Mexico.Belize.Thailand.Japan.

Phuket, Thailand: I could study here.

Oh my, the possibilities are ENDLESS. As I sit here on a Saturday afternoon at the march wellness fitness floor computer, I am getting more and more excited with every thought, every click of the mouse, every page I read, every idea I have while researching teaching English in another country! Just the thought of being in another country by itself is enough to get my daydreaming, idealistic self all riled up. I am going to make this happen. I am going to travel. If I end up not enjoying teaching English, then I'll just stop.. and do something else. I HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE. So I might as well try anything that I want to try. As long as I am smart about it and I make the appropriate plans and take the necessary precautions, why not just DO IT. Worst (realistic) case scenario (realistic meaning, nothing involving injury, illness, or death of course) is that I end up back home in the good ol' USofA sooner than I anticipated with little to no money and I go back to training and/or go back to school. That's a pretty good 'worst case' if you ask me.

The thought of doing this with Ramman makes it that much better. Ever since we met we've been dreaming about going on adventures together and seeing the world. Now we can give ourselves that opportunity. By doing our research and carefully planning (as carefully as one can plan when deciding to travel the world sort of open-endedly), and setting up an ideal situation for ourselves in someplace like Japan, we could open up all sorts of other opportunities. I truly believe that we can create our ideal lifestyle in a place with white sandy beaches, living simply, with frequent trips to visit family and friends, and minimum stress and maximum creativity. How, I don't exactly know- but if I knew that now, I'd be there already! That is the fun of life, figuring IT out as best you can, and having fun along the way. I refuse to buy into the program that so many people have fallen victim to, without even knowing it. It's the program of a "9-5" and being part of a machine that is only meant to improve the lives of the chosen few who are already at the top and coincidentally (or NOT) aren't the ones who need lifestyle improvements or assistance. This is not to say that I just want to sit on the beach and drink pina coladas for the rest of my life and let my mind and heart wither away with inactivity. No, actually, it's exactly the opposite that I am after. FREE TIME. To do the things that really light the fire. Help people, teach people, make things with my hands, grow things, fix things, build things, contribute to humanity in tangible ways. To be able to do all of these sorts of things without the stress of American life as I have experienced it thus far. I want to be an ex patriot. I want to come back, but I have to leave for a while.

Some of you nay-sayers (not all of you, but there are a lot of them out there) might be asking how the hell I'm planning on achieving this lifestyle by teaching English in another country... Well, I'm not- that is just the beginning. I know that once I do something big like leave home to go live in another country for a year, the lights will come on and the doors will open. ALL. OVER. THE. WORLD. I have an amazing partner, we don't have any kids or property (except Toro, who I will have to place with somebody while I am gone), now is the time to start this adventure.

So far it looks like for the actual teaching job itself Japan will be the best option. Ramman and I have a friend, Jenni, who taught there for two years and can hook us up (if not help us, or one of us, get hired there) with contacts. Japan pays the most and in the smaller cities outside of Tokyo and Osaka, the cost of living modestly is not too high. And even though we bombed the shit out of them in World War II, thanks to the tried-and-true war games executed geniusly by Roosevelt, the Japanese people LOVE them some Americans. It will be so incredible to be in the Japanese culture and living a completely different lifestyle than what I am used to. And even though Japanese isn't the first on my list of languages to learn, hey it's a start. Plus, I LOVE Japanese food. Jenni lived there in 2000 and paid $400 a month for a 1 bedroom with shoji screens and tatami mats that was big enough for two people. And she surely was paid at least $2000-$2400 a month. She taught people of all ages, from babies and moms to business men and doctors. She said she would have stayed had 9/11 not happened.

So, next up: find the course to take and register. CELTA is the best course to take as it is the most highly accredited certification. Then there is a TESOL/TEFL course that is almost just as good (I am still a little confused about what course is what and if some of them are the same with multiple names). These courses run anywhere from $1200-$2600 depending on where you take it. Phuket, Thailand offers the course for $1600 including accommodations (a modest room or hotel room) and possibly even some food. The course is 4 weeks long and goes from 9am-6pm every weekday (Fridays you are done at 3pm). In Thailand you can eat for $5 a day. And if we didn't want to stay in the accommodations provided we could find a nicer place for like $300 for one month. There is a course that starts pretty much every month of the year, so you just pick the month you want to go and register for it. The ONLY thing I have a reservation with is registering for the course which costs A LOT of money, online. A little sketch. So hopefully more research and answered questions will shed some light on this matter.

The MOST IDEAL situation for us would be this: save money like our lives depend on it, leave the US around January, go to Mexico and/or Belize for a month, fly to Thailand from there, take the month long CELTA course, apply for jobs in Japan, travel around a bit more, go to Japan and teach English for a year, and then..........