Got up early this morning in order to avoid the traffic. I had to go into town to purchase some kibbles and wet food for my "horde."  

I threw on some shorts and a polo shirt and donned my motorcycle helmet, zipping out onto our tiny little secondary road, heading for the main route leading into Thung Lung...

I wasn't halfway up the road when I saw a young Thai boy walk out of the rubber tree plantation to my right, waving his arms and trying to flag me down.  I was in a hurry and this was frustrating for me, but I stopped anyway.  

As the kid approached me, I noted he appeared confused and panicky.  Then I saw his torn pants and several areas of road burn on his arms and hands.  A motorcycle accident, no doubt.  Once he reached me, he began letting loose with a slurry of Thai, mostly in Southern dialect, which I cannot understand.  He kept pointing up the road, so finally I just motioned for him to hop onto my motorcycle, which he promptly did, uttering some statement akin to, "Yes, this is what I want."

As we approached the main road, he said something while nudging me and pointing off to the right. "Quah?" I asked, speaking in proper Thai, and he nodded, saying "Yes!"  

I turned right and hadn't gone more than four meters when the kid grabbed me from behind and said, "Yut!" which means stop.  So, I pulled over to the side, expecting him to hop off and say thank you, going on his way...but instead, he hopped off, ran around the motorcycle and began motioning for me to go into the pucker-brush with him.  

Heavy sigh!  I really didn't feel like doing this and wished I'd never picked the kid up in the first place, but there was something about his urgency and his demeanor that kept me interested.  

I got off the bike, setting my caution blinkers on, and followed him into the thick jungle.  

Not ten feet into the brush, I began to notice signs of breakage....small trees wiped out, bushes crushed and messed up, and finally the ground gouged out and the beginnings of plastic and metal motorcycle parts.  I knew what was coming, so I whipped out my mobile phone and pressed on my Thai friend's number.  This was an accident scene, and nobody knew about it yet, since it was so well hidden from the road.  

Then suddenly I walked into a scene that was totally unexpected...the motorcycle, or what remained of it and evidently, the driver...wearing a motorcycle helmet, for what good it was, which was no good for this kid.  The smell in the air was of raw blood.  No other way to describe it.  Blood was everywhere and this kid was twisted in all impossible ways.  He was obviously dead.  

Finally the boy at my side cracked....he just sit right down and began silently sobbing.  I felt that was good, since his actions of before coincided with what I would have described as shock.  So, I just knelt down with him and hugged him close, allowing him to cry, while I spoke to my friend and asked him to please call the ambulance or paramedic crews, giving him the location.  

Sitting there looking at the mangled motorcycle, I figured this was not a singular accident....while speed may very well have been a factor, it surely wasn't the only factor, since the front wheel of the motorcycle indicated contact with a solid structure, as well as streaks of red paint on the front of the bike, which was primarily a white color. 

The accident occurred on the one curve located on the very straight road leading from Ban Thung Lung and on to Ban Klong Tong Nûea, the curve occurring just before the Ban Klong Tong Nûea turn-off, to the left.  

I don't know how long we were waiting there, but I suddenly heard the ambulances wail, as well as the different sound of the police alarm.  So, I walked out of the jungle to my motorcycle, to flag the vehicles down.  

The rest is as you would figure..., except for the part when I found that one of the ambulance personnel spoke good English, so was used to get my story of the event.  I saw this as an opportunity to speak my mind, so I mentioned to the translator, to pass on to the lazy Thai cops, that I had spoken out previously about this dangerous curve, which is obviously painted with a solid yellow line, meaning "NO PASSING," and explaining that most Thai drivers passed vehicles on the curve anyway, and adding the fact that not only had I noticed that the area was a potential danger area, I had seen more than fifteen accidents on that corner caused by vehicles not abiding by the rules of the road {Which almost NO Thai driver recognizes}.

I also reminded the police that I had submitted two complaints to their department, both translated into Thai, of the dangers of the traffic light intersection on Route 4, heading towards Ban Klong Tong Nûea, as well as the curve illustrated today, just before the turn-off to Ban Klong Tong Nûea.  Both complaints which were ignored, just as I suspected they would be.  

The intersection on Route 4, heading North / South to Hat Yai and South to Dannock and Malaysia....as well as East to Ban Klong Tong Nûea and West to Ban Thung Lung and beyond...is a dangerous one, since the traffic heading South, does not stop, even when the traffic light indicates for them to stop so traffic on Route 4, in the Northern lane has the traffic light to turn right.  

I've spoken out many times about this....but no other Thai's would ever speak out because they don't want to get involved or they don't care.  This country is so corrupt, that it is pathetic. So many people die needlessly here, that it is not even funny.  

An ambulance comes screaming down the road, sirens blaring, and some accident victim in the back dying...precious minutes ticking by...before he or she can reach the hospital and medical personnel attend to him or her...but, does traffic move and let them by?  

Hell no.  In traffic, most Thai's don't care about that dying Thai in the back of the ambulance.  They care more about trying to get ahead of the person in front of them...

What a pathetic, non-caring, selfish race of people!

Jeeem

This is a typical afternoon feeding arrangement.

The large, circular pan is for Blondie and her pup, Speedo...as well as any newcomers who happen into the yard.  This plate has double the kibbles and rice, compared to the rest of the mix. 

The yellow bowl is Bandit's...and he knows it.  Bandit is sort of the "Boss" since he was the first stray to show up after Puppy and Chok's death.  Anytime I pick up that yellow bowl, his tail starts to wag like it's gonna fall off, since I've always fed Bandit with that yellow bowl, and I always feed him first.

The metal bowl in front of Bandit's is devoted to the Kitties....Boo Boo and her four, still unnamed, kittens...but only recently I've switched to a pink bowl, which is a small version {Medium Size} of Bandit's yellow bowl.  Larger and easier to accommodate Boo-Boo and four kittens. 

Finally, the metal bowl off to the side is devoted to Sexy Socky. 

That's nine animals.  Expensive, to say the least.  But, there was a time, not too awful long ago, when I was entertaining up to fifteen or sixteen animals, mostly dogs.  You see, all of these guys are strays except for Boo boo and her four kittens.  But, if we want to get technical....Boo boo was a stray to begin with, before I picked her up at the end of our road. 

I have a tenth little guy....Mr. Runt Man.  But, Mr. Runt Man is NOT consistent....he shows up some days, then disappears for weeks running.  However, whenever Mr. Runt Man shows up...he is always welcome and is immediately afforded the TOP Class, highly social, regular food on the menu of the day....Ha!

This is Thailand, which remains a third-world country due to several factors....Corruption  is the biggest factor, with a severe lack of laws and / or enforceable laws in important areas.  Animal control is one factor, but certainly not a major factor....unless you begin to look at issues such as the rabies situation.  But animal control is certainly not high on the list of things to work on, when you've got to change the constitution to allow a crook such as Thaksin Shinawatra to re-enter the country, animal control is a very small issue to most Thai's, who mostly place animals on the very bottom of the "Must care about," issues.

So, I'm doing my part because I care about animals....much more than I care about people.  I love animals because of their natural ability for unconditional love, and their silent innocence. 

The large group of mostly stray dogs showing up at my cottage lately...has whittled away.  I don't know why....but I know that some die of natural causes, some are purposefully hit and killed by animal hating drivers who don't think twice about swerving to intentionally hit a stray animal...especially a dog who has an affliction for chasing cars and motorcycles. 

Others are poisoned. 

Poisoning animals is a routine practice here in Thailand.  There exists hateful people who quite literally take pride in poisoning animals who pick through their trash, or annoy motorists by chasing cars and / or motorcycles or bicycles.

Again...This is Thailand.

Different rules and laws {or lack of} than second or first world countries. 

No way you can walk into a hardware store or feed and grain store in the U.S., and walk out with a potent poison such as Strychnine or Arsenic, without producing Federal, Food and Drug Administration approved documents. 

But, here in Thailand it's everyday stuff.  I can walk into the local feed store {There are many} and purchase pure....Strychnine or Arsenic....in enough volume to kill more than half my village, should I want to....by adding the shit to the local water supply. 

The lawlessness here is just never-ending. 

Animals who once roamed the roads, are found dead and bloated in the pucker-brush...victims of some retarded jerk who stuffed a piece of raw pork with a healthy dose of Strychnine.  It doesn't take much, as I know all too well...having placed a tiny amount of the poison down on the floor in my bedroom, for the rats....and forgetting to pick it up in the morning. 

My cat living with me at the time...got upstairs and ate the tiny rice and Strychnine offering because I forgot to remove it after I woke up.  The result was devastating...seizures, foaming at the mouth, internal bleeding....vomiting...and finally a very dramatic, terrible, excruciating death. 

So, I'm careful to keep my strays close....this is easy, just feed them regularly.  I feed them every day.

I don't care...I love animals and I make good money, so this is my contribution to the animal world, which I view as a gift, to me, for their love, affection, entertainment, appreciation and wonderfulness!  Animals are wonderful!  And,. no matter how  we treat them, they always treat us as Kings or Queens!

Jim

I came {to Facebook}, I saw....and I quit {Facebook}.

Definitely not for me.  But, amidst subtle pressure, I joined and found that the only good thing about Facebook were the games.  I will sorely miss War Commander!

Most Americans are stuck in this lala world of peace and serenity, prayers and religious spouting, that I just couldn't stomach.  Many are so far gone in regards to reality, that it's pathetic and just reading their pathetic posts began annoying me to no end.  So, I'm out.  Back to my serene world of Jeeem's Quiet Musings!

Visited Immigration today for my 90-day check.  In and out in a flash, which is so much better than my experiences of the past.  I'm already scoping out other countries....China, Mongolia, Cambodia....as this is my last year in Thailand...I've got to scoot after April! 

Jim

 

A few weeks ago I lost both my dogs...Puppy first and then Chok.  I cannot even begin to mention the pain and grief I went through during this time.  

My cute little Chok

Both dogs suffered greatly.  The disease that gripped them was leptospirosis, from rats...the veterinarian told me.  I have no idea how they contracted the disease, but Puppy obviously contracted it first and Chok, who was always on Puppy's heels and followed everything he did, got the disease next.  

My wonderful Puppy

So, my kids are gone...

Boo boo, my lone kitty, is the lone survivor and I don't hold out on luck for her, since she kills and often eats rats on a bi-monthly, if not more frequent, basis.  But, for now she's okay.  

With my dogs gone, I now have nothing holding me to this sordid country.  I have been exploring the want ads and will grab whatever is available when it comes up. 

Boo boo has a boyfriend up the road and I know his owner, so her future is not complicated.  I'd just leave her with the guy and let him take care of her.  In fact, I've already mentioned to him that I might not be living here long and he has acknowledged that he is willing to take Boo boo if need be.   

I've had a few opportunities pass my way and most, while sketchy, want me to show up on their doorstep for an interview.  It has always amazed me how some of these employers think we are free to just fly here and there, thousands of miles from our home base, for a short interview and then fly back at a cost in the upper thousands of baht.  

However, some are more reasonable and want to schedule an interview either over the phone or via Skype or similar.  So, as of this weekend I've equipped myself with the necessary equipment...a webcam, microphone, etc., and am now prepared to do some serious business.  

I don't really care where I end up...Mongolia, Japan, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia (money is good but not a first choice though), Chile, Uruguay, San Salvador...they are all looking for teachers, but unfortunately, I'm an old fart at age 56 and many want to pass me by for this...Asia, for sure, is terribly prejudiced regarding age...and not just for foreigners. 

The thing is...Songsaeng school is applying the pressure.  Most schools give foreigners a class load of anywhere from fourteen classes a week, up to sixteen.  I'm pushing thirty.  That's just too much...especially given that the school has asked me to prepare a "special curriculum" (after I've already supplied them with a forty-nine page...massive curriculum for the school year, that...in my humble opinion is not only top notch, but way overboard for this school) for the low-life, scumbag, lazy-assed, losers who are the students in Mathayom 1/1, 1/2, 2/1, and 2/2....the reason being (of course) that the majority of the students from those classes failed my course.  Mathayom 1/1, exclusively, currently holds the record with over 82% failure rate.  The little pricks listen to music on their mp3 players, don't write anything in their notebooks, and basically just don't care.  All just a lazy bunch of brainless lumps.   

Typical of many Thai schools...it's not the student's fault...it's the teacher.  So, the school wants me to do a bunch of make-work and want me to "entertain" the little scumbags in the lower classes...somehow, magically raising their grades.  "Make the classes more interesting so they will do better," the high-classed bitch says to me...."No way," I say...I'm not a freaking entertainer...I'm a goddamned English teacher!  And besides, if I came up with the best lesson plans in the whole world, it wouldn't matter since the idiots don't pay any attention in class and certainly don't write anything in their notebooks.  So how, pray-tell, can you intimate that this is my fault?"

Basically I said to the high-classed bitch, "I'm tired Juliet.  I'm freaking tired of all these classes.  Most schools give foreigners fourteen, fifteen classes..but here I have to do twenty-nine...thirty classes.  I don't have the time to be inventive...to work on curriculum....so, if the school wants me to do up another curriculum...screw them.  Screw the school and what "they" want.  If you don't like it...fire me.  I don't really friggin' care.  I am, at this point, very disappointed in this school and I am really not very happy working here any more."

Boom baby!

The thing is...the school knows all too well how to brown-nose their students and most likely squeeze money out of their parents...but what they don't know is how to treat their employees or listen to their employees concerns and problems.  

I'm most certainly not the only employee who is unhappy with the school.  There are many more and most of them have openly admitted they are not returning after this school year is over.  A bit of a quandary I suppose, since the school has already held a meeting for the Thai teachers (I'm typically left out since most of the administrative staff cannot speak English, so their meetings are held in Thai) and openly mentioned that they don't have the money to hire new teachers, since many Thai teachers have complained about the unfair work loads and have suggested the school hire more employees to take off the excess pressure.

You see, Thai teachers who quit before their contract is finished, have to reimburse the school in cash.  One such employee is / was my Muslim girlfriend Na.  She got a job in Kuala Lumpur working for an Australian company in customer service and since she quit the school only two days after the end of term one, she had to reimburse Songsaeng Commercial School for 20,000 baht.  

Ridiculous. 

All said...and more to come!

-Jeeem-

I've kept it a secret for quite a while, since...well, I'm not the luckiest guy in the world regarding relationships, even though I've been in hundreds of them...thousands?  Who knows....

Anyway, I met a Thai woman at work some months ago...as she initially approached me, wanting to "practice her English."  Thing is...her English is practically better than mine.  But, I humored her and now, months later, our initial theme of "English practice," has progressed into something a bit more romantic.  

Her nickname is 'Na,' the typical short nicknames Muslim women usually take.  

Yep...you heard that right.  Na is Muslim.  A card-carrying Muslim woman...replete with the head-to-tow Muslim garb...the ḥijāb (full head covering scarf...although ḥijāb also refers to the typical modest style of Muslim dress in general)  حجاب

Very traditional...long-sleeved blouses, no bare arms...long skirts or slacks...no leg showing...just that pretty face I've come so attached to.

We click...I feel extremely comfortable with her and we could talk for hours together.  She's sweet, kind, extremely intelligent and full of wonderment...I find myself wanting to become a better man for her...which for me, ain't easy folks. 

There are a lot of barriers to a relationship such as ours...I'm a card-carrying agnostic, she's Muslim.  I believe in Mexican food and beer...she believes in Islam and the Koran.  I eat pork, beef, chicken...hell, anything that moves practically...and I've even eaten dog and a few other disgusting things we won't get into here...

Na lives a "Halal" life naturally, and doesn't eat pork, doesn't have dogs as pets, cannot be seen in a facility that serves alcohol...Hey, it gets even better~

Anyway, the interesting thing...(this time)...is me.  I'm the one with the "problem."  I'm the one worried about the impact.  I'm the one who's the pessimist in this case...not Na.  She, quite simply, is the level headed one in this relationship.  She's very easy going and is quick to say, "Mai pen rai..."  or 'no big deal.'

Na lives in Hat Yai, in an apartment, with Sa, her colleague at work.  Both are from Narathiwat, one of the three war-torn provinces to the South of Thailand, where thousands have died in the fighting and unrest there.  She travels home every weekend and holiday to spend time with her family.  No doubt a solid, Muslim family who are about to meet a big, fat, Agnostic, foreigner...very soon.

I'm not crazy about the idea of traveling the hundred or so kilometers to Narathiwat...an area where people become targets, no matter what race, creed or religion...let alone a shining white face such as mine.  But, one thing I do believe in, is this:

If you're going to do something...If you want something bad enough...you either shit or get off the stinking pot!  So, (gulp) here we go....

Na is definitely worth it.  

I've weighed the pros and cons and although there are a LOT of cons, I feel if anyone could be "THE" woman in my life I've been looking for, for ages, it definitely could be Na.  

I brought Na a white rose this morning, and even though I'm fifty-freaking-six years old and have been through tons of relationships, I was so freaking nervous!  I was shaking like a freaking leaf!  But, she was so happy and so appreciative...and I felt so...on-top-of-the-world! - after giving her that rose and talking to her briefly...my heart doing double-time..

I really, really...so much...want to be with that woman of my dreams.  I've fooled myself so many times and said, "Oh, I don't need anybody!  I'm just cool all by myself..."  

Horse poo poo.  

No matter how hardened an individual is, everybody 'needs' somebody to be there for them and love them.  I'd be honored to have Na by my side...

Okay..let's shift gears into high....like motorcycle gears!

The reason for my "theme" picture today...MOTORCYCLE ACCIDENT...is not only due to my witnessing many, many motorcycle accidents here in Thailand...(some very, very graphic and gross...), but the two extraordinary things that happened to me today...

I was teaching my 3/3 Vocational College class and was giving the students their test scores.  I called out one woman's name and the students began to stir...and laugh.  They said something in Thai I didn't understand and finally one student in the front of the class with a dictionary, looked up and said, "Her in hospital...is dead...motorcy accident (Thai's don't say motorcycle, they shorten the word to motor-cy) then the students all began to laugh.  

I was taken aback at the cruelty of the matter.  Here was one of their own in the hospital, dying or dead and they were laughing about it.  I've learned many things about Thai's and although I know they can be terribly cruel, this took the cake for me.  All I could do was just give them all a dirty look and cut the class short.  


Again, like many times in the past when one of my students died in accidents here, I couldn't picture her face.  The class is not that large, but there's a good twenty-four faces to put to a name and I just couldn't do it, which upset me.  I feel so bad for her.  


Then, in the afternoon I took a short jaunt into Ban Klong Ngae.  When I was done with my business I backtracked and drove to the intersection to cross and head back home, when I saw a young girl on a Vespa take a turn into the middle of the intersection too sharply and loose control, going down.  


I hardly thought about it...I just zipped into the middle of the intersection, hopped off my bike and helped her up.  Nobody...not one Thai soul...even made the slightest attempt to help her, they just sat there and gawked, one woman across the street actually laughing.  


The girl was maybe in her early twenties.  She was shook up a bit and had a nasty road burn on her right knee, but was otherwise okay, repeating "Mai pen rai, mai pen rai," obviously embarrassed and turning to the woman across the street who was laughing and looking at her incredulously.  Then she started her bike and was off...


I passed the woman who was laughing and gave her my best, "You're an asshole," looks, for all it was worth.  


Troubling day for me, finding such cold-hearted, uncaring people surrounding me.  


-Jeeem-

 

My new toy...

The Acer® one terabyte (1000 gigabytes) external hard drive. 

Silly me, thinking when I bought my desktop PC five years ago, that 80 gigabytes would last me a lifetime!  


They fill up so fast!  Especially when you're downloading mega-games and mega torrent movies and pirated software programs...


Very cheap actually...only 2,459฿ ($82.62 U.S. and 50.31 British pounds).  Prices of electronics have been going down, down, down over the past few years....my 1 Gb USB stick-drive cost 340฿, only two years ago...now, for 
340฿, you can purchase a 4 or 8 gigabyte stick drive.  At least that's the case here in Southeast Asia.  


My intent for this extra memory is to partition things off so I can have a separate drive that is only devoted to downloads...of games, movies, and the like.  


-Jeeem-

Damnest cat I've ever owned!


No, I didn't teach her to do this.  I know some people do, but I wouldn't have either the patience or the know-how to teach a cat to do its business in the toilet.  She did this on her own, most likely by instinct. 

At first I had problems with Boo Boo pooping and peeing just about everywhere she pleased and I was seriously considering giving her away to another family somewhere, as a dog is one thing...but cat pee and poop?  Most rank crap you can imagine.  Why is it cat poop and pee is the worst?  Damn animal eats the same damn food, so you'd think...oh, never mind....

Anyway, one day I caught her peeing in the toilet.  Couldn't believe it.  She just decided to do it all on her own.  She doesn't poo there yet...wish she did...but you know cats, they have to cover their poo with something and going poo in the toilet...well, that just doesn't work for Boo, since...well, it's an Asian squat toilet.  Might be different if it was a Western sit-downer. 

So, I'm pleased and my good friend Simone in Malaysia, is terribly jealous of me since she's got a house full of cats and is burdened with buying kitty litter.  

For now anyway, Boo-Boo's Poo-Poo's remain outside, but her last act of defiance is pooping somewhere near the house...not kitty-kool!


===================================


On a totally different front, I've had a rash of motorcycle repairs that have kept me from purchasing some of the big-ticket items I've been planning on, such as external hard-drive, large screen digital television and blu-ray DVD player, as well as satellite T.V.  All in good time I suppose.  


I had been hearing some clunking and clanking in the chain guard area of the bike for some time, but just like me...I let it go until it became a dire emergency.  Left for work one day last week and the clunking and clanking reached new heights and eventually I couldn't go anywhere...luckily for me the bike petered out right in front of the motorcycle repair shop, which luckily was open.  


Two, totally stripped sprocket gears and a damaged chain drive.  Came to 500฿, way more than I was expecting to spend.  But, within two more days that initial amount catapulted to over 2000฿.  But now my motorcycle purrs and runs great.  

My love life has become interesting with a very young, pretty Thai girl entering my life.  She doesn't speak hardly any English and could most likely be my daughter so I really don't know where this is going but for now it's fun.  That's me folks...I'm all about fun.  Couldn't live this way in states without being arrested, so I'm having my fun with it. 


I'm experiencing a tree frog invasion of sorts.  Here's a recent video of my tree frog downstairs:



As I write this blog entry, another, darker species of tree frog is looming above me on one of the roof rafters attempting to pounce on me and rip me apart, limb-from-limb.


Living in the jungle...gotta love it!


-Jeeem-

As promised...I finally purchased a card reader in order to get those pictures off my Cannon digital camera.  Still can't download them for some reason.  

Anyway, as you can see from the pic above, it's another leggless visitor to my home.  This was the really big one I was talking about.  I was sitting at the kitchen table doing a Sodoku puzzle when Puppy suddenly went berserk, barking and whining to beat the band.  When I turned around, I saw this head poking out from underneath the kitchen counter.  

 

I chased the thing all over the house, for a good fifteen or twenty minutes before I finally got it to leave via the front door.  Puppy didn't help at all, jumping and lunging at the thing, barking his fool head off and scaring it into the opposite direction in which I was trying to coax it.  This is a shot of the thing under the stove, where you can begin to see the length of it.

Here it is coiled up behind the water barrel in my bathroom.  As big as this thing was, it was surprising how small a space the thing could bunch up into.  Not sure what type of snake it was, but the thing went a good eight feet long easily.  

I had a damn good video of it stretched out on the kitchen floor, showing its full length, but unfortunately lost that video while trying to retrieve photos off my camera.  

I'm guessing, but I figure the thing had been in the house a couple days without my noticing it.

-Jeeem-

Second day on the job in my new capacity as a private hire.  I'm freelancin' now baby!

It's quittin' time and I head out to my motorcycle, hop on and head North to Ban Phrue.  I'm running out of medication and want to get to the pharmacy and get home fast as there's a big storm front building and I don't fancy getting caught in the rain. 

I pass through Ban Thung Lung and am approaching Ban Mo when suddenly I see a gorgeous sight.  A total fox riding on the back of a motorcycle to my left.  Gorgeous, long curly locks of black hair cascading down her back...tight fitting halter top, skin tight jean shorts, beautiful legs and black patent leather pumps.  

I'm not the only one looking...she's gorgeous and other guys are checking her out as well.  

About a kilometer down the road their bike slows down as the driver pulls up behind an ice cream cart.  I approach slowly, my eyes glued to those gorgeous thighs...

An older woman is driving the motorcycle...maybe her mother.  As I pull up even with this stone-cold fox, I hear...

"Hello Teacher!" as she places both hands before her face in a respectful wai.  

OWNED!


One of my Mathayom five students.  

I mumble a "Hello!" and speed off.  

Damn.  

She's one of my better students too.  Always volunteers to help me out, writing things on the white board.  Always trying to answer questions.  

The girl is maybe sixteen...maybe...And one of the prettiest Thai's I've ever seen.  

At school all the students wear uniforms...most of them gym or sports warm-ups...hardly form fitting.  This was the first time I'd seen her in street clothes.  

Damn.  

-Jeeem-

To follow up with my previous post about the mystery caller at the store...

I finally discovered it was the woman at the store who called the guy on her mobile.  So much can get left out and misunderstood in a country such as this one, where most people cannot speak English.  

Evidently, the guy had discovered I frequented her store and approached her, asking that she call him if I were to show up, so he could ask if I wanted to teach him English.  Once I'd figured this out, I went home and thought about it and well...being that I have only about three hundred baht to my name until the end of the month, I thought it ridiculous for me to turn down the offer. 

I went back to the store and gave the woman a sheet printed in Thai (I use Goggle Translate, which works fairly well) instructing her to call the man and give him my contact details.  Long story short, he called me at home and I agreed to teach him for two hours on Fridays, at 250 baht an hour.  Five hundred baht a week...that will get me through.

It's been a while since I taught privately, and actually, for me, it's easy work...boring, but easy money.  So, I've decided to begin trolling for some other students to teach on the side in the evenings.  I can easily make enough money to pay my rent, electricity and ADSL Internet bill with just a few hours teaching.  


The thing with me, is no matter if I'm just at home doing nothing, it's my time and I own it.  Having to teach, even though I'm getting paid, I see as infringing on my personal time...something for now I've just got to get over for awhile.  

Thai's (and I don't mean this in a prejudicial way) can be seriously lazy.  They contract for you to teach them, then they do no work...no homework, no studying, no preparation.  They expect you to force the ability to learn English into their little brains, just sit there, and somehow miraculously come out in the end..refreshed, knowledgeable and fluent in English. 

So, for now I've got a part-time job to facilitate my income until I get back on my feet again...that alone (being that the electricity guy came by threatening to turn my power off two days ago) is an ease on my mind.  

I begin working on Monday and as mentioned in a previous post, the school is only paying me half my salary for this month since I am starting late.  Then, in mid-June I am scheduled to make another expensive trip to Penang, Malaysia for my one-year visa, which is much, much more expensive...so June is going to be a very tight month.  Having this part-time job will definitely be a lifesaver for me.  

-Jeeem-