Angela Killian

Every time I go to the United States people ask about my daily life in Thailand. It’s hard to explain what you do on a daily basis when the shock of a new culture pretty much wore off years ago. People crave stories about how it was different from the U.S. and what I did all day. So I decided to make a blog post about a typical day in the life of Angie in Thailand…

I wore several hats while living in Thailand. I worked full time the majority of the time, but I was also fortunate enough to experience the housewife life for 8 months. Housewifery without children plus a maid makes for a pretty boring blog, so I’m only sharing my worker bee day.

6:00am Wake Up
I love sleeping more than most things. In fact, I can nap pretty much anywhere anytime. I’ve always explained to people that this is a side effect of my low blood pressure, but the truth is that I just love to sleep. As much as I love sleeping, I’m one of the best at waking up and getting started. Thank you, Starbucks for forcing me out of bed at 4:30am for 4 years in college…

I rolled out of bed in the morning after only a few seconds of the alarm going off. I never wanted to wake Joe up since he wasn’t due at his corporate job until HOURS later.

I immediately got all things hygiene out of the way. I’m not one of those girls who relishes in the ludicrous amount of time it takes to prep and prime your skin, hair and nails. I splashed cold water on my face not by choice, but by default as there was only lukewarm water available in 1 shower head at my house. All the sink water was cold. Every morning I fantasized about how nice it would be to wash my face with hot water. Then, I brushed my teeth and quickly put in my contacts. I’m blind without them.

6:05am RUN
I gained about 15 pounds while living in Thailand. Mostly from getting older and not eating right, but also from a lack of exercise. Typical Thai workdays are 10-12 hours after all…Despite my horrendous working hours I committed to running outside just before the sun came out at least 3 days per week. As soon as I cleaned up my diet and started doing cardio, the weight fell off. It was a little bit sketchy outside that early in the morning. The road I ran on was near the airport so there were always cars on it at all hours. I saw it as motivation to run faster not only to avoid oncoming traffic, but to also avoid being late for work.

6:25am Shower, Coffee and Brekkie
I learned to take the fastest showers ever in the morning. It never mattered how clean I got anyways because I would be sweating buckets as soon as I stepped outside.

The local coffee was what you’d expect from Asia- bitter and strong. I usually bought the cheapest stuff which was local. On occasion I’d receive Starbucks as a gift and I’d save it for the weekends when Joe would partake in homemade iced coffee. Throughout my morning routine I would reheat my coffee at least 3-4 times. It never stayed hot long enough…

When I was an English teacher and burning a million calories a day chasing 7 year olds around and / or walking to work, I ate instant oatmeal for breakfast. It started with the instant packets that my sister and mom had sent me in the mail and then I discovered that unflavored steel cut oats were available in most supermarkets in Phuket. I’d add a little honey, soy milk and a pinch of salt – mmm…heaven!

Sadly, when I began working an office job I had to modify my diet to stop the inevitable weight gain that comes with turning 25 and sitting on your ass all day. So I switched to eating 5 egg whites with ketchup or salsa – it’s tastier than it sounds!

6:30am Make-Up and Clothes
You’ll notice that “hair” isn’t on this list. I never did my hair for work no matter what job I was at. The heat and humidity in Thailand was excruciating. The only hairstyle I could manage was pulling it all up in a clip (I used the same black hair clip for 4 years and still use it today) or the occasional braid. Everyday all my female Thai colleagues had perfectly straight or curled hair with no frizz and perfectly applied eyeliner, blush and lipstick. All I could manage was Bare Minerals powder foundation (perfect for humid climates and it’s the only make-up I’ve used in 10 years), light blush from MAC that I smuggled in from the U.S. and a little mascara from whatever crappy local brand was available. I immediately regretted the days I got adventurous with eye shadow, liner and lip gloss – everything would MELT off my oily complexion by lunch time.

Luckily I always had a uniform to wear at my jobs so dressing in the morning was mindless. I routinely laid out whatever I planned to wear the next day on the guest bed, which was more or less “Angie’s Room” since I used the guest room closet and bathroom as my own. Who wants to share with a boy?

After packing a 2nd or 3rd cup of coffee to-go in my hot pink coffee traveler from Walmart that my mom got me, I was out the door by 7:00am carrying my coffee, 2L water bottle, purse and packed lunch.

7:00am Commute to Work
The hotel I worked at most recently was located 1 hour south of my house. The drive was long, but full of spectacular views. I took the narrow, winding beach road pretty much the whole way. Most mornings I would pass monks and elephants on the road which never became commonplace in my mind.

7:55am Risk Life to Find Parking
The taxi mafia was alive and well on the street in front of the hotel. After battling for the PUBLIC street parking with the mafia I decided to park as far away as possible. Although it was inconvenient to park far away, it forced me to walk more and allowed me to see the stunning beach sunset. Every morning the matted power lines hanging above the streets buzzed and sparked. I walked as fast as I could under the sparking / buzzing parts to avoid calamity so early in the day.

8:00am Work
Every day of work was different, but it always started with checking email for 1-2 hours before the daily morning meeting.

10:00am – 11:00am Morning Brief
Morning Brief was the time of day when all department heads got together to talk about what was happening that day. The General Manager would always open up the meeting with any exciting news regarding the hotel such as renovations or celebrity guests and then he would call on every member of the table for their turn to share information. I always felt a little bit anxious about what I was going to say when it was my turn. I loved the days when I had nothing to share because I didn’t have to think about how to phrase what I wanted to express. Most of the people around the table spoke English as a second language so I learned to simplify my language. I still find myself speaking in simple, straightforward terms to avoid any confusion. It’s terrible for enriching your vocabulary!

1:00pm Lunch
I started eating lunch in the staff canteen to bond with my fellow officemates, but the process was long and everyone usually only spoke Thai. It felt the same as eating lunch alone since I wasn’t in on the lunchroom conversations. I started getting into the Thai soap operas that were always playing in the canteen. They were so dramatic and usually revolved around one hot Thai girl stealing the boyfriend / husband of another hot Thai girl. Sometimes the girls in the lunchroom would fill me in on the soap opera details. Once I had my own office, I ate by myself at my desk while surfing the web and relishing in the peace and quiet.
I ate my packed lunch which was usually grilled chicken breast and veggies. The Thai people were always astounded that I ate the same thing every day and WITHOUT rice. Some days I would eat carbs if the canteen made fried rice or fried noodles because it was SO DELICIOUS and FREE.

Every day after lunch the Thai girls would brush their teeth in the communal staff bathroom. Across the board, every Thai girl brushed her teeth after lunch which wasn’t a bad habit, but was still shocking to see. Previously I would have thought it was odd if I saw people in the office brushing their teeth in the public bathroom. The only place most Americans would be caught brushing their teeth in public would be at the airport bathroom.

6:00pm Finish Work
By this time I was always counting down the minutes because a 10 hour work day is far too long! I shut down my computer, turned off the lights and used the bathroom one last time before starting my hour commute home.
I usually hit up the 7-11 that I passed on foot while walking to my car. Most of the time I got a couple of Sam Miguel lights and nuts or a banana. Sometimes I’d get dark chocolate to savor in the car.

I loved leaving Patong Beach at that time because the sun was setting and all the beach-goers were out and about. There was always music blaring from tuk tuks and lots of open alcohol containers. The jet-ski rental guys were always loading up their trailers around that time too. Some of them would be enjoying large beers on the sidewalk before packing up for the day. Everyday I was envious of the bronzed and burned tourists who were finishing up another perfect day in paradise.

7:00-7:30pm Arrive Home
I always got home after dark since the sun set at 6:00pm. It really sucked getting home after sundown because it always made it feel much later than it really was. I was doing 12 hour days inclusive of the commute and really only had time to workout early in the morning before work. I tried running outside at night before and got a mouth full of bugs and nearly run over by speeding tour buses.

Joe was usually home on the couch when I arrived and was ready to greet me with a hug. If he wasn’t home, he was at the gym. Sometimes he would even have dinner waiting which was a HUGE sigh of relief.

I’d quickly shower, put on my nightgown and eat whatever cold leftovers I had in the fridge (when dinner wasn’t served by Joe). Usually I would cook 2 times per week and we’d live off of the leftovers all week. Dinner typically consisted of Amy’s Organic canned soup (minestrone or tomato), salad and a piece of chicken breast with some kind of sauce to make it palatable.
Joe and I would watch TV shows in the living room until about 8:30 or 9pm when we would move into the bedroom. He always stayed up later than me since he didn’t have to wake up as early. So I’d pass out next to him while he watched whatever mindless show he was on that week to help him wind down.

Saturday and Sundays
I would still usually wake up early-ish out of habit, but I ALWAYS went for a 3 mile run and hit the gym to lift weights at least one of those days. Most workout sessions were followed by a beach session / walk and sometimes day drinking / shopping. One of our favorite things to do was go to the outdoor shopping mall where we could people watch, drink and shop. We were pretty productive on the weekends unless we partied too hard one night. Most weekends included at least one hangover day, but they became few and far in between the longer we were in Thailand.

Joe and I spent every minute together on the weekends. We went to the movies a lot because they were cheap- only $10 USD for 2 tickets, a popcorn and 2 sodas. We always ravenously finished the popcorn before the previews even finished! Every Saturday we would say, “You know what the best thing about today is? We have ALL day off tomorrow too!”
Sundays were for stocking up on food and meal prepping for the week. We usually had to hit up a few stores to get all the ingredients we needed. Some weeks there would be a “chicken famine” and there would literally be zero chicken available in the stores. So we learned to be creative and eat whatever was available, but it was difficult to obtain enough protein for our meat-loving selves.