My decision to move to Bangkok was made on a whim at the international teaching job fair last February in Iowa. I had actually turned the job down on Saturday, and came back to the fair on Sunday just to pick up the rest of my things, when I saw Tom Dellario walking out the door. He had interviewed me for the American School of Bangkok position the previous day and I asked him if he had filled the position. He said no, he wanted me. Half an hour later I had signed the contract and was driving home thinking, “what did I just do?”

The week before leaving for Thailand, Josh, Sea Captian, Mighty and I sailed the Pony Dancer from Marquette Michigan, through Lake Superior, down the Soo Locks, through Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, down to Charlevoix. The voyage was amazing – beautiful, peaceful, exciting – and punctuated by the biggest heartbreak of my life. So when I got on the plane two days later, I left behind all of my safety nets - my favorite things and places and people. And when I landed in Bangkok 22 hours later, I was thinking, “What am I doing?”

I think that blogs are kind of silly things, but I created this one so that my friends can know “what’s she doing?” Much better than mass emails.

My first week…I stayed in a hotel for the first 5 days while looking for an apartment and got right down to work. I am teaching Environmental Studies, Biology, ESL Biology, and Science Interactions at the American School of Bangkok. The school has two campuses and I am working at the one right downtown. There are about 500 students K-12. Most are Thai, but there are also students from the USA, Canada, Pakistan, India, and other places. Everything is taught in English. This year there are 13 new teachers at my campus, and most of them are in their mid 20’s – instant friends! It’s nice to have people around who are also adjusting to this new big city – friends to stumble through hooking up cell phones, explore the weekend market, discuss the ethics of tipping and bartering.

Today I moved into my apartment – it’s a studio, a glorified hotel room, but there is a pool downstairs, and a water filter, so you don’t have to haul jugs of water from the store, and the leaves of a giant palm tree spilling over into the big balcony. And a king sized bed – the thais are very short, and their beds are shorter than American beds. My bed is actually wider than it is long. I get to ASB on a motorcycle taxi – guys all over the place on bikes with orange vests. You sit on the back of the motorcycle (women sit side-saddle) and hold on to the back as they zip around stopped traffic, between cars, in the other lane, on the sidewalk…I can also get to the BTS (the skytrain) easily, which takes you many places in the city.