BANGKOK FLOODING

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It is different being in the middle of a natural disaster. I lived through White Juan in Halifax back a few years ago but that only lasted a few days. We are now into the third week of the major flooding in Thailand and it still gets worse. The bright side is today is day three in a row with no rain at least yet. I came on August 26th and this is the longest stretch without torrential rain.

The city of Bangkok is now being hit, the outskirts to the north are submerged, all schools which are supposed to open next week after a month break have been closed for another week. Water in some streets is nine feet high. All shopping in that area is closed becasue they have been hit by floods or because the roads leading to them are closed. A friend was going to a small town north of Bangkok a 3 hour drive, took them 7 and a half hours each way because of all the detours. Train service is now cancelled to a good part of the north. The school I have been working in for the last two weeks has one campus closed becasue of flooding and they think the campus I am in will be the next one to get hit by early next week.

They have been trying to protect the core of the city, where I am staying, by keeping flood gates closed. Now the water pressure on the dykes is so great that they got to relieve it by opening the gates and letting the water into the canals that snake through the city, canals are really just big ditches, they are not like the Rideau canal in Ottawa. They will try and control the amount of water coming into the city but there are camps that say once those gates are open the core will be flooded. If that prediction comes to pass it would happen this week or next.

Businesses in the core have been busy sand bagging, building cement walls in front of their stores, moving to the second floors etc.

Today I went to get some food and stocked my little mini fridge. Smaller stores are mostly empty, you can't buy bottled water anywhere even in the big supermarkets. I hope my hotel has a good supply!

The army has been called in to protect the airport, it was built 5 years ago and it is protected from flooding but they are not sure the protection can stand this one. A smaller airport nearby has already been closed.

Enough about the flood, no one final comment. I am on the 16th floor so I am feeling sure I won't wake up with water on the floor!

I have been picking up some summer school work. Spent a week as a Kindergarten teacher, it was a lot of fun. Last week I had a grade 3 class, they were something. I have them again next week so the rules are going to enforced from the first bell! I had a very cute grade one class who I thought incy wincy spider to, with the help of a CD I picked up at a local store. The CD actually has young Thai children singing all children's songs in english. It was a big hit, by the end of the week all the little girls were up singing their little hearts out dancing along with the kids on the video. The boys would sing it but no way they were going to dance!

I also had a grade 4 all boys class which I was kind of dreading but you know they were great. A lot of energy but they were a lot easier to handle than that mixed grade three class!

No permanent work yet, the age factor has really come to play. Not bragging but I was one of the best, mark and practice wise in the course, second overall. All the rest of the class except one older guy have jobs and some of them barely passed and when some of them teach I can leave it to you imagination.

I have had the opportunity to discuss it with some of the teachers I am currently working with and all of them say that it is very open that the schools want young teachers that look good. One guy in our class finally cut his hair and he had a job in two days! Before that he never got beyond the interview stage. I can't even get an interview becasue my resume HAS to include my date of birth. If it is not on there they won't even consider you.

So the end of the month is coming and that is kind of my decision date. The placement agency that is working with me, part of the TESOL package, said the floods are really slowing things down and that I should wait a bit longer, so we will see. A school that does corporate english training really wants me to come to another city to talk to them but they will not promise any specific number of hours, it all depends on demand. Not to get back to the floods but lots of big coporations have been flooded out, one big area was completely flooded yesterday, there were 60,000 jobs lost for the time being, in that one business park. It is the 6th such park to be flooded.

On a very positive note, five of the gang from the course are living in Bangkok and so most evenings I get together with one or two of the guys and then some nights it is all of us. Last night four of us got together and went out for a few beers and pool games. They are great guys to socialize with. I have become good friends with one guy from England. He and I spend a lot of time togther, sometimes with his lovely thai girlfriend who has helped us get resumes out to schools etc. She knows Bangkok, lived here all her life, she is also a senior HR lady in one of the banks so she knows the ins and outs of looking for work in Bangkok.

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. I will try and get some pics of flood preparations for the next blog entry. Till then

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