Around my birthday in 2017, not another ordinary birthday, but one that marks an important life benchmark, a breakup with my 7.5-year boyfriend threw me off balance and made me felt a desperate need for a change of scenery.
It must have been God’s will that the job offer from the BBC came around that same time.
So in just over a week of deliberating, and no more than two months of preparation, I packed everything that was once my life into boxes, dumped them in the garage, left California, and headed to Bangkok, Thailand.
To start a new life, or rather a new adventure, completely alone, at an age when most friends have already or are about to ‘stop wandering’, is considered a drastic move, dangerous and impulsive by most of my friends, and probably some relatives.
‘’You are really brave!’’ One friend said. What she probably meant is, you are crazy.
‘’I didn’t think you would really end up going, but here you are, ready to go!’’, my younger sister, who has urged me not to, lamented, looking around my empty house, for one last time.
The day I left America, my son took me to the airport, hugging his mom, tightly and a little teary: “Take care mom, really take care. Enjoy your work, have a blast in Thailand, everywhere else, and then hurry home to us. ”
Well, the job I enjoy, really enjoy, Thailand I also enjoy but Bangkok, tourists’ most popular city in the world, for me, took more than a little time to get used to.
And to this date, nearly seven months into the adventure, although slowly adjusting, I am still learning to like it.
Too many things to get used to and some are almost impossible to.
It was the constant heat, the humidity, the crowd, the never-ending drove of people everywhere, the language I neither speak nor understand, and what else? Oh, the famous mosquitos who seem to love to follow me around at night. And the poor sewage system underneath the ground in certain parts of the city. So poor that after a rainy day, the heat stirs whatever deep in the ground up and covers the air with a very unpleasant smell.
But if I had to pick out one thing I dislike the most, it’s the extreme heat. It’s so hot that I constantly feel tired, and hate to go outdoor unless it’s before 6am and so chose to stay inside most of the time to enjoy the air conditioning.
In my most frustrating moments, I mentally replay the conversation with the Thai Consul General at the Thai Embassy in Los Angeles, during an interview for a Media Visa.
This poor woman could not fathom the reasons why anyone living in beautiful California would want to move to the capital city of her country.
–Have you been to Bangkok? She inquired.
–Yes, I have several times.
–And did you stay long?
–No, just a couple of weeks each time, as a tourist.
–What do you think of Bangkok?
–I think it’s a little crowded but a vibrant, exciting city, full of life. I replied. What was I supposed to say? I was applying for a Media Visa to go there to work.
–What else do you think about Bangkok?
–Well, I think by living there, I can learn a lot about Thailand, about Thai culture, plus I will be very close to my country, which I have been away from for more than 40 years…
–But why would you want to move from California to Bangkok? We have the perfect weather in California.
–Yes, the weather may be a little hot, but I came from Vietnam, so I am used to the tropical climate. Plus, I can always and will come back here. But I have wanted to live and work in a foreign country for a couple of years, just for the experience. For now, Bangkok, Thailand is an opportunity to do that.
Of course we have the perfect weather, and many more things near perfect in California, which she didn’t mention. I thought.
The weather was unbearable when I arrived in Bangkok in early February 2018 with my four suitcases of personal items, and clothes that quickly proved unusable for Bangkok’s climates.
To make the matter worse, after having been in Bangkok for barely three weeks I had to fly to London for three weeks of training. Imagine coming from Long Beach, California weather of 20C to Bangkok 35C, to London 5C, and then back to Bangkok 35C in just a matter of a month?
But I survived it all thus far. Whoever said the first six months is always the worst, after that, your body adjust, and you adjust, and begin to set up new life routines, was right.
The fact that I can start to write about it now really mean I am feeling more comfortable with the environment here, I think.
Writing, always a hobby, is now also a way of recording my time here, a life-changing event that I would like to remember for the years to come.
And who knows my experience may help someone who may go through a similar experience?