are, which always makes any bad situation better.