Not Fake News. Urban LegendsOK, so thanks to a rock-star family member ( you know who you are ), I’m now … liquid again.
I used the money which came through Western Union to sort out an apartment for the next month, and avoid the sting of the daily 500 b. for a hotel.
Is home now, at least for the next month.
Ain’t it amazing how fast the wheels can fall off? And how quickly follows the body panels, the chrome, nuts and bolts, lights and indicators, and finally bits of the chassis. Leaving the poor sucker ( me ) sitting in the middle of the proverbial road in a carseat.
That’s what happened today. One simple f-up, which I wasn’t even responsible for. Can you guess? An ATM swallowed my Visa card. The machine tells me it’s working. OK. I insert the card. The ATM flashes the message ‘out of order’. The lights around the card slot flash – ‘expect some action here’. Nothing. It doesn’t return my card. Pretty soon it shuts down.
With the help of some locals, I call the number on the machine. They ask me every question they can think of, and 20 minuteps later tell me I might get my card back in 3 working days. Or not. No apology, let alone offer of compensation.
After calling my bank in NZ, the extent of the sh*t starts to dawn on me. My phone is running low on credit. I need to be able to call people. I can’t check in to any hotels with no cash. Luckily the scooter is well-stocked on gas. But I have no real food reserves.
Yes, I know, I know. Beginners’ mistake, shoulda shoulda got travel insurance. But even if I had that, it’s a long weekend here, and how are the insurers going to give me cash.
I tried Western Union, but can’t for some reason can’t SEND the cash ( online ) to RECEIVE here. Maybe it’s Kiwibank, but by the time I’d discovered that, they’d closed.
An understanding worker at a local bank I have an account with ( but next to no funds ), was kind and sharp enough to call the hotel, and ask them to extend credit of sorts. I get to stay here, and pay later. So I have a roof over my head, and for now, a little food.
For now. Not sure how I’m gonna reassemble the jalopy ( see above ) tomorrow.
So today I’m scootering down Sukhumwit Rd, the main drag of Rayong, helmet-less. The day is warm, and all is right with the world. If I wasn’t on a little scooter, this song might be on the mental playlist
The scene changes very fast when a Pride of brown-uniformed helmeted blokes appear ahead in my lane waving me over to the curbside. Oh, so that’s what Thai cops look like.
I’m told I’m not wearing a helmet, and that my NZ driver’s licence is only for 4-wheeled vehicles. I left my international driver’s licence at home, of course. I’m told that I need to pay a fine, for being helmet-less.
The cop, a solid genial guy only a little taller than me, tells me I have two options. Go to the police station brandishing a ticket he’s about to write me, and pay 500 baht, or pay him 400 baht at the roadside. I tell him I’ll pay at the station ( sure I will ), but it starts to look like he’s gonna keep my driver’s licence as guarantee of said payment. Getting the licence back seems like it’s going to present huge problems to someone who still can’t find his way around Rayong without Google Maps barking orders. And the cop clearly would rather not fill out the ticket, which looks like a Byzantine affair.
I moan that I need the money for other things, but hand him a 1000-baht note. He doesn’t do change, and sends me on foot down the road for it. I do my business, and return to pay. He sidles me away from the glare of his comrades, and the public, and gestures for me to lean into a huddle. We opens a leather note holder and gestures for the baht to go in there.
Once all that furtive nastiness is over, he’s all jovial again, and presents me with a … can of Pepsi. A small one.
I’m on way again, having paid my donation to the police social club beer kitty fine.
[Thai receptionist at The Most] La de da, almost done my nails again. Is that the second or third time today? Let’s see ‘Neung …. er… saawng … saam well golly. Nearly time for another caffeine frosty anyway. I wonder if I should check Facebook to see whether Supachai has seen my latest post. It was this awesome meme… Oh, sh*t. Here’s that angry red-faced Farang again. He always tries to make me think, with his Google Translate app. I hate that. So I just smile and shrug.
….
So there he was again, complaining about a flooded bathroom. He kept wanting me to see it. I just told him the technician would be there by 8. He kept trying to say something about work. Well, he wouldn’t go away, so I had to phone the boss.
…..
So the boss said to give him a new room. Now the Farang is back and angrier. …says that’s flooded too. I just gave him another set of keys, and he went away.
…
Good, now he’s gone, what’s Supachai saying. Oh …. lol.
[Angry Farang ] Bugger this. No sleep, and a flooded bathroom. And when I go see the receptionist she just smiles and shrugs. I need a shave and a wash, and I have half an hour to get work. Hard to explain all this to a blank smile with a translator app. I’m moving out. As soon as I get through the day of work.
I’m now at Bedroom 77, about 500m away. Got through another day of teaching. More on that last later.
Much better today – better prepared, with a clearer idea of subject. Plus I got to pad out the lesson with a 15-20 minute introduction, using Google maps and images to talk about myself and NZ.
Five classes today, all of them the first time with that particular bunch of kids, so I did the intro in each. I met with Thai teacher Film before each to confirm lesson subject. Some of them were repeat lessons with the same grade, but a different stream, so just repeated and honed a previous lesson. Plus getting used to projecting the computer onto the whiteboard, and using apps within Google.
Relearned an old lesson – bribery works. They have a credit system whereby they earn academic points for good class performance. So I give them away for good answers, and suddenly there are a lot more hands up.
Another beginners trick is to avoid spending the entire lesson talking, instead include an activity or get them talking.
Most Thai kids seem to know a combination of these things about NZ – sheep, and kiwi ( birds ). No-one knew about the All Blacks ( Thailand it seems is a football nation ). One class knew a helluva lot including Maori being the first people,the dairy industry, seafood, etc,etc.
That class was older, year M4, about 15-16. The school is M1 to M6.
Film ( Thai teacher ) is always there in lessons, so he’s a good safety net if I start fumbling the ball.
The kids are really well disciplined and respectful, so easy to keep class control. I did have to raise my hands with a loud ‘thank you’ class to close off a paired group discussion session, but all good.
I also discovered that the school canteen is dirt cheap. Bought 6 hard-boiled eggs for 40 baht ( < $2 NZD ). I can't cook in the hotel rooms, so a wee stockpile never hurts.
Not to put too fine a point on it, this shit’s hard!!
Five classes ( @ 50 minutes a time ) today. Brilliant support from Thai teacher ‘Film’. Without him I would have been pretty much clueless as to lesson plans. He knows the syllabus, and I don’t. To soften the blow a little, I took the opportunity ( following advice from another NES teacher ) to use a part of each lesson to introduce myself, and talk a little about NZ, with the help of projected Google maps and images.
After work, I treated myself to a first swim in Thailand. The big rock groynes they use have created at Seang Chun beach produce large and shallow tidal pools. Good for wallowing in, but to do any real swimming you need to go out beyond the groynes. It was getting dark, and I had all my valuables in a bag on the beach, so I didn’t risk it. I donated a couple of teaspoons of blood to the really vicious wee sandflies, or mites, in the roadside sand. But it was a small tax to pay – the water was beatifully warm at 7pm, and of course, I always feel better after an ocean swim than before.
One more day of work tomorrow, then the main weekend mission is to find some permanent digs. Tempted to take up the Mae RamPhung beach offer after tonight’s swim. Watch this space.
I finally got the energy to haul my sad self out of the WiangWalee, and into new digs.
The staff at the WWL are lovely, the rooms not so much. I moved twice, occupying three different rooms over 5 days, because things kept going tits up. Things like the electricity in the case of the first unit, and the air-conditioning in the second. Try sleeping sometime in 30+ deg C heat, and you’ll feel my pain. Two of those shifts were after 10 p.m., when I was so harried and bug-eyed ( that I braved talking to reception. Which is a trial, especially over the phone, because most of them had ZERO English. There was only one woman who had a half-decent grasp of English, and she was in another building.
The location was good, midway between Rayong City, and work, and not too far from the beach. But I was kept awake by the Boeing 737 air-conditioning unit in the room, and that was the final straw.
So now I’m at The Most, a little further away from the School, but closer to both the centre of Town, and Seang Chan Beach. It also has
So, here til I get my act together, and find a monthly rental. Rental here 500 b. / night. Probably monthly rental 4000 b. – 7000 b.
The School
Work officially started yesterday, Monday. Unofficially, it’s meant a lot of sitting around for new teachers, waiting for the bureaucractic wheels to turn.
There are a few long-term NES ( Native English Speaking ) teachers there, which is a good sign. Among the Nationalities a troupe of Filipinos, a couple of Americans, at least two from the UK, and a couple of suspected South Africans. And me.
I signed the teaching contract today, expect to get my classroom timetable and start working with my Thai support teacher tomorrow.
