12 months since I left work
at MASC (Mount Alexander Shire Council)
and therefor 12 months since I had a pay cheque?......and I’ve
survived.
In that same week I started
paid work teaching English at Villa Maly in Luang Prabang. It’s only 8 hours a week but hey it counts –
and it’s paid in US Dollars.
Almost 12 months since I
started the CELTA course and lived in Melbourne for 5 weeks. . And wasn’t that hard work!!!!!
10 months since I left
Australia and came to Laos
This week was also the first
time in my life that the words “past participle” came out of my mouth without
me having to think about it and plan to use them.
And 14 years since I had
surgery for breast cancer. What a
wonderful anniversary to celebrate.
Another first is that I lost
my glasses this week. Real
nuisance. I’m gong to venture into the
world of buying glasses online. There
are firms in Britian, Canada and America with excellent reviews online.
You can’t buy glasses
here. When I consider that I’ve worn
glasses for reading, driving and work
since I was about 14 and this is the first time I’ve ever lost a pair, I’m not
doing too badly really.
That’s the summary of this
post. If you want to read the detail, read on.
Here are 2 things that made me smile in the last few days. Wat Visoun is one of the oldest temples in town. When I was walking through the grounds the other day, there was a Monk mowing the lawn with a huge old mower. He was wearing gumboots and a motor bike helmet for protection…. And why wouldn’t you??
And hearing a 3 year old Lao child singing “Old MacDonald Had a farm. Ee ii ee ii oh> He only had those 2 lines and I’m sure he didn’t know what they meant, but he repeated them over and over and over and over.
So it’s a year since I left
paid work. In some ways, MASC and my
life in Australia feel like a life-time away.
But the internet and instant
contact with family and friends make it so much easier than it might have been.
How’s this for a bit of
Serendipity - In the same week that was the anniversary of leaving MASC (and
the regular pay cheque,) I started my first paid job in Laos, teaching English
to Lao staff at Villa Maly in Luang Prabang.
The students are just lovely, and Lao people have the biggest smiles and
use them a lot. Sometimes you can’t help
but walk around smiling.
Temple cats. Mum and little one.
10 months since I arrived in
Laos, and therefore 10 months since I left Australia. It just came around without me
realising.
With paid work comes a work
visa after 3 months, which means I can legally stay and work in Laos. This is quite a significant thing. My passport has pages and pages o
And with a job and prospect
of a work visa, I can now say “I live in Laos.” Quite a foreign term to
me. I sure haven’t been living in
Australia, but I wouldn’t have thought of saying I was living in Laos. I’d been “staying here for a while”, “doing
some volunteer teaching here” and “been here since last August”, but certainly
not “living here”. Now when people ask
how long I’ve been here - and it’s asked
a lot, (especially by young Lao practising their English) if I choose, I can
say “I live here.” For how long I may
not know. Will it ever feel like I live here?
I think maybe I’m just staying here right now.
14 years since breast
cancer. Cancer is not something I think
of often, thankfully. And when another
anniversary sneaks around, I note it and smile and say thankyou. This life is a very precious thing.
Ros and Jenny came to visit,
and this is them crossing the bamboo bridge.
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