From Bachelor to Family Man
Life in Hawaii was idyllic. Beekeeping in Hawaii was even better. Being a bachelor beekeeper in Hawaii was the peak of human existence as far as I was concerned at 30 years old. Looking back now at almost 40, I can’t believe how I made it here, to Thailand with my best-friend (Kha), 2 boys (Matt & Marc), a farm, and a growing ESL teaching business.
Welcome Matthew and our Move to Thailand
Our first son, Matt, was born in October 2019 in Hawaii. In November, I shut down my beekeeping business, which had amassed 50 hives over 3 years, and quit my Master’s degree program at the University of Hawaii, where I studied agriculture. On December 18th 2019, we celebrated an early Christmas with the Mills Family and left Hawaii to arrive at our new life with the Kha’s family in Thailand. Less than a week later, a new virus called COVID-19 was discovered in China and in February the first case outside of China was found in Thailand, less than an hour from our new home. Quite an exciting start to life for 3-month old Matt!
Kha returned to her University Lecturer job in Bangkok, but the “new normal” made working from home a dream scenario with a newborn.
Teaching Myself to Teach
Meanwhile, I started a new job as an ESL teacher at Udom School, the same school both of my boys would eventually attend 3 years later. I was fairly miserable. I left bachelor beekeeping for poopy diapers, hot/humid/loud/overcrowded classrooms, long working hours, and low pay. After a month of training, I was told that all teachers would be required to comply with new COVID safety policies; the highly-interactive teaching style I was trained to do was now unacceptable. Frustrated at being trained, and then immediately told to forget, I made an internal decision to teach for myself and the kids, not for the school or employer.
Teaching became fun. I started calling myself a Teacher. I remembered my students’ names (which was fun because Thai’s sometimes give their kids names like Facebook, Ipad, Google, Shogun, Newyear, etc.). I made a connection to the career, and felt almost the same thrill teaching, as I did cutting 40,000 bees out of a wall stud space. Almost.
The Maelstrom of Marcus
Marc was born 3 years and 2 weeks after Matt in October in Thailand. That’s when the word stopped spinning, and began rotating around the maelstrom that is Marcus. Marc is apparently exactly how I was as a child; we don’t stop moving. Marc never learned to walk; he just suddenly and quietly went from crawling, to sprinting on his tippy toes. My Mom will tell you the story of her friend that met me as a child and asked my Mom, “Eh! How come your kid runs around so much, and you not skinny?” Marc is a chip off the ol’ block.
Baan Yaai – Grandma Mala’s House and Farm
We’d go to Kha’s grandmother’s house, Baan Yaai, on weekends to tinker around some of the trees that Grandma Mala planted 2 decades ago. We’d plant flowers, start a small compost pile, and dream of a farm by sketching garden beds on pictures of the weedy land. It was a lot of work, but feels like it just happened. Suddenly (it was actually 3 years), we had wifi-controlled irrigation, chickens, 100+ meters of vegetable beds, compost piles, and a fully-planted orchard of mangos, mulberries, citrus, avocados, jackfruit, guava, and more. We even have a few starting honeybee and stingless bee hives (I’ll get my 50 hives back one day).
BizKid$ – Taking a Leap of Faith
I freed myself from the shackles of employment by taking a leap of faith to sole-proprietorship and launching BizKid$, my teaching curriculum of highly-engaging, business classes for kindergarteners. We’d sell lemonade, snacks, and toys from a food stand that we built out of wood from my Father-in-law’s wood factory. Enrollment soared from Matt and 2 classmates, to over 20 students per week after a year’s time. Through a referral, I also started teaching adults at an international manufacturer in my town.
Why I’m Here Today…
My boys are turning 6 and 3 in a month and I couldn’t be prouder of my family. I’m here because of their support; from our Hi to Thai family, friends, and community. Kha has been especially supportive. Without her I’d be a drone (beekeeper/dad joke).