It's been a long while since I've last even looked at my posts, much less attempted to write a new one. Here it goes.
It's a new year and the start of a new decade and so much has happened to you, to me, to the entire world since 2017. So, where do I begin?
How about 2017, the CliffNotes:
I changed jobs
I changed cites
Donald Trump was sworn into office to play the role of the President of the United States
I visited new countries (South Korea, Laos) and made a visit to the US
...and new cities (Pai, Khao Yai)
made new friends, as well as ended some.
I ate food.
I began a new hobby
My mom came to visit for Christmas and got herself into a motorbike accident
2018
Continued the same job, then moved up to teaching an older group
Visited another country (Cambodia)
Removed the pins and plates from my ankle after the break in 2016
Began thinking about my career path and what I'd like to do with it.
Met people that I still talk to today
Dyed my hair for the first time
Enjoyed the pleasure of being "off-putting"
Met many a Gemini
2019
Continued the same job, now with a better idea, but the same level of stress
Visited countries (Malaysia, Portugal)
Found out the reason I was losing my mind
Visited new places in Thailand (Koh Phayam)
Had a visit from my mom again, and again she got herself in a motorbike accident
Began a diet to start taking better care of myself
Started on a new business venture
Had a major "end of year" boost of confidence
Now that that's been summed up, let's take a peak at 2020
Where will it go? I'm not sure. I'd like to see how my current developments play out. At this exact moment that I write, I don't feel the odd ego boost that I had only a couple weeks ago, and I have a feel it's due to a combination of jet-lag and not being on my normal regimen. I'd say it will take a few weeks for myself to re-balance and get back on the saddle mentally, but for now, it looks like it may be a quiet period.
So, although it has been a very long time since my last post, I find this a pertinent time to make a post, with all the events that have recently happened.
As much of the worlds had become aware, His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej, passed away on the 13th of this month, and it has cast a dark, dark cloud over this wonderful county. you can see masses of people adorned in black, white, or other solemn colors as you walk about the city of Bangkok, or even the local Tesco Lotus.
Now, I'm sure many people are aware of the role the King had in Thailand, but really don't understand the extent of how important he was to the people. Myself being a foreigner, I am not as knowledgeable about the history, but I do know that in the eyes of the people, he was and is the emblem of Thailand. Living here for three years and counting has given me a bit more perspective on the live and respect held for him. And with the respect, when the news made its announcement, I did not feel nothing. In fact, the best way I could describe the feeling would be as if something stole the breath from you.
As for the effects of his passing, the country of Thailand is holding a 30-day mourning period. What this means, as many have read, is that activities in Thailand have quieted down, especially the party scene. Many events that were scheduled to the 13th of November have been either cancelled or postponed. Since I had bought tickets to two separate events, I can feel that effect, but I didn't feel as disappointed as quite a few foreigners coming to Thailand.
In fact, quite a few seem to be quite disgruntled about the situation, claiming it ruined their holiday. Article can be found here:
As much as I understand the disappointment of coming to a country for holiday and plans being cancelled, that kind of response to this situation is utterly disrespectful. Life is not all about parties and getting drunk. That, and there will always be another party.
Besides the hushing of nightlife, and sea of black, there hasn't been too much change in this country. So, for any foreigners planning to visit in the next year, don't be too worried, just be respectful. You may see people wearing black ribbons or armbands as well as their clothing, and it just means they are in mourning, but life will be normal.
With this going on in Thailand, there also have been misfortunes back home. One of my college friends lost her youngest sister just days before the the King of Thailand. Losing one of your family is always hard, and even more difficult if they are younger then you, or your progeny. One quote resonates within my memory:
They say when a parent dies, a child feels his own mortality. But when a child dies, it's immortality that a parent loses.
Yes, I did pull the quote from American Horror Story, but that does not make it any less relevant or powerful. In this case, many of the people in Thailand probably feel their own mortality as the Father of Thailand has passed on, and the mother of my friend losing one of her own,
In other news, of last week, on Tuesday, the 11th, was my first encounter with a dog behind my home. At first, I was terrified because he was blocking my way home, but then I saw that he wasn't walking well, and he did not seem okay, overall. Possible victim of a car accident. I did manage to contact a dog rescue group to come help him and was fortunate to have them come pick him up to get the medical care he needs. I even made public posts to Facebook and Instagram to garner attention and, hopefully, some donations. Oddly enough, out of all my Instagram posts, this one definitely gained the most attention. I am not one familiar with having more than 20 or so likes, but here, I got over 100. Weird things. Maybe I should start posting more pictures of dogs I see everywhere.
For those interested in seeing the post, and possibly giving a donation, here you go!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BLpjSl8BKDX/
In all honesty, many unfortunate things have happened last week, one has to hope that there will be a shift in balance of the world's fortunes.
But for now, I will see what the future has in store.
It's been ages, I get it. I suck at posting. I quite enjoy talking to myself, let's get real about it, since that's what I've mostly been doing anyways.
Now, let's get down to the nitty gritty of updates. I haven't been paying attention, because at this point it's unnecessary.
Since my last post: I traveled a bit, the Kanchanaburi, to Chiang Mai, to Pattaya, and a lot of Bangkok. Reasons? I jumped into the dating pool last year, and at the beginning, pulled on a rope to get out.
About personal life, I share it enough, and I find no reason not to follow routine, but I'll make it short an sweet, because who has time for that? It was a decent thing going on, lasted a total of 6 months, was goo for the first 3 months, but crumbled more with each month following. Compatibility wasn't there, we wanted different things, and neither of us were willing to bend for the other, as much as our words said it. We tried talking it out, multiple times, (every month, in fact), but by the end of the year, there really was nothing left to build up on. I realized how much anger and resentment I was holding on to, which lasted for maybe 2 and a half months. The thought of them gave me anxiety, stress, anger, and talking about them made me flustered and ruffled. Around this moment, I have less of those feelings, and maybe that's a sign of me moving on.
Now, onto other personal stuff! Lately, I've been trying to improve my life, health, emotion, business, and such. I started working out regularly, improving my eating habits, picking up more private work, as well as working in the development of my educational program for where I work, as I've had another renewal of my contract, and it's gone through!.
On the topic of working out, there was one problem looming over my head: my schedule. my normal work day runs 8AM-8PM, including my private work, so imagine how that affectd my capability to work out! Well, lo and behold, a solution: wake up at 5AM, start exercise around 5:30, come back and shower, and peace off to work. Difficult to start? ABSOLUTELY. But it soon became manageable. It became moreso once I started seeing result: less exhaustion throughout the day, better mood, less waking up throughout the night.... the list could go on. Am I going to give it up? Not any time soon. It's still tough, especially if I have a long night, but it's working for me. Plus, I get to eat more fun stuff, and see some nice muscle tone. I don't know about you, but I'm looking towards some legs, stomach, arms, and butt. In the lyrics of that Meghan Trainor song, "I'm all about that bass!"
On the topic of diet, well, I started getting on the breakfast train. Since I was waking up early enough to exercise, that also gave me more time to start preparing my own breakfast. One of the things I was looking at was how to make a good meal that would sustain me until noon, or 4-5PM when I had enough time to eat the next meal. Well, turns out that the answer was chia seed! You know, those tiny things that almost look like poppy seeds? And then you water them, and they expand, and are kind of crunchy and jelly-ish? Yeah, those. Let's just say, they work as well for yoghurt as they do for most other liquids. Chia seeds, probiotic yogurt, flax seed/meal, and the guest fruit whenever I have some fresh fruit (from my private students, they love to feed me ;D ). There's one hearty meal! That, or a using oatmeal instead of yogurt, when I'm feeling for a hot breakfast. Both kept me full for a good amount of the day, and helped with my digestion. (Who can object to having good digestion?) I used to be quite bloated and uncomfortable throughout the day, but now that's settled out. The only thing is that consistency is KEY; if I forget to make this breakfast for two days, maybe even one, it's a noticeable change to how I feel, not to mention my mood. Now, about the yogurt, that's a tricky thing, as a lot of food in thailand has wayyyyyy too much sugar. Thankfully, there is a yogurt product called "Butterfly" Probiotic Yogurt.
And let's say, it's an interesting thing. It's a lot thicker than many drinkable yogurts I've had, and not very sweet. Not only is it not too sweet, there are a few otions (Original, low fat, low fat/lowsugar, Vanilla, Chocolate) for a price of 38THB, which is about $1.05 USD. not entirely a shabby price when we're talking about benefits! Whenever I see it in stock at one of the markets (FamilyMart, one of the only locations in Rayong, if I don't want to travel to Bangkok just for my specialty shopping).
On to the next topic: work. That's had its high and lows. but you've just got to roll with the punches. New concept: trial groups, each group has a set of students that must be... consistent, so that success can be measured. More materials will be made for students, workbooks, mini pocketbooks. The downside is that they would only get about 13 hours of lessons, not my personal preference, but again, work with what you get. We'll see how it works!
And... on to my last topic, I finally got a motorbike, (well, it's a loaner for now), and it's been interesting. After more than 2 years of living in a place that has poor public transportation, I fiiiiinally got this bike. Should I mention that it's a manual gear shift contraption? Yeah, and I've been learning how to drive it. It's an interesting thing, because the first step is trying to get over my fear of being on a motorbike (well, driving one, a scarring memory of when I was 8 and learning how to drive a minibike), and that of the drivers in Thailand. They are super crazy... no consideration of ow driving works, or traffic laws. So far, so good.. and safe-ish. For now. The snazzy thing? I have a helmet to match with the color of the bike. Not too shabby. can't say I don't know how to accessorize. This isn't the firt time, as I have a pair of shoes that match my phone.... unintentional, of course, as was the helmet, bike combo.
As for the social life, I had been going to Bangkok more frequently, met a bunch of new friends, been spending more time with older ones, and really getting more into my old groove of being a social butterfly. I haven't realized how much I've missed it until lately, when I've met a lot of amazing people. And my schedule has turned from a clean slate to a little open space. Cool stuff. Of course, it does take a little bit of a toll on my bank account, so I need to get back onto the budgeteering. Good thing for private classes, and putting a nicer price on my work.
Now, back to the thing I call life. It's Friday, and I've got nothing planned, for once... except relaxation, learning how to drive, preaparing for my first test group, which starts on Monday!
I think, soon, I will start posting progress about my exercise and health progress, in addition to work. Who needs to know about my social life? It's already awesome.
To those who have been trying to check for updates, thank you and many apologies for a long hiatus.
It's been about six months, which means it's been quite a while since my last post, and many things have changed.
Also, I've made a bit of a bad habit of writing drafts, but not successfully posting them. Let's just say, I haven't been making complete thoughts, or following through.
The basic updates since my last post:
I witnessed two weddings, both small and quiet enough. Both of couples who had been together for at least five years.
I chopped off a good amount of hair to donate to Locks of Love, for the second time in my life.
I went to Europe
The one-week detour taken through Europe was fantastic. Most of the trip was quite amazing, to be honest. Unfortunately, I have not so many pictures from the trip because I misplaced my phone one magical night in Cologne, Germany. If I were asked if I would make a return trip, I would say; 'HELL YES" as calmly as my body could contain it.
These were the cities I visited, chronologically:
1) Berlin, Germany 3 nights
2) Cologne, Germany 1 night
3) Paris, France, 3 nights
4) Amsterdam, Netherlands 1 night
In each city.... except Paris, I would say I had an adventure. Adding on to the thrill was managing to stay warm, because in Thailand, there is no need for cold-weather clothes, so I wasn't going to bring many winter clothes for one week.
Nonetheless, I traveled by myself and managed to survive. For someone who still doesn't know how taxes work, and has quite a lot of dependence on her mother for adulthood questions, it was a major feat.... a milestone, one would say.
Many of the activities I did were last minute. Things like... Finding some historic museums, going to an underground funk-hiphop show after trying to fix my lights, getting lost in a city to find my way back, celebrating "Man's Day" with complete strangers. Finding transportation to different cities and booking a room the day before I would arrive. I was living on the edge, maybe.
I even had a chance encounter that made me think of a certain shirt saying.:
"Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again?"
Why did I think this? Easy, I was at a café in Amsterdam, eating an apple pancake, when I saw a beautiful young man walk by the window. I watched him curiously. five minutes later, he returned to the café and came inside to eat.
After I finished my breakfast, I left, and started walked across a bridge. On the other side of the bridge, this same boy(pardon me, I'm so used to saying boy, because I'm not used to saying man, unless they look much older than me) was on the other side, walking towards the bridge. We made eye contact, but it wasn't only that. We made solid eye contact that made it obvious that we were looking at each other, turning heads, uncertain of who would make the first move to talk to the other. Sadly, we passed by each other and went our opposite directions. I couldn't help but be reminded of a poem which I heard, but long ago forgotten the title, about how a man was in love with a girl, but he never once spoke to her, for the fear of ruining is idea of her. Then again, it posed the question of: "What if one of us had spoken to the other? Would our perception change, or would we be just as enamored?" Many what ifs were thought, but if one believes in the way the world is and acts, chance encounters will always happen, and if this one random stranger and I were to meet again, it will happen.
Ah, I encountered quite a few people, and what a mix it was: pleasant, wild people, pesky hoverers, and the infamous multi-faceted ones who give one impression of themselves, and turn into something else completely unexpected. That's the way the world can be and as an acting piece in it, one must handle it and move on.
Now, back in Thailand, and after being back at work for a few months already, I've been getting into the grind of things. I moved into a slightly larger home that offered more comforts, figured out a transportation method to and from work, and picked up a few extra side jobs to make the extra income. In addition to that, I've been making more travel plans and developing more of a social life outside of my work friends or, rather, outside the bubble of a town I've been living in.
In doing that, it did open my perspective of how I had been living my life here so far: I had been limiting myself in making friends and enjoying myself because I didn't think I could survive outside of this comfort zone. I made excuses to why I couldn't go out... because of lack of transportation, but I also couldn't leave town because of the appointments I had every weekend, I was depending on them, even though quite a few were less than dependable, canceling last minute, more often than not.
And they payment wasn't so regular. So, lesson learned: payment must be received at the end of every appointment, or paid in advance so that any time wasted wouldn't be a monetary loss.
Of course, someone told me that contracts like that scare Thai people, and frankly, those are the people you don't want to do business with. Wa-HOO.
Not that it is already past the half-year mark, another things must be taken in to consider: the looming of the decision to be made of renewing my contract or not. On one hand, I could stay, and maybe my contract will be renewed. On the other, it may not.
This is one big decision I have yet to concrete. The decision to move. Lately, this thing has been growing heavier and heavier on my plate of things to do because the pros and cons must be weighed out. The problem I have? I'm not finding so many cons, besides leaving the people I know here, and maybe not finding a job. That being said, job opportunities happen to be quite plentiful in general for foreigners, so is that really a problem? It seems that I have more motivation to move, but the weight of guilt to stay and I think that, if my only reason of staying in the town is because I would feel guilty if I left, I probably shouldn't be staying anyways.
Ah, the decisions of being an adult abroad. Thanks for reading.
Well,
It has been quite a while, hasn't it? I must apologize, my state of absence could be excusable, but let's just say it is only partially excusable.
The key topic of today focuses around relationships.
Right now, I must admit that I am absolutely grateful for the people I have in my life now, whether they are ten minutes away or halfway around the world. I am grateful for my friends, my family, the people who have shaped me to be who I am, and the people who will help me along the way in the adventure we know as life.
Let's go with some updates. It is September, over a week after my sister's birthday, almost two weeks since I last saw my mom, and over a year since I landed on the soil of Thailand. Woah. It has already been a year?!
One (not so kind and revered) person once said, "The people who say that time flies don't do anything. I've done a lot, and time takes forever."
I honestly couldn't agree less with this concept, and debate that it should be the opposite. Time flies when we're doing a lot, and when we are really enjoying ourselves, whereas when we're doing nothing, or loathing what we do, it creeps like the snail up your wall after a heavy rain. I just realized that it has been almost half a year since I started a second job, and saving money to send back home. I've tried to take on new jobs, and ended business agreements. I've worked on projects and programs for my different locations of work. In less than a month, I may be doing something way too awesome, more than I (and maybe others) expected. Yeah, a lot's been going on, and it feels like time is a blurring, bustling by loud and noisily.
As for the weather, rainy season began in May, but it hasn't been too noticeable until recently. The rain is becoming heavier, but it is not bad. There is an occasional flooding of some roads, but life goes on. Thankfully, the rainy season will end in two months, and that will be when high season begins again, woohoo! Time, both the past and future, really does fly when I take a moment to sit and think about it. Of course, that means I cannot sit and wait too long or I will lose some important moments.
Now that updates have been made: I'm alive, not sick, nothing is broken, not pregnant, not married, I think it's safe to say we should return to the topic at hand: relationships and depending on people.
As I mentioned before, I am so grateful for everyone in my life. Okay, I'm grateful for people in my life now, and was grateful for people in my life in the past when things were okay between us (even if, now, they are not). Often, we are not aware of these people who provide positive influences or energy to our lives because we are so self-absorbed. I'm not using 'self-absorbed' in a negative way but, rather, as a way to be honest; we sometimes forget the world around us because we let ourselves be consumed by our problems, work, or other stresses in our lives.
These other people are great in helping us remember that we aren't the only ones with problems and there is often a solution to the problems we have, and even go to the extent of helping us find the solution(s) to ameliorate them.
I am thankful for my mother, who is determined to Skype with me every week, reminding me why I decided to take on Thailand, for settling my nerves when I become frazzled, for cautioning me when I should be aware of potential problems, for insisting that have as much fun as I can, and if things run out, I have a flight home at any time.
I am thankful for the friends that have tried to Skype with me at least once since I've been out of the country, updating me on their lives and asking me about mine, for giving me support and being (or feigning, either way, it's appreciated) amazement for what I am doing.
I am thankful for all of the people, really, back in the United States(and abroad), that have kept in touch.
I am thankful for my aunt for when I first arrived, naively. I am thankful for her pushing me into preparation of things, for informing me of the "Thai way," and for helping me get a job.
I am thankful for the friends I have made here, that have helped me socialize and not be a total recluse, teaching me their language and to enjoy life, even if money is tight.
I am thankful for all of the people who have helped me at my work, in scheduling, in motivating, in participating, asking questions and learning.
Lastly, I am thankful for all of the people I have met in Thailand who have given without expecting to receive, who have opened themselves to help others do the same, and who have taught me some pretty valuable lessons about life, whether that are aware of it or not.
Now, the key connection between all of these groups is that I have been able to depend on them. The dependability of a person strongly affects the relationship you may have with them. More dependable people often tend to have a closer bond with you; less dependable people tend to be more of just a person passing by.
Why is this?
If the reason isn't obvious, it's because we look for people that we can depend on when we are in states of vulnerability and insecurity. When someone who says they will be there when you need them happens to disappear when you feel you need them most, it could crush a person. I think, in a way, dependability is correlated with trust and honesty, and trust is often broken with the latter group.
Of course, sometimes we do not always rely on dependability to be friends or be connected to someone, and this can lead to often feeling left out or ignored, depending on how much of yourself you invest in that relationship.
For example, there is that one person you know is 'flaky,' and you make plans with them; if you're not too invested, you already have one, or a few back-up plans, and do not feel too affected. If you are, you have no extra plans, have declined invitations, etc, and only learn at the last minute that you friend "cannot go out tonight," (which either may or may not be true), so now you're stuck at home, in the outfit you were planning to wear, you are smelling nice, and your hair looks presentable, after having taken the effort to actually shower, only to put it all away, and take another shower to go cry yourself to sleep because you are too embarrassed to be caught out by the people whose invitations you declined because you would have to explain being stood up.
That is quite the bruise to your ego, and if you do continue this to yourself, your outlook on people and you changes. You may question your own value as a person, which really shouldn't be the case.
Luckily, you may also have some dependable associate-kind of friends, who you know are flexible to changes without asking too many questions. They may not be you presumed "friend," but they do serve as quite the band-aid at this time. Take a look again, and evaluate your standards of that person, because they might be the better friend.
Back to the topic again, dependability is extremely important; Dependability to stick to a plan, dependability to cancel them with time to spare, dependability to be present or listening when a friend needs to talk, even dependability to depend on others. Dependability helps create a stable relationship of trust, and knowing that you can trust someone makes your life that much better.
Sorry if I got too deep, let me make it up to you with this playlist. Feel free to comment, I love hearing from people, even if they are my family... well, most of them. Some people I just need time away to change.
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!
Hello all,
On Thursday, I received some slightly unnerving news and, for some reason, I handle stress through lack of eating and nausea. Apparently that isn't healthy, but I do lose my appetite in times of stress. Sometimes this non-hunger lasts only an evening; sometimes, it will be for a few days. I don't recommend stress as a way to lose weight, it's killer.
That being said, a lot of my living here has given me some training on managing my stress. Instead of having a few days of my brain starving my body, and me having restless nights, I've gone down to one or two days. It's an improvement. I also have learned more about talking to resources, and not being as fatalistic in my outlook, or one-track minded. I've become more keen to looking for resources that may give me more opportunity, and I am practicing my research skills, as well as my problem-solving skills.
Optimism is definitely key in searching for your open windows and opportunities. Just remember: when a door closes, there will be a window somewhere; you just need to look for it. Or, better yet, you better bust through a wall to make it happen. Either way, you do need to make a lot of effort. you also should set a long-term goal or two and figure out the steps you need to take to achieve it, and what you backup plan may be in the case you take a stumble. Don't lose confidence in yourself, because that is a one-way ticket to the demise of a dream. Also, don't let other people demean your value, live above their expectations and push through the hardships. Understand that life is hard, but it can be a lot of fun if you find your way, even if you stumble.
If money-making is your goal, you will work hard; you might work many jobs at once, and not find joy for a while. That's okay. You may go out very little and limit your spending so that you can save up money. Again, this is perfectly fine.
If you want to travel the world and don't have money, you will need to find a way to earn it, whether it is through donations, working two jobs and saving, and you may work the odd job while you are abroad. I would suggest that you do work the odd jobs. Many of these jobs are in hotels, hostels, and adventure companies. You will end up meeting a lot of people from around the world, either working with you or as a customer. Enjoy each experience, even if you are a housekeeper. Enjoy each location.
Personally, I know that I would love to take a holiday to somewhere in the world, although I am not sure exactly where I would like to stay. My experience with some young Swedish men I met while in Thailand landed some excitement and keenness to travel to Scandinavia. Australia always has adventures in store; so do Spain and South America, I feel. Honestly, I want to visit five out of the seven continents if possible, and I am constantly trying to figure out my options that will make this possible. So far, I have accomplished 3 continents: North America, Asia, and Australia. Next up: Europe and South America; probably Australia again.
If I visit Europe, though, I think a job is completely necessary. Maybe as an Au pair, where I can practice my care-taking skills, learn a new language, and still have some time to visit other countries.
As for now, I would like to find other like-minded people who might feel a little bit clueless about their life path, but willing to go on the ride, through the thick and thin, knowing that life isn't over yet.
I would like to close this post with a famous quote:
"Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end"
It says a lot about what's going on in life, and to not give up even when things are tough.
Until next time,
K.
P.S.- I'm wondering if I should make any reviews of any products or such. It's just a thought.
I would like to express a pet peeve. It is not something serious and it will not be a complete rant.
One thing that gets under my skin is drink that is left out unfinished, especially if it is a hot drink, like coffee or tea.
While I do believe in the concept of the glass being half full, I also follow the practice of finishing something I have started when it comes to food specifically. I was raised to eat all of the food on my plate. For those who are concerned about my dieting habits as a child, this "finish all your food" concept also taught me not to put too much food on my plate. A good example is when a child goes to the magical funland of a buffet restaurant (my childhood buffet dream world was Ryan's, in Virginia)
I couldn't help but load my plate with all sorts of food: broccoli, corn, cherry tomatoes, cheese, ranch, fried chicken, macaroni, green beans, anything. Of course I wouldn't be able to eat it all, but I still expected to eat ice cream afterwards. Thus, being given this requirement to finish all of my food, I learned to prioritize the foods that I wanted to eat, and how much of those foods I should add to my plate before sitting and beginning my meal. It was a tough, but extremely valuable lesson.
Now, the way I see it, how you drink your coffee can say a lot about you. You may drink that caramel mocha frappacino. Maybe you just want a coffee milkshake?
What about that caramel macchiato? Something sweet and creamy, and fun! A cup of black strong coffee; maybe you are a little bit on the serious side, but also don't take what you think may be extra nonsense.
For me, I love my coffee cold, even in the winter. I always like to change it up: hazelnut, caramel, white chocolate, no flavor shot, cream, milk, soymilk, whipped cream, plain, cortadito, latte, and so on. The point about my coffee, I don't keep to the same because I get bored of the same thing every time. While, of course I know I will like something, I know that there are too many options available for me to ignore.
Sometimes I take my coffee on the go, sometimes I have it and drink it at the coffee shop, reading a book, looking at tumblr posts, reading Buzzfeed or HuffingtonPost. Either way, I am drinking it. I intend to get my full money's worth of the coffee; at my university, I typically shelled out a good $2.39 for (if we're talking about Starbucks iced coffee) or $2.75 for the delectable Pascal's Shakerado (which pairs magnificently with their chocolate chip cookies or Brazilian cheese bread. If you were wandering around, I would also suggest bringing something from Burrito Brothers there, and drink up on the balcony)
A Shakerado with a Chocolate Chip Cookie at Pascal's. (OM NOM NOM)
The way I view coffee is like this: it is meant to perk you up, so enjoy it. What you shouldn't do is completely negate it's value that is has in your life. As a non-routine coffee drinker (I limit myself to 1-2 coffees a week), I try to savor each taste I have. I go to different coffee shops to try their versions of something, attempt more flavors and styles of coffee. It is something that I make sure I enjoy. In fact, coffee time is considered "me time," meaning that I do not focus on anybody but myself and what I need to do for the next hour or so, depending on my schedule. I enjoy that time and that coffee.
(SIDENOTE: My coffee frequency isn't that I have limited access to the cup of energy, I just decided that I didn't need it on a regular basis.)
Others, I have noticed, have a different approach to coffee. One particular subject, my uncle, brought my attention to coffee drinking habits because of the habits he has with his coffee. He regularly drinks about four cups a day, of instant coffee with an Equal sweetener tablet and no milk. It doesn't change. His drinking habit with the coffee, though, is that he doesn't finish it often. In fact, he will drink about half of it, decide to go to the store, and leave out the mug on the counter. Because it is such a foreign idea to not finish a cup of coffee, it sticks into my memory of how my uncle doesn't finish his coffee. This made me think about how he lives his life as well. Honestly, it is not anything I would want to take notes on for the future. The way he runs his life with people is by rushing them at all times; he talks at people, not conversing with them; he shoves his ideas at you, expecting you to completely agree with him and thank him for his genius, even if he didn't ask you your opinion or plans; when it comes to traveling, when he wants to go somewhere, he wants to go NOW, or as soon as possible; if he wants to go to a shopping center, he wants to get there as soon as the place opens so that he can avoid all the people. To me, the way he is living is not for the joy of it, but bustling forward. That is like being served a five star meal ,and not even taking the time to chew the food, tasting it, before gulping it down and cutting the next chunk of meat. While, yes, it does get the job done, there is no enjoyment and critical thinking, or just pondering, involved, and that takes so much of the pleasure out of it.
While it is a minor event in which not much may happen, the way you accept your coffee really does say a lot about not just the person you are, but how you perceive things, and probably what you consider important: time, your personal time, business, socialization, food, energy, etc.
So, the next time you realize that you have a coffee in your hand, please look at your mug and let it know "Hey, I appreciate you." It might just brighten you perspective of your day.
One thing I love about being by myself, is having the kitchen to me and only me. When it comes to a kitchen, I am greedy about that space. It is a therapeutic thing, cooking, when it's for me. Why? Because I know that I am not doing it for anybody else, and I am making something I know I will like, even it it fails. I listen to music, I communicate with others, I take pictures, I experiment; It's a process.
Example: one of the things I miss is pumpkin. Luckily, there are fresh pumpkins readily available for your heart's desire. The thing for me, is that I like to bake with pumpkin. In reality, that means I would need to make the pumpkin puree (which will be an adventure on it's own). My first thing, though, is how to do something with the pumpkin. I know there was a trend about using pumpkin as a side dish and, quite frankly, I was willing to try it. Please find below my homemade lunch, something that happened on my own.: What you see here is my attempt at making roasted pumpkin bites with walnuts and garlic. The taste was fantastic. All I used was a touch of salt, pepper, a clove a garlic, and some chopped walnuts, an what I go was this flavor, reminiscent of thanksgiving dinner sweet potatoes. Yum!
To the right of the pumpkin, you will see baked bacon-wrapped chicken, and continuing clockwise, steamed broccoli. (those who know me know that I love broccoli)
Completely satiated my hunger.
Now on to the sweet stuff. Another thing I missed dearly were muffins. Blueberry, banana nut, carrot, bran, chocolate chip, strawberry cheesecake, wild berry, lemon poppyseed, pumpkin, ugh! :(
That being said, I was dead set on making muffins, it was going to happen. Now, I had really been craving one of my favorites of muffins: Cinnamon Struesel, and I wasn't going to let any flat pans stop me.
What's more fun than muffins? Muffies! Those who know Panera are completely familiar with the amazing-ness of muffies. And, since I had the flat pans that surprisingly enough look like that could make some serious muffies (muffin tops), I was totally in luck.
This Recipe says it makes 6 muffins, but I could get 8 muffies out of it. You can always substitute other ingredients, based on what you like (I will need to experiment more with other flavors, but I worked with what I had. I adapted my trial from Wilton Cakes and added on some other stuff.
Muffin
1 cupall-purpose flour (you can substitute whole wheat or coconut flour here)
1/4 cupgranulated sugar (you can substitute stevia here)
1 teaspoonbaking powder
1/4 teaspoonsalt
1/2 cupmilk (Sub. Coconut milk/soy milk/ or almond milk)
1egg , slightly beaten
3 tablespoonsbutter, melted
(optional)- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
(optional)-1/4 teaspoonground cinnamon
Topping
1/4 cupall-purpose flour
2 tablespoonsbrown sugar (stick with the brown sugar, because of the molasses content, I prefer light br)
3/4 teaspoonground cinnamon
2 tablespoonsbutter , softened
Don't forget to grease your pans!
Cinnamon in one bowl, chocolate chips in another, to appease my cravings! For extra pizazz (by pizazz, I mean crunch), I added walnuts!
Now, on to the recipe itself:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (about 175 degrees Celsius). Grease your pans
In a medium bowl, mix your dry ingredients (Flour, sugar, baking powder, salt.
Add your egg. Then add the milk and butter. mix well.
Pour half of mix into another bowl. In one bowl, add the cinnamon. In the other, add the chocolate chips.
Pour batter into the pans.
In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup of flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Sprinkle this on top of your cinnamon batter.
OPTIONAL: add 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts to your muffies (I chose my cinnamon, but I wouldn't care)
Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown. (my oven gets very hot, so I always check at five minutes, then every 2 minutes after.)
After you remove the tasty morsels, let them cool for about 5 minutes.
For more delectable indulgence, you can mix 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar, 1/2 tablespoon of milk, and 2 drops of vanilla extract to make a fun glaze and immediately top any of the muffies.
This is my end result!
Om nom nom.These turned out to be a major success for my Thai friends, too. Would I do it again? Absolutely.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think! I want to hear about experiences with the substitutes (maybe someone doing a banana walnut with coconut flour and coconut milk!)
Hello, all.
I hope this fares you well. Today, I received news that will change my future. Surprisingly enough, when I heard the news, as negative as it may have been, I released a sigh of relief. Why?
Because I have been given a major green light to something I have been needing to do for a while: Moving out.
To make the long story shorter, it's been something on my mind for a while. I hadn't been in the healthiest environment for my development, so I was looking for a way to move forward. By not being the "healthiest," I mean that I wasn't feeling progressive, really just stuck in an "in-between" kind of stage. My friend put it in such good words
"It gives me a so-called excuse not to fully engage with the present moment, and I find myself looking more so ahead to the future. Putting all of my eggs into the basket of the future, which is made of smoke and mirrors."
In reality, this is exactly what I had been doing, with my social life. I inform people that I cannot go out on most nights because if have an "obligation," being that I have been playing nanny and babysitter to my cousin, teaching him to prepare himself for bed, reading to him every night, and waking him on on school days. Albeit, it is a legitimate excuse...to an extent. The extent is that this is not my child, and he is not truly my responsibility. The background reason of my efforts had been focused on not getting verbally mauled by an abrasively clueless egoist, while also trying to alleviate the woman putting up with him. Children should never be used as blame. They really shouldn't because they aren't cognitively developed enough to fully understand dynamics: social, consequential, etc. Back to the topic, I have been halting my person agenda of progressive development in business, in addition self-discovery, in order to appease someone who lost my respect after a month of my stay with them. I had been doing this to survive, but I felt far from living.
Although I am waiting for the moment for things to fall in place, I am feeling more motivated to work on the goals I had originally set; I'm going to need to commit in order to truly learn self-sufficiency and what I'm made of.
Now, to the nitty gritty of it, there is still the fear of leaving the unfamiliar because this will be the first time that I will officially be living on my own: no roommates, no family, no animals. For a (hopefully) short time, I may actually be the only tenant in my building. The hardest part, I think, about living on my own will be that I have to take on full responsibility for everything: rent, water and electric charges, maintenance (of self and of my living space), activities that I would like to partake in, and work. Luckily, I have a head start about taking on my work as a responsibility
The Communication....
The Transportation
The Work itself
While I had been typing this, I just received pictures, check them out!
A Walk-in View
All in all, it is pretty awesome. Even if there isn't a kitchen in the apartment. If you look at the window, that building is my workplace. I am sold.
Now, all I need to do is make my list of "homie" things:
desk lamp
welcome mat
table chair (or stool)
alarm clock
linens
Not too shabby, sir, not too shabby.
Until next time (aka my post that will hopefully be made in the next couple of hours...),
Hello, all.
Happy DST (in America)!
So, today and yesterday, I had a thought that has been scratching at my brain, in relation to the title of this post; That, and how it relates to the happiness of a person.
There are a lot of factors that contribute to the overall happiness of a person: things, wealth, stability, social network, living situation, ability to eat, family, gratitude, accomplishments, etc. One of aspects that add to the happiness of a person, in my opinion, is their identity. Who, or what do you see yourself as?
The identity of a person is extremely important, whether a person recognizes the importance or not. When we are infants, we learn to identify who our parents are: by scent, hair style, sound, and touch. Then, we learn to identify and recognize our own reflection in the mirrors, and boy, isn't that a thrill. Later, we learn to identify the difference between things, boys and girls, cats and dogs, food and...not food. Learning to identify self, though, is something that comes later in life to many people. Unfortunately, it doesn't really happen in middle or high school too often, because a lot of us are busy trying to learn to be a part of an entity, taking on the identity of other groups, who are your friends? Are you an athlete or academic? Jock or goth? Metal-head or gangsta? Dancer or part of the debate team?
Although we haven't yet identified ourselves, we are trying to. We are trying to discover our likes and dislikes, what we're good at and what we're not, who likes us and why. It's kind of tough because everyone is judging everyone else's movements because we are too concerned about others and our peers to try examining who we are just yet. Around the time of college, we are on our path of self-discovery, because we are starting to do things because we want to, not because we need all the credential to get into our ideal undergraduate school. While we are in the fast-lane of self-discovery, I don't think most of us have figured ourselves out just yet. In fact, I think it is after graduating from your undergraduate level that you begin to understand that you don't really know yourself fully, and it's about time to learn. You have the basics, your personality, your education, your family, and your friends... maybe your occupation. Now use those pieces to put together the three-dimensional image that is you. It will probably take years for your first actualization, but then by the time you understand that identity of yourself, you will be changing, constantly changing, for better or for worse. (FYI: If you aren't changing, you aren't growing*)
Now, returning to the topic of self-identity. I think that when you have found your identity, you will be much happier with your life, or you will be on your way to being happier, because you understand where it is that you need to improve. You could be poor and barely have enough money to pay your upcoming rent, but still be happy because you understand who you are and therefore understand what you need and what you want. You could have all the money in the world and live in a large house, have many cars, and be able to afford anything you want, but be utterly miserable.
Anyways, so the reason I bring this up is that I have been thinking about the times that I have been the most unhappy; by unhappy, I do not mean crying in tears, necessarily, but where I cannot seem to smile, no matter how frivolous my environment may be. I tried to remember what was the situation of when I wasn't happy, and for a majority of those 'down' periods, I was in a state of not knowing where I belonged, or if I did. The times I had been most happy was when I was satisfied about who I was with, where I was, and what I was doing, because I knew what I wanted, and I had it.
Knowing who you are, again, is extremely important to your happiness. lack of personal identity leads to not knowing where you belong socially, or who your friends are, and will often give you a sense of unwanted seclusion. If you are at this point in your life, you may have to remove yourself from your situation temporarily to examine yourself, your actions, and what you want, as well as the small things that have brought you any semblance of joy.
I know a few people who aren't happy and the major reason for this is the loss of identity of self. Some just lost knowing who they are, and other are having their individual identity taken away from them. The sad thing is that, in this situation, the person who has lost their individual identity is the one who is also taking away from the other, it seems, so that they are not alone in their lack of knowing who they truly are (or accepting themselves). In fact, they have been trying to pull everyone into this, including me. Unfortunately for them, as well as our relationship, I decided not to give in to the demands of giving up my self or sanity, even with their additional attempts to pull me into their abyss of self-loss. How it affected our relationship? Well, we don't argue, but we rarely speak, which, I would say, is just as bad, if not worse. In fact, they went as far as having other people talk to me for them. So, no, we don't have a bad relationship, we don't have any relationship past what I do for them, and what they do for me.
Now, for other other unhappy person, they are the one having their identity taken away from them. They are no longer their own. They are "So-and-so's something (wife/mother/boss)." I had been there before. I was "Jamie's little sister." Jamie is my older sister, and I don't have a problem with her, but read again what I was referred to or associated as by others. I didn't even have my own name. Not only that, but I belonged to someone else. I didn't learn about this until later, luckily. I also made some lasting marks at my schools, making me recognizable by my name, not who I was related to. Back to the person whose identity has been taken away from them, I noticed that their rights have been minimized, if not taken away, while at home. They do not spend much time outside of work and the seclusion in their home. For me, seclusion is the same as confinement, and confinement is like being imprisoned.
NOTHANKYOU. Now, when the person doing the taking is gone, what will happen to the person whose identity has not been theirs for some time? Really, they have lived for a long time not being their own, but someone else's, they have adjusted to it, happy or not (the latter), and now they do not have this vacuum present to continue taking from them. It may take some adjustment, but maybe they will be okay, maybe not. I wish them the best.
Now, when I move out, things will change for me, and they will return to the same as before I came for those I lived with. This isn't technically better for them, but it will be familiar. For me, it will be better, because I will be able to re-establish my sense of self, and return to the things that made me consistently happy and happiness is my overall goal in life.
Hi all,
So, let's get down to it. In the American custom, we have a saying: "To be early is to be on time. To be on time is late and to be late is unacceptable." Basically, when we say this, we make implications that being late require punishment, or that the tardy person is inefficient in timekeeping.
Now, as people, we are erroneous. Sometimes, we are late. For many people, this is normal, and is considered okay, as long as there is a good excuse.
I myself, have had some of these moments. Some of my reasons were due to bad traffic, illness, a random obstacle that was unforeseen, lack of communication between scheduler and schedulee... and some of them were due to basic human error: I fell asleep for too long, I just took too long in getting ready, I contemplated whether I really wanted to go somewhere or not, and other silly dinks of human behavior.
Then there are those people who are habitually late, they have no concept of time or no respect for it and the people it involves, or maybe they just don't care enough to try. These people typically don't succeed in being financially well-off because they normally don't give enough effort to make "having a lot of money" possible for themselves.
Now, when it comes down to deadlines, though, there is no leniency, hence the name: deadline. After that set date, there is no excuse that can push for more time, especially for projects given well in advance. We also are familiar with deadlines for school applications, job projects, school projects, applications for projects and papers, and thesis papers for graduate school, and, and, and....
In the Thai culture, there is a sense of relaxation, if you are late, you will be late, but you also will still get your work done, and leave when you finish. I think this can be a great concept in going places, because there isn't as much stress that is involved, it isn't the "life-or-death" kind of situation. But There is one downside, I noticed. This specifically applies for my work. As part of my duties, I need to evaluate the level of English proficiency of the students I am working with so that I can place them into the appropriate class, where they will not be learning at too advanced a level. If they do not test, it makes it difficult for me to appropriately level them and therefore teach them. Now, I tested about 100 people in the span of five days, from February 5th to February 11th. That number may not seem like a lot, but when the time of the evaluation ranges from five minutes to 30 per person, that's a lot of time dedicated to listening. Not to mention that I made audio recordings of each tester. I started at 70 hours of free time for audio recordings, and after I finished my sessions, I had 48 hours. As part of the evaluation, I also had to listen to these recording again in order to listen to grammar and pronunciation of each tester. There wasn't a major issue until this week, after I had already placed students into levels after a grueling 20 hours of audio-listening, and my schedule for classes had been built after three days of discussion and grouping. This week, people wanted to test to get into a class. The problem is that I have 100 students, and I only have 9 classes, about 10-12 people per class. As maximum capacity, I can only fit 2 people into my room. I just don't have room for more people to test.
In addition to that, I had been informed that 5 people had not been leveled. Now, I was worried, because that means that I made an error of 5%. In reality, though, I checked the names of the people. One person on this list of 5 names had tested, and was already placed in a level, and her name was in the list. Now I'm down to four. One name, I was very familiar with because I am friends with the woman and I know her face; she did not test at all. I couldn't level her, but because we regularly talked, I put her in a level I felt would be most appropriate. Two down, now three more. One name, I saw, looked very familiar, so I checked my records, and I saw her name, but she wasn't recorded... so I went through all my evaluations and I found her test, which had two of the same name from the same department. I made an error! But I knew her level, and fixed that mistake. Three down, two to go. Now, the last two names here, were in a department in which there were only three people who tested. I knew this because my original roster didn't have their names, and anybody whose department wasn't in the original roster had to fill in their information. Therefore, only three people from this department came in. The two other names, if they came in, would have had to write in their information, so they did not test. Because I was not familiar with their department, I also was not familiar with their names, and therefore couldn't place them in any level. I informed my lovely (no sarcasm intended) HR Head, and we just placed them in the lower-leveled class. All five people taken care of. The funny thing is that three of these people didn't test, so how can the expect to be leveled if they don't try? One person had difficulty finding her name, which happens when there are a lot of names. And then one person was my error. So, out of 100 people, I had a 1% error due to a slight mix-up. Honestly, I don't think that is a problem, considering how easy of a fix it was. (Heads up, keep track of EVERYTHING you do! Trust me)
Now, after that lovely bulk of information, let's talk about one of the reasons I mentioned for being late: lack of communication, of everything. Lack of communication can ruin many relationships: familial, romantic, and business (academic, too!) The reason: because nobody knows what is going on. That is something I really have a problem with, not knowing, and it almost ruined a potential business opportunity for me. The example: there was a potential client, and I gave her my terms of the agreement, via my aunt. Now, after my aunt gave in the terms, she told me that she would let me know what the client said. And the terms weren't anythings serious, basically they said my expected schedule, how much I charge, cancellation for either side, and so forth. Now, this was two weeks before the intended start date that the terms were given to the client. After one week, I didn't hear anything, so I waited. By Friday evening of the second week, I still didn't hear anything, and I was worried, because in the American culture, we have an inclination for confirmations of agreement or appointments, at least a couple days before. This appointment was supposed to be for Saturday morning, but I had no knowledge of whether the client did or didn't want to continue the business agreement. I don't like the idea of preparing a course for a client who does not wish to continue in the agreement, because my time dedicated is then wasted. Also, I should mention that my aunt left with my uncle and cousin on Thursday of the second week for a three day vacation. It is no problem for me, but because I am not the normal recipient of company, I don't want to answer the door, for my own safety. Here's the kicker, at 9:30, the doorbell is buzzing. Why? I'm not sure, I am not expecting company. And the best part of it, this was the client. I called my aunt, wondering what was going on, and she said "This is your appointment! Oh. MY.GOD..... You should've known that it was on because she didn't say no."
Does anybody think that last part sounded a tad bit weird? Think about it... When is something okay because someone neglected to say no? Think...... thiiiiiiink..... Okay, you probably already have the idea by now.
Lesson I learned from last week? Always confirm at least a day ahead. The good news is that I do have the client and a second job, and I will always need to confirm with them the day ahead, if not earlier.
Until next time,
K.
P.S.- there will be some crazy action happening soon! Like moving, wahoo!
Welcome to the end of the weekend!
For some of you, it actually is just another work day, or maybe it's the beginning of your weekend. For most of us, it's back to the 9 to 5 job Monday through Friday.
For me, it is a busy week that I can't wait to get a good start on.
Let's update on what has happened in the past week.
First, I observed the department of Emergency services, meeting ER nurses, doctors, and practical nurses. It was so much fun. There was much energy and, although at first everybody was shy, by the end of each day, I was surrounded by nurses asking me questions. I practiced speaking some of my Thai, and they practiced speaking their English, trying to absorb as much as they could then and there.
Then Friday came, and it was time to celebrate. We were celebrating for four people: one girl recently was promoted, one girl recently became engaged, one girl has her birthday today, and then me and having a job...so far. I will have to admit, that I was not accustomed to the "going out" scene, since I had been removed from it after graduation. Well, that seemed obvious after I happened to forget the how I arrived home. BUT, we met some nice young Swedish men who came to Thailand on holiday. My friends noticed them at dinner, and could not stop talking about them, and by the time we entered the adjoining club, the boys were already inside. Again, my friend oggled them and giggled, chatting about how badly they wanted them to join. So, I used my charm to bring them over and join us. Just a note, in Sweden, English is a second-language taught very strongly in the country, so for the most part, everybody is fluent. So the end of the story, I woke up at 7:30 in the morning, hoarse and hurting. It's an adventure that I plan to not repeat soon.
Back to work, now; I was recently asked to explain what I do, and my method. In the stage, I am currently observing what is known as the "Front Line." This group of people are key to the interaction with patients and customers, with duties ranging from simple greetings and giving directions to a ward, to setting appointments on the phone, to talking to international health insurance representatives, to evaluating vital signs, to giving medication to a patient, to informing the patient of the costs of the services and treatments they received.
Now, the point of observing these different departments is to better understand exactly what each department needs to learn based on their interaction with a patient. In addition to observing and understanding what kind of communication is necessary for the staff with a customer, the observation also allows me to understand the proficiency of each person, via simple conversation, and so on.
After observing each week, with notes taken, I create planning boards which help me visualize the duties, needs, lessons, and incorporated activities to use for each lesson. I'm kin of like a ten year old with these kind of planning projects, where I really need to have something big and in my face, that I can touch, and sift through. They include table, pictures, drawing, questions, phrases, and so on. In a way, these act as part of a work portfolio, for the planning process.
I have been using different resources for each lesson idea: vocabulary (to be incorporated every lesson), games, activities, testing material, images, teaching methods, grammar, reading and writing. The need for different sources is that there is more than one way to skin a cat, and there is more than one way to teach effectively. In fact, if the current activity I have planned isn't working, then that means we change the approach.
So, that's really it for right now. I also document every individual meeting, as well as every class, so that I have proof, and can use for future adventures. As I progress more and more into it, I will also have more and more details, and tactics, methods, hints, experiences, and what I've been learning.
