Life as it is now (Charis takes on a serious note)

I've been in the Land of Smiles for two months now and truthfully, it has absolutely felt longer than that! Don't get me wrong, not having to follow a strict schedule as required by a 9-5 job sounds and is heavenly. Just the thought of late mornings and late nights without having to care for deadlines, sales targets and office politics appeals to me more than I can explain. But. And it's a big BUT. What am I to do with all the time??

Although I have a lot of time, I don't have as much time as these guys!

Finding a job (within my requirements) here is hard. One has to learn the language and the culture. Besides, Thais are hard-pressed for jobs enough not to require foreigners to come and share the pie. There are ample needs here, English teachers for one are highly sought-after, and volunteers from all over the world come to Thailand to fulfill educational needs, physical needs, spiritual needs even. Industry is rife here, you can't walk more than a metre and not stumble into a street peddlar or a food stall. Goods are also cheap, and most foreigners take advantage of this fact during vacations. But I still have yet to see where I fit in in all of this.

So what have I been using my time for? I'm a serial multi-tasker, so I can do a lot in a single day and yet can be so lazy as to lie in bed all day with a good book especially when the day is hot. Each day I wake up I vow to do something useful and productive, so I've taken up a few hobbies and interests.

You know I've taken a liking to cooking. Chinese, Italian, Thai, American style, cooking pasta, pastry, or poultry. I've also taken up photography after redeeming my camera back from my sister who's been using it for her course. Before long, I will be able to post up some test shots I've been taking with my Canon EOS 500D. With such variety and "scope for imagination" (as Anne of Green Gables would have said of Bangkok), my subjects are endless. I've also taken to blogging, as you can see of my posts of late. And I've also made observing a hobby.

From my trips to and back from Thai lessons, excursions and shopping trips, I've observed what many have commented before, the disparity of the have and have-nots is huge. Beggars with all forms of deformities line the streets, some with babies, imploring the compassion of a mainly Buddhist nation. Personally I don't condone begging especially if they have the use of limbs to make a living. But talk is cheap. So it was quite a relief (sometimes we need that for our conscience's sake) to hear about Helping Hands's cooking class, an "employment initiative from the Klong Toey community... to support the residents of the slum, the biggest in the city."

But that's on another less serious post.