Quiet corners

When you live in a city with 10 million inhabitants, finding a place outside your house where you can be alone for just a few minutes can be quite hard; but it's not impossible.

My favourite spot is my condo's laundry room - I sometimes get there before my clothes are ready and end up spending a couple of minutes looking at raindrops sliding down the windows and listening to the wind brushing through the trees.

Also, the other day I paid a visit to a spa (I treat myself kindly when I'm not working) and loved the garden just in front of it - apart from being very well taken care of, it had a cozy covered area where you could sit in a comfortable sofa. I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes there while waiting for the rain to stop. And it felt good to let the mind wander.

While walking around in Lumphini Park, I also discovered that it's possible to have a moment of peace in the Chinese Pavilion - a beautiful structure where I stood staring at a lake and listening to the crows.

As different as these locations are, they all have one thing in common - the fact that, for a split of a second, they allowed me to stop listening to all the noise, stop thinking about how to get somewhere, how to get something; for a split of a second, it was just me and all the beauty in the world.

Chances aren't good

When I was a teenager, I often watched TV series in which the characters asked the Magic 8 Ball questions. The answers they obtained were always very short and always ranged from clear to ambiguous.

It was funny to see just how enthusiastic they got every time the answers corresponded to reality somehow; and it was amusing to realise just how erratic they became whenever they were nothing but complete and utter nonsense.

I like to think that we all have a Magic 8 Ball somewhere in our heads and that we often "shake it" in order to find paths and solutions. And if sometimes we get excited because the answers are exactly what we wanted, other times we come up with something which is not quite it and end up going off track for a while.

The other day I asked myself if I would be going back to Brussels next year and the answer was "chances aren't good". Life is known to twist and turn in the most unexpected ways, of course, but right now everything seems to indicate that I will have another year to make a difference.

Do I ask myself if I'll be in Bangkok throughout 2013? Yes, I do; and the answer is often "can't predict now". As I said, life is known to twist and turn in the most unexpected ways. And sometimes it twists and turns so quickly that you hardly have the time to ask the Magic 8 Ball a question...

Ups and downs

Is life in Thailand similar to paradise on earth? No, it's just... life. There are some great things about it; and then there are unbelievably annoying things about it, such as

- slow walkers on the sidewalks: I've always considered myself a slow walker but have recently changed my mind. Bangkok is the capital city of slow walking and even though it usually doesn't bother me, when I'm in a hurry or trying to get out of the pouring rain... it does;

- old Western men hanging out with young Thai women: as much as I try to tell myself that that's how it is, I don't think I will ever accept it. And that's also how it is;

- pricks who overcharge you and act as if they're doing you a favour: I kind of came to terms with the fact that I'll be overcharged whenever I buy stuff (having a Western look does that to you around here) but I will never get used to men (that's right, I never had this problem with women) overcharging you and behaving as if you should be thankful for it. In Asia, in general, and Thailand, in particular, there's something called "loosing face"; clearly, this will never happen to these guys because in order to loose something, you need to have it in the first place.

However, the truth of the matter is that

- it's always hot: you don't need to put on endless layers of clothes, your nose will never freeze as soon as you step out of the house - the temperature is always high. Regardless of whether it rains or not;

- people smile all the time: it's quite amazing but it's true. Also, they will go out of their way to serve you well and that's nice;

- life seems to thrive around here: there's an inspiring energy in the air and that energy reflects on everything and everyone; there are always flowers blooming, the fruits are always ripe and the people are always pleased with what the next day might bring...

Tailor made

When I was a little girl, I used to have my clothes made by a tailor. I still remember entering a sewing room with the predominant colour white, being surrounded by all sorts of fabrics... most of all, I remember seeing the expression on the tailor's face during the fittings.

Last week I went back to a tailor shop in order to have two dresses made. There is definitely something special about this way of buying clothes. If you think about it, even if someone else comes immediately after me, chooses the exact same model and the exact same fabric, the measures won't be the same, which means that the final product will be different.

I try to bear this in mind whenever I'm teaching, i. e. that each student has individual measures, expectations and needs. And I try to make sure that they get exactly what they want and precisely what they need. This hasn't been easy considering the number of lessons I've been teaching per day but I'm willing to keep on trying.

And who knows? Maybe in a couple of years' time, students will look back and remember entering a classroom with the predominant colour white, being surrounded by all sorts of materials and, most of all, seeing the expression on my face every time they get it... 

Life on a fast track

It seems that it was only yesterday that I was enjoying my day off at MBK (I had to do some shopping and decided to treat myself to a foot massage along the way) and yet almost a week has passed since then.

Life as a teacher has been pretty intense - I've been teaching six to ten lessons a day and end up spending most of the time in between preparing classes and doing chores around the house.

The week's one and only social occasion took place on Saturday evening. One of the other teachers was nice enough to organise a welcome dinner for the newcomers, which meant that, as soon as the working day was over, we made a move to a place not far from Thong Lo.

It was good to have the opportunity to spend some quality time with my new colleagues; and this is the reason why it was a pity to have to leave so early - after all, most of us would have to work on Sunday! 

But the truth of the matter is that life goes that way sometimes; and, in any case, there will always be time to go out for dinner and drinks. Right now, what is important is to teach. And that is why, when I was asked if I could work on one of my days off, I said yes...

Wednesday's the new Saturday

And Thursday's the new Sunday. That's right, my life has a new dynamics now and I find it quite cool. And convenient - I will be able to deal with all my administrative issues (which couldn't be more abundant!) without juggling my working schedule around.

Also, the truth is that this city is so unbelievably vibrant that there's not really a difference between weekdays and weekends. Everything's always open, the streets are always crowded and you can do whatever at doesn't matter what time. Expressions such as "the kitchen is closed", for example, don't make much sense around here and I find it quite refreshing.

What I also find refreshing is doing something as gratifying as teaching. Everything is going well, I'm really happy. This is not to say that I will always feel like this, that I won't get tired of certain aspects of it, but right now... I'm walking on sunshine!

Being there for students who want to make something out of what they are learning is awesome; telling people that I'm a teacher and realising that they get it without me having to provide endless explanations about it is awesome; and being surrounded by other teachers who mention that Thursday's a great day to have off because Wednesday, as it turns out, is Ladies Night... is really awesome! Like I said, my life has a new dynamics now. And I find it quite cool.

Uptown girl

Could I have imagined that one day I would be living in one of Bangkok's nicest areas? No, but the truth is that I am. My fancy condo is located on Sukhumvit 40 and it takes me less than 10 minutes to walk from there to the skytrain station, my fast connection to the rest of the city.

I loved the place as soon as I laid my eyes on it. By lunchtime on Saturday, I had already agreed to meet the landlord on Sunday morning and pay him one month's rent plus deposit. In exchange, he would give me a one-year contract plus keys. When I found out on Saturday afternoon that I was not able to withdraw the money I needed, I was not happy. And this was the reason why I ended up spending a couple of hours wondering if I would be able to secure the place, if I would be able to stay in the hotel if needed and, most importantly, if I would be able to use the card again (by then, I thought that there was something wrong with it and that I would need to get another one; I wasn't aware of the fact that there's a limited amount of money you can withdraw per 5 days. Live and learn).

When I met the landlord on Sunday morning I was feeling pretty anxious. Fortunately, he was very understanding and agreed to let me move in the next day under the condition that all would be solved by the end of the week.

So on Monday - my first teaching day - I checked out of the hotel and hopped on a taxi with the intention of dropping my luggage at the new place just before heading towards the school. As Julia Roberts put it in "Pretty Woman", big mistake, big. Huge! Let me just say this, if you haven't been stuck in traffic in Bangkok, you have never been stuck in traffic; I mean, at some point the cars were just not moving. At all. For 20 minutes. Can you imagine how frustrating it felt? On my first day at work no less? Eventually, I got to the condo, dropped my stuff, changed clothes and made it to the school just in time for my first class.

And this morning I was finally able to withdraw the money I needed so I'll be sorting everything out with the landlord very soon. It definitely feels good not having to worry about finding a place to stay anymore; and it feels great not having to worry about safety, etc. - after all, I'm living in a white bread world...

"And when she's walking
She's looking so fine
And when she's talking
She'll say that she's mine..."

One week and counting

Today's the last day of training and my impressions of the whole thing are very positive. The school is great and everyone around seems very professional, friendly and helpful. It was good to go through this smooth introduction, which includes meeting Ben, a teacher from the UK who I found extremely easy to talk to. What I'm now looking forward to is teaching for real.

Before that, however, I'll need to sort out my accommodation arrangements. For the last couple of days, I've been living at a hotel not far from the train station. Its location turned out to be even better than expected because I was able to get to the training centres very easily. And the place itself couldn't be more comfortable; I mean, I wake up every morning to a nice view, a nice breakfast and, by the time I get back from school, I get to read the newspaper and watch TV in a clean and tidy room.

I'm sure I'm going to miss all this but let's not forget that it comes at a price I no longer wish to pay. This is the reason why I'm keen on finding something more affordable tomorrow. I'll also need to consider buying new clothes because everyone around seems to dress extremely smart and I brought so little smart clothes with me that I'm sure I'll be sick of wearing them next Tuesday already...

Back to the future

When I left Bangkok in April, it didn't occur to me that I would come back just a couple of months afterwards but the truth is that I did. So after yet another Lufthansa long-haul flight without individual touch screens, here I am again.

The purpose of my stay is to teach English as a foreign language so I'm expecting the experience to be somewhat different - to say the least. I'm not sure how long I'll stay - the Royal Thai Consulate in Porto had provided me with a visa, which would last me until November 25th; the Thai immigration services "shortened" my stay to October 30th, which is also the date of my outbound flight; and the school I will be teaching in tells me that they will try to get me a one-year working visa but, in the middle of all this, what will truly determine the lenght of my experience is how I will feel from Monday onwards.

So far, I can tell you that it's strange to be going to the places I have been to a couple of months ago and not feel as a tourist. The stakes are definitely higher now - I'm thinking of accommodation costs on a monthly basis, the location of the school is my point of reference in the city - not the Royal Palace! - and I've started judging services much more severly.

But what's even stranger is to look at the clothes hanging in the closet (a pair of black trousers, a blazer, a blouse I forgot I had) and realise that very soon I will be wearing them at a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius...