Departure is Near: Some Anticipatory Cogitation

I promise, my entry titles won't always be this pretentious. However, I intend to use this blog to keep my writing skills sharp, so I'm going to try my best to keep my wording interesting.

So, October is finally here, and I leave in almost two weeks! It was over a year ago that I decided to teach abroad after college, and I'm pretty proud that I've made it happen. I know this the right decision because I couldn't even imagine being headed on any other path.

Of course, I'm already realizing what I will miss, and what will be irreversibly altered when I return. Unlike when I studied abroad and my friends and family were all waiting for me back in Southern California, the world I know is currently dispersing. People my age are moving away, settling into apartments around the country, finding jobs, or beginning a long journey through a graduate program. Everything will be unfamiliar when I return; I will have missed the ground shifting beneath my feet.

Financially speaking, I expect to break somewhere below even. I'll be earning money, but it will undoubtedly be on a hand-to-mouth basis, most likely leaning towards a depletion of funds considering that I'll be traveling. But the most important thing is that I can do this, that I found a way to travel after college in spite of any monetary concerns.

Interestingly enough, my idea of teaching abroad rather than simply traveling was originally conceived as a way to "pay my way," but I suspect it will become a lot more than that. I have never wanted to be a teacher, although everyone immediately points out that as an English major it's the most obvious option. I always felt that teachers in America were underpaid, underappreciated, and demonstrated a degree of dedication to their children that I doubted I could ever muster in myself. Kids are loud, full of misdirected energy, and often completely irrational. I grew up as an only child, with no screaming siblings to handle, so being continuously exposed to children can sometimes drive me out of my mind. Which is why a teaching job is exactly what I need right now. I need to hone in on my weaknesses, to expose and challenge them, and only then can I force myself to become a more well-rounded individual. Not to mention, if I want to be a writer in any capacity, I need to practice conveying information articulately, in a way that is easy for my children (or perhaps my readers) to understand.

In preparation for my adventure I attempted to read up on Thailand's political history, and it turned out to be a little daunting. Being the awkward American I am, I can hardly pronounce important historical names, let alone remember them (the only one I've retained is Thaksin). If I had to summarize, I'd conclude that politics in Thailand has been a pretty complicated dance between the Prime Minister, the highly revered Royal Family and the military. The country has gone through a variety of relatively calm but monumental coups and shifts in power, but the de facto authority remains somewhat ambiguous to me.

Culturally speaking, I've learned to never insult the royal family, or wave my hand to say hello (in Thailand they use a wai as a greeting), and that I shouldn't point to or touch anything with my feet—they're considered the dirtiest part of the human body, while the head is sacred. On the brighter side, I'm going to the Land of Smiles, where fun (also known as sa-nuk) is an essential part of life. I'll be teaching at a multi-lingual language institute called Kasetsart University Laboratory School, where the children will know four languages and I will be well-supplied and supported.

I've only scraped the surface when it comes to being prepared, but I'll figure everything else out when I get there. That's half the fun, right? Now I begin the technicalities of packing and preparing for my October 19th departure... until then, laa korn (looking forward to hearing that phrase pronounced properly)!