Workin Man

Okay so lots to report and time is a flying! I can't believe that I've already been here at the hostel for 9 days. Nate and I are talking about staying here for a while, the place is really nice and close to everything here in town. Everything includes the bus stops for busses to places that aren't close. The kicker is that we're paying $31/week to stay here, which is WAY cheaper even than the $6/day that they normally charge. Sully stayed here for a week before he started the course, and evidently must have done something right for them to give us such a deal. I can't remember if I described the hostel at all, but we're located right in the heart of Phuket Town, right next to the market and near the bus station. Most importantly, we're only a 15 minute walk from the staff bus that Nate and I take to work.

Yes, you read that correctly! Nate and I both started subbing as English teachers on Monday! It all came about because Nate's friends Rob and Phil have been working in Phuket for a few months now, but both were slated for a holiday during September. Kindly enough, they asked Nate to fill in for them. On the day last week when Nate went in to meet the head teacher, Steve, at the agency, Earth Language, I decided it would be a good idea to tag along and introduce myself. Good idea indeed. After introducing myself, Steve and I had a brief chat which led to the question "When can you start?" It turns out that another staff member was headed out on holiday as well and they hadn't yet found a replacement. The best part is that I'd be taking over at the same beach resort as Nate/Rob!

As it turns out, Amanpuri (the resort) is one of the more elite places on the island. It's located about a 30-50 minute bus ride from town, depending on the day. I teach at the hotel itself, while Nate gets the excitement of teaching out in one of the more exlusive villas. The basic difference is that he gets delightful food for lunch, and I get cafeteria mush. You thought cafeteria food at HOME was bad... Thai's are very proud of their food, and if you ever hear them say that some food is "okay," your best bet is to fast.

The job itself entails teaching 4 90-minute English classes to the staff, which vary in both English speaking ability and profession. Teaching a roommaid at the same time as the director of communications puts an interesting twist to the art, let me tell you. The most difficult part for me so far has been learning 41 Thai nicknames. Mind you, these nicknames are far less complex than their real names, but it's a lot of new faces all at once, and namecards don't always help, since they aren't always pronounced as they are written. For example, the nickname Ple may be pronounced pllll, as in ap"ple". The classes are pretty casual and laid back though, so mispronouncing the names is usually good for a laugh. I'm trying though.

At the moment I'm only working MWF, while Nate has M-Sat, but that's okay with me. I'll either decide to take on more with this agency, or use the extra time to look for a job with a state school, i.e. something M-F with the potential for a work permit and thus a work visa and thus health care and a bank account. Little things like that.

Tonight the hostel is actually pretty full, which of course means that I'm sitting in my room comtemplating exactly what I've ingested over the past 48 hours that could possibly be left to ungraciously donate to the local porcelain sculptures. (If you've got a more eloquent way to phrase that, I'd been keen on hearing it.) In fact, this would probably be a good time to take a little green pill and head to bed. After all, I'm headed back to work in the morning.