I had just barely unpacked my bags from my trip to
I didn’t even have time to clean, really. A day after getting back to Mae Sot, I had a job interview and was offered the position. I let myself get swept along in their desperation and need and accepted, telling myself that I needed a job. Really, what I felt like I needed was at least another two weeks of vacation.
Instead, I packed my boxes and within a week, found myself driving a truck through the rain back and forth between my old neighborhood, centrally located within minutes of the market, to my new neighborhood, which is two kilometers from town, surrounded by rice fields.
It took until 10pm to finish moving, not because we got a late start (we didn’t) or because we have that much stuff (I certainly don’t), but because of life and the way it is so good at throwing up delays, problems and petty distractions in one’s path. It was a long day, and by the end of it all my muscles were vibrating from the strain of constantly lifting and carrying, as well as from a slight adrenaline rush gained by driving a large truck in Thailand for the first time, shifting with my left hand instead of my right and navigating tiny roads full of almost invisible bicycles, unpredictable motorcycles and all manner of craziness.
The next morning I was up at 6am to make coffee and breakfast and get on my bicycle for the 10kilometre ride to my new job. It’s about two kilometers into town, the length of the city, and then out of the city, past the bus station, past the airport and another few kilometers down the road to the school. The worst part is getting to the airport. I get that far and my brain can’t help but think that this is as far as any reasonable person can be expected to bicycle. At the same time, there is a slight uphill incline to battle and to make matters worse, the pedestrian overpass which marks my turn off the highway isn’t even visible along the straight flat road, it’s still so far away.
The bike ride has the benefit of waking me up in the morning more effectively than any cup of coffee. The fields near my new house are unbelievably beautiful, even in the morning’s early hours, particularly at this time of the year when the paddy is young and unbearably green. If it’s not raining, the sky is usually a deep purple that contrasts brilliantly with the green.
The other benefit is that I am getting regular exercise. In fact, this week I was told by a nun that I was looking “slim and sexy.”
The nun, incidentally, is my co-worker because the job I took is teaching at the Catholic school just outside of town. I teach four mornings a week, to boisterous classes of grade four, five and six children. On Tuesdays, after the flag has been raised, the national anthem sung, and prayers recited, I lead morning assembly for the whole English Program (Kindergarten to grade 6), which generally involves singing a song, or playing a simple game.
I was on the job for all of two days before I had to call in sick. I had a new house, a new job and a new cold which knocked me off my feet and kept me there for the rest of the week. While I should have been unpacking and learning the ropes at school, I was stuck in bed napping and blowing my nose.
The new house is mostly unpacked now, and looks absolutely beautiful. It’s quite large and spacious, with a huge kitchen, two bedrooms and an enormous yard and garden. Behind us there is nothing but rice paddies, ponds and fields, all the way to the mountains. In the afternoons, when I sit on the balcony and read my book, I can hear the wind in the bamboo chimes, the croaking of frogs and the calling of birds.
For the first time since leaving my family and going to University, I feel that I am living at home. There is art hanging on the walls, comfortable furniture, shelves lined with books, a fridge full of food, and someone to welcome me home at the end of a long day.
