First English Lesson, New Motorbike, Future Opportunities

Well, a few things have happened since the last time I posted.

All of the students at School for Life

Recently I taught my first English lesson to a class of Thai kids, at the school I am working at in Chiang Mai. It was really hard seeing as they speak basically no English so I just had to work with them slowly and go through one small thing at a time. Being a teacher is difficult, and being a horrible student in school it is no big surprise that I do not hold a natural aptitude to inspire others to learn boring things. Not that all lessons have to be boring or that I am bad teacher but I am just referring to learning in general really, especially when it is something as tedious as another language. Living at school for life is nice, but it is a little boring. The school is about a good 45 minute drive from Chiang Mai city, and located up near the base of the mountains there is not that much in the way of entertainment as you can guess. Still, I appreciate getting free food and accommodation  and at least there is some nice scenery here.

Nora, Me and Elena

Having been travelling on my own for a little under 2 months now, I have surprised myself at how easy it is to meet other people if you are just a little bit open minded. I have already had some really awesome nights here in Chiang Mai and met some great people. There are two girls from Germany that I am living and working with at School for Life (Nora and Elena), a whole bunch of foreigners who live and grew up here in Chiang Mai, a slew of young Thai students who are friendly for the most part (apart from the ones who punch you in the face for unintentionally hitting on their girlfriend who approaches you in the first place) and even a collection of other travelling English teachers just like myself. There is plenty of opportunity to party here with lots of bars, clubs, pubs and music. I even went on a roadtrip to an awesome festival in Bangkok called Culture One, with 5 seperate stages of music the weekend before last.

At the festival Culture One in Bangkok

I have actually been doing some thinking about human relationships in general, and I think it all comes down to living in the moment. Human companionship is naturally wired into our being, but I think as we get older and go through certain experiences we start to develop all these things that hold us back from this natural state of connection. As I was thinking the other day, I remember when I was a kid I would just instantly become friends with any of the other kids I happened to be playing a game of hide and seek with, or the neighbors kids coming over to visit. Some may argue that loosing that it is a part of growing up, but here in Thailand, especially with some of the Buddhist Monks, I see that spark of warmth has not waned and still very much a defining factor in many peoples lives. Personality, habits, routines, living situation and many other things will change in a person's life but I still think this state of pure love is an aspect fundamental to our existence, which some people simply loose contact with. And I think perhaps the reason I went travelling in the first place was to find that again, or maybe to see that it still exists at all.

A lake near the school

I have also realised just how easy it can be to travel on a tight budget. Sure here in Thailand things are really cheap, but I think provided you can save enough for a flight, and simply get yourself into the country then you can really start to establish a life for yourself. There are jobs available for travelers be it working as an English teacher, a bartender, moving furniture there are so many opportunities for you to be able to get by. Then as long as you look hard enough you can find all of the things you are looking for, I really believe in that.

My new CBR 150

In other news, I have bought myself a motorbike (sorry Mum). It's only a Honda CBR 150 so it's not like i'm gonna do a wheelie in third, but it still manages a decent 140kph if you need it to (and mostly I don't). Riding a motorbike is just so much fun, you can only really understand it when you have ridden one yourself. It just doesn't compare to the scooter I was riding previously. Don't worry though, i'm still a pretty defensive driver here in Thailand though- because you have to be, so nobody be worrying that i'm going to axe myself in some terrible crash.

Bangkok- A city of opportunities

I am also working at an English Camp the weekend after next. Basically this is an organisation that holds a camp for Thai students in a location somewhere in Thailand over a certain time (usually 2-3 days) and they pay me to go from wherever I am staying down to work at that camp. It is more about fun activities and team-building exercises with the children rather than teaching which I would prefer a lot more! And I would be getting paid (1000 Baht a day), with the prospect of full-time employment! This is just the kind of opportunity I have been looking for, a chance to travel, get involved with fun activities with the students and even get some money so i'm not constantly living off my savings! So if I was to find a full time job, I would be relocating to Bangkok. Chiang Mai is a great place and I like living here but I would like to see other parts of Thailand and this could be just the opportunity I have been looking for.

Burma & Back

Thai-Burmese Border

Today, I went all the way from Chiang Mai up to the border at Burma (also known as Myanmar, the country directly to the west of Thailand). My friend Mica needed to go up there to get more time on his visa. This is commonly known as a 'visa run' where you just drive to the border, go through immigration and the come back again. This automatically gives you 15 days on your visa. Anyways the drive up there was fairly long and uneventful, just chilling, talking and listening to music. After about 3 hours of driving the border loomed into view. It was a really busy area with heaps of people and trucks and things coming and going. Mica got his visa renewed and I got a chance to look around at the big market and get a huge feed for about $6 (still can't get over how cheap the food is here!).

On the way back we stopped by a place called the 'white temple', which is basically just a really intricate decorative temple with lots of amazing artwork and sculptures around it. It was done by a foreigner  and has so many weird sculptures around it including these hands coming out of the ground, demonic faces and even one of Predator coming out of the ground. To really understand why it is so beautiful you have to witness it in person, or at least see what it looks like:

The White Temple [click to enlarge]

Sculptures at the White Temple

With the Rangers at the national park

Then on the way back we drove past a National Park which Mica and I both wanted to check, out so we drove up and just chilled in the park for a while drinking some scotch. After a while the park ranger came up and asked us what we were doing. Instead of kicking us out and telling us to be quiet he was really friendly and had a drink with us. He then invited us into his house in the park to have some food and drink some more with his family and friends. We ended up going up to their house and eating some random food and getting drunk and making a nice bonfire with the local park rangers. The guy we were drinking with turned out to be the superintendent of the whole national park and he got wasted and told us 'not to worry, because the police couldn't fuck with us here'. It was a pretty random occurrence but also turned out pretty well. One of the rangers made some noodles which seemed alright but it turned to my horror out that the little jelly-like chunks were infact lumps of dried pigs blood. The food got a lot less attractive after that. We got on pretty well with the guys, and they were just naturally friendly, as I have found a lot of Thai people are. Despite what anyone says about their culture, lifestyle or anything else, the majority of Thai people that I have met have been really nice, and I think that counts for something!

The Ranger who made the unfortunate stew

Before I left Sydney I was worried that I might become lonely leaving all my friends and family behind, but I have found out that this is not the case. There are just so many people in the world, and so many nice ones at that. The truth is that if you just go with the flow you will naturally meet so many interesting people and I have found that making friends comes so naturally once you are in the right mindset! You just have to be yourself, and a little confident and outgoing and you will soon find that things will go your way. We all make friends in the places that we are based (school, home, work), I think its just a natural human process!

In terms of looking for a job, I have actually found that everyone wants to learn English here, and if you dress nicely and put out a positive impression people will just give you teaching opportunities. I have had many offers for private tuition, and then a few offers from language centres and schools as well. It seems everyone knows someone who wants to learn English. I just have to get organised and manage all the clients properly.

School for Life

I have managed to find a job volunteering at an amazing place called 'School for Life' which is basically a school which takes in orphans and kids from broken homes (about 112 students at the moment) and looks after and nurtures them. I will be living, eating and teaching there. Luckily for me though there are also  other English speaking volunteers (who just happen to be 2 German girls) so I won't be completely alone! I am going up to School for Life on Wednesday to talk to the director of the school, and from there I will know what is happening. I think it will be a really good opportunity as well because it is at a place where they will really need me. The only real reason I wanted a teaching job which pays money is so that I could sustain myself, but if I have a place where I will get free food and accommodation, and not a single place around to spend my money, then that is exactly what I am looking for!

The Beast

In other news have rented myself a nice lil scooter to get around on (only 115 cc with a top speed of 100km :/) but it is still better than walking. Although there are a lot of nice second hand motorbikes and scooters around so I will consider purchasing one of those soon so that I have one of my own. I am also considering going on a road trip with some friends down to an electronic music festival in Bangkok on the 17th. I am also considering doing a 10 day meditation retreat at a local temple in Chiang Mai, where a few foreigners also do the same thing. You have to get up at 4am and you can only eat 2 bowls of rice though :/


Lastly and most importantly, I feel that even in this short time away from Sydney I have had the opportunity to start to get back to being myself. I believe that as independent as we all might think we are, we are still influenced by everything surrounding us, societies attitudes, beliefs, associates & friend's personalities, the government, media, the list just goes on- and having time to travel (even though I am still surrounded by all those things) encourages a refreshing mindset of indifference. I think it is hard to define what our 'self' really is, but I think perhaps it is easier to say what we are not. And I think what we are not is being defined by things outside of our control.
Anyway that might not make total sense but part of the reason I am writing this blog is as a point of reference for myself, so coherency is not always my highest priority.

Until next time!
:)