Strange Teacher I

The first strange teacher that I became acquainted with during my teaching career was named John T. He was in his late 20, came from the state of New York and claimed to have a Masters Degree in Art from some NYC University. However, he never produced this degree. Said that his university would not release it as he had student fees, which were unpaid.

John was really full of himself and had an ego as wide as the Chao Phraya River. This was his second time in Thailand as an English Teacher and he knew all about it or so he professed. His other work experience as he claimed, was as a graphic artist for a computer game company. I must admit, that his artistic talents were very good so this was possible.

As the school provides housing for its teachers we all lived together. On the ground floor was a large living area with cable TV, a dining area, two toilets, a cooking area and laundry facilities. The upper two floors were bedrooms for the individual teachers.

My first confrontation with John came about after he went into the living area, disconnected the TV intended for all the teachers and took it to his room. He even did this while one of our mild manner, non-confrontational teachers as actually sitting there watching a program. Being the cool level headed person that I am (not) I went into orbit when I returned and was informed what he had done. Using my most colorful language which I mastered in my 24 years of naval service, I marched up to John’s room and we had a discussion. Shortly thereafter the TV was returned to its proper location.

Once a month on payday, John would venture to the adult entertainment area of Bangkok and procure the services of a companion. I refer to them as rentals. He would then spend the rest of the month talking of this conquest to anyone who would listen. He also had the habit of drawing their picture, over and over again, in a large sketchpad that he maintained. The rest of the time John mostly just stayed in his room. On weekdays he stayed in his room playing videos games and having KFC delivered. Weekends were special. He would enter his room on Friday evening and not exit until Monday morning. Outside his door on Monday morning you could find beer bottles, and stacks of pizza boxes. When asked what he did while secluded in his room his reply was “Eat pizza, drink beer, watch porno and masturbate”. Needless to say we didn’t want to hear more.

Johns time with us only lasted about three months. Seems as if he followed one of his grade 6 students into the girl’s toilet. This was reported by the student and he was dismissed. He was then off to another teaching job in Thailand.

Teaching abilities on a scale of 10: 6