Life as an English Teacher

Hello friends, creditors, and anyone else who's clicked onto this site.

Life is full. Perhaps a little too full, but that's of my own choosing (or at least of my own acquiescence). Here in Khorat, a native English speaker with a modicum of intelligence and cultural flexibility encounters exponentially expanding possibilities. My full-time job is at Wat Srakaew Primary School in the heart of the city. Over 2,500 students, and I am the lone farang (foreign) staff. I teach English to 5th and 6th graders, working with each class one period per week. My first day I enjoyed the pretense of anonymity, with sidewise glances from the shy and smiles from the bold. Now I can't get more than five feet without, "hello," "hi," "how are you?"

As my schedule begins to stabilize, here's life on a weekly basis employment-wise:

* Monday
- 8:00 - 4:00: Wat Srakaew

* Tuesday
- 8:00 - 4:00: Wat Srakaew
- 5:30 - 7:00: Chance Language School (CLS); 12 and 13 year-olds

* Wednesday
- 8:00 - 4:00: Wat Srakaew

* Thursday
- 8:00 - 3:00: Wat Srakaew
- 4:00 - 7:00: Buddhist University

Friday
- 10:00-3:00: Thai Air Force
- 5:30 - 6:30: CLS; adult general english

* Saturday
- 9:00 - 10:00: CLS; 7 year-olds
- 10:00-12:00: CLS; adult writing and conversation
- 1:00 - 3:00: CLS; 9 year-olds
- 5:00 - 6:00: CLS; adult general English

Sunday
- 8:00 - 9:00: Temple; local village children
- 10:00-12:00: CLS; kindergarden
- 1:00 - 3:00: CLS; Adult writing and conversation
- 4:00 - 6:00: Temple; monks

Whew! You'd think I have a Type-A personality or something. Actually, from age 21 until now, I've averaged about three months off a year. So this is the exception; not the rule.

Most of these jobs would like me to do more, and some have made additional offers. Two different people have asked me to open a language school, and a Thai senatorial candidate wants to co-author an English book. The temple is contemplating a nation-wide English training center for monks, and the abbot thinks I should marry his niece.

There are also lessons to plan, as well as the normal routines and vicissitudes of life; laundry, eating, transportation, toilet.... I drop my laundry off, and my knowledge of cheap restaurants is expanding. Transportation is usually the pick-up-truck-like song taew. Imagine a can of sardines. Imagine something tighter, and that's me in a song taew. Also, I have learned to carry my own toilet paper. Most Thai toilets are equipped with a bucket of water, but no paper. I don't even want to know. Some things are better left a mystery.

As crazy as my schedule is, it is bringing me into contact with a wide spectrum of Thai society. And, I've only given a 6-month comittment to all concerned parties. After that, I'll evaluate. I might drop a job or two and stay longer in Khorat. Or, I could work somewhere else in Thailand; maybe an island resort down south. I may even head back to the States and find a ski resort or a national park for the winter. For now, I remain a stranger in a strange land. But then, aren't we all?

Chok dee, namaste, and Bula!!!!

Greg