Its a bit late to start, I suppose, this being my third week in Bangkok. Wow, I didn't even realise it had been that long until this afternoon. So to catch up on all that has happened, this first post will be rather longer than the rest.
I left home (East London) on Friday 17 September, having waited an entire month for the Korea people to tell me they were ready for me. In the end, I was going somewhere, and as Ty said, it turns out that Bangkok was the place all along.
Landed here the evening of Sunday 19 September, convinced it'd be a while before I got on another plane. Its just such an artificial situation, cramped in a space of maybe 1square metre, with hundreds of strangers, thousands of kilometres up in the sky. And they try to make it as normal as possible for you, which just points out the abnormality even more starkly.
Nicola came to fetch my from Suvarnabhumi Airport, and we caught a cab back to her flat. Walking out of the airport was like being slapped in the face, the heat was intense. And it does not abate, not even late at night. So another thing I've gotten very used to is perspiring constantly. Not very attractive, I know, but as Nics says, horses sweat, men perspire, and women glow. I quite like that image.
My first few days were just getting the hang of things, learning a few basic Thai phrases and finding my way around the area we lived. I managed to get a job sorted very quickly, and went for an interview on the Wednesday of my first week.
I started at my school (which I won't mention, lest I become a bit critical later on) the following Monday, and was surprised to find that not only do I now teach matric physics, 11 chemistry and 10 Biology (none of which I've taught before), but I am also the ONLY person doing so, and thus have to plan out the curriculum as well. The school runs according to the curriculum of the Californian schools for reasons only they will ever know, which means it was fairly easy to find a content list on the internet. And you mock me for my constant Googling!
Luckily, I've done this planning business before, and on a considerably larger scale, so I'm not too unhappy.
What I am marginally unhappy about is the fact that the school's director is a bit of a dork, but then so is Ben, and he's alright.
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| Ben and Jennie |
I've met some nice people, other teachers from school, and we spend a fair bit of time together outside of school hours, which is nice. Now that I've moved out of Nicola's, I don't see her that much, but its also good to be challenged by having to figure things out on my own. I have mastered the BTS Skytrain (like an underground, but over-), motorbike taxi's (I can even sit side-saddle, its inappropriate for ladies to sit wydsbeen), cabs, buses and almost mini-vans. I say almost with the mini-vans because they always have their destinations printed in Thai script, which I can honestly say I will never be able to read.
The place I live now is in Sukhumvit, which is a really nice area. At present I'm shacked up with my landlord and his son in their flat until my room becomes available towards the end of the week. I can't wait!
The commute in the morning is much better than from Nicola's, but only marginally so.
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| The view out of Nicola's window at sunset. |
And that's all I can remember about what's happened so far! I haven't seen much that hasn't been obviously apparent, but I plan to change all that as soon as my October salary becomes more obviously apparent :)
I've seen Chaduchak Market (insane and huge!), Khao San Rd (full of farangs/tourists) and the inside of a club called Hollywood with underwear-clad singers on stage. Good times!
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| What a monsoon season looks like |
All I can really say is that I'm keeping my head up so far.
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