Teaching in the sticks
31 cool and awesome things about living and teaching in rural Thailand
Before we get into the list I just want to mention that everything is written in good fun. Expats and Thailand veterans will understand more than first timers. Certain sentences and parts reflect my own specific experience more so than the general one. Some of it might come across as sappy, but I've had a very positive experience in Thailand and the glass is half full for me.
Five things I've learned in SE Asia
From smiling to haggling and crossing the road
Of these five realizations, I understand that perhaps none of them will do me any good back home, but then again, I don't see myself going home any time soon.
Our story
Two teachers in love and planning their life together in Thailand
Suffering or no suffering, this time we are doing it. We are Thailand bound and excited, if somewhat distracted for the time being. Sun, smiles, a detachment from most of what and who we know. New friends, new haunts and new experiences. A different perspective on life. Success or failure, this foray into the relative unknown will shape the rest of our lives.
We've landed!
I was looking for a job and then I found a job
I was refused a place at the two major international school recruitment fairs and turned down by every international school I applied to. Then one fine morning last week, I received an email from a private Thai EP school that I had applied to way back at the start of my job search, offering me an interview.
It's not the 'Land of Smiles' for us
Facing challenges as a black teacher in Thailand
For the sensitive minded people who live in utter oblivion about skin color, this is probably not the article for you. But this is the cold hard truth.
Is the drought over?
My experiences with water shortages in Thailand
I have lived with drought restrictions in Australia, but nothing like this. The dam at the back of the town has been bone dry, with any rain simply falling down the cracks.
Cultivating novelty
Making sure the novelty of living in Asia doesn't wear off
Sometimes I think about why I'm here. Why I left Thailand. Why I left America in the first place. The answers to those questions probably aren't all that different from lots of other foreign teachers here in this part of the world.
Working in Asia after retirement
It's been one amazing experience
I have lived and worked in Bangkok, Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City and had the opportunity to travel throughout South East Asia during holidays. You can read more about the types of experiences you will encounter abroad in my latest novel.
Taxi English
Surely this should also join the ranks of 'English for specific purposes'
When compared to a place like Bangkok, Myanmar's taxi drivers don't even get that many foreigners in the back seat, but on the whole, the drivers here speak much better English than back in Bangkok.
Real estate since the coup
Property developers are putting their trust in the new regime.
Surely if there was a sense of fear or worry that the current regime may have a negative impact on the Thai economy, then real estate projects would be halted or at least slowed down
