PADI IDC Course update - Gas Blender passed! (problem with photos on the website at the moment. Will be fixed ASAP)
As I start to write this, it’s 18:40 on Sunday night. I’ve been in Koh Samui for 2 days now and I’ve a fair bit to report, so without further wait, I’ll get on with it. First things first, I passed my Gas Blender exam! I needed 80% and got 92% which I was very chuffed with as that had the potential to start my time here in Thailand on a very bad note. Tomorrow or Tuesday I’ll be doing the practical part of it, which I believe involves cleaning a part so that it is oxygen clean, and also filling a couple of tanks using a partial pressure blending method (apologies to the non-technical people who will probably be lost by now!) so they are a given blend. Looking forward to that as I don’t have any compression or gas blending experience. To get the instructor’s licence, I have to fill a couple more tanks once I’ve taken my IDC. Of course, I wouldn’t intend on teaching it to others until I’ve got a bit more experience of doing it. Not much chance of doing that in Okinawa though, due to the lack of Nitrox availability to non-military personnel. Maybe I should buy a Nitrox Stik and start doing it myself…
But I’ll jump back a little to Friday. Had a relatively quiet day at work, but did attend a meeting for the students who are going abroad. I gave some advice from my experiences of living abroad, and hopefully it will be of some use to them. I then said goodbye again to those 3 students who I really enjoy teaching. Contrary to what I suspected, it was the 2 boys who got teary eyed when they were saying goodbye, and the girl who kept the stiff upper lip. One of the boys wrote me a letter thanking me for teaching him over the past 2 years. That was really sweet, and it will be stored away with the rest of the letters and things that students have given me. Nothing that is given to me by students gets disregarded, no matter how small.
After school I headed straight to the airport, and got to Koh Samui via flights to Taiwan and Bangkok. I don’t recommend a 4-hour stopover in Bangkok airport in the early hours of the morning; those plastic seats play havoc with your back if you try to sleep on them. Hopefully the new airport (Suvarnabhumi) will be a lot nicer for stopovers. Landed at 7am and was slightly surprised that it felt cooler than Okinawa. Met Camille straight away and after collecting my luggage (managed to stay within my weight limits… just!) we headed to the first bungalow that Camille had shortlisted for me. As soon as I stepped inside I knew it was pretty much perfect. It has a nice living area, lots of space for putting my dive gear in, and air conditioning in the bedroom. And there are a couple of other dive instructors who work for Camille in the direct vicinity – one of them next to me, in fact.
Now the next part is going to scare my mother even more than usual, but I apologise for this! I have hired a small motorbike to get around. Now admittedly, the last time I rode any sort of bicycle regularly was over 10 years ago, but I don’t let small things like that get in the way. Basically, I need one to get anywhere on the island – it’s bigger than I thought. But I am always wearing a helmet (safety first) and certainly don’t intend on breaking any land speed records in the near future. I’ve had a few rides around and feel pretty comfortable on it now.
OK – so while my mum has a sit down and a cup of tea to calm her news, I will continue. First impressions of the island come next. I would probably say it reminds me a lot of Sri Lanka. There are some very nice resorts and hotels in places, but away from the resorts it is a very developing country. There is lots of construction going on all over the place, and I reckon it’s going to be overdeveloped before long, if it isn’t already. Chaweng seems to be the nerve-centre of the island and the main place for tourists. The main attraction seems to be the beach which just goes on and on. Both days I’ve visited the beach and the sand is very nice underfoot. The water at the beach is completely flat too – have yet to see a wave of any sort coming in. That means it’s ideal for jetskis and other watersports. Diving-wise, there only seems to be one place on the island which is diveable from the beach, and that’s at Chaweng beach. It bottoms out at 7m and visibility varies from 2-10m. A far sight from Maeda. But the boat dives are supposed to be pretty nice – am going out to a dive site called Sail Rock on Wednesday, which I’m looking forward to. One thing that has thrown me slightly (and did when I went back to England last September) is the number of Westerners here. I know that probably seems silly to most people, as this is a tourist area and so obviously has lots of people from Europe and the States. But I’ve been living abroad for3 of the last 4 years, and not seeing too many foreigners during that time. So when I am just in the middle of them it takes a little getting used to. Hearing loads of conversations that I can understand perfectly instead of filtering them out (as I do with Japanese ones) is a little overwhelming at times. But I’ll get used to it over the next few days I’m sure.
As for my feelings at the moment, well I’m relieved that the Gas Blender exam is out of the way, as I really wasn’t looking forward to that. It’s given me a bit of a confidence boost and made me realise that I’ve nothing really to fear during this time in Thailand. I’ve got the ability to pass all of these exams easily, as long as I apply myself, and keep my anxiety locked away at the back of my mind. Away from the course itself, I feel pretty good, although slightly lonely. This is the point where people who know me are thinking “But you seem to enjoy your own company more than anyone else’s!”. Well that’s true to a point, although I do have the ability to feel lonely sometimes. I’ve met people in the dive shops who I’ll be doing business with, but haven’t yet found someone who I think I’ll be able to chill out and relax with. Going to Chaweng beach, everyone seems to be in a couple of a group. And everyone knows it’s tough for me to just go up to someone I don’t know and try to start conversation. But a couple of voices are ringing in my head (you guys know who you are) and are saying “Just get out there and meet people”. I really wish it was that easy for me to do, but it’s not. Hopefully when I meet someone on the IDC I’ll find someone I click with. Otherwise this has got the potential to be a relatively quiet trip, socialising-wise. Maybe that will be a good thing though – this isn’t a pleasure trip; I’m here for one reason and one reason only, and that’s to pass these diving exams. Anything else that comes out of it is a bonus.
Well, I think I’m coming to the end of this report. My schedule for the next few days is going to include finishing the Gas Blender course, doing my EFR – Care For Children course, and having a day’s diving on a boat on Wednesday. Expect my next report to be on Wednesday or Thursday, reporting on how everything has gone. If anything exciting happens in my life before then, I will be sure to let everyone know. Take care, and dive safe.
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