Category: Travel
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Quarantine in Bangkok
It’s not you, it’s me. No, it’s you. I won’t lie. Seven months of living with uh-muh-ni was six and-a-half months too long. At first, I felt as if I had worn out my welcome. By the end, I believed it was she who had worn out her welcome, in her own home. It was…
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The Dancing Queen In My Room
Sun sets over Bangkok and my time in Thailand I’d been feeling ragged. Chewed up and spit out. Tears would spring out of my eyes in fits and starts. I had canceled my work permit, believing immigration would honor my visa amnesty. They did not. Instead, they gave me seven days to get out of…
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This is What Love Looks Like: Teaching English in Thailand
KISSMAS EVE 7 Across: kissmaseve. Hilariously, this student left the last two squares blank! Christmas cards students wrote to me “im to sun-sang-nim 선생님” = im to Teacher “sa-rang-hae 사랑해” = I love you “Christmas Day” Face mask sporting Santa Clause saying “Get it” with an image of “$5 massage” in a thought bubble, and…
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I STILL Love Teacher: Teaching English in Thailand
“sa-rang-hae 사랑해— I love you”, artwork on student’s desk The New Puppies Term 2 began like the previous term: short-handed since we lost two teachers, scarfing lunch in less than an hour, and sprinting through periods 1-10. By the end of the first week, I was exhausted. However, the adrenaline of meeting new students powered me…
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I Like…YOU! Teaching English in Thailand
“I LOVE TEACHER” Photo of my whiteboard (with a pink filter) Congratulations to me for surviving my first proper first-term gig during which the only consistency was inconsistency. Constantly changing schedules, welcoming new teachers, saying goodbye to other teachers, swapping classes, filling in for other classes, and falling in love with all of my students.…
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“I’m Here for 69”: Teaching English in Thailand
It was my third day on the job. I stood outside my door waiting to meet my students. The first boy approached me and said, “I’m here for 69.” Pause. “I mean, 6/9.” Like a flight attendant introducing passengers to the friendly skies, I said, “Welcome,” and gestured to the classroom. Thus began my initiation into teaching…
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Two Hospitals, Two Ferries, Two Showers
“Are you looking at my bootie?” This cutie chillin’ on the sidewalk in my neighborhood in Chiang Mai. What an amazing hip-opening pose. Appreciating sunlight streaming through these local trees. Covid-19 effects: Chiang Mai looks pretty grim. Many businesses permanently closed down with loss of tourists. Good news, bad news I was offered a job…
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America’s Last Nerve
How I survived Covid-19 Not by flying back to the US, per the urging of the US Embassy in Bangkok. Not by following a myriad of strange “Covid-19 cures”, such as: Priests in the Philippines spritzing holy water and alcohol on people. Buddhist monks in Myanmar advising people to eat limes with three palm seeds.…
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The True Vow
This stand set up in front of 7-11 says: “Screening point Cold Temperature” Then the paper below instructs: “Gel alcohol Wash your hands” Literally, that’s the advice from 7-11: To inquire within yourself whether you have a cold or temperature, and whether you do or not, Come on in! Just wash your hands with gel first. They…
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Choking in Chiang Mai, Covid-19, Pig’s Head and Liquor
Time to bring out the big guns With infections of Covid-19 rising on a daily basis, the Thai government strongly advised people to stay at home. Like many other countries, non-essential businesses have closed. People are panicking—buying toilet paper and praying—or… Offering an entire pig’s head and a bottle of liquor at the local spirit…