Living in Bangkok: The City of Life

No, those are not my legs (they're Lui's [I'm not the tights-wearing kinda guy]), but that is the view from our new condo in downtown Bangkok.

In my last post, I mentioned at the end that Lui and I have officially moved to Bangkok. And no, it's not a holiday or a temporary thing.

Bangkok, Thailand is a very special place for the both of us. This is where we met and began our fantastic relationship. Bangkok is vibrant, fun, culturally dynamic and very "international". It has the second-largest airport in all of Southeast Asia, a growing economy and a decent percentage of English speakers (at least in the business and education sectors).

When we left Thailand in October of last year, we equally shared an incomplete feeling. Our time was not done with this beautiful country. And so while in Europe, our decision of the next point of our lives became more and more clear: We should move to Bangkok.

And it's been a great choice.

Last year, working as an English teacher, I lived in a suburb called Bangbon that resided about 40 minutes outside of the city. I worked in a town called Mahachai that was about an hour from downtown. So I didn't in fact "live" in Bangkok (though I was living in the Bangkok province). Living in the city is a completely different experience. The convenience, the Skytrain, the view, the malls, etc. It's great.

We officially left Germany and moved here in June. We found our condo on the 31st floor of nice building located right in the heart of Silom, which is considered the central business district of the city. The condo is lovely and our view is spectacular.

Presently it is the wet season so there have been some amazing thunderstorms that have rolled through the city over the last few months. We can see a storm coming in from miles and miles away. Then when it arrives, with the lightening strikes, the thunder -- it's awesome.

Best of all, the building we're in is just a 15 minute walk to work for me. No taxis, trains, buses, motorcycles; just the good ole feet attached to me legs!

Ah, now what am I doing for work? Good question.

My previous employer (when I was an English teacher last year) offered me the job to manage their international kindergarten in downtown.

The school is called Learning Home International. All classes are taught in English. The students are ages 1 1/2 to about 6 years old. They are kids from all over the world: China, Singapore, Austria, Japan, Syria, India and of course Thailand.

The kids are absolutely adorable. There are 4 classrooms and a total of about 25 kids. But let me tell you, they're a handful!!!

We have a lot of fun. We had our end of the year graduation ceremony in July. I uploaded it to YouTube recently: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQFAGTW1uqo

In addition to this, I'm teaching corporate English to a few businesses in the evenings. Teaching adults is a totally different game. It's nice to take a break from the kids and work with adults who are always very attentive and interested to learn.

I teach an IT company in Silom and a gold and jewelry company called Pranda Jewelry. They are a HUGE jewelry design and manufacturing company with offices and factories all over Asia and even in The States. I teach about 25 of their designers and sales staff at their headquarters.

Lui is currently studying for her bachelor's degree in International Hotel Management at an international university with the Blue Mountain double-degree program. She is expected to finish in about 3 years. She's been working hard to get and maintain some very impressive grades.


In the short time we've been here, we've made a few excursions around Bangkok and some outlying areas. Last month we visited a large market district about 2 hours from downtown. We spent the evening on a boat touring through some areas with large clusters of fireflies. It was gorgeous (but sadly did not photograph very well).

Here are some shots from the trip. 

Lastly, our condo is about 10 minutes walking distance from a exceptionally awesome Muay Thai training camp called Spirit Fighting Gym www.spiritfightinggym.com. The place is owned and run by a 6'6" Australian dude who's been fighting and coaching his whole life. And let me tell you, you feel the burn baby...you feel the burn.

Here's a look at the gym and the owner sparring a little: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLdD6WF5NUE

Serious Scheiße right there.

Well guys, there ya go. I just wanted to give an update on what's happening in my life now. We expect to be here for at least 2-3 years. And very possibly more. If you haven't been to Thailand, you're missing out.

Thanks for reading. My next post will be on a short trip I made to Cambodia a few months ago before settling down here.