Home Sweet Home

This little girl is the daughter of one of the construction workers on the property. She has the most contagious laugh and the biggest smile. 

Sa Wa Dee Ka! My friends, sorry for the delay on this blog. The internet has been very touch and go at our apartments and has taken hours to upload pics etc. Speaking of our apartment, I thought I would take you on a little tour of our living quarters as I'm sure most of you are curious to what sort of accommodations we are living in.


 So let me introduce to you, ST Apartments :

It is a brand new building filled with 30 other foreign teachers from around the world. To date we have friends from, Great Britain, The Philippines, Ireland, Holland, America, Romania, China, Russia, Canada and Mexico. The rest of the rooms are filled with Thai Rubber factory workers or random Thais who only frequent the apartment on weekends. Our rent (which is paid for by the school) is a little under 3,000 Baht a month fully furnished. Let me blow your mind for a second and convert that to dollars for you: 3,000 Baht = approx. $95 a month.

Our "Kitchen"

Here is Nick's "Man Cave" 

But what exactly does that get us? A/C, refrigerator, clothing amour, vanity, nightstand, full size bed with 2 pillows, small balcony, a bathroom and unreliable internet (all provided by the apartment complex).


On top of that, the school provides free bedding, a microwave, a desk, and a set of dishes. Find me a job in America that does all that including health insurance and I'll apply for it. Nick and I were both given our own room, for two people it could be a little snug. With no kitchen we are forced to get creative, which is the only downfall. Oh, how I miss cooking in a proper kitchen.  We use Nick's room for cooking, and my room for everything else! As usual, I tried to make it as homey as I could.

My bedroom, complete with a picture 
of the King and Queen! 

 

The Apartment complex is actually really nice. (In my opinion) It is somewhat in the middle of nowhere, so it can get very boring. But getting to Bangkok is just a 45 min taxi ride away... not too bad really. It makes saving money that much easier. 
To make up for the lack of entertainment we are forced to figure it out ourselves. Many of the teachers gather downstairs to share stories about their day. Kick around the "football" [Soccer Ball] for hours with the kids who live in the building, sometimes we play badminton, or volleyball too.  There are also shops on the first floor of the building which I feel I had a big part in creating. IE: recommending a massage parlor.... hahah. There is also a mini mart, a hair salon, coffee shop and stationary store. It is rumored that there will be a gym which I also had a little hand in influencing, as one of the foreign teachers is opening it up! For somewhere to eat, they have been in the process of building a food court where we can purchase dinner. For now we have been cooking our own food or buying delicious grilled chickens from the market across the street! 

The apartment building is brand new. We are the first people to live in our rooms which is really comforting, don't have to deal with another person's mess. Every day they are building something new, whether it is a parking lot, or a cafeteria the workers are kept busy. It is actually pretty interesting the way they work; basically they live where they work. They just build a little community on the land. 
 The little girl at the top of the post lives
there,


and despite what you may think leads a pretty normal life. She goes to school every day and plays at home riding bikes and kicking the ball around. There is also this game called "Sepak-takraw" it is just like volleyball except you cannot use your hands, and they play with a little wicker ball. The kids are my form of entertainment. I have a lot of fun chasing them around and pretending to be a bear as instructed by them. They run and scream from me and I pretend to eat them. Hahah

                                   This is where the builders live. 
                     Complete with a swing and moat for when it rains. 

Here is the view of the factory across the street,
with a crazy storm rolling in. 

Overall, I am satisfied with our situation. We could be in a high rise somewhere in the middle of Bangkok surrounded by a bunch of Westerners, but I think we have a great community of friends. We are surrounded with plenty of culture to soak up, from Thai-to all over the world! I shall leave you with this beautiful sunrise that we watched from the hallway window right outside my room.

Thank you for reading, Hope you enjoyed!

 Cheers!

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QOTD (Question of the day): Would these free accommodations be enough for you, or would find a different job so you could live in a high-rise in Bangkok ?