Back to the Drawing Board
Well, the white board, actually. Another life chapter is underway, and I'm teaching at a university about an hour north of Bangkok.
Starting in the middle of a semester, my workload is light and my heart responds accordingly. I have taken over one class from each of the other four English teachers. So, one class a day, and none on Wednesday.
But wait: it gets better. The semester finishes at the end of February, and then it's three months without classes. I'll still sign in each day, and I'll still receive a paycheck. Just no classes to teach. Plenty of time to catch up on my pleasure reading (yeah right, as if I'm behind).
Of course, while the workload isn't extravagent, neither is the paycheck. All the other English teachers have additional gigs going on to supplement their income. I will do this as well, but I plan to wait for the optimal situation to present itself. It will. It always does.
As noted, it's an hour from here to Bangkok. Just thirty minutes away though, is a large western-style shopping plaza. Aside from department stores and specialty shops, it boasts a multi-plex theatre, bowling alley, and a variety of western fast-food restaurants; McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dunkin' Doughnuts.... If I get an uncontrollable urge for a Sizzler salad bar, it can be assauged.
Closer to home, it's just a few minutes by motorcycle taxi to the city-village of Pa-In. No McDonald's here, but plenty of places to eat and shop, and the the place is lively with local color.
The university itself is a good-sized place. Although I live on campus, it's still a twenty minute walk to my office. Along the way I pass other residences, canals, a lake, food canteens... There's even a 24-hour convenience store on the school grounds. I also come across snakes, large turtles, and humongous lizards. They're not kimodo dragons, but they will eat a puppy if given the chance. I know that I wouldn't want to start an arguement with one of them.
And the dogs! There are hundreds of them, each to be found chilling with their packs in their own hood. While they don't wear gang colors, it's still a territorial canine world here.
I share my house with a consulting engineer for the university. His English is almost non-existent, so our conversations aren't long. But he's a friendly soul, and has shown me some of the local spots nearby.
My actual house is designated for the President of the University, but he has his home elsewhere. I share the kitchen and livingroom with'P Sin (the engineer), and I have two bedrooms of my own and a private bathroom. And air conditioning (thank you thank you thank you). The 'hot season' has just begun in earnest.
It's been a new and enjoyable phenomena to have native English speakers as colleagues. Two are from America, one from Canada, and one from the U.K.. As often as not, we end the day sharing a dinner and drinks in Pa-In.
The ambiance here is very different from Korat (where I taught in the NorthEast), and so far so good. Now when I turn at the calling of my name it isn't a monk or a ten-year-old child. Instead, most likely, it's a beaming Thai co-ed.
I think I will enjoy this new world.
Onward.
Starting in the middle of a semester, my workload is light and my heart responds accordingly. I have taken over one class from each of the other four English teachers. So, one class a day, and none on Wednesday.
But wait: it gets better. The semester finishes at the end of February, and then it's three months without classes. I'll still sign in each day, and I'll still receive a paycheck. Just no classes to teach. Plenty of time to catch up on my pleasure reading (yeah right, as if I'm behind).
Of course, while the workload isn't extravagent, neither is the paycheck. All the other English teachers have additional gigs going on to supplement their income. I will do this as well, but I plan to wait for the optimal situation to present itself. It will. It always does.
As noted, it's an hour from here to Bangkok. Just thirty minutes away though, is a large western-style shopping plaza. Aside from department stores and specialty shops, it boasts a multi-plex theatre, bowling alley, and a variety of western fast-food restaurants; McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dunkin' Doughnuts.... If I get an uncontrollable urge for a Sizzler salad bar, it can be assauged.
Closer to home, it's just a few minutes by motorcycle taxi to the city-village of Pa-In. No McDonald's here, but plenty of places to eat and shop, and the the place is lively with local color.
The university itself is a good-sized place. Although I live on campus, it's still a twenty minute walk to my office. Along the way I pass other residences, canals, a lake, food canteens... There's even a 24-hour convenience store on the school grounds. I also come across snakes, large turtles, and humongous lizards. They're not kimodo dragons, but they will eat a puppy if given the chance. I know that I wouldn't want to start an arguement with one of them.
And the dogs! There are hundreds of them, each to be found chilling with their packs in their own hood. While they don't wear gang colors, it's still a territorial canine world here.
I share my house with a consulting engineer for the university. His English is almost non-existent, so our conversations aren't long. But he's a friendly soul, and has shown me some of the local spots nearby.
My actual house is designated for the President of the University, but he has his home elsewhere. I share the kitchen and livingroom with'P Sin (the engineer), and I have two bedrooms of my own and a private bathroom. And air conditioning (thank you thank you thank you). The 'hot season' has just begun in earnest.
It's been a new and enjoyable phenomena to have native English speakers as colleagues. Two are from America, one from Canada, and one from the U.K.. As often as not, we end the day sharing a dinner and drinks in Pa-In.
The ambiance here is very different from Korat (where I taught in the NorthEast), and so far so good. Now when I turn at the calling of my name it isn't a monk or a ten-year-old child. Instead, most likely, it's a beaming Thai co-ed.
I think I will enjoy this new world.
Onward.
