Working Out

I've decided not to study at Payap this semester for a number of reasons. One of the main ones being that they are only offering one class that I haven't taken already. Its kind of ridiculous. I'm not sure how I can graduate if they never open the higher level requred courses. Oh well. It looks like I will be working this term.

I got a substitute teaching job at this girls high school for the next 2 or 3 weeks. The pay is less than I would usually work for, but I figure its just a couple weeks and there are plenty of hours and it might even be fun.

In other news, there is a fair chance I am going to score the best teaching gig in Chiang Mai. I'll know in a few days I suppose. 2 people have this job. They work 4 hours a week and get 25,000 baht. That may not seem like a lot of money if you think about it in US$, but thats more than I usually spend in a month here, so with that and a few more private students whom I will teach Thai to and I'll be doing great financially. A much needed boost in my life.

I put an ad in a local free magazine in English and hopefully I'll get some inquiries. I've been teaching an English guy Thai for a bit over 2 months now and the progress is pretty impressive. My methods are too simple. Foreigners tend to scoff or laugh when I tell them I teach Thai. "But your not a native speaker!" Indeed. Plenty of foreigners speak at least some Thai here, but ones who speak clearly, correctly and are able to read/write or extremely rare. My current student is essentially my protege. I want to create the first whitey that can actually speak ชัด
(clearly) before he is even fluent.

My confidence is still going strong. I've been getting numbers competely sober lately which isn't very common for me. I keep expecting to get hit with anxiety and there are a few seconds where I tense up, but I think its just a reflex. I feel invincible.

The pollution here has been unbearable lately. I was stuck in bed with some serious lung problems for a few days this week from it. I woke up in the middle of the night one day with this awful pain similar to heartburn, but much worse and this awful crap oozing up out of my lungs. I couldn't eat for most of the day as anything I tried to get down intensified the pain. Over the next couple of days it turned into a pretty bad chest cold. Its not quite gone yet as I still wake up with a bit of a sore throat and some heavy unpleasant goo coming up. My lungs are so messed up. Itwill be rather surprising if I end up dying from something unrelated to my lungs. Oh well. At least my anxiety is low and my confidence is high lately. Now all I need is money.