Last Day now September 30th

It appears my last day here in Malaysia will now be the end of September. I met with HR today and it appears that is when I will receive my final pay, EPF payment, and tax clearance out of the country. Yippee Kai Yai I say :-)

I will be back in Canada for Thanksgiving and my Mother's 90th birthday on October 8th! Not many folks make that ripe old age so it is cause for celebration.

Most teachers have disappeared for the coming week as it is a week of school holidays. Some to Sri Lanka, some to Thailand, one to paris, etc. I will stay put I think because I am just coming off a 10 day vacation.

I ask Jordan to take Yammy, my motorcycle for a spin so the battery will be charged for when I get back. I should be able to get a few weeks of riding in before the cold hits Ottawa.

I am still not sure where I will be living but I am not too worried as things usually work out okay.

It looks like rain and I did not remember my umbrella so I make leave a little early to miss the rain.

TTYL,
 have a great weekend :-)
Jim

390th Post :-)

I definitely slowed down in my postings over the past year. As most of you know, my personal life was in great upheaval and most of the time I did not want to, or could not share what was going on in my life. However, I will soon pass 400 postings in a two and a half years so that is not too bad.

I hope to be in Canada in October and really look forward to seeing the trees colour and smell fresh, unpolluted fall air. You folks really do not appreciate the air quality you have in Canada. Living in Malaysia is like toking on an exhaust pipe much of the time. It is so bad, that you have to rinse your eyes with sterile water to flush the crud from them if you do much walking outside.

Another thing I miss is being able to turn on the cold water tap and get cold water ... that, and being able to drink it, knowing it is free of sediment and heavy chemicals. Canada is blessed with much of the world's clean, fresh water and that bodes well for the future in a world that is running short of water in many countries.

I don't take many pictures these days as someone kept all the cameras when I seperated. That is why you have not seen many pics as of late. I have many fond memories of trips to Krabi, Phi Phi, and Bangkok and hopefully I will share those stories in this blog one day. They are interesting tales and those of you who read my camel diaries will enjoy them.

It is also interesting not having a place to call home. My house is sold now and when I arrive back in Canada I may have claim to being the oldest boomerang kid on the planet as I will be staying with my mom for a while. I left home at 19 ... strange :-)

I do have my SUV and motorcycle so I am mobile when I get back. Some of my teacher friends are returning back to Canada with no place to call home and no car. It is not that big a deal as that is how we live here in S.E. Asia. We rent and walk or cab everywhere and own very little. It's a very nomadic lifestyle and I am sure it is not for everyone. Many of these teachers, however, do not have the luxury of an Ontario Teacher's pension which is something I can always count on. Teacher's employed in Canada have something very, very special and is becoming exceedingly rare in modern society, a pension that is indexed.

TTYL,

Jim

A Little While Longer :-(

It appears that I will be in Malaysia a little while longer. The Malaysian bureaucracy is slowing down my exit procedures. Next week is also a major Muslim holiday period and the government will not start processing my EPF (Malaysian pension benefits) and will also withhold my August pay. It could be kraft dinner or peanut butter toast for a month.

I really can't leave Malaysia without getting paid first. Can't really travel much either. Good news is I will have lots of time for programming :-)

I will be back in Canada in October which is probably my favourite month with the trees changing colors, warm days, and cool nights.

TTYL,

Jim

Back in Bangkok

I had a great time on Phi Phi island and took the time to get to know some locals and now have great info on how I can live in Phi Phi for $450 for a month (room). The food was great and the variety of visitors coming and going was awesome ... folks from all over the world.

I figure I can survive quite easily on my pension and live like a king in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, etc. I have also heard it is pretty much the same in Venezuela and perhaps Brazil, which I would like to explore next.

I would also be remiss if I did not say you can get a very nice condo in North Carolina for $1,000 CDN in November-March frame time as it is off season. This is Larry Brown's favourite destination as he is adverse to leaving the continent.

Now, the problem becomes finding a reasonable place to stay in canada for 6 months of the year and travel to other exotic places for a month at a time from October to April. That could present a problem. Maybe a long term rental of a cottage property.

Seafoof in Krabi, Phi Phi, and Bangkok is simply incredible.

TTYL,

Jim

Phi Phi

I am writingthis from a seaside bar in Phi Phi. Apparently this is the off season in Krabi and also the rainy season. It has rained once in 3 days at 5 am in the morning for an hour so rain is not an issue. There are also lots of travellers as well so I guess I am not the only one that does not check the rainy seasons. The weather is great.

The hotel rooms are also quite a bit less expensive because it is off season. Apparently September is the month of greatest precipitation so that month may be a little iffy so be warned.

I head back to Bangkok on Friday and timing is a little tight. I catch the ferry at 9 am and it is 90 minutes to Krabi and then I must catch a taxi to the airport which takes about 45 minutes. So 9 am feery, arrive at 10:30, taxi to airport for 45 mins and arrive at 11:15 and fly out at 12:15, tight but doable I hope,

Time to enjoy the scenery and weather.

TTYL,

Jim

13 Days :-)

It is the weekend and I am off to Bangkok to visit my friend John. I find I need regular mini vacations after 2 years in Malaysia. I find Bangkok refreshing, not in terms of climate, but in terms of spirit, kharma, or whatever. It just seems less messed up and more fair.

Not much else going on in my life at the moment so TTYL,

Jim

14 Working Days

I am busy cleaning up the June ONSIS submission so I leave Taylors uptodate with ONSIS. It is pretty boring work, work I usually refer to as monkey work. The hard part is concentrating so you don't make mistakes.

Other than that hot and humid as always. I had supper with Jaime last night, pizza at Papa Johns. Jaime had to choose between 2 pizzas, one with a cream sauce and one with a tomato sauce. She wanted the tomato and asked the waitress which came with the tomato and she pointed it out. Unfortunately Jaime has not learned to choose the other and she got the cream sauce. That is life in Malaysia.

I was in a book store the other night and wanted a book in the 'Chicken Soup Inspirational Series' and asked the clerk to take me to where I would find it. He obviously understood chicken soup but not inspirational as we ended up in the cooking section. I long for people who I can actually speak the Queen's English with and be understood. That is life in Malaysia. Singapore, in contrast, is an English speaking nation.

That's enough for today, so TTYL,

Jim

17 Work Days Remaining

Singapore was fantastic as always ... very clean, people are courteous, and Universal Studios has very small wait times for attractions. You can even find Black Angus steaks and prime rib.

Drivers stop at stop signs and beckon you to cross ... rather than trying to run you down to get to the mall 30 seconds earlier.

It's all good,

TTYL,

Jim

29 Days

Jaime has come down with the Asian flu/first year of teaching bug and has been sick for a few days. Jordan has finally surfaced and answered my SMS so all are present and accounted for.

I have been indulging in too much beer and wings and have to either start working harder at the gym or go on a diet. Coach Brown would be proud of me, giving into the dark side of the wings :-)

Not much else to say ... today is like every other day in Malaysia, hot and sticky. At work I am writing up my report on the CPU Blended Learning Pilot which was semi successful and supported the research in it's findings. Students do a little bit better or the same academically but prefer the freedom to work any place, anywhere, anytime.

Change is never easy and we are having trouble getting the other 50% of the teachers onboard and willing to take the change. Sometimes the younger teachers are the worst because they just want to teach the way they were taught and it is very fresh in their minds. Go figure. Oh well, you don't find many risk takers in education but you would think you would find more of them from the select few that would consider teaching on the other side of the planet.

TTYL,

Jim

30 Days Remaining

It is the month of August and my last month at Taylors. Just to reiterate, Taylors is a great place to work so if you are considering teaching overseas, you could not ask for a better place to start. Most teachers come and stay for 2 years but 1 and 3 years is also not unusual.

The students are great and the staff is varied. The only downside is about 33% of the staff turns over every year. The students also change over every year as they are usually only at Taylors for 2 semesters. I do stay in contact with many of my students through facebook.

I checked with many of my ex students and most of them seem to be maintaining their averages that they obtained at CPU. If a student graduated with an 85 average at CPU they are maintaining that average at a Canadian University. I would think we did a good job at CPU or they are just working really hard. Probably, a little bit of both.

This weekend I am heading to Singapore to visit Sentosa Island which is home to Universal studios.  I will report back to you on how it stacks up with Orlando's Universal Studios.

TTYL,

Jim