20.06.2014.... Friday Fridays, but Ima throwback

Well,
It's been the week, as in Week Number 2 of my second session. So far, there is some progress. but I always worry.
As of recent, the director of the hospital I work at currently accepted a position at a hospital in Mongolia, which I think is amazing, but it also concerns me slightly because technically, he was the one who signed my contract. Now, this may not seem like a big deal, but I have a "What If" person who brings in the worry, and what they said was "He didn't sign the contract. That means that he is not obligated to honor it. He can cancel it at any time." So, in a way, this is kind of scary, and somewhat of a possible wake-up call. At the same time, it's also giving me a push to continue in keeping all of my options valid, and working on making new opportunities available. One of the things I realize that I must do is, continue working on my business plan, and compiling my efforts, my notes, my research, and whatever I find that could be useful. It looks like I need to build a "Business Plan" binder, which I don't think is a bad idea, that way everything is contained and somewhat organized. Who knows? I may go insane with a laminator or sheet protectors!
Now, the upside of this new hospital director is that he comes from another hospital branch, and, if he is not busy, I can talk to him, and inform him about what I do, and how I do it so that he may consider my business proposal for his previous hospital, which also means more work in the future. Plus, now, one of my friends, who works at another hospital branch, wants to bring me with her to that location at least once a week to teach those employees. Let's just say, there are a lot of unlocked doors that I can choose from.
Now, onto other things. Today (where I am), it is Friday, the twentieth. Tomorrow will be the twenty-first. That will mean that, as of tomorrow, I have officially worked for two months straight without a day off. It's nice because I'm always doing something and have a little bit of pocket change. It is also nice that working everyday reduces my opportunity to go shopping, so I'm spending more time saving my money rather than dawdling it away. Each time I receive any cash, I like to put it into a savings jar. In fact, by next week, I will be able to afford a 4-5 day trip to Europe! It may not seem like a lot to you, but it is a lot to me. Honestly, I probably won't even use the money for that, because I'm working on the "Build Your Future" concept, meaning, I will be spending money on things I will need for my business, and the steps I need to take in order to make my business prosper (aka lose money for the first year or so, then break even, then profit). Cheers to making your way into adulthood. What makes me excited is keeping up with friends' and colleagues' happenings. There are at least two other girls that I know who have just started up their own businesses, and I can't wait to see where they go from here.
In lieu of the title, I would like to bring up the few things that I miss from America. Maybe I will sound spoiled, maybe not, I'm not really sure. I love Thailand, do not misinterpret otherwise, but I do admit that there are some things I dearly miss.

• Fresh Spinach- I miss this so much! These greens basically were my main salad food because they were juicy, velvety, and not bitter. They made my perfecto salad. It is nearly impossible to find legitimate spinach in Thailand, much less, an amazing salad, though I have come close.
• Organized Public Transportation- technically, there is a 'bus system,' aka colored trucks with benches in the bed that kind of follow a route. But, there is no bus stop, no schedule, or explanation of bus routes whatsoever. They kind of just come when they come, and you have to hail it if you want to get on. Oh, and you need to be able to read Thai to know where they are going... (Luckily, I have learned some of the alphabet and practiced enough to understand some routes)
• Tex-Mex and Tacos- I miss those darn taco bells, and Moe's burritos! I mean, technically I could make the filling for any of the tacos, burritos, or enchiladas (they have rice, black beans, cumin, salt, coriander, corn, tomatoes, garlic, meat, etc.) but I would have to spend a lot in order to purchase tortilla or taco shells. I suppose that I had better learn how to make those.

I suppose that's really about it of the things I miss. Some of video online about what people miss come off, not to sound cruel, sheltered. This, of course, is due to their personal experiences from 'home.' For example, a girl who is abroad, she loves Sweden, but, as she spoke of the things she missed, she became really emotional. While I do understand her viewpoints that some of the conveniences of America are not available, and I know that this isn't her daily life problem, I would probably tell her to take a breath, and re-examine what she is getting emotional about. They are material things.
The reality is: traveling shouldn't be about what you have or what you don't have, it should be about what you do with what you have, who you meet, what you learn and gain, because those are things you will end up always having around to replay. If you would like to know that video I am referring to, check it out here. If you focus on things and objects, you really lose the purpose of why you went somewhere. Then it's less fun.
That's all I have about being abroad, missing things, and why.. for now. Must return to teaching!

Until next time,
K.

17.6.2014- Make Time for Others, but Don't Forget that Self-Love

Hello, you lovely person who just happened to stumble upon this page,
Today, I would like to indulge in the title of this post. As a part of many professions, it is an essential detail of the job to dedicate time for the purpose of 1) assisting a customer, 2) assisting a coworker 3) assisting our bosses, or 4) helping our workplace overall. With that in mind, we must learn how to manage our time. Yes, "Time Management", as if we can not get enough education or reiteration about the need to learn it. But really, we can't. In high school, we needed to learn time management so that we could accomplish studying for exams, playing on our school athletics teams, taking lessons to learn how to play a musical instrument, and maybe working a part-time job. That, of course, was majorly dedicated to Monday through Friday. Then comes college, and what a joy! You now have some freedom, right? Of course.....NOT. Here, your time management skills must evolve into not only studying and (maybe) a part-time job, but also paying taxes (if you hadn't already started paying them with that initial part-time job), finding an internship (or four), participating in the recreational sports team, joining a club, paying rent, and the most important part, having a social life!
After successfully achieving your undergraduate degree, it's time to run with 'big dogs,' and try to obtain your first "real-world" job, aka the one that you are supposed to take seriously, as it could move you on up the professional ladder in the work world. You've have some training from your college years, in trying to keep up with paying your living expenses and managing your time to turn in papers and projects while working, now you must try to put all of that hard-earned (and somewhat expensive) education to good use. The catch is, now you must be doing it without the training wheels that your parents had provided. For many of the American readers, that means, the people reminding us when our rent is due, asking how much it is for the month, and providing a check; or reminding us about when our taxes are due and helping us calculate and file our taxes. For the first few years in this so-called "real world," we still have the assistance provided from our parents with learning how to file taxes, because only a few fine people in the States really understand how that works. For the other aspects of life, we learn the statement, "I gave you the essentials, now you're on your own, kid."
Now, in the world of so-called adults, we must learn how to balance our professional life with our social life. Humans are naturally social creatures. We need to bond with somebody in order to be content with the life we have. We also need to work in order to support ourselves and try to survive (with dignity or pride). Sometimes the professional workplace acts as a social environment as well, satiating that need to communicate and connect with another. Other times, it doesn't. This is where the time management skills are necessary. One must learn to balance working with meeting new people, participating in a club, going out with friends, or going on a date with your possible life partner. Not only does your social life include the meeting people, but also exercising. As you get older, exercise becomes more important to maintain your desired body shape and health. Of course, you can always get two birds with one stone and combine exercising with going out with friends.
Now, for me, my purpose of traveling was to gain life experiences and possibly add more skills to my resume. When I first came to Thailand, the only people I knew were my aunt, uncle, and cousin. So, I had a very small social circle. Not only did I have a small network, but, when it came to the socialization with other people, they did not expand much. This was safe and it was something I knew. At first, it was okay, but as time went on, and there was no progression in expanding my network (partially my fault), I went out on my own to start meeting people and not staying in a bubble. Luckily, my efforts were met with success, as I starting exchanging contact information and making plans with new people. More people means more socialization. I also received more work (private tutoring), which is definitely a plus. Now, with pleasure of making friends and being able to go out comes responsibility of needing to know when to say "no" to an invitation. For the very social people, it is quite difficult to say no to joining someone for an outing, but as part of growing up and time management, when you have a major project that is important to your income, you must place that higher in your list of priorities over hanging out with a person with whom  you can see after you finish. Of course, this can become more difficult if said person is moving, or has a limited time in which they will also be available. Decision-making in life isn't always easy, no matter how old you are.
On to my final point, I really want to talk about making time for yourself. My current work involves a lot of socialization and a lot of talking, both are things that I love and happen to be pretty decent at doing. I have the joy to do this every day, Monday through Sunday, with all age groups, skill levels, and multiple cultures (Thai and Russian). It's wonderful. Now, while it is great, and I love the talking, and I get to socialize at work and with friends outside of work, I also need to reserve time to being by myself, hence the title, including "Self-Love." As people, we must find a little bit of time to be by ourselves and "reboot." Being out with people is great, especially when you are not working, but when we spend a lot of time giving it to others, we aren't able meditate on our personal self. I know it sounds weird and maybe doesn't make sense but think about this situation:

You are writing a message, essay, or just something, and you are simultaneously talking to a friend. After a few minutes of talking, you look down at what you wrote and realize that some of the conversation you had with your friend (or what your friend said) has been written in the message. Your brain had been too busy receiving information, that it couldn't correctly put out what you intended.

 That's what I mean by needing some alone time. If you need a better explanation, consider Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

You start with the very bottom, the most basic of needs (Physiological). As you accomplish the bottom tier, you move on up to achieve and satiate the next tier of needs (Safety), you continue completing each tier until you can achieve the highest (Self-Actualization), which is where you need that alone time. Spending a lot of time with others can wear you out because you are exerting some energy into this exchange. We need this Self-Actualization time for self-development. If you look, you can see in the topmost level of needs: creativity, spontaneity, problem, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of facts. If you ask many of my friends or close family members, they will tell you that I am creative and spontaneous. This comes from my alone time. This alone time gives me no influence of others, just me.
This is especially important in the contribution to my third level of needs: Love/Belonging. Part of my contributions to friendship is my creativity in cooking. I love cooking, and I love developing the new dishes, or experimenting.
Check these out!

 

What is it? Mango cheesecake with a mango curd. Where did I get the idea? Well, one of my friends had many mangoes, so I used the mangoes to make a mango curd (Top Right image), and I convinced another friend (Zamoza) that we should make a cheesecake. So, I made my creative idea into a social event. It was successful. I gave three cheesecakes away, and each person loved them. This cooking time was both my solo (my meditation in cooking) and social (with friends) time.
Going back to time management, it can be quite difficult to make time for myself because I am fairly busy making time for other OR making preparations for the time I am making for others. If you haven't picked it up from this post, a lot of my time, whether is is at work, or outside of work, is dedicated to others. Even with this schedule, I would like to add more events in, like running a marathon or volunteering, and learning how to manage that time, is extremely important, because I still need to reserve time for myself. So, don't forget, it is important to remember to make time for yourself, not only for others. You're not selfish if you do, you're self-saving.

Until next time,
K.

05.06.2014- In this bitty break

Hello, all,
I will try to make this as informative as possible.
If you have not heard yet, there was a military coup a few weeks ago (honestly, it was less than a week before my birthday). When you first think about it, a coup seems a bit scary, but one must examine the situation more closely. Look at the history of Thailand. There actually have been quite a few coups in the last fifteen years. So, right off the bat, Thailand is no stranger to this kind of thing. Secondly, there are not many events of radical protesters; they, for the most part, have been quite peaceful.
Now, if you want to ask, I will answer honestly. "How has the coup affected you?" My answer: It really hasn't had much of an effect, other than the curfew. Even with the curfew, if I wanted to go out, I had little difficulty to do that and have fun. What the curfew did, really, was just close down the businesses at a certain time at night. The first Saturday that there was a curfew...well, that was a little different, but after that, there wasn't much trouble. Other than the curfew, I went about my daily life activities: which consists mostly of work. That being said, I don't really have much I do that would get me into trouble, just work, grocery shopping, and the occasional dinner.

If you would like to know more about what is going on in Thailand, here is an 11-minute video which gives some good explanations behind what is going on, and the reasons to why. It is not even very violent or aggressive in speech, but rather, admitting that there is a problem, and whoever is involved is working on amending it so that stability can become more possible in the government.
Here it is
If you ignore that "war-time" music and read the subtitles, it is much less radical than you may have heard.

Second update: This is my observation week before my next section of students, will be mostly Inpatient nurses and staff. This, I feel will be exciting, because I had one session already, and I am beginning to get the hang of the lessons, and a good order. In addition, I will be working in a ptient room so that the nurses are more familiar in an environment they actually work in, rather than the setting as a classroom. Last time I checked, nurses don't treat patients in a classroom, other than at educational hospitals.
Third update: On Friday (tomorrow) I will be making mango curd for the first time (holla!) and making something else to go with it, so it should be yummy! (Aren't experiments always yummy!)

Fourth update: I had a full night's rest... kind of. By full night, I mean that I pass out around 10:30PM, and woke up around 6:30. (I woke up a few times, but that's fairly normal for me nowadays). It seems that my business is catching up with me. that being said, I still am adding more to my schedule to increase my productivity. One of the activities I would like to add into my agenda is running in the mornings, because running in the evenings, after I finish all my work isn't really too safe, and joining a gym isn't much of an option. The nice thing is that, if I choose to run in the mornings, I have an audio tape that I can use to listen and practice speaking Russian or Swedish. Of course, I would only be practicing what I have already learning, not new material because that's just crazy! (hardy-har-har). Now, when I say "running in the mornings" I actually mean that I would need to wake up around 5AM and start running around 5:45 until 7:00AM. Yes, I would have a busy schedule, and yes, I think I will accept that I might be a little crazy with my schedule (Some work days end at 6PM, some end at 8PM, and they all will start around 8AM).
This is my normal end of the work day view:

As I mentioned, that is the downside of being busy... you are always busy. The upside is that you learn a lot about your stamina and ability of time management. For example, being able to find time to work, to learn something new, to exercise, and to have something of a social life....I think a lot of mothers learn this lesson, too. (at least, I hope they do).
Now, I must plan for the future, because I need to request off a few days to visit BKK to get some other business done (flight changing, criminal background checks, etc) It all sounds so exciting doesn't it? Surprisingly enough, I am pretty stoked to go out to so these tasks. I need to change my flight, either the dates, or the location. Who knows? Not I, but that's okay. For now, I must hastily return to work for a busy day! Woohoo!

Until next time,
K.

02.06.2014-The Promoting of Others

Hello, all,

So, in my (not so) random spare time, I try to spend it meeting new people and making friends and connections. So far, I have been fortunate enough to find people who have given as much as they have received.

One of these people is the owner of a quaint coffee shop, Zamoza. After coming in, we ended up talking for a while, having a bite to eat, and enjoying ourselves, making plans for future baking. It is wonderful having a friend with an oven!

** RETURN OF THE PUMPKIN COOKIES!*

How can you not want those? And, I even tried my hand at maing lofthouse cookies. I wouldn't necessarily say they were a success, but they weren't half-bad either, look! Wit hthe help of my friend, they looked pwetty! (the circle cut) The chocolate chips were an improvised added touch, because the cookies just needed something, and when the cookies were stored in the refrigerator, they tasted much better, and held their shape nicely. There will be a Round Two go at this!

Last, I was able to make a return of the ginger spice cake, and I made Cake bites, paired with maple or lime glaze, and topped with candied ginger. Om NOM NOM.

L: Ginger Spice Cake Squares with Lime 

R: Ginger Spice Cake Squares with Maple

On the subject of online affairs, I just subscribed to a Youtube channel, called HughandJohan. Quite frankly, the two, and their relationship, possible bromance, is quite adorable in the youth and excitement each has in learning and sharing their culture with the other and the internet public. I apologize if they find me labeling them as adorable is offensive, I just can't think of another word that embodies how innocent their interaction is, as well as relaxed and overall positively feel-good.

I mean, c'mon, look at this! How can you not smile watching it and learning?

Plus, it's a package deal: you get to learn something about culture, language, and these two, while being entertained at the same time. Score.

Another greatt Youtube channel to follow is that of TheSwedishLad. This guy is hilarious. Part of his channel consists of "10 Swedish Words" videos, in which he give ten words which follow a them of some sort, such as fruit, or clothes, or bad words. One of the videos I enjoy most is the video of ten Swedish words that look like English words, and have the exact same meaning, but sound different. Enjoy

I always love watching that.

If you haven't picked up on it yet, I might have a slight inkling towards Sweden. Honestly, it's true. My mind has been stuck on the place and everything about it since January. If I have the opportunity, I would love to visit during the summer, when many people are out. I have heard many positive things about the land and cities. I think the only negative comment that has been brought up about Sweden is the "coldness" of the people, meaning that they aren't really open to outsiders. In reality, I think this might be based on the personal experiences of the travelers. Where were these non-Swedes at the time of this uncomfortable situation (city, establishment, etc.) What did they say? How did they act? Personally, I am one of those social people, who loves to talk and get other people talking. Some people might label it as an annoying trait, but without communication, we become isolated, and later, somewhat obsolete. I cannot accept that. I think, in order to try to avoid this from happening, I must learn how to appeal to the mannerisms of the culture, while also displaying a warm front that is inviting to the fellow native Swede. The problem is, I'm not sure if I should try speaking any of the Swedish I know, or speak English first to someone that I would like to create a friendship with, then try my hand at speaking terribly. I think the latter might be the better option, and I could try speaking Swedish whenever I would like to conduct business of some sort, so that I can practice my skills.

Now, onward to other adventures! As I have mentioned before, I have been working since the 21st of April. That being said, I have managed a little bit of free time. By free time, I mean that I stay up into the wee hours and wake up after a measly few hours of sleep. It's the downside of maintaining a social life and trying to be productive. Even if I want to "relax" and watch a tv show, I would need to stay up later than I should in order to accomplish this. The question at hand, though, is would I change it? My answer at the moment is: NO. I love being busy, and sure, I may slightly complain about it (by complain, I mean that I am using my business as an excuse to not go out, or as an explanation to why I can't do something/ why I'm tired/why I don't have time to go somewhere). Actually, I wouldn't change my schedule, but, if I had the ability, and capital, I would purchase a travel vehicle so that I could go to places in my own time. This especially applies to going to the parks or a fitness center so that I can exercise after 8:00PM. (Bummer!) My building doesn't have a workout facility, and I do not have access to the staff exercise facility near the hospital (I think I will need to change that soon, if possible) and traveling at night isn't the best option because it is quite dangerous to be running on the roads at night; not only is it dangerous because there is no sidewalk, but after 7:00PM, the crazier people come out. These include robbers and junkies. These people are not really my cup of tea, sorry.

The other adventures I have, are teaching lessons that pertain to cooking, and nutrition. That means I need to catch up on my outside learning. (Oh, right, don't forget that I am not only working, I'm trying to learn languages and take classes online. With that, add me trying to finish some creative projects, and then we can discuss the free time I have.) 

One thing I am using is an online study resource, called Open 2 Study. Registered, enrolled, obtaining notebooks. Challenge accepted. Wish me luck!

Until next time,

K.