D91 to D120 on Pearl of the South
25 December 2011
Dear Friends,
From the comments I have received, I read that some of you are looking forward to receive all the details of this inspirational adventure. Please do not be disappointed to read that whilst this is the fourth newsletter, it is also the last one that I will send from Pearl of the South. I foresee a gap of maximum 3 months between this fourth’s letter and the next one which will be sent from Senegal. Should you not have the time to read the diary there is a conclusion/reflection on the last pages.
May this festive season be a time for joy and rest with plenty of meaning-full and loving moments. May your wishes come true in 2012!
In Peace and Harmony,
M-F
Reminder: WP = Working Permit / Farang = Foreigner
Summary: After having decided to stop looking for work to concentrate on learning and teaching, I did believe (for a few days only) that I could have been hired part time in an International Kindergarten school looking to introduce yoga to children. As much as I felt honored by the offer and were very excited by the project at the end I’m glad it is not happening because if they would have offered me a WP, I would have felt obliged to stay at least another 3 to 4 months in Thailand. As I’m now more than determined to move to Senegal, after this inspirational ‘training’ in Phuket, I would not have been thinking highly of this delay. It seems though as if the decision or the plan was already made for us.
Since 9 December, I attend 3 to 4 classes per week at Abbysan Yoga school and take notes after each class. I also spend a lot of time experimenting and preparing courses to be thought either in French to the C.A.F.E members or in English to the students of Kundalini Yoga classes. For the remaining time, I try to socialise as much as possible with expats sharing common interests. I also spend some times with new expats or expats to be who contact me through expat blog. I still go to the herbal spa once a week and sometimes, I hang out in the sun usually with a friend or with a book. Until this month I was staying in the shadow as it was too hot, it is much more pleasant during this season. *smile*.
D91 to D100: Visa run to Ranong / Flood relieves events / Teaching Yoga & Learning about Kundalini Yoga.
D91: Visa run to Ranong: I should have done that ‘run’ (jargon term) before D60 . I’m smiling about my story now but when I found out on D83 that I had over stayed, I could hardly believe that it was happening. I was in Chiang Mai when a Thai friend, explained to me what I’m about to write down. I already knew though that per overstay day a fee of £10 had to be paid. I was not at ease that my ‘laissez passer’ was not in order but I did not rush to sort out the matter and took the time to find a suitable solution with guaranteed results. I only felt fully relieved when I saw my new stamp with the desired 2 months extension. I did not have to fly out of the country which was the advice I received at immigration Phuket which I consulted when I got back from Chiang Mai! As you notice, the local immigration office does not always give the correct information or the cheapest option to resolve the issue. Considering that I had read in London about the importance of the stamp given by immigration at arrival day in Thailand, some of you may rightly wonder why I did not see that stamp. Well, hiding the stamp behind a stapled departure card isn’t really helpful is it? And I had not thoroughly understood what I’m about to explain. Despite the fact that I hold a 6 months tourist visa, every 2 months I have to leave the country. It would have been nice to be informed by the embassy. The best way to describe it is that a reactivation/refresher of the visa is necessary every 2 months. It cost £30 for the trip (all inclusive: lunch, visa activation fee). In other words: the first 3 times at about every 60 days leave the country by bus to refresh the visa or simply to get an extension of the ‘expired’ visa. After that, visit the local immigration office to get another 30 days. So in total tourists are all entitled to 210 days tourist visa with the sole condition to leave the country 2 times only. Why doesn’t any Thai embassy (I did ask around to other expats) even explains this or attached a procedure corresponding to the visa type in the passport?? When entering Thailand a label, flyer with notice: ‘Attention, Attention’ should be given to all expats by immigration staff. Taking action when the visa is running out, is logical, however this ‘reactivation of visa’ is still puzzling me. As really what it means is that everyone holding a long term visa is pre-paying it in their respective Thai Embassy and pay again for the reactivation at the borders of Thailand. My advice to any one of you wishing to spend time in Thailand for a few months is to get a 2 months visa only and have it extended for £30 every 2 months. They are many friendly and efficient ‘visa run’ company to help you out with that. They are usually run by ‘farangs’ who are better informed than the local immigration office. Sorry, it slipped out…*Gigle*
As my experience is by no means exceptional, not to say very common, ‘farangs’ conclude that there is a secret ruse behind this ‘rule’ to purposely make easy money on expats not informed or partially informed. Surprisingly, the good news though is that there is maximum penalty which is Bath 20.000 (£400). It means that in case someone does over-stays 2 or 3 months the fee is still £400. WP holders and 1 year tourist visa holder have also to leave the country every 3 months. Puzzling, don’t you agree? By the way, why do the Thai Embassies all around the world dare issuing a long term visa when they know that we have to do go through the visa runs every 60 or 90 days any way? That is THE real question.
The nicest experience though on my day to Ranong was that I was approached by a Burmanese (Myamar) girl who ‘was crazy about talking English’ so she said. So I made a point to talk to her as much as the time was allowing me. When I spoke to her I had not heard yet about the rumours in the media that Myamar (Burma) could be become a democracy. The next visa run is due in less than a month and Wanida will drive some of the students from the Kundalini class to Ranong. We are all excited because we will be staying over one night in a hotel where indoor and outdoor swimming in hot spring water is possible and most importantly we enjoy each-others company.
D92: At my Thai hairdresser (who studied/worked in Germany) we spoke about this con artist that I met on day 3. She tells me that there are plenty of con artists (any nationalities) on Phuket. It is common story to read that expats are being ripped off by them. She also tells me story about people with flamboyant lifestyle who all of a sudden struggle to pay the electricity bill. She says, on Phuket: ‘Es ist nicht alles Gold was glaenzt oder der Schein truegt.’ (All that glitters isn’t gold, appearances can be deceiving.) (L’habit ne fait pas le moine).
D93: At the second flood relief event that we organised in Phuket town (amongst a Thai public), we played much better. The quality of the music was at its best though at the market where, Mamadou and I, were invited to join in the next day. There were more drums, more understanding of who does what, more listening, more coordination and mainly there was more support from skill full musicians. Another chance was offered to me to practice my moderator skills. My shyness always melts away as soon as I take the microphone. I have learned from this that when talking about a meaning full subject the eloquence of the speech is coming naturally. The ironical part of the evening is that after trying to raise money for the flood victims, I find a parking ticket attached to my motorbike. Whilst parking there earlier, all I saw is a row of motorbike with a single space just for me. All the motor-bikers received a parking ticket though. Those tickets are issued by people whose job is just that. The more they issue parking tickets the more they are paid. (FU: I brought the parking ticket to the motorbike rental company to ensure the minimum cost and to this date I still do not know the price. It could well have been forgotten although this was/is not my intention).
D96: Whilst my Kundalini Yoga teacher is away for 3 weeks to do her exams in Bangkok, she invites me to teach Hatha Yoga to her students. On this occasion, she invites us also to experiment some breathing types which pushed me to understand the difference of 2 similar breaths yet very different (Kapalabhati and the Breath of fire – a variation of Bhastrika). A note to the Yoga-practioners, my opinion is both of these breaths need to be performed when being much more relaxed. Feeling currently more stress free, I enjoy much more both of these practices and their benefits. (FU: I initiated a rather long discussion on Linkedin which turns out to be highly instructive, don’t you love Linkedin?)
D97: I finally received several messages from Six Sense management where I applied from London. I have a meeting with the Spa manager on D104.
D101 to D110 Teaching Yoga at the beach / Interview with Six Senses manager / Weekly Yoga class to French expats / At Abbysan school: teaching or learning?
D101: A beautiful day on a remote huge, empty beach. I gave my first outdoor Yoga class. After that, we had picnic talking about self- healing followed by deep personal conversations. We had diner on a floating restaurant in the early evening. What an advantage of having friends born on Phuket and keen to show us all the remote places away from the typical tourists atmosphere and scenery. Wanida, 65 years old, an active lady who travelled the world with her husband is always keen to show us more treasures on Phuket.
D103: It is King’s Birthday (Bank holiday). I had lunch with Mechthild a lady I sympathised with a few weeks ago. After catching up on the news, she speaks to me about how to get the ETFL certificate to be able to teach English in the world. Some think to think about. I could teach English in Senegal or anywhere as teaching by Skype is a new trend, I hear. Do I inspire some of you? *smile*. After lunch, I received a Reiki treatment from a girl I met before. She invited me in her eco-build house standing right under a large old tree. Her house feels like a tree house. There are quite a few of them. The owners are usually mixed couple (expat lady and Thai husband) who decided to use recycling material to build their houses with the minimum budget. In my eyes, the results are always stunning. I love Arty style house. In the evening, the usual Kundalini Yoga students group had dinner with a healer who used to work for Atsumi Healing centre (first detox centre on the island) and Atmanjai. John (the healer) shared with me a whole bunch of information and concludes by saying that he no longer wants to work for any of those centres anymore and only works independently. Whether he still holds a WP is not my business.
D104: The only way I managed to have an interview with Linda (Six Sense Spa manager for Thailand and Vietnam) is that I did eventually succeeded in getting the personal email from the director of Six Sense. At the interview, I did give Linda time to ask me a few questions but after 2 questions, I went straight to the point and said: What do you have in mind? I figured that this question would save time for the both of us. Probably due to all those past interviews, I had lost a bit of patience by now. All I had in mind is getting an employee WP in the field I want to work in and I was thinking if they can not provide me with such a WP, I found all this long and un-formal chat pointless. It is only later that I understood why Linda was trying so hard to help me out. She was an exception though. I shall never forget that Phuket is a small island that everyone knows everybody and that news are travelling extremely fast. The final answer I received from Linda was the same answer I received everywhere else. Six Senses no longer provide WP like in the old days and that they no longer allow people to work without a WP either (like in the old days). They only hire independent people with their own WP. (meaning with a Company). She then gave me list of resorts where to apply to half of which I had already sent my CV to. (FU D113: One advice could have lead to an interesting long term position. This experience reminded me to always be thorough, always try out and always give a chance even in the most doubtful moments).
After that meeting with Linda, I had to rethink my focus for the next few months as I had clearly abandoned the idea of getting a WP. While browsing online in search for some information, I came across that school called: ‘Yoga an alternative to medicines’ where I had applied 2 months ago with out any replies at all to my mails or phone calls. It is 10’ drive from where I live and this time I went to visit them immediately and check for the schedule and possibly work there. (FU: meeting with the Abbysan Director on D108).
D105: It is confirmed today that I will teach Yoga in French to C.A.F.E members once a week. (C.A.F.E: Cercle Amical des Francophones Expatriés de Phuket)
D108. I met the director of Abbysan Yoga school who founded 2 schools in Phuket. They would not hire an independent teacher like me for 2 reasons he said: Firstly, my teaching style would not fit theirs and secondly he would not like me to experience competition. I was stunned. Competition is not part of the Yoga philosophy, is it?? Yet he kept explaining that this is what the 3 teachers are experiencing at the moment. (FU D119: Although, I find their style as rigid as what I had already experienced back in India, I was right to think that to deepen my practice, it was the school I had to go to. It is a terrific way to get a refresher of what I have learned during my years of yoga in retreats or in London and that I forgotten. By the way, had you ever thought about practising Pranayama on classical music? I just discovered this at the school and intend to experiment playing healing music or classical music during long Pranayama sessions. One other reason for me to go to that particular school is to socialise with other yogis but there aren’t many students in the class sometimes we are only 2 and most of them are Russians who do not speak English).
D109 to D120 Studying /Searching/ Reading / Yoga Class preparation:
D111: Bangkok is dryer and almost completely dry I read /hear but large containers of Thai water has not make its way yet to Phuket and Singha beer is out of stock for weeks. Evian water bottle is half the usual price though and good for me, I can get it for a third of the plain price with my expats membership card at the top supermarkets. (FU on D120 large container plain cheap water is available)
D112: In the morning I taught a Yoga class in French and in the evening, we met with the C.A.F.E members to speak about Bouddhisme. (FU: that evening where I went as a listener, lead later in the week to some frictions between the members I heard on D122- I will follow this up)
D113: I visited Phuket international school 20’ drive from my condo. They are looking into hiring a Yoga teacher to teach to children. The Russian couple opened their school 2 years ago. They are many International schools on Phuket and this one may be one of the cheapest for an expat parent to put their kids in. Parents like to put their kids in Montessori schools however it is very expensive. This school is a non- profit organisation, fully independent and founded by a business man who gain income from other investments in all different fields. He waited to have some capital to be able to create his own school where he could put his own child. The director is a German lady which I, unfortunately, did not have a chance to meet up with. During the interview, he offered me a position in managing the school. That would have been an incredible position and I feel really lucky to have received this offer. To that I replied that I was no longer ready to commit to a long term position but I rather teach for a few months if this was possible at all. Listening to him, he did not seem difficult to issue me a WP even for a few months. Following a thorough visit of the school, he invites me to brainstorm alone and to send some ideas for ‘enrichment’ of his school. Thinking that this might not lead to a part time position after all, it did not matter at all to me. I’m happy to give ideas any way. I worked long hours for submitting a proposals and suggestions for ‘enrichment’ of his school. I plan to implement some of them in our centre in Senegal any way so this was an occasion to think about the practical side of it. The next day, I finalised my proposal and send it to him. (FU D120: no replies at all but my Kundalini teacher who just returned from her exams in Bangkok, met him by accident. As I had told her the full story, she played innocently in front of the very experienced business man who had overheard my teacher’s conversation on Yoga. From what the Russian business man said to her, it is confirmed that there will be no follow-up and I’m glad. Did I tell you that Phuket is small and that news are traveling fast?)
D120 Conclusion/Reflection.
Basically if I would have stayed long term on the island I could have well (may be) gotten an employee WP in a field close to my passion. After 4 months of searches, this could have been a terrific opportunity but I doubt that it was financially worth it and a valid reason to delay my project.
I encountered many obstacles in Phuket and I will not encounter the same ones in Senegal. However as I have gained some knowledge in various fields, I’m more than ready to face new challenges. At least, in Toubab Dialaw I can advertise, put a sign in the street or use the existing e-network without having to pay someone, being subject to a tax or being labelled illegal.
To all Yoga teachers and expats dreaming about working in Thailand I say, get familiar with the laws and regulations first. Since my arrival in Phuket, at least 10 people (including 2 Yoga teachers) contacted me via expats blog to ask advices about working in Thailand. A few of them replied that they are stubborn (like me I guess) and still want to try it out or see for them self. So many expats with a lot of capital came here and lost a lot of money. And when you hear that over and over from different sources they must be some sincerity and truth in this fact. Well you could say that the money is not lost as it landed somewhere into Thailand’s economy. But the question is where did the money go? Not to the poorest probably…
I look forward to continue with the project in Senegal. We seem to have found a new house with a small swimming pool near our ‘construction site’ costing half of my current ‘46 square meters’ rent. A few years ago that was not thinkable, it seems like the rents went down in Toubab Dialaw. In any case, I will arrive in Senegal a few weeks after election time where, by the way, I also hope for a change in the presidency.
What I look even more into is drumming. The drumming experience here on Phuket (Flood victims events), made me want to drum even more and even more seriously. Combining Yoga with drumming and African dance with gentle Yoga are both subjects I can not wait to experiment/teach. Teaching Yoga to locals, expats and their children is something I’m so keen to organise. So much I could do without the need for a WP or even a visa. I also have in mind if I manage to go to African countries where it is politically less safe than Senegal. To investigate.
Finally, I miss all of you my friends and previous colleagues in London. I do not miss my office work at all or even London. What I miss is the deep connection, the fast thinking and understanding with each other. I have only found this instant, deep and honest connection with very few people here and some already left Phuket for good. I’m sure that they are many more of them but they are probably working long hours and as I’m not being part of the active society in Phuket it is restricting me I’m very sure about that. By the way, I have one regret only: it is not having experienced Bangkok but there we go, after all it was not the best time to experience it.
I hope that some of you will come to visit us in Toubab Dialaw unless some of you plan to spend sometimes in Thailand before end of February?
In Peace,
M-F
Note: I intent to replace the current e-mail address: Pearl_of_the_South@consciousliving.eu by ……….…………….………..@consciousliving.eu. In the next Newsletter I will remind you to add this new e-mail address which I have not define yet to your contacts list to make sure it is landing into your inbox.