A Sweet Bungalow

My New Home

Alison told me about this bungalow up the hill from the school and Ying (headmaster’s wife) took me up to look at it. I was not immediately taken with it but the price was 1/2 of what I pay to stay in the hotel per month. I liked the owner very much, though. So I went home and tried to let a decision come to me about living here. My main concern was for safety. The bungalow does not have air conditioning which I dont really mind and rarely use here at Joy Residence, but I am able to keep the door open to the hall (even during the night) and I get really nice cross breeze from the hall to the balcony. From the balcony, I am able to see (sometimes at very late hours) whether the noodle guy is still serving noodles at the end of the road. And though I have eaten at the restaurant only once and haven’t used the pool, I am comforted by the fact that that those things are there. There is also Hotel staff on duty (even if he is just sleeping in the lobby) all night long.

The path to the bungalow

The bungalow is in a remote location on the side of a hill but its only a 5-7 minute walk to school and they have given me a key to the teacher’s room so I wont have to get my own internet at home which is actually a good thing for me. Not having access to internet forces me to make more creative use of my time. Also, I will be very busy getting to know the curriculum and planning the lessons and being close to school is a good thing.  I have 36 primed canvases with me and oil sticks and those two things (school and painting) could keep me very busy if I chose to let go of my relationship with my computer a bit. I also have begun an inquiry into the tenants of Buddhism and what better way to get to know something than by practicing it. I think if I can surround myself with some things that give me comfort, I can make the space more my own. I have less fear today about living remotely.

On Samui, we tend to stick close to the beach and the main road because it has the most to offer I suppose but also because much of the the island’s interior is mountainous jungle. Yesterday I took the road up the mountain away from the bungalow and the main road and found that once I got high enough I could see the sea. I also saw a small sign that read “food and drinks” with an arrow pointing up (there is a resort further up the mountain, Jungle Club, owned by one of my student’s family) I didn’t manage to  get far enough up the hill to locate it, but I’ll keep trying. I’d like to know what is available to me close by. There is a small store 3 minutes down the hill that carries eggs and oil and some cold drinks. I tried to speak to the owner who was sewing in the back when I arrived, but I am afraid there was no understanding between us yet. Slowly, over time, she will begin to understand that I am a more permanent fixture here on her mountain than most “Farang” (foreigners) she encounters. I’ll leave you with a few photos from my hike, because a picture speaks a thousand words.

view of the gulf

small store, we call it Pa Lem's

path up the mountain to the... golf course???

Floating in the Gulf of Siam

Fair House Resort, Chaweng Noi, Koh Samui

What I most looked forward to on Koh Samui, an island in the Gulf of Siam (Teluk Siam to the Thai, the Gulf of Thailand to those living in the Western World) was floating in the sea. The transition from land to sea is relatively seamless because the water is body temperature at least. I stop at this resort, Fair House (passing by the gate keeper without question) on my way home from school, discard my belongings and the stresses of the day on the sand and walk straight into the gulf. When all the other crazy conditions and consequences of living here (mostly financial) weigh heavily, floating in the sea balances me. I cant say it’s why I am here, but it’s important.

In many ways, unless you arrive straight to a beach resort and never see the backside of the facade (never experience what its like to live as a Thai person), Samui is not a paradise, though the sea and the resorts attempt to trick you into believing it is so. Like every other place on earth, greed is a major driving force that I cannot escape until I am willing to live even more primitively. Even here on Samui I don’t have a motorbike or a cell phone like everyone else including my 11 year old students. So, perhaps I live even more primitively than the Thai, well, except that I live in a hotel and havent quite managed to shake my computer addiction. So far the amenities the hotel offers far outweigh the $60 per month savings of living in a bungalow, but I’m still looking.

Panaydee, the British School of Samui

My classroom (the music room for now until renovations have been completed–and it’s Thailand after all, this may take a very long time) is on the second floor. I teach year 7, all subjects (English, Maths, Geography, History, Physics, Chemistry and Biology). I have 5 students, but have met only 3 so far as 2 of them are on holiday still. I have 4 girls and one boy. Their nationalities are: Korean, German, Welsh, Belgian, and New Zealand. All of them, with the exception of the Korean, are 1/2 Thai. Despite the fact that I am overwhelmed by the curriculum, I have never felt so at home on the first day of a job ever. The other teachers have been extremely friendly and helpful and the Thai staff have given me tastes of the spiciest food I have ever encountered. I think they just like to see my reaction, “can you eat?”  “Can, but just one bite!” And they are pleased that I can do even that. Teacher Sharon says “you can eat any time of day here at this school, but I wouldn’t advise it.”  Here we are “Teacher Laurie” as opposed to the Korean “Laurie Teacher.”

I have been either too tired or too busy to go see my friends the Rastamonkeys (reggae group) but I ran into Pond yesterday and he bought me ice cream and introduced me to a man with a bungalow. He chose the strangest ice cream sandwich for himself–small purple scoops on a hotdog bun. Mine was served in a white plastic cup embossed with the waffling of a real cone. Nobody here really thinks about plastic or pollution and sometimes I even wonder why bother; it’s not going to change no matter how small my carbon footprint and I cant discount the greenhouse-gas emissions of my flight here, but I can, at least  float in the beautiful sea.

Pausing for the Monk

the road to Panyadee

When I arrived on Samui last April, it had just suffered a flood. In fact, most of the tourists had been waiting for days for flights and boats off the island. Many storefronts along the beach suffered great damage and their proprietors were busy rebuilding and cleaning. It was a mess and I wanted to leave.  I waited a day for Stacy to arrive and we debated for too long about whether we would skip the TEFL training and make our time in Thailand a vacation. Those few days of indecisiveness were the most difficult. The photograph shows the road to Panyadee, the British School of Samui where we did our training and where I will now be working for the next year or so.

During our month stay, we grew attached to the lifestyle, the food and the sea. Samui is more developed than Koh Tao, where I spent my first vacation from Korea. Because of the location of our residence on Samui (Joy Residence, where I will be living until I find other accommodations) we were forced to pass through Thai neighborhoods on our walks to and from the beach. We learned that these neighborhoods contained the best deals on food and the owners were friendly and generous. I learned to eat Thai breakfast and drink sugary coffee for 30 cents. It was what the locals did. I didnt see much of the 128 miles² of the island, but most of the interior is uninhabitable jungle mountain. There will be time to do more exploring, but I am quite content to stick close to the area around my school. Every day I can float in the sea and this restores me. Even thinking about it, restores me.

In the meantime I will be very busy sorting out the curriculum for my job. I will be teaching 7th grade (all subjects) to 5 international students. I imagine I will be able to do some very creative things and I am very much looking forward to it. I am also taking 28 primed canvases to work on in my free time.

Rastamonkeys

Thanks to Alison (our TEFL instructor), we were introduced to some local Reggae. These guys perform every night on Samui and the music is incredible. Dancing to reggae restore me too.

moss path

I need a little restoring. The summer has been full of difficult transitions. The first part was spent painting nearly every room in the house and planting the garden. Caleb and I also installed a moss path. We carefully transported bags of moss we collected at the Missouri river.

Ailee's move

Ailee moved in to an apartment next door. Having her in the house was a comfort to me because she is so reliable, but I understand her need for more space. Mad-dog, our neighbor, says we are so much alike and I can see how that is both good and not so good. I hope Ailee will come and visit me and Thailand so I can show her what I enjoy so much about the place.

Tamales Bay, Ellen, Sonya, Mars and Jena

The greatest transition was traveling to and from California for a TEFL job in Long Beach. The experience is worth a short story, but Im trying to shake some of what disrupted my sense of equilibrium there; urban camping, driving great distances in a short time and seeing Jesse (the author confuses Nathan and Janzen–its Nathan’s prose, not Janzen’s). It was wonderful however to spend time in Park City with Thea and Andy and to reconnect with people I love in Marin county. I almost stayed in Marin. Those days of indecisiveness where also the most difficult and I am sure I taxed my friends. A part of me was left in Berkeley too, and that piece is taking the longest to restore. I haven’t yet learned that attachment does indeed cause suffering, but I am, of course, only human. I have begun to investigate Buddhist philosophy and in some ways believe my whole life has led me to its door. I think Thailand will be a good place to explore the tenants of the Buddhism (I continue to be chased by an elusive monk), paint, read many books, live without such a dependence on technology, extend my yoga practice, float in the sea (the thing I most looking forward to) and to slow down,  let the monk catch me because there is more wisdom in the body than in the deepest philosophy. Hmm, perhaps it’s time to really start listening.