Why Does the Foreign Teacher Always Smell Like Peppermint – How Dare They Not Like Me – Part 5

My shame at failing so miserably turned to anger. I blamed the students for being so rude, the agency for not preparing me properly, and the school for not protecting me from their brats. How dare those kids not like me – I’m the good guy. I’d hoped the rebellious students would identify me as one of their own, but instead of that they treated me like a complete joke. It didn’t seem fair. When I’m hit by self-pity it bites hard.

I’d promised to give an introduction lesson in Seacon Square that evening, but the thought of facing students again didn’t appeal at all. I wanted to just ring the school and cancel. I held back because regretting impulsive decisions was becoming too much of a habit lately. I decided to go for a beer instead; this would calm me down and allow my thoughts to flow smoothly again. The recent stress had cured my hangover and my throat now felt like sandpaper.

Reality Bites with the Help of Singha Beer

I found a bar not too far from the school in Ladprao; I didn’t care if anyone saw me. It took two large bottles of Singha before my mind had slowed down enough for rational thought. The tension in my stomach eased. Failing at teaching wasn’t just bad for my ego; there were more practical concerns. I’d need to use the last of my available credit card limit to try and find a cheap flight home – but which home? If I returned to Ireland it would be difficult to find work; I wasn’t registered as a nurse there. If I went back to England I’d need to start again, because there was no home to go to; I’d even cashed in my NHS pension.

There was going to be another implication of quitting teaching and returning back to Europe – and that was Tep. I’d filled her head with ideas of how great it was going to be if we lived together in Bangkok and she bought it. Our relationship continued to get more and more dysfunctional by the day, but I just didn’t have the guts to end it (I talk about this part of my life in Dead Drunk and so I won’t bother the reader with it too much here). There was no doubt that Tep would go berserk with my plan to stop teaching after just one morning.

I knew that if I didn’t at least give the adult class a try I’d regret it later. My nausea returned at the thought of facing students again, but I decided that it needed to be done. I reached a compromise by deciding that if things went badly I’d just walk out. This get-out clause eased my dread slightly; a third bottle of Singha helped as well.

Seacon Square is a Huge Department Store

I arrived early in Seacon Square an hour before the agreed time. I like to be early for things; especially something work related. This extra time would also give me the chance to walk off some of the effects of the afternoon booze. I’d already purchased a pack of Fisherman’s Friends so that my breath would smell less beery. With thirty minutes still to go I began looking for the office; twenty five minutes later and I still couldn’t find it and panic was setting in.

The department stores in Bangkok are huge; a lot bigger than anything I’d ever visited in Ireland or even England for that matter. Floor after floor of shops and there never seems to be an obvious way to walk around them; too many options when it comes to turns. I’d been only given vague instructions about how to find the private school, but I didn’t think this was going to be a problem because how hard could it be to find somewhere in a department store?

I swallowed my pride and rang the office for directions. Someone answered the phone almost immediately but they couldn’t understand what I was asking. I was put on hold, but after a couple of minutes of waiting I gave up. I noticed some students walking to an area away from the main shops; it seemed sensible to follow them. I was rewarded because this was the part of the store where all the private teaching offices were located.

Business English and Serious Faces

I hadn’t really been told much by Tracy about this job opportunity. I knew that it was to be an introduction lesson, and that if things went well I’d be given regular work. I was expecting to have a nice chat with the school administrators, hopefully with a nice cup of coffee, before being gently guided into the introduction class. What happened was that I walked though the office door, and before I’d finished introducing myself they had stuck a Business English Book in my hand and pointed to a classroom across the corridor. I vaguely heard somebody muttering that I was late.

Six adults were waiting for me inside the classroom – one of them offered a polite smile. I had no plan and another class of “what is your occupation?” wasn’t going to cut it. I introduced myself and asked them to tell me what they had studied in their last lesson. I was still out of breath from all the rushing around; I was talking too fast and these students had no idea what I was saying.

I opened the book and flipped through it saying “where? where?” Any outside observer might have suspected that it was the teacher who couldn’t speak English. Things weren’t going well at all. My decision to cut and run if things went pear-shaped was getting more attractive by the second. Just as I was about to give up one of the women got my meaning; she indicated the the chapter that they had studied last time.

I somehow stumbled to the end of the class. These older students didn’t openly mock me, but I could tell that they were far from impressed by my lesson. I’d a sore jaw from smiling and I’d tried my best to be fun, but all I got was serious faces staring back at me for the full fifty minutes. I expected that these students would go straight to the office and complain afterwards. I couldn’t blame them if they wanted their money back; it was so obvious that I was no language teacher. For the second time in less than six hours I walked away from a class feeling like a complete failure.

The Story so Far

Why Does The Foreign Teacher Always Smell Like Peppermint? – Part 1
Why Does The Foreign Teacher Always Smell Like Peppermint? – Part 2
Why Does the Foreign Teacher Always Smell Like Pepperment? – Part 3
Why Does the Foreign Teacher Always Smell Like Peppermint – Sleepy Thai Girl -Part 4
Why Does the Foreign Teacher Always Smell Like Peppermint – How Dare They Not Like Me – Part 5
Why Does the Foreign Teacher Always Smell Like Peppermint – Beers, Jokes, and Gameboys – Part 6
Why Does the Foreign Teacher Always Smell Like Peppermint Part 7 –The Thailand Paperwork Nightmare
Why Does the Foreign Teacher Always Smell Like Peppermint – Bad Reputation Part 8