Welcome to Bangkok!

Hello! (Or สวัสดี!)

I’m Nate, and I live in Bangkok.

If you’ve read my blog before you’ll know that I have mainly used it as a means to promote my music and explain my mindset when it comes to writing songs. Well I’m afraid I don’t have any new music for you for the moment. I’ve decided to go on a little adventure instead.

I still intend to write music, so if you’re one of my die-hard (and unknown) fans… hold your horses will ya? Rome wasn’t built in a day you know… But my old stuff can be found…. here:

Albums can be downloaded (for free) here:
https://fromyourinfluence.bandcamp.com/

Or if you like your music in a visual way:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9wQQd6W9fvJh6GDp92zc2g

Before I tell you about my little change of lifestyle we must go back a little and see what led me to get here… think Christopher Nolan if you’re a little prone to dramatics like myself. Picture the scene; aspiring musician, frustrated teacher, serial monogamist, manic depressive, self defeating, self labeling, narcissistic tendencies, good intentions… but a little misguided. I moved to Manchester in a similar state, hoping to start again and ‘find myself’ as a young twenty-something. But as a nearly thirty something you shouldn’t still be fighting these battles right? You should have your character cemented into the proverbial pavement and join the ranks of acceptance I always figured… Yeah well, that didn’t happen for me.

I’ve pretty much covered my past in my previous album and it’s ramblings so if you want to check these out in more detail then i’d encourage you to scroll down a little and read some of my previous posts. But in summary… I wasn’t really a happy bunny. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty lucky in a lot of respects; great friends and family, a noble career choice in teaching. But for a lot of reasons I felt like I was just floating around and not making the most of my life.

About a year ago I met with some of my closest friends who had been on holiday to Thailand. They spoke of its beauty, its food, how easily its capital was to navigate, and how hot it was. I found myself thinking… “What am I doing freezing my ass off here in England?!” A couple of months later I ran into an old friend at a wedding, he had moved back to his home to take over his family business; a private school based in Bangkok. That’s when it all began.

So I handed my notice in at work, told the people close to me of my plans and on the 6th of April 2015 I left England. After an emotional last day, made worse by my hangover courtesy of a send off with my closest friend, packed with my essentials I flew further across the world than I’ve ever been before to the city of Bangkok… Unfortunately they left my bag in Abu Dhabi. Undeterred I filled out a lost bag form, collected some compensation money and met my friend Gong at the airport. My bag turned up 3 days later if you were interested. Unfortunately they tortured it for information regarding its desired destination:
Gong very kindly helped me get setup at an unbelievable pace. Seems like things move at a faster pace here in some respects, within a day I’d found a great place to stay with luxuries I just wouldn’t have access to in England (no not THOSE luxuries, behave yourself. I speak of the swimming pool and gym). I can’t tell you how much Gong has helped me here, and I am eternally grateful to him for his kindness and generosity… and patience whilst battling the Thai process of getting a mobile phone.

My first week in Thailand was Thai new year, or “songkran”. It’s basically a city wide water fight where everyone and everyone spends 3 days completely soaking wet. But then again, in the heat it can be quite refreshing, long as you don’t think too deeply about the source of the water. I visited my friends school and the children were getting involved in the fun.

Unless you’ve experienced it, it’s hard to imagine how crazy the water fighting really is. Not in a malicious way, but it’s just open season. Sat on a hot sweaty bus to work? No problem! Pedestrians will throw buckets of water through the windows as you pass to cool you down! On your moped speeding through the busiest street in Bangkok? Swarms of children with over sized water pistols will swarm you at the lights. Visiting the tourist areas of Bangkok for the first time? Expect to see this kind of scene (not my video, but you get the point. Apologies for the music):

By chance a friend I had recently met was in Bangkok for my first weekend so we ventured out to the infamous (depending on who you talk to) Sukhumvit Road to see the sights. We grabbed some food at one of the colossal malls:

Which have some of the most sophisticated and advanced toilets I’ve ever seen:

Until you read the fine print:

Sticking with sophistication… we visited a roof top bar:

And some more grounded places:

On the Sunday the exhaustion of flying had finally caught up with us, and we managed to oversleep by quite a long shot. When we surfaced, we deiced to do something a bit cultured and see some of the Buddhist monuments and greenery around Bangkok. Unfortunately it was organised by me and my language barrier, so we ended up at a Zoo:

All these promises of culinary treats in Thailand? No day organised by me is complete without the sorriest looking KFC you’ve ever seen:

In my defence, it was closing…. they were out of mostly everything.

I’ve been here a month now and I’m starting to get used to the ways in which things are here. The crazy traffic, the heat, the steep learning curve of living in a country with a completely different language. I’m spending my days studying the language, using the facilities to try and improve my fitness, exploring the markets for different food, trying to meet new people and share new experiences. So i thought I’d use my blog for a while to tell you my stories and opinions about being abroad… if you care to read them.

I’m in the process of sorting out the logistics of my job out here, so join me next time when Ill be talking about working life in Bangkok.

Until then know that if you’re reading this I probably miss you, and I probably think of you often.

As always.

From your Influence.
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