In a week's time Carey and I have been able to haggle our way into very affordable transportation. Motorbikes are everywhere and people drive them, the way they do their cars, with absolute abandon. I'm not sure if i'll ever get used to seeing a young woman with a baby strapped to her chest driving a motorbike or scooter. Carey and I opted for a car. We figured if we got into an accident at least we'd be surrounded by car.. because we're IN it. We've driven all over the island. The original intent of the car was to get around for job hunting but we're thinking this is the way to go for now. Because you never know when it will start to rain, this has proven to be the right choice. While exploring we confirmed that the place we wanted to live is located on the eastern side of the island. We're far enough away from water that we aren't worried about tsunamis but we're centrally located so we can easily get to the beach, up north, to the grocery store (we've found the usual Thai suspects - Tesco Lotus and The Big C, as well as what we're calling 'The White People Store"), several bars and restaurants that we've yet to try. I am particularly intrigued by The Family Restaurant, a Mediterranean spot next door to our Thai grocery store. Out our front doors, we have a direct view of Big Buddha. We actually live on the road that leads to his resting spot up on the hill. Carey met a man in a cafe who told her Big Buddha was the place he drove when the tsunami hit in 2007. Perfect, we're almost there already. It is really lovely and calming to see him first thing in the morning and at the end of the day. We've secured two large, clean, simple, modern studios right next to each other. Our back porches are practically connected and look over the rooftops of other homes, as well as the garden pool that we have access to (in addition to the pool on the roof). We're situated on the second floor, away from the street, so it's mostly quiet.
On Tuesday I went in to a nursery/kindergarten (Buds International) for an interview and was asked to "audition" for a teaching position that will be opening October 18th. I spent Wednesday through Friday with some pretty awesome kids. Most of my day is spent teaching english, math, and science to pre kindergarten kids, "All living things can eat, move, breathe, grow, and have babies." My mornings start in the nursery with the wee little ones playing games, trying to make sense of their gibberish. If you thought trying to understand a two year old American kid was challenging, try understanding a Thai/Russian child or a Korean child. Most of these kiddos are in the early stages of becoming bilingual or trilingual. Pretty amazing. Half that time I don't know which language they're using. My first day at school one of the little girls in my class told me I have big boobs. Breaking news. I wanted to thank her, it seemed like the right thing to do until I remembered I was in a school. I fed her some BS about being a lady. On Friday it hit me that they have no idea what i'm talking about. We're not in the southern states of America, after all. This realization came when one of my students asked me, "Why do you say ma'am all the time?" She stumbled over the word ma'am. Oh, that's right, she has no idea what that means. I tried explaining that where I come from saying "yes ma'am and no ma'am is like saying please and thank you - it is polite and shows that we have manners." I referenced our lesson on manners from Thursday. Blank stare. I'll just keep saying it. I figure i'll have them using ma'am, sir, and y'all in no time. The kids are great and the small staff of expats that i'd be working with seem pretty down to earth. Our backgrounds are quite different, however. Some have traveled all over the world for years and others are married and are previous Huntington Beach, CA homeowners. After I replied that i'd landed in Thailand the previous Friday they were all shocked, "I lived here for five months before I looked for a job." Must be nice, I thought.
Unfortunately, the "benefits" that would make a teaching position much more appealing here, are not really offered at this school because it is so small. I would be legally working and it will be fine if this is where I am for the first semester, but there are other larger schools that just have so many more resources and so much more to offer. A young guy we met at the first school we visited explained that some schools want you to clock in and clock out, work full weeks, give quizzes, grade homework, participate in extracurriculars. Horrors! A real job?! Others seem confused that Carey and I are here to work and live and then find time for fun. Traveling and seeing other parts of the world will be something we can do once we have each built a foundation. From others' perspectives, this is backwards. I guess neither of us has ever really done things the way 'everyone' else has.
Warning, too much information is headed your way, so feel free to skip over this little section. In all of the bathrooms, located next to the toilet, is a sprayer much like what i've always seen attached to the kitchen sink. It is attached to the wall and has a hose that connects it to the wall. Plumbing isn't great here, so after you poop, you're supposed to spray your butt. If you stop and think about it for a minute, it makes sense. If you had poop on anywhere else on your body you would wash it off.. I'll admit, it took me some time to even get used to the idea of doing this, let alone actually doing it. All in all, though, its quite nice.
I'm also quickly becoming a fan of shoe removal. As a kid, I remember going to some homes where moms made us take our shoes off before coming in and I thought it was so strange. Here you take your shoes off to enter a number of places. Schools (I taught barefoot last week), shops, car rental places, salons, the list goes on. I bought my first pair of house slippers and I love them. While cruising the Thai grocery store we spotted a woman manhandling the meat. I say manhandling intentionally because the meat is literally in bins, out in the open, free for hands to touch and select upon will. This is not something I will ever get used to. There are meats that I cannot identify and will never get close enough to try. As Carey and I neared this woman who was holding onto a huge hunk of something, we noticed she was without shoes. So much was wrong with this picture that it was difficult to take in. We made it as far as the next aisle over before we started talking about it:
Me: Oh my god, the meat, I can't. Did you see that woman manhandling that huge hunk of dead animal?
Carey: UHHH YES! Did you see that she wasn't wearing shoes?!
Our new favorite eating spot is a little hut with a few small tables, a small kitchen area to the left fully exposed to the tables and a little tiny bar with several bar stools to the right. As Carey pointed out, they have jager, so its legit. It is run by three women. I am really hoping to build enough of a relationship so they'll teach me the ways of Thai cooking. Today when I went by I just asked what I should eat and they fixed something for me, a soup with chicken and veggies, ginger, coconut milk and a side of rice. Amazing. When I left the apartment to find food I immediately gained a friend. A cute medium sized dog with a collar. He followed me to the ladies' spot, waited at my feet (dogs wander around and in and out of tables in restaurants) and then walked me home. The ladies thought it was mine, I quickly explained he was not but secretly I imagined starting my own version of The Dog Whisperer: Thailand.
While waiting to see if another position opens at a school with more benefits, I have two weeks to further explore options and follow up with people. The worst case scenario is I hang out in Thailand for two weeks eating awesome street food, laying by the pool or on the beach with one of the greatest friends i've got until school starts for me. Without an unending supply of money, I won't be able to do whatever I want, but since i've never lived in the lap of luxury like that, i'm pretty sure i'll be ok. After all, if this isn't luxury, I feel pretty sure I don't know what is.
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