THAILAND, TEACHING AND ANYTHING IN BETWEEN

When I returned to Bangkok on April 30, I then proceeded to job hunting. I stepped into a very modern looking Language Center, went up to the lady at the front desk, and said "I'm applying for a job, and I would like to leave a copy of my resume."

The man seated next to her said "Let me have a look at that". He proceeded to scan my CV and I could have sworn his eyes shot back and asked..."How did you get this?" As he looked up at me and pointed at my IELTS (International English Language Test Standard Scores).

I am not paid by the Institute to endorse them, but me posting my pic and giving them due credit for my success is due and it is my way of thanking the Institute.

(The Study Aide Avenue, Davao City)

"I just took the exam like everybody else". I replied.

The man seated next to me ended up to be the 

Academic Head himself. He  then said with a puzzled look 

"Okay, but I have an English degree in a University from America and My bandscore is just 7. So how could you have possibly gotten scores like these? Do you have the original copy of your IELTS)"

I knew he was doubting the authenticity of my papers 

Asking me to follow him for an on the spot interview made me have butterflies in the stomach. 

He told me that among the Foreign applicants, I had an very beautiful accent and an aura of command. However, in Bangkok, it is all about appearance and as much as he does not want to sound racist and to sugar coat things, I had to accept that I do not meet the standards most people in Bangkok would look for in a Language Teacher.

I must warn you that this part here may be unbelievable but I have seen this myself and so have some Ex-pats in Bangkok.

1. Native English Speaker : Yes you must have a passport from the US, UK, South Africa

2. Must Have a Teaching Degree ( or any degree in a related field) , coupled with TEFL, TESOL, CELTA

3. Must have blonde hair and blue eyes. 

This bit here might be ridiculous and  offensive but I tried applying for jobs with my friend and he's African American . He's one of the nicest people that I know but I saw how he was shot down even though he has a US passport, Master's Degree, and TEFL certification and yet it was hard for him to find a job.

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To make a long 800 pages story shorter in 300 pages, I ended up working in the South of Thailand where people are seemingly more accepting, gracious, and have a lot of the positive qualities that Thais are known for and I am happy.

I can write a million things about the things I have seen in Bangkok and the South....
But as the 'cliche' goes, A picture is worth a thousand words. I have several, you do the math and tell me how many words these pictures are.

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BANGKOK 

           

   Traditional Ancient Costumes                                                Coconut Ice cream 

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Interesting Temple Structures Right outside the Leaning Buddha's Sanctuary

My shot of the Leaning Buddha

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Me , touring the Grand Palace. It is so huge and there are a lot of things to see for the selfie posers. 

                               

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WAT-ARUN    "Temple of Dawn"

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DOWN SOUTH, HATYAI-SONGKHLA

From Needlestick to Blackboard stick!!!

Sawasdee Kah!!! As the immigration officer stamped my passport, I am officially in Bangkok, Thailand. 

My journey begins when I was so burned out from work as a nurse that I decided to see what else was available. I wanted a job wherein I could have proper sleep, bigger pay-check, where I can travel, talk to people , and be surrounded by people from different backgrounds. 

I think the gods must have been listening because after I took the exam in IELTS, my instructors commended me in my command of the English language. I googled "English teaching" and I discovered Teach English as a Foreign Language or TEFL for short. 

Again, the gods must have a sense of humor that I ultimately decided to take it in Bangkok, Thailand ------the second country that I ever visited but swore was on the bottom list of my places to come back to for numerous reasons.

The first day of class, I was nervous as hell. I remember thatI was getting dressed, the zipper of my jeans ripped. My aunt  was laughing so hard but luckily she had an extra pair of jeans for the day. 

My teacher ended up to be a man named Albert. He's South African and his voice was soothing, deep, and it had a distinct accent  that it kinda reminded me of a character from the Lion King. My classmates ended up to be very interesting characters -----We have an ex-cop, an ex-hollywood worker, a tall but very shy giant, a sweet angelic lady, a rock-star vibed guy, a cool chilled out dude,  a serious looking but fun guy , a brit who I just wanted to punch the hell out of for always bugging me (but he's funny tho), a Mr.  Marlboro , and a little miss nurse who sounds American, talks sh*t like an, American only with a seemingly better grammatical sense yet has never been to America. My classmates looked at me with some sort of wonder like Winnie the Pooh discovering some sort of alien-exotic honey pot. 

As the weeks go by, I have learned that Thai culture is very interesting and unique and so are the students. A lot of them would look at me and say in high tones "YOU LOOK THAI, BUT YOU NO SPEAK THAI WHAT ARE YOU?" 

( What am I? Well assuming the person was a native speaker and I was my smart-ass, often feisty self with a hint of sarcasm and vanity, I would definitely say something like,...I'm a creature with a desirable amount of proportionate ASSets. ) 

I politely told them where I was from and why I became a teacher. I can tell you 8 pages of how my experiences are but one of the best during my TEFL teacher-training skills was the time when the Thai staff that could speak English told me that the students approached them at the end of the class and told them to tell me "that they loved me as a teacher, whenever I teach...they are always attentive and it is very easy to understand the lesson."  (KLEENEX please sob***)

The feeling that your students will say that and the effort they showed to reach out to you and to communicate those words gave me great joy as much as some patients are appreciative of your interventions as a nurse. 

End of January, I graduated with a final grade of "A" and here is a pic of that special day....Second graduation for me (Hint, I'm the one looking tall in high heels....oh damn!!! Fine yes I am small but I did emphasize that I wore heels so I seem taller than I normally am especially with my classmates who are mostly male and 5"10" up lol!!!) 

What happens to the rest of my adventure? 

It gets better than this so keep reading on til the next blog!!!

Graduation day. The 2 gentlemen are Mr. James Parmelee, (Director) and Albert Venter (Instructor)