On The Job

I’m officially an expatriate. I now live and work in Thailand. Weird.

So yes on Tuesday I started my new job. My boss picked me up at the Mangosteen Hotel in the morning after I enjoyed one last swim and a buffet breakfast. No more 5-star hotel for me. We threw all my luggage in the back and headed to the office while my boss cracked jokes about me “travelling light.”

The office is on a side street in the southern part of the island. Very small but it’s cute! Oustide are the company pick-up trucks and my new car, a tiny little Suzuki jeep. I ask if it’s stick shift. Yup. Oh dear. My boss informs me we will go for a lesson with it in the afternoon. I’m kicking myself for not learning to drive standard at home.

I am then introduced to everyone I’ll be working with now. There are about 8 people total including myself. Two british guys, me, and then the rest are Thai women! Jane, Tang, Jib, Gem,Nook. Yea it took me a while to learn those names. I can remember them now though because I associate them with English things like the Orange sugary drink, a jewel, and something you eat breakfast on. It helps! All of them are incredibly sweet. They are already teaching me Thai words that will come in handy like “Mai pet” (no spice) “Hong Nam” (Toilet) and “Aroi” (delicious!). Already they are making plans to show me everything Phuket has to offer!

My office is on the top floor, with a large window and view of the street. I share the room with my boss Terry. It’s a strange feeling having my own desk! It makes me feel super important. Immediately, Terry throws a whole bunch of assignments at me. Ak!

Then we do something I’ve never done at a workplace…ALL of us go out for lunch! It’s great to socialize with everybody and be exposed to different kinds of food. The first day we went to MK restaurants in a shopping mall where you shove all the food into a pot of boiling water! When ti’s done, you take a ladle full and put it into your bowl. Yummy!

In the afternoon, we head back to the central part of the island to go to my new home. There has been a change of plans from the place they originally said I would live. It’s in a great location, next to 2 big shopping malls, a movie theatre, grocery store, and plenty of cute little food stalls. I walk outside and there are food stalls making noodle soup, chicken on a stick, and stir fry’s. It smells great! There are also stray dogs walking around, but that’s normal for here I’m noticing. . The apartment itself is actually just a hotel room, but it’s a good size by Thai standards! At first, I’ll admit I was disappointed because it is not as nice as the other place that I was supposed to live in, but it’s growing on me (and the smell is disappearing). I really enjoy the wide windows and balcony because I have a great view of a bunch of bright green palm trees, and rolling hills.

We go back to the office in the afternoon for what I have been dreading since the morning: my driving lesson. Okay it’s bad enough I have to learn to drive on the left side of the road, now I have to learn to drive stick from my NEW BOSS on my first day on the job in a crappy little jeep. Let’s not forget there are no Wal-Mart parking lots around here. This is Asia. Every little speck of space is used up! Oh and I can barely understand what my boss is saying half the time because he has a VERY thick British accent.

We take the jeep to a little roundabout across the street. I have an audience of Thai men. Oh yay. My boss shows me how to use the clutch, but I can barely hear him over the loud noises in the car. We spend an hour jerking back and forth thanks to my pathetic driving skills. I get very frustrated and start screaming. I have a feeling my boss thinks I’m an idiot now!

The moment of truth. Time to hit the road. Oh god Oh god Oh god. I nearly turn into the wrong side of the street right off the bat! Alright, now back onto the left. He mumbles something I can’t understand. Huh? What did he say? I can’t understand this man for the life of me. GO!!! Oh crap I’m rolling backwards. I hit the gas and the engine makes a crazy noise but thank god I move forward!! Don’t even know how I did it. Motos and scooters are whizzing past me honking. This is now what I signed up for!! Culture shock begins to hit me a little at this point. Oh well. I survived. For now, it’s back to the office. I’m sure as heck not driving this thing home!!

I do some work at my office and then Tang drives me home. I’m walking around looking for a good place to get some food. I’m listening to all these people speak Thai and I’m hit bigtime by the culture shock. I’m tired, overwhelmed about my new life, and this new culture. I need to sit down. As I’m looking for a place to get a stiff beer and some food, I catch a glimpse of the sunset. I don’t’ think I have ever seen a sunset like this at home. Pink stretches all the way across the sky behind the palm trees. It provides me with a little bit of perspective. Culture shock is normal. It happened to me in Rwanda on the third day too. Culture shock happens to everyone, even the globetrotters. If I didn’t get at least a little bit of it, what’s the point of experiencing a new society? If it’s all familiar and the same, then you’re not learning anything about the world and how you view it. I calm down a little bit after this.

Then I go to a restaurant down the street to grab some food. I have no idea what to get and it doesn’t make things easier that the cook doesn’t speak English. I ask for Pad Thai. They don’t have it (speaking of which, apparently it’s near impossible find pad Thai noodles in THAILAND of all places! This I don’t understand). We just stare at each other not really sure what to do. Then I hear a voice…”Hello can I help you?” A Thai man who speaks English! Oh thank god. His name is Koby. He helps me figure out what to eat, asks me where I’m from, and says if I ever need help to give him a call. Wonderful! I left with a full stomach of noodle soup and a feeling of hope that I’ll be just fine here….new job , frightening driving lessons, bad Thai speaking skills and all.