| Q |
Preston,
welcome to the ajarn hot seat. You're a 39-year old Canadian man. Looking at
your resume, you have quite an extensive sports-related background and then
suddenly this drastic career change in your mid-30s. Tell us how it came
about? |
| A |
Most North Americans don't
travel the way the Brits or the Aussies do, but I always had an itch. I was
involved in back to back start up businesses in the U.S. (most recently as
the GM of a Semi-Pro ice hockey team), but I was getting burnt out on
business and politics in the States. So I decided to take a risk by doing a
TEFL in Asia somewhere. My family and my professional colleagues thought
that I had lost my mind. I will admit to a sort of mid-life crisis. |
| Q |
Korea was your first
choice as a place to kick-start your TEFL career but it never happened. What
attracted you to Korea initially and then what later put you off? |
| A |
I had my eye on Korea
because a lot of Canadians go there and I heard there were a lot of decent
paying jobs. I read that Korea offers one of the best financial packages
with airfare, bonuses, and paid apartments. Also, they have ice hockey and I
thought I could get involved and help coach – maybe a college team. I was
never put off by Korea. I just never made it there. Now if I go to Korea,
I’m afraid I’ll be homesick for Thailand. |
| Q |
You ended
up in Thailand and headed straight for Koh Samui. You just didn't fancy
Bangkok then? |
| A |
I decided that if I was
going to get a 4 week TEFL certificate, I might as well go somewhere with a
beach and combine a holiday while I was at it. I was only in Bangkok for
four days and it was really exciting and vibrant, but it was a bit
overwhelming, too. It was nice to arrive on Samui, study a little map, and
explore around on a scooter and find some quiet places to relax. |
| Q |
And then as all great
stories go - a chance meeting in a bar? |
| A |
Yes, I was about to finish
my TEFL (still with no plan) when a friend of mine invited me down to a
local bar for a beer and a game of pool. After a few too many rum (sangsom)
'n' cokes and a good string of losses on the table, I met a British guy who
worked for a hotel training company. He said his company might be looking
for teachers. I dropped by their office the next day. They asked me to teach
a private class. I guess it went ok and they offered me a job thereafter.
|
| Q |
How many resorts /
hotels do you teach at and what does your weekly schedule amount to in terms
of hours? |
| A |
I usually teach at about
3-4 different hotels in a week. The hours can range from 9am to about 6-7pm.
I usually have between 5-6 hours of classes each day, so an average week is
between 25-30 teaching hours. However, during the high and peak tourist
seasons here the hotels are too busy to train so we don’t have nearly as
many teaching hours. The other time is spent getting to and from the various
hotels on my trusted Yamaha motorbike. The hotels are usually close to our
office/school (about 10-15 minutes), but sometimes we have contracts as a
far away as 45 minutes to an hour. The roads on Samui are an adventure, to
say the least, and you have to employ a combination of defensive driving and
aggressive driving in order to survive. |
| Q |
So are you employed by
one hotel chain in particular or are you totally freelance? |
| A |
I work for a company
called International English. They have a general English school, but the
majority of the business comes from their subsidiary called Mise En Place.
Mise En Place trains hotel staff in service procedures and service language
(English). The owners are English and Swiss, and they have a virtual
monopoly on the hotel business on Samui. Plus, they have created a wealth of
hotel lessons. So you can just follow the curriculum. They’re a good group
to work for in that they give you a lot of freedom to be creative within the
course curriculum. Also, they have fostered a pretty good team environment
and I haven’t experienced too much in the way of office politics or petty
jealousies – in fact, the more experienced teachers have been really
supportive during my rookie year. Further, they’ve started to diversify into
some corporate training and team building which is more to my interests. We
recently hosted a team building exercise for a Singaporean company. We
chartered a catamaran to a local island, ate lunch, went swimming, and
played games all day. By the way, we’re always recruiting new staff so if
anyone’s interested you can go to
www.traininghotels.com and contact Dave or Rolf. |
| Q |
Typically what hotel
departments do you teach? |
| A |
You name it...from
beginner level engineers, kitchen staff, gardeners and housekeepers to
elementary level food & beverage, back office and spa staff to lower
intermediate receptionists and heads of departments. |
| Q |
Are some of the hotel
staff resentful of having to take English lessons? Aren't they hired on the
strength of their language competency? |
| A |
Yes and no, most of the
hotel students are very good and are willing to engage and give it a go. I
think that some of them even understand that we’re trying to help them
improve their level of service language which may ultimately improve their
career and job prospects. However, there are some hotel students that don’t
see the benefit of learning English, even for their job. It's curious
because the general public pays our school to learn privately and in small
groups, and they're fairly motivated. But even though English training is a
perk of the hotel job (free), some of the hotel students still don’t want to
attend classes. I find that the higher level students (reception) are fairly
motivated, and even the lower level (housekeepers and engineers) are willing
to give it an honest effort. It’s some of the younger restaurant, bar and
beach wait staff that have the poorer attitudes.
It seems like every ad for hotel employment requires a good level of
English, but there are so many hotels on Samui that I think employers have
to take what they can get. So the average Thai person may not feel that they
need to improve their level because there’s a surplus of jobs. |
| Q |
What's your teaching
philosophy? |
| A |
When you’re
teaching 30 hours a week, driving all over the island, and preparing on the
run, the teaching philosophy is “Survival”. Seriously though, I’ve only been
teaching for about a year so I haven’t really developed any tried and true
philosophy. Nevertheless, I do think you have to keep in mind how difficult
language learning is. Most teachers are academic types, were competent in
school growing up, and are comfortable reading and writing. But, for most
gardeners and housekeepers a classroom environment (let alone in a
non-native language) can be quite intimidating. With that in mind, I just
try to keep things light (Sanook) and make it as painless as possible for
the students. I’m under no illusion that I’m going to re-invent the wheel
and convert any Thais to fluency in a three month course, two hours a week.
But, maybe I can help the motivated students pick up some service language.
If the guest asks for a towel and they actually get a towel and not a
pillow, then we’re making progress! |
| Q |
I may be way off the
mark here, but doesn't the success of an English language program in a hotel
largely depend on the foreign hotel manager. That's to say if he's behind it
and enthusiastic about it, it's more likely to be a success? |
| A |
No, you’re actually right
on the mark. But, it gets a bit more complicated. At some hotels the head of
the department supports your program and it works out well. Most of the
students attend and are somewhat engaged. However, I had one hotel where
management was really involved and cracked the whip to make sure the
students attended class. They had an incentive scheme and you lost out on
bonuses if you didn’t attend. So I got these large classes that consisted of
some motivated students and some others who you would have thought that they
had been banished to a Turkish prison for two hours each week. At other
hotels you never see any management. The training program is unofficially
optional. The classes are smaller and the Turkish prisoners hide somewhere
and don’t attend the classes. |
| Q |
Hotel jobs don't pay
all that well really, but there must be perks. I bet you get to pick your
way through the remnants of the hotel buffet? Smoked salmon and lobster
thermidor anyone? |
| A |
I think my pay is about
average for Thailand. I don’t really get too many perks from the hotel.
There’s the odd lunch, but I haven’t been offered any lobster thermidor yet.
I have been invited to some pretty good parties, though. |
| Q |
I presume
the housemaids realise that better English means better tips? |
| A |
I’ve tried to explain to
them that there’s a direct relationship between service and tips – service
goes up, tips go up. But, I’m not sure they really get that. Also, I don’t
see a great deal of vertical motivation among the Thai hotel employees. They
may perceive a glass ceiling, so why bother. |
| Q |
I went to Samui about
7 years ago and to be honest I wasn't all that impressed. I remember staying
in Chaweng and taking the odd side-trip to Lamai. I thought it would be only
a matter of time before the battling foreign lager louts took over. How's
Samui shaping up these days? |
| A |
Well, there doesn't seem
to be too many “battling foreign lager louts”. But, there’s a lot of money
on Samui from tourism and real estate. I’ve been told that the old coconut
farmers would will their beach property to their lazier, less enterprising
children and would give the interior rai to their more ambitious, harder
working children. Consequently, this has made some of the heirs quite
wealthy as they have sold out to large hotel groups. These days, there’s a
lot of construction going on. It seems like there are new hotels and villas
going up everywhere. The main ring road is very congested and dangerous.
Nevertheless, Samui is a lively island attracting people from all over the
world. The beaches are still quite nice and fairly clean. And we have two
modern superstores, a good mix of restaurants, and even a movie theatre.
|
| Q |
Let's have a very
green question because we don't have enough green questions I've decided. Is
tourism ruining Thailand? |
| A |
It’s a very good question.
I had a nice girlfriend from Isan living with me here on Samui for awhile
who complained about farangs bringing materialism and consumption to
Thailand. However, in our home she was the one that liked the Air Con, cable
TV, and hot showers. So it's difficult to say who is responsible for
bringing big changes to Thailand - the demand of the Thais for modern
conveniences or the suppliers (marketers) of the material life. I recently
broached this subject with a guy from India. I said “It’s just my opinion,
but I think that commercialism and consumerism could be the downfall of the
Thai culture”. He reminded me that the Asian cultures of India and Thailand,
in particular, are thousands of years old. So maybe it will be some years
before Thailand turns into Middle America. |
| Q |
Finally, tell us a
little about your lifestyle. I can imagine an idyllic beach hut with all mod
cons. A little motorbike to zip around on. Go on - make us all insanely
jealous you swine! |
| A |
I’m afraid I may
disappoint you here. I live a fairly simple existence. I rent a small,
furnished bungalow about a km from the beach in a quiet Thai neighborhood. I
don’t need a lot of creature comforts. The bungalow has everything I need -
a living room, bedroom, bath, and kitchen. I like to cook at home and
there’s a terrific Thai market just down the road with fresh fish and
vegetables. I usually go for a swim at the beach in the morning before work
and there’s a good gym about ten minutes away by motorbike. There are a few
half decent used bookstores on the island so I always have a book or two on
the go. I usually go out for a few rum 'n' cokes on Saturday nights in
Chaweng where all the nightlife is. There’s an open air Reggae Pub that is
always hopping. But my life here is pretty relaxed and quiet. So, I’m fairly
content for now. If Samui had a proper library and an ice arena…it would
truly be paradise!
 If
anyone has any questions about hotel teaching or life on Samui, please feel
free to send me an email at
pdixon44@hotmail.com
|
