I don't know if I have mentioned it here before, but I have changed my status at my school to "part-time" instructor for now. I still have high hopes of starting work on a PhD soon, so hopefully this will free up some of my time so I can start working on that.
The extra time is the good news. The bad news is that I don't have a work permit or the year-long work visa any more. So that means that I will have to make the infamous "Border Run" on a regular basis.
My 30-day tourist visa expired on the 15th, so last week I decided to head to my favorite border country: Laos. I wanted to apply for a 3-month Non-Immigrant B visa at the Thai Embassy. Supposedly all I needed was an invitation letter addressed to the Embassy in Vientiane from my school, a couple of photos, and a few baht.
However, my school told me that they couldn't address the letter to the embassy, and instead would just address it to me. Well, my previous experience was that the Thai embassy in Singapore wouldn't like that idea, but the one in Vientiane might be ok with it. However, it appears that the embassy in Vientiane is following the law a little bit more closely these days, and I even after the long trip to Laos, I was denied the 3-month visa.
Amazingly, though, on this entire trip I was very conscious of my very bo bpen yang ("no worries", in Lao language) attitude about the trip and about life. The train ride up was pleasant, even though we arrived 3 hours late and I had to wait until the next day to visit the Embassy. My dealings with the embassy were pleasant even as they told me no. The time spent in Vientiane was pleasant, even though my favorite guesthouse only had the small room facing the street available for me. My trip back over the border to Thailand was pleasant, even though I was questioned for 30 minutes by three different Immigration officers because of the complicated issues around my visas.
So it's interesting for me to look back at the links I posted above of a very similar experience three years ago. (I can't believe it has been so long.) Sure, it's frustrating sometimes when you don't get the service or the help that you need, but it's all about how you deal with the frustrations that is important. It's all about the bo bpen yang.