Day 9 and now living in a hostel on Khao San Road. Not my best move. Stupidly chose to move in during the renovation of Khaosan Palace - it's more construction site than hostel! The room - even with all windows closed and aircon (it works, blessedly) on full blast - is a beat box of power tools during the day, and, with its proximity to a street that becomes a music festival from 8pm every evening, is a hub of beat boxing during the night.
Have been in a kind of sleepy wakefulness for the past few day - never truly asleep; never truly not - brief snippets of dream invaded by relentless background Khao-san-cophony. Guess this is how insomniacs feel. Should've moved round the corner to fix the walking-zombie problem that ensued, but have been too zombified to muster the motivation.
Not been so lackadaisical on the job front, this blogger hastens to add. In point of fact, following a successful interview - a cache of ProPlus from England contributing in no small part - at the head office of ECC Thailand earlier, have been offered a 12 month contract. Here for the long haul it would seem.
Should be on cloud nine given that the first (and main) objective of moving here has been accomplished. So why does one feel that this cloud is riding low in the sky, looking more like fog than cumulus, spitting that not quite heavy, not quite light, unsure type of rain?
Several reasons spring to mind.
The interviewer, a South African named Garth (I had Wayne's World screening out of the back cupboard of my mind), a guy who seemed to know his shit, more or less, was rather amazed (and made points to this effect) that, A: I had actually found the place; B: I had questions to ask; C: I was in possession of the requisite documentation. The vast majority of his interviewees, I thus deduced, were lacking in one, if not all, of these fairly basic fundamentals..
Raison Deux: Not once did he refer to me by name, leading me to believe that he either suffers from chronic short-term memory loss, or (and far more likely) he couldn't be bothered to remember it, or even remember that he had an interview before I came knocking. Come to think of it, his first email reply to me began, 'Dear Michael...' Not even really that close to my surname (second email did begin 'Dear William', however, but really?)
Raison Trois: It was the easiest interview (if it can be called such) that have ever undertaken - had I been a mute would've probably still gotten the job.
All of which beg the question: Why did I accept?
Well, ironically, ECC is the largest English language teaching company in Thailand, their offices only housed within the education zones of colossal shopping centres that are ubiquitous throughout Bangkok. They are a well respected and highly profitable company.
Standards can't be that crap, can they?
Guess only time will tell - tomorrow am being introduced to the language school that I'll be teaching at.
Salary is a rather paltry (by Western standards) 37,000 baht a month, equating to about £700. English teachers in Thailand can earn double that, but juxtapose these figures against the less than 10,000 baht that average Thais living in Bangkok make do on, and one can't not feel privileged. Okay, we're used to a different standard of living (we don't live six to a room like many Thais) but that shouldn't detract from the fact that I'll be making over triple that of my Thai counterparts, only by dint of being a farang (foreigner).
Ultimately, I put the ease of my acceptation into ECC down to the irrefutable fact that demand for English teachers in Thailand far exceeds its supply - a statement I put to Garth, who proceeded (with limited success) to skirt the topic. I could've and should've haggled for more perks. Probably would've got them, but at the same time want to get stuck in, want experience. Can be more choosy in a year's time.
One perk - previously unassumed; immediately noticeable the moment I left my hostel - is that am no longer a tourist. Tourists don't wear shirts, black shoes, and smart trousers. Would-be hagglers, peddlers, and rip-off artists no longer hassle you. So elucidated this phenomenon was, that I even got in a tuk tuk, content in the knowledge that there'd be no hustling, no attempts to take me to some shop or another. And there wasn't. To Westerners who clearly don't look like tourists they don't even bother. Bliss! Am half temped to go out suited and booted every day.
Have met some really awesome people passing through Khao San Road (Backpacker Haven) over the past few days, but they are just passing though, whereas this blogger is in it for the long haul. Tomorrow, after showing me the ropes, ECC will recommend suitable lodgings, closer to my school.
For better or for worse, my tourist days are now officially over.
Wakeful sleepiness may have to endure a day or two longer.