Teacher Alicia: My Adventures as an Expat English Teacher in Thailand

A new thing I learnt while living & Teaching in Thailand

A new thing that I have learnt while living in Thailand isn’t a hobby or skill. It’s more of a concept. Fortunately, for anyone who may be interested, there isn’t any special equipment you need to buy, you won’t need to make time in your busy schedule and it definitely isn’t expensive. 

It’s the art of letting go. Letting go of expectations and going with the flow.

There wasn’t a specific ah ha moment for me and I most certainly didn’t wake up one morning magically changed. I’m not even sure it was a conscious decision, more of a survival instinct that kicked in. I’ve always been a typical ‘Type A’ personality with a 5 year plan who felt the need to control everything around me. I treated life like one big to-do list. 

Bachelor’s degree, tick. Job, tick. Promotion, tick. House, tick. Every completed checkbox brought me one step closer to my perceived notion of success. 

Before moving to Bangkok, I researched obsessively and read everything I could get my hands on. I agonised for months over what items would make the cut in my 30kg weight allowance. I packed and repacked more times than I would care to admit. I made extensive lists and planned everything down to the last minute... and then I arrived and had to throw it all out the window.

This is Thailand. Where time is more of an abstract idea than a rule, where schedules are pliable and deadlines a fun surprise. The frustration I felt early on was enough to bring me to tears. A tantrum or two and a near meltdown later, I started to realise that the more I let go of my own expectations, the more everything else started to make sense.

You’re an hour and a half late for dinner reservations due to traffic? Mai pen rai. 

There’s an “emergency” field trip and all of your classes have been cancelled? Mai pen rai.

You want me to get on stage and talk into a microphone? Right now? Mai pen rai. 

This is Thailand. With its wondrous lunacy and maddening beauty. Where you can disappear into the bustle of a crowd and let the noise consume you. Or dive right into the peace and quiet of some of the most tranquil and otherworldly locations this planet has to offer. Where nothing is certain and if your plans fall apart, you can just smile and wing it. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows. I still have days where I scream internally at the ridiculousness of the situations I find myself in but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. It’s been a life-altering experience I never could have had in my safe 9-to-5 routine in Melbourne. Where more time was spent owning things than experiencing them. Scaling down to a 28m2 apartment and a lone suitcase has given me the opportunity to evaluate what is truly important. And that’s experiences and adventures, not things.

- Alicia, English Tecaher (Bangkok, Thailand)