Teaching in the sticks
31 cool and awesome things about living and teaching in rural Thailand
Before we get into the list I just want to mention that everything is written in good fun. Expats and Thailand veterans will understand more than first timers. Certain sentences and parts reflect my own specific experience more so than the general one. Some of it might come across as sappy, but I've had a very positive experience in Thailand and the glass is half full for me.
Surviving Thailand's roads
How to avoid becoming just another statistic
Most Thais do not have any understanding or desire to learn road safety. If you grew up in my generation you had Tufty and his gang drilling the green cross code into your brain, and those lessons never get forgotten as the years pass by.
Oh boy...I went to Loei
Amazing travel experiences in North-east Thailand
Even if it's just for a handful of days, hopping back into the traveling circuit is an epic feeling. I love my job and I'm happy everyday, but there's this euphoric buzz that runs through me every time I clip on my Osprey bag and wedge myself onto another box-on-wheels.
Thailand: the land of smiles and helpful hands
Even in the darkest moments, people genuinely want to help
We soon realised that something more serious was going on. A knife appeared. A big, scary knife. Things start to feel a bit more real when there's a knife involved.
A day in Ayutthaya
Temple-spotting is a fine way to spend a Buddhist holiday
Apparently, Monday was (loosely translated) Buddha Day. It is therefore fitting that I should visit temples for the day, and thanks to an invitation from a lovely fellow teacher at school, that's exactly what I did! Ayutthaya is a mere hour and some change train ride from Bangkok.
Old things from the village
Keeping the memories of those olden, golden days alive
My foreign friends and students who know my life habits ask me why I love old things; old houses, old wood furniture, and even pieces of an old rice mill that I keep underneath my old wooden house in Bangkok. It seems strange, doesn't it?
The house of horrors (final part)
The fourth and final part of Ralph Sasser's amazing story
The third update to the story came in late 2010 when Ralph entered into a long court case (are there any other kind in Thailand?) and was left with a half-finished building. Surely things could only get better? So here we are in mid-2012. Did Ralph's house of horrors story finally have a happy ending? Read the fourth and final instalment.
What to expect when you move to Thailand
Life in the sticks and other oddities
I packed my bags and moved to Thailand to eventually become an English teacher. I was offered jobs in different parts of Thailand, but I quickly decided to move to a village in the North East region of Thailand, as opposed to a city. Moving from a city in Canada to a village in Thailand is a radical change but it's the type of challenge I was looking for.
What you may not know about her
Tales from Thai society
The story begins with a new foreigner who came to our village two years ago. He was an Australia man, strong and handsome, not so old, but he spoke no Thai and never smiled. I would see him sometimes, with his wife, at the local noodle shop. She was from the tambon, the small town about fifteen minutes bicycle ride from my farm.
Arai Na?
English in Thai vocational schools
I came here 1.5 years ago and it was all planned as a 10-month experience. I had a high paid marketing job back home in Europe and everybody told me that it was crazy to leave my career and become a ‘teacher' here in Thailand.
