So it was December 2012. By this time I'd gathered up a few private students, who I saw on a regular basis. I was happy with this working arrangement, although I knew I'd have to bring in more money eventually. For the time being, I was still spending every extra moment I had trying to explore and learn more about Thailand.

I got in touch with Dragonfly English Camps, and a few weeks later I was on a bus to the province of Loei for my first ever English Camp. The transport, food and accommodation was taken care of, and the pay on top of that was pretty good. I'm sure you can guess English Camps are also a whole lot of fun, where you spend your time running around with kids of all ages, playing games and being silly. The only downside is that Dragonfly don't make their way up north as often as I'd like, so it would be impossible to make a living through them. If I were down south I would definitely work with them, as they travel around as a team doing camps in cities, towns and even remote villages, staying in all sorts of places and meeting tons of awesome kids.

Check out my photos from my Loei English Camp:

My Friend. Awesome!

A whole lotta scooters!

I'm going to break down some long-term transport options in the city of Chiang Mai. The favoured mode of transport for the masses are scooters of all shapes and sizes, while the common cars are either gas-guzzling mini-tanks or city-friendly smaller cars:

Thailand's favourite car models: Honda Jazz, Isuzu D-Max, Honda City, Toyota Fortuner.

However, cars are unaffordable for many foreigners who move to Chiang Mai, as well as being a rather inefficient way to get around the small city. The next option would usually be a two-wheeled vehicle of some kind:

Thailand's favourite scooter models: Yamaha Nouvo, Honda Dream, Honda Click, Yamaha Mio Fino.

Here are some good places to look for second-hand scooter sales:

• The Seconhand Chiang Mai group on Facebook - by far the biggest and most frequented.
• The Secondhand and Real Estate ChiangMai group on Facebook - also very large.
• Do a search in the Thaivisa Classifieds.
• Or in the Bahtsold Classifieds. Both are very popular.

Another option is to go straight to the huge Saturday and Sunday Bike Market, which is a little way out the centre of the city. My boyfriend bought his bike there and haggled a few thousand Baht off the original price. It's basically like a big Bike Pound, where all sorts of models in all sorts of conditions are waiting to be loved by just the right Falang. Check it out on the map below:



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My boyfriend on his Thai hoodrat bike. So gangster.

And here I am on my bike, which I'm very bad at gesturing to.

Back home in South Africa, I'd already decided months before that I would do my TEFL course in Thailand. My plan was to stay in a guesthouse while I did the course and explore the city, and then get a job immediately afterwards. And that's exactly what I did.

Myself and all my lovely course mates.

I have met and heard of countless people who had done their TEFL course online, and then arrived fresh off the plane in the country they wanted to teach in. In my opinion (and the opinion of many others in the real and virtual world) this is not the way to go. I had never set foot in a classroom as an authority figure and mentor before, and here I was at the naive age of 22 standing in front of 30 unruly teenagers. I believe that having my instructors there to guide me was invaluable, and the feedback received from them afterwards set me on my way to becoming what I hope is now a fairly awesome ESL teacher. On top of that, I had instant friends from all over the world, with all sorts of stories to tell, who were all doing the course with me. It made for many nights out socialising and stressing over teaching practices and grammar tests. Being a bit of an awkward person with a penchant for chatting up stray dogs, I doubt I would have made many foreign human friends within that first month of being abroad.

If you're interested, I did my course through SEE TEFL, which I've learnt is one of the most reputable courses in Chiang Mai. It cost me US $1000 at the time, and I chose to find my own (incredibly cheap) accommodation. I would recommend doing the same, as I had friends from the course stay in the accommodation you can book through the course, and we ended up nicknaming it "The Prison". I'm sure a few reviews online actually confirm that sentiment.

Check out the rest of my photos and some useful links below:

Spoiled with breakfasts at Eagle House.

Eagle House, where I stayed very cheaply for a whole month.

The soi (little road) where Eagle House is.

Another shot of Eagle House, where I sat and worked on my laptop over muesli and smoothies every day.

A nice enough place I stayed initially called Dutch Delicious, but I met a few too many creepy old men here for my liking.

An area of bars popular with foreigners in Chiang Mai.

A confession/warning scribbled on a bar wall.

Another poetic bit of advice, probably from a drunken falang.

Very dirty bathroom walls.

Recommended TEFL Courses and Cheap Guesthouses:

- SEE Tefl - a really nice bunch who offer a lot of support, whether you find a job through them afterwards or not.
- Green Tefl - I've heard good things about this course, and they seem to be the most similar to SEE Tefl, ie: offering job support, teaching experience in real schools, etc. The only difference I could find is that they don't offer you basic Thai lessons which SEE Tefl does.

- Uni Tefl - Another course I've heard good things about. The only downside for me is that it costs $1500, which seems a bit steep compared to some others.
- Eagle House - a cheap and friendly guesthouse - also one of the oldest in Chiang Mai. Even if you don't stay here, you should stop by for some Western comforts - muesli, fresh yoghurt, and sammiches!
- Julie Guesthouse - another cheap and friendly guesthouse that might be good for a longer stay, like Eagle House above.