Now I'm a Japanese teacher?

In my attempts to form better relationships with people at my office, I have been going in the afternoons and just sitting there studying Thai. I used to play on the computer all afternoon and I never really talked to anyone. I can play on the compute at home, so I figure I should make some kind of effort at the office. Peace Corps gave us this Thai workbook with short stories and then related questions and activities in Thai. It's good for learning how to read. When I bring this book out, someone asks what I'm doing (because I'm not at the computer, gasp!). Eventually someone pulls up a chair and I have a Thai tutor for the next hour or so. It works out quite nicely. I should have done this months ago.

Today, one of the younger women was the chosen tutor. Everyone knows I studied Japanese in college and this fascinates them immensely. Well, today, to my surprise, my co-worker/tutor brings out a Japanese work book. Apparently she is taking a Japanese class in the big city nearby. So far she is just learning the Japanese alphabet and a few words like "umbrella" and "fish." Now she wants me to teach her Japanese because the classes are finished. So there we sat and I attempted to teach her Japanese in Thai. This little activity will certainly test the limits of my capacity for foreign languages. Since learning Thai (and Laos) I feel as though I have lost all of my Japanese. I'm sure it will come back, but even simple phrases and words in Japanese escape me. We have a date tomorrow afternoon for more Japanese/Thai lessons. We'll see how this goes...

An unrelated story, but amusing nonetheless is that I brought candy from the US to share with my coworkers. Again, an attempt to build better relationships. All of my care packages are sent to the office, so they see the countless boxes arrive week after week and always ask me what's in them. I usually say clothes and books, because I'm not sure they would understand that my mom is mailing me packets of oatmeal and deodorant. Anyway, I brought in Starbursts and Smarties. Overall the consensus was that they were delicious; however, I kept hearing the word "sour" being muttered. I think the Starbursts went over better, but there were still quite a few left in the bag at the end of the day. It's interesting because they were slightly hesitant as I am hesitant with Thai treats I haven't eaten before. I would say quite a few Thai treats are downright disgusting, but they love them. I guess it's just a matter of what you grow up with.