Hi, my name is Ariel Ky, and I'm new here in this community. I've been kind of lonely; the only real friends that I've made while living in this beach hut at Cherating Beach on the east coast of Malaysia have been a small tribe of spider monkeys who visit me every day.
I'm living in a tourist spot; it's not a friendly place for anyone who isn't actually a tourist spending money. However, it's cheap to live here. I'm only paying about $3 a day for my beach hut. And it's the one of the most beautiful places on earth with several ecosystems contained in a small area.
We're on the South China Sea, so there is open water, beach and shoreline. I like to walk on the beach and watch the small shells moving in the water. After a storm, I enjoy beachcombing, and then I build sea altars and carry out ceremonies to honor the earth and the sea.
This small beach town is bordered by open sea on one side and a good-sized river on the other. The firefly cruises at night on the river are amazing. There is a volcanic hill at one of the end of the beach covered with lush tropical jungle; the only trees I can recognize are mango trees and coconut palms.
On the side of the beach huts, there is a short access road that has a marshy area on one side. I've seen toads, frogs, snakes and monitor lizards near the marsh. At the end of this row of beach huts, there is an open air Chinese restaurant that looks out on the beach. To the front and left of the restaurant, there is a peat bog.
On the other side of the resort, there is an open field of lush green grass and flowering bushes where an old white horse used to stand, flicking flies off with his dirty long tail that almost reached the ground. I haven't seen him for about three weeks, though. I fed him a carrot and his teeth were so worn down that he had to work hard to crunch it so that he could eat it. However, he still had a lot of vitality left, as I last saw him galloping down the front road. I don't think he's dead, but where has he gone?
So all I do all day long, and sometimes into the night, is write. I've been here for about two months now, and some of that time I've literally been a starving writer. Nobody can believe that an older American woman could be as poor as I have been. I teach a little bit online, which has been my only paltry income. A couple of weeks ago, I sent out an SOS to my friends and family, offering a weekly newsletter for the next three months at $50. Fortunately, I got some subscribers, and a couple of friends sent me $250 each. And a webmaster friend offered to give me a website, which I'm working on now.
I do have a teaching position lined up at a university in Kuala Lumpur, but it won't start until August because it will take that long to process the work visa. I was teaching in Saudi Arabia, but hated it there. When I can bring myself to write about that experience, I think I can sell the article somewhere. I've been an ESL teacher the past 24 years (mixed in with a few years in corporate offices while my son was in grade school). Six years ago, going on seven, I set out to work my way around the world as an ESL teacher.
However, I failed to anticipate that I would get to be too old to get jobs. Now that I'm 58, it's quite difficult. I must find another way to support myself. I've always wanted to support myself as a writer, and this time I'm not giving up.
I'm living in a tourist spot; it's not a friendly place for anyone who isn't actually a tourist spending money. However, it's cheap to live here. I'm only paying about $3 a day for my beach hut. And it's the one of the most beautiful places on earth with several ecosystems contained in a small area.
We're on the South China Sea, so there is open water, beach and shoreline. I like to walk on the beach and watch the small shells moving in the water. After a storm, I enjoy beachcombing, and then I build sea altars and carry out ceremonies to honor the earth and the sea.
This small beach town is bordered by open sea on one side and a good-sized river on the other. The firefly cruises at night on the river are amazing. There is a volcanic hill at one of the end of the beach covered with lush tropical jungle; the only trees I can recognize are mango trees and coconut palms.
On the side of the beach huts, there is a short access road that has a marshy area on one side. I've seen toads, frogs, snakes and monitor lizards near the marsh. At the end of this row of beach huts, there is an open air Chinese restaurant that looks out on the beach. To the front and left of the restaurant, there is a peat bog.
On the other side of the resort, there is an open field of lush green grass and flowering bushes where an old white horse used to stand, flicking flies off with his dirty long tail that almost reached the ground. I haven't seen him for about three weeks, though. I fed him a carrot and his teeth were so worn down that he had to work hard to crunch it so that he could eat it. However, he still had a lot of vitality left, as I last saw him galloping down the front road. I don't think he's dead, but where has he gone?
So all I do all day long, and sometimes into the night, is write. I've been here for about two months now, and some of that time I've literally been a starving writer. Nobody can believe that an older American woman could be as poor as I have been. I teach a little bit online, which has been my only paltry income. A couple of weeks ago, I sent out an SOS to my friends and family, offering a weekly newsletter for the next three months at $50. Fortunately, I got some subscribers, and a couple of friends sent me $250 each. And a webmaster friend offered to give me a website, which I'm working on now.
I do have a teaching position lined up at a university in Kuala Lumpur, but it won't start until August because it will take that long to process the work visa. I was teaching in Saudi Arabia, but hated it there. When I can bring myself to write about that experience, I think I can sell the article somewhere. I've been an ESL teacher the past 24 years (mixed in with a few years in corporate offices while my son was in grade school). Six years ago, going on seven, I set out to work my way around the world as an ESL teacher.
However, I failed to anticipate that I would get to be too old to get jobs. Now that I'm 58, it's quite difficult. I must find another way to support myself. I've always wanted to support myself as a writer, and this time I'm not giving up.
Ariel. You'll meet lots of friendly folk here. And I hope you see that horse again.
