A Teaching Day in Phuket
Wednesday, March 12th, 2008People always ask me what it is like teaching in Phuket, so here is an average day.
I wake up early, usually about 6 am. Never an early riser in the States, it is surprising how easy it is to get going each day. In Phuket, life is good, and I feel happy for each day spent in paradise. Sometimes, there is a stroll down to the beach for sunrise, as the beach is only 5 minutes from my doorstep. The colors in the sky are amazing, and it is never tiring to look, as the hues of the sky are always shifting & melding and the ocean is usually smooth and calm.
Maybe a quick coffee and danish at a beachside cafe is next, or I can pop back to the house and make a fresh fruit smoothie. There is always fresh fruit in Phuket: mangoes, papaya, Thai kiwi, pineapple and even bananas from my own backyard. Sometimes I do 20 minutes of yoga, sometimes I just sit on the porch and watch the neighborhood wake up, usually with another coffee.
I have my first class at 8 or 9 in the morning. The type of class is usually varied. Some days it is a one-on-one private with a Thai student who is preparing for higher education. Other days is is a small group of Thai students who are interested in improving their English conversation ability. I also teach small groups of up to 8 or 10. Working at a private school, there is an emphasis on small class sizes to ensure quality of teacher to student interaction. The majority of my classes have less than 3 students.
After 2 or 3 hours of teaching, there is usually free time until my next class, so lunch is a leisurely affair. Thai food is incredible - the subtlety of flavors and exotic spices are always an adventure. My tongue grew up on pretty plain American food! I love Thai fried noodles sauteed with fresh shrimp or chicken. A close runner up is Tom Yum Koong which is a spicy soup with shrimp, fresh Thai vegetables and chillies, of course.
I have rediscovered the lost art of napping and a light afternoon siesta is a wonderful thing. Generally, there are a couple more hours of teaching in the afternoon or evening and then, dinner. More delicious Thai food or occasionally a hamburger or some fried chicken. The chicken is fresh here and the flavor is dramatically better that back home in the States.
At some point during my day, I review each class considering what I have been able to teach each student, what do we still need to work on and where we might go next. For 5 hours of teaching, this takes about an hour, so you could say work time is about 6 hours each day. Each classroom hour gets me about 300 baht. I teach only 5 days a week and earn about 30,000 baht a month. That is about $1000.
Maybe it does not sound like much, but my rent is only 6000 baht a month with utilities, and it’s a sweet place. Meals run me 100 baht on average and that is top notch fresh food. So there is about 15000 baht each month to play with. I can rent a motorbike and explore the island, go out and have a few beers with friends or take the occasional scuba trip to some of the best diving on the planet, with money left over each month. There are western movies here, an Apple store (gotta get the latest ipod) and the night markets are a true adventure with so much to be had for a song!
It would be difficult for me to explain how fortunate I feel to have made the change and created a new life for myself here in Thailand. Earning a TEFL certificate was the key to a wonderful and relaxed life. The Thai people are the best on Earth. They are friendly, generous and always ready with a huge smile. But that is another post…
See you soon -
Thomas