"Teecha" Bradley vs The Mini Thais, Round 2

Pancake playing Twister with color cards

I'm a full month into teaching and I'm pretty certian my job at the kindergarten rocks. You know what I do everyday? I play with kids. I get them running around the room. I get to teach them "I love my teacher." I get to make funny faces out the window. I get to sing songs and dance like no one is watching.
And the students think it's hilarious. Slowly but surely these tykes are warming my heart. After only a month I'm saddened by the thought that I won't be here to see them graduate and move up to the big school. Or worse: they're so young they'll most likely forget me a few weeks after I'm gone.
Their curiosity makes me feel tender and uncomfortable simultaneously. They are very curious about my appearance. For the first two weeks they just started at me, more agog than frightened. Now they have warmed up to me and come sit in my lap or ramble Thai at me like they can't wait to tell me something. They find my skin curious, especially the girls. When I sit in a chair next to a group of them they will come over and gently stroke me leg with their little fingers. They point to scars and moles and bug bites then they look at me with genuine concern. Nothing is more hilarious to them then when they stroke a spot I missed shaving. They are playing with my hair constantly. They fight to hold my hand or give me a high five after class. And I mean really fight, slapping each other and pushing each other on the ground to get to me.

After lunch, girls dance and boys do Muay Thai

All this makes me a bit uncomfortable because, A) I'm very ticklish so the slightest brush of something on my leg sends me into a fit, and, B) I am not use to such innocent interactions. I have not spent a lot of time with children before. I wasn't even sure I really liked kids, with the exception of one smart little red head. With children, every smile, touch and laugh is made from a wonder at the world. All experience seem new to them. In my head, I'm thinking, "teachers in America aren't this affectionate with their students. Should I be telling them off? But they're so cute."
Then they start slapping my ass. This happens everyday. They are so short that my ass is a perfect target zone for their stubby little arms when they want to get my attention. Still, my gut reaction is to see if the Thai teacher saw it, and if she did, am I getting fired soon? *This might be a good time to note that the Thai teachers, like all women all around the world, are huge gossips who don't seem to like me or want to get to know me.

All dressed up for Loy Krathong

One day while reading to the class one sneaky little ninja named Madge crawled under my chair. He poked three fingers through the slip in the chair and made contact dangerously close to my exit only area. Naturally, I jumped up with a little yelp. Madge just turned his head and stared at me from under the chair as if saying "did that hurt? Sorry, teecha." The two teachers sitting with the kids were laughing for ten minutes. Loud and guttural laughter that left them wiping tears from their cheeks. Probably safe to say I'm not getting fired any time soon. From the kindergarten, that is.