A BoBo's Muse
Sharing my world from New York to Paris to LA to my latest stop in ThailandAbout
I’m trying to figure out my place in this world. Traveling through Southeast Asia, chronicling my life in Thailand as an English teacher, I am using some of my favorite literature and writers as a source of inspiration. This is a way to funnel my creativity and bring it into a new place. Hopefully, where I can, perhaps, shed some new light on any particular feeling, idea, experience. I hope to get there. But as it should be, that enlightenment doesn’t come without a little distress and a bit conflict.
I’m just a girl who fiends for the new and the yet-to-be discovered. I love the thrill of travel and the way it heightens the senses and just about everything else. Through the confusion of being a 20-something, travel gives me a sense of purpose. Leave no rock unturned, so that in the future I will have no regrets. And with a bit of luck, I will have gained some insight that I would have otherwise not found without taking the leap and leaving home for the road that now lies ahead of me.
4 Comments»
Joe wrote @
Hey Katie,
After searching the web for insight on life in Thailand, I came upon your blog and I must say I have enjoyed it to the fullest!! It brought me back to my days of teaching English in South Korea for a year.
As I am ready to get back to teaching, I have chosen to teach in Thailand, after my decision to obtain my TEFL certification and help from friends who have lived and traveled there. I want to thank you for your valuable insight into Thai life and culture. I am sure it will be come in handy when I finally set my feet upon the road later on this year.
Maybe our paths will meet, but I hope to continue reading about your travels throughout the country and all the joy that it brings you!
Safe Travels!
-Joe
katherinebobo wrote @
Joe,
Thanks for reading! Teaching and writing is what I have wanted to do for a long time. It began to manifest over the past two years. Since I came to Thailand, I haven’t looked back.
Thrilled to hear from another kindred spirit! Good luck with teaching! It is as tiring as it is rewarding!
I am a friend of your mother, she just sent me your blog link and immediately went to read and see what your mother is bragging about;) I read your first quote about “The Golden Rules of Filming”—and I totally agree we are just beginning to understand the abstractions that we are, I say “Martha Grahams dances are our exaggerated feeling in motion in an abstract format”…life is just a bunch of dots placed in a way that we can make or not make out what is—and taking from other people’s inspiration is continuing the dots to create another way of seeing and understanding this wonderful world of ours.
I commend you in taking such a trip, be a child at heart and you will always find the dots.
By the way did you know that “bobo” means dah which way did he go? in Spanish, just wanted you to know. Keep posting and we will keep reading the adventures of an English teacher looking to see what she finds to share with the rest of the world.
Are the government and the people advocating sustainability in Thailand? If they are what are the sustainable practices they are initiating?
Take care…
Angelica
Hi Angelica,
I’ve been wanting to respond to you about my perception of Thailand’s sustainability and environmental practices. Unfortunately, I don’t see a lot of recycling taking place. More than that, in our neighborhood they pile the entire community’s garbage about four streets down from me and burn in section by section at night. I’m aware of it because of the smell. Cars/Trucks/Vans are allowed on the road without any sort of smog testing; the vehicles release what looks like double the amount of pollution than ive seen anywhere else in the world. Many times, pure black smoke explodes out of them. Most people are aware of the pollution and wear medical masks if they work on the roads, on buses, if they are working around moving vehicles. Sitting in tuk tuks in traffic is the worst place to be. You’re just inhaling it all. There are no trash bins anywhere. Rarely do you see one. Therefore, littering is fairly common. Sustainability doesn’t seem to be on the top of their list. Honestly, I think the intent is there. We have taught it in class and through clean-up programs. But, as I’ve come to learn, these efforts seem to evaporate without follow through. That may just be our school though. At times it can be very frustrating.
I hope this wasn’t too much of a bummer reply. As far as governmental initiatives to promote sustainability, I am not aware. If that has been made a priority, I don’t visibly see the scope of it reaching towards smaller sub communities. Central Thailand include parts which are highly industrialized or used for farming. There doesn’t seem a difference in level of environmental concern; not to mention being so close to Bangkok, which is a highly polluted city. I have heard that the north is better in regards to all the points I have made. But I’d have to see it to believe it. I’ll find out next semester.
Thanks for reading!
Katie