Since my return to Thailand in late September there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day. I started teaching at Kajonkeitsuksa Bi-lingual School, first in there summer program where I taught a class of 10 and 11 year olds, English, Maths and Science. Then when the new term started I was assigned to teach English to a class of 10/11 year olds and Health to four grade levels. A full time job with long working days Monday through Friday, I find myself, quite frequently wondering why I am doing this? But then Rita shows up and smiles and I remember why.
After the school day is complete Rita and I will usually head off to our favorite spa for a nice relaxing swim, during which we decide where we want to eat that night. So our weekdays are pretty much sewn up, we get up early, get ready then its off to school. After dinner in the evening we return home tired, take a shower and its off to bed.

So that just leaves the weekends, Saturday and Sunday to relax. Relax? Not us, no, we decided to tackle a scuba diving course. We didn't have a clue as to what we were letting ourselves in for. It's easy, right? Put on some gear and go swim with the fishes.
 
Also most people start their training course in the safety of a swiming pool, not us. Straight to the open sea for lesson one. How do you put your fins on in chest high water, with three foot waves? We found out. It was very difficult. Then the instructor said go down under the water and kneel on the bottom. Kneel? It was hard to stay in place with the current trying to throw us about. After some basic safety checks the instructor bid us to follow him. This was it, we were heading deeper and away from the shoreline. Then suddenly you find that the currents have decreased and you are moving more easily through the water and you think to yourself 'I've done it'.

We continued on for about an hour, the instructor would give us tasks to complete every so often, then move on.
That evening both Rita and I were pleased with our accomplishment, although we felt very tired. Due to the roughness of the sea, our instructor had asked if we would prefer to go boat diving the next day out near one of the islands. Like lambs to the slaughter we had said yes, how were we to know what lay in store for us?

Still feeling tired the next morning we made our way to the pier to meet our instructor and board the boat. To cut a long story short we had a great time, did two dives and completed several more tasks. Saw lots of beautifully colored fish and coral. Three dives under our belts now and we are starting to get the hang of things, we think?



Two things to mention here, first our instructor was filming us in the water and taking pictures. We thought great, we can show the folks back home. When we got to see the film the following weekend and saw just how bad we were with our techniques, we thought there is no way we will be sending this footage to anyone. Later you realize that in filming us it gave us a chance to see for ourselves where we needed to improve and it was a good teaching tool. The second thing is, no one tells you just how tired you will be after diving or how much your muscles are going to hurt. Hence Monday was a real struggle to get through and Tuesday wasn't much better.



But guess what? Come the next weekend we were back there again doing dives number four and five, all the time feeling more comfortable and getting more acquanted with the requirements of this hobby. The first time we saw our instructor smile was on dive 5 when we surfaced and he called us together, shook our hands and told us we had past the Open Water Diving Course.

Rita is now happy with her accomplishment and will enjoy doing some recreational dives, exploring the coral beds and discovering different fish and turtles.

As for me, well, I think there is a lot more in need to know, not only to enjoy the hobby but also to be and feel safe when down there. So I have signed up to take the Advanced Open Water Diver Course which contains five modules.
Deep Diving, Wreck Diving, Underwater Navigation, Peak Performance Buoyancy and Underwater Photography.
The first two modules are required and the other three are electives. So next weekend will find me once again at the pier, boarding a boat and heading to yet another diving destination.


It is hard work both in the book study and in physically undertaking the challenge to do this. But the reward, seeing this whole new world, all the beauty that is just below the surface of the water, is worth it. So for the next few weeks there just isn't enough time in the day, time to relax and just lay on the beach, stay in bed in the morning, or enjoy that extra cup of java. No, its a seven day a week up and at um time, not what we came here for at all. Funny how life has a way of doing that too you.



It looks a long way down when you are standing on that dive platform and you are being told to just take a big step. But you do it and in doing it, you dicover a new world.