"life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're gonna get"

AUG 10, 2018

The phrase was made popular in the movie "forrest gump". Nowadays, I am pretty sure what I will get if I purchase a box of chocolate but not as a freelancing SCUBA instructor.

Here I am in Koh Samui, Thailand kind of doing freelancing SCUBA instructor because the dive centre which attracted me here for a full-time job could not hire me due to low season.(initially).

I was also not allowed to work for other dive centres when I have no job although they dont pay anything. I still have to pay rents and foods. I cannot believe such practice still exist. They eventually offered me a full time job with a fix salary. I did not take the offer because of some reasons that will shame this industry.

It's my continuous 4th day without job at the time of writing this and it's the 11th day without job this month. Longest was continuous 6 days with this company. Since I speak some chinese dialects, most of my jobs so far were taking "chinese speaking guests" and only a couple of English speaking jobs. no teaching job at all so far. Probably in their eyes, an Asian like me is only as good at entertaining "chinese speaking" guests than teaching.

Well, having ended up in a less developed island, I should accept the fact that I am also dealing with not so well informed people here. I cannot blame them. They are what they are today because of their ignorance.

They current DC which I am working(freelancing) with seemed struggling. It used to be one of the biggest on the island with lots of westerner clients. I experience the similar thing with another DC in Indonesia. They acted too late when the market shifted. The mainland Chinese rule tourism industry now and the impact is huge. Probably half of the businesses in the tourism industry don't like the Chinese because of their different than norm behaviors. But you just have to swallow your pride and move on. It is what it is now.

Back to the topic.

So yeah "life is like a box of chocolate, you never know what you're gonna get"is so true when you are working as a freelancer. You never know when you will have a job and and of what kind [fun diver?, DSD?, courses?(nah)]. You never know when will be your next pay check and if it will be enough to cover your monthly expenses. (dont dare to even think about the yearly professional fees, insurance, visa run, travel expenses)

The positive thing about being a freelancer is that you decide how much you want to make in a month. If instructors like me plan carefully, like being at the right place and right time, the potential earnings "can be" really good. At least double if not triple compared to a monthly fix salary. Also, you decide when you need a break unlike working as a full-time staff when sometimes, you get a day off after 2 weeks of non-stop diving during peak period.

The downside of being a freelancer is that , you are on your own. I mean if something do happen to you, the company that is hiring you for the day cannot be held responsible nor not in any obligation to support you although I do believe that you will get some support but no one can guarantee that.

I left Samui after nearly 2 months worying about my food and rent. It was a great place for retirement but not for an instructor like me. Samui was a good experience anyway. Back to hometown before heading to Indian Ocean again.

Photo below : the monkey is having the time of his life in Samui. something that I can only wish at the moment.