We certainly do tend to let life get in the way of things, don’t we?  I mean, maybe not YOU, but I certainly do.  It’s so easy to get distracted by this, that, or the other and then the next thing you know you look up and it’s November. 

It has been a hectic year, thus far.  Moved to a new town.  Long, long holiday to America, Japan, and Chiang Mai.  The passing of my Grammy while half a world away.  A new term with a new director at my agency.  No longer working for said agency at the end of the term.   A surprise trip to America for the October holiday.  Back to Thailand with no job. 

I will say that when I found out that my contract would not be continued in to the next term, I mostly felt relief.  The new management and I had, let’s say, a personality conflict.  It resembled the Cold War.  That said, I wouldn’t have left on my own because (as an American) I’m not going to leave a high paying job (ABA pays about 8,000 THB more a month than most places) with nothing to fall back on. This flashed through my mind as I was listening to my former manager chirp in my ear while I rode the bus from the airport to my hotel in Bangkok.  And then I remembered.  This is Thailand.  Not America. 

Being a fair-skinned, blue-eyed, American female in my early 30s with a TEFL certificate is like having a golden ticket to the chocolate factory here.  People back home were saying, “I can’t believe you are going back to Thailand without a job! Why don’t you just stay here?”  

Here is why.

I secured a job within the first week of being back with almost zero effort.  I was actually contacted via Facebook about the job by a person I didn’t know who had been given my name by another teacher in town.  In addition, I have now been approached about various extra classes and conversation groups (all paying).  The job I had before I moved to Thailand took me almost a year to get with me applying to an average of 10-12 places a WEEK. 

I never had qualms about going back to Thailand without a job.  I took measures to ensure that I wouldn’t be stranded in the country should NOTHING work out (raised the limit on my credit card, budgeted so that I could spend three months in the country without a job and without a problem).  But mostly, I just knew I couldn’t give up because I lost ONE measly job.  Plenty of people move to Thailand without a job ahead of time.  I was actually one of the rare cases of a person who gets a job outside the country.  I was not ready to throw in the towel.  And I now feel a huge weight lifted off of me.  I look forward to the next year, possibly two, in Thailand with optimism and hope and a more adventurous and trusting spirit. (And look forward to a Foreign Income Credit on my tax return.)

Viva Thailand!