For the new teacher in Myanmar. Here's an A to Z guide answering some FAQs. By Joko MacKenna, with help from Jack Bartram.
A – Arrival. You get off the plane at Yangon
International Airport and walk across the tarmac, breath deeply. Take a good
whiff of the air around you. Like every other country in the world I’ve been
to, Myanmar has its own particular odor. Inhale it and appreciate it while you
can in your first minutes or hours in this country because like all other odors,
you’ll soon become accustomed to it and it will become imperceptible.
B – Banking. One of the nice things about
working in Myanmar is that the pay is pretty good. What then do you do with all
those hundred dollar bills your company pays you in cash? You don’t want them
lying around your apartment and susceptible to fire, burglary or unscrupulous
cleaning ladies. Gotta put it in a bank. You’ve got two options. Open a Kyat
account at any local bank. Bring a copy of your invite letter that you used for
your visa and a copy of your passport. You’ll (eventually) get an ATM card with
the MPU logo on it that you can use in tens and tens of places throughout the
country. Then there’s the USD account. All the big banks offer this. You can
stash up to $5000 into a Myanmar bank, and they keep it in USD, immune from
Kyat depreciation. You don’t get any interest, but it’s safe and you get a Visa
card with it. You can’t use the Visa card inside Myanmar, but it’s useful for
booking or buying stuff online.
C – Cats.
 |
| Badger | |
Your
humble author is a big lover of cats and I encourage my fellow expats to not be
shy about taking care of our feline friends. Get a cat if you want to. If you
leave in a year, you’ll find someone to take care of it.
D- Door to Door.
Whereas their service has been declining lately indicated by longer and
longer delivery times, I still recommend Yangon D2D as a go-to food service for expats. They offer delivery
service from about 100 different local restaurants, all of which are yummy.
E – Education. If you’re going to teach in
Myanmar, you need to understand what our students’ experience has been in
regards to education. If you like to drill students on pronunciation, they’re
very much receptive to that. It’s what they expect. I say. You repeat. That’s the
essence of the Myanmar educational experience. Ask them to think critically and
voice their own opinions on a subject, that’ll be hard. You’ll get silence.
Point being, it’s very important that you tell students “there aren’t any right
or wrong answers here. I just want to hear what you think”…. They don’t want to
be wrong, and they’re not used to settings where there isn’t such judgment.
F – FFFFFFFFFFFFF – You should try to learn a little
Myanmar language. It will help you understand the challenges your students face
in relation to their L1. For example, the letter “F” doesn’t exist in the
Burmese language. Yet, they have no problems accurately producing the phoneme
as it’s pretty simple. What does cause problems are consonant clusters at the
ends of words. Heck, even any consonant at the end of word, even something as simple
as an “S”. In
Burmese, like several other “lazy” Asian languages, they’ve
gotten rid of consonants at the ends of words. All words here end in a vowel,
or a soft “n” sound. So when asking a student to say the word “FIRST”,
understand that every part of that word is different from what they’re used to
outside of the letter “I”.
G – Grammar. Myanmar language doesn’t use
adjectives. None. All adjectives are expressed as verbs. It’s
isn’t hot today. It is being hot
today. It isn’t an angry dog. It’s a dog being
angry. Adverbs are expressed by doubling the root word. Sentence structure is
Subject + Object +Verb, as opposed to Subject +Verb + Object like we’re used
to. Again, knowing the L1 of your students will help you be a better teacher.
H – Humility. Foreigners are treated well here.
Perhaps it’s a colonial hangover. Perhaps it’s something else. Whatever the
cause, just by being from another country, you’ll get treated with a lot of
respect. Don’t let it go to your head! When it comes down to it, you’re not the
royalty they treat you like, and their deference has limits. Don’t turn their
attitude into your privilege. Be as respectful of the locals as they are of
you.
I – Institutions. Understand that there are certain
pillars of existence here. Buddhism. Charity. Family. And until recently,
subservience to the state. Traditional Myanmar culture doesn’t value people
being ‘edgy’. Point being, don’t ever insult Buddhism, understand that family
values are all-important, and realize that freedom of speech is a new concept
and tenuous. Your visa says you’re here to teach. Expressing political opinions
(about Myanmar) online could be interpreted as acting as a journalist and
subject to working outside your visa.
J -
Kyat.
Another letter foreign to the Burmese alphabet is “J”… They don’t have a “J”…
The combination of K” and”Y” is as close as they get. It’s pronounced “jat” or
“chat”… actually, it’s somewhere in between.
K –Kilowatt. The Irrawaddy river has always been the main
arterial vein of Myanmar pumping the life blood of the rice crop from the delta
to the upper regions of Myanmar. In the modern age, the river has evolved to
also become Myanmar’s nervous system with most of Myanmar’s power being
produced by Hydroelectricity. Living in
Myanmar, you’ll need electricity for your gizmos. First you should check that
you have the correct plugs and adapters. The most commonly used are
·
Type
C European CCE 7/16 Europlug
·
Type
E/F European CCE 7/4 or 7/5 schuko
·
Type
D Indian BS-546 (5A)
Make sure
your DC adapters are multi-voltage. Like most of the world outside North
America, Myanmar uses 220-240V power.
As for
other utilities, Myanmar is fairly cheap. Electricity will run you Kys 15K to
30K per month ($12-25), water is free to a couple bucks a month, 125 channels
of satellite TV is $10/month and internet through your phone runs about $3 per
gigabyte depending on the package you sign up for.
L – Living space. Of course, when you get here, one
of the first things you’ll want to do is find a place to live. Unlike most
things, when compared to other SE Asian cities, Yangon’s housing markets tend
to be a bit pricy. Expect to pay between Kys 250K to 500K to rent a flat. All
accommodations are relatively spacious and all of them have the same basic
floor plan. An apartment buildings here is 4 to 7 stories tall (no lifts) and
each unit takes up half a floor. They’re long and narrow with living space up
front and bathroom and kitchen in the back. At the low end, you will at least
get AC, maybe a water heater for the shower. Furnished apartments are rarer,
and they cost somewhat more.
M- Medical concerns. Myanmar has socialized medicine,
even for foreigners. At the National Hospitals, you can get primary care for
free. As an American, with the current battle
over Obamacare, I’m a bit ashamed that one of Asia’s poorest countries can do
this, but it would be unthinkable in the USA. That said, I’d only suggest going
to one of the state hospitals for the most minor things and only if you have a
lot of time on your hands. For more significant issues, there are several
decent private hospitals. Asia Royal Hospital in Sanchaung seems to be the one
people go to. They’ll charge you an extra $35 just to see the doctor, but their
staff seem competent, they speak English fairly well and the rest of the
charges are reasonable. They also know what they can and can’t do. For example,
I got treatment for a ruptured disc in my spine. The doctor laid out a couple
initial stages of treatment which he said, if they turned out to be
ineffective, the final stage would be surgery “in your home country” (I had it
done in Bangkok).
N- Neighborhoods. If
you’re teaching at Edulink, you’ll probably end up living in Sanchaung Township.
Most of the teachers live here and there’s a significant number of other
foreigners in the neighborhood as well. Sanchaung has plenty of restaurants and
mom & pop shops, although it could use some banks and supermarkets. The
area known as Hledan (part of Kamaryut Township) is also a convenient area in
relation to school. Some teachers choose to live downtown. You can actually
rent a nicer place for less downtown, and it’s a more exciting part of town,
but keep in mind that you’ll be spending a lot more time commuting. Things to
look out for in a neighborhood include the quantity of street dogs (they’ll
howl and fight at night) and the proximity to religious sites (most have
loudspeakers which can go off at any hour for as long as they want).
O- Open sewers. This seems to be rather obvious
advice, but keep an eye out for the open storm sewers. Walking the streets of
Yangon comes with several hazards (blocked sidewalks requiring walking in
traffic, dog poop, dangling electrical wires), but the most dangerous are the
open access points to the deep and murky drainage channels. Don’t walk and use
your smart phone at the same time; you could end up hurting yourself.
P- Pharmacies. There’s lots of them. Myanmar has
excellent connections with both the Indian and Thai pharmaceutical industries,
and so the most common medicines are readily available and quite cheap. For
example, I take an omeprazole every day for my acid reflux. It costs me $.08
per pill. You can get Viagra, liver medicines and lots of other drugs that need
a prescription elsewhere over the counter here. Some drugs still require a
prescription. Benzos and opioids are strongly regulated.
Q- Quickness. I remember when I got off the
plane 4 years ago and on the taxi ride to town, I asked the Myanmar person who
was meeting me, “so, what do I need to know about Myanmar culture? As a
foreigner, what’s different about this place that I need to keep in mind?”. She thought about it for a moment and told me that things were slower here.
Things don’t happen as quickly or as efficiently as most westerners are used
to. Be patient. She was right. Whether it’s the line at the supermarket or
getting a document from a bureaucracy, things simply don’t happen at the speed
we’d hope they would. The concept of “time is money” doesn’t exist here.
R- Rent. An addendum to the living spaces
above. Rent is paid in advance in Myanmar. As the country has experienced some
currency instability (the USD-Kyat exchange rate has fallen by 35% in 3 years),
leasing agreements are pre-paid. When you sign your lease, you will have to pay
6 months rent upfront. Some teachers have negotiated a 3-month prepay, others
have gotten a lower rate by paying a full year upfront. That’s how rent works
here. The good thing is that you don’t have to pay rent each month! You’ve
already done it. For new teachers, consult your employee handbook for
information about the relocation loan that Edulink offers to help pay for this
expense.
S- Sweltering heat. Even though it’s smack dab in the
middle of the tropics, Yangon isn’t as hot as some cities, it still can be hot.
Bangkok is hotter. New Delhi is a lot hotter. I’ve never been to Dubai or Riyadh,
but it rarely hits 40C in Myanmar. There’s only three seasons here. The hot
season runs from late February to the end of April. It’s hellish. It’s in the
high 30s and there’s lots of humidity. Going outside is like going out on
another planet. If you need to get stuff done, do it early in the morning; you
don’t want to be out in the middle of the day. Sunset offers only a little
relief. From May to October, we have the Monsoon. The daily thunderstorms bring
relief from the heat, and provided you have a good umbrella, sensible shoes and
the a positive attitude, the 2.5 meters of rain Yangon gets during this season
can be quite enjoyable. Outside the monsoon, it doesn’t rain here at all, so
enjoy it while it’s here. Lastly, we have “sweet December” and January. For the
brief cool season, the weather is wonderful.
T- Tourism. How to best experience what Myanmar
has to offer in the way of tourism? First of all, there’s a lot of good stuff
to see right here in Yangon. Shwedagon Pagoda at sunset is a must-see. There’s
several museums of interest, and it’s not hard to get to some of the interesting
little towns outside the city. If you’ve got a long weekend, the beach resorts
of Ngwe Saung and Chaungthar are just a few hours away by bus. Arrange your
hotel room here in Yangon beforehand, leave work, and the night bus will drop
you off at your hotel’s door at 2 AM.
Spend the day at the beach, enjoying the beauty of the Bay of Bengal,
and on the second day, get the bus back to Yangon. Another do-able in a weekend
option is the Golden Rock. Kyaiktiyo is also only a few hours away and is
spectacular and an inspiring mountain site.
U- Underwear. By this letter, I’ve started to
run out of things to write about, so I’ll mention our unmentionables.
Personally, I’m a big guy. So as it is with shoes, I can’t find underwear here
that fits. If you’re a big person, bring
many pairs of underwear with you!
V- Veracity. At the time of this writing, I
have to say that you won’t find a more honest and indiscriminative culture in regards to foreigners anywhere in
Asia. With the exception of the taxi drivers who will ask for a fare that’s 25%
more than a local would pay, Myanmar people don’t ask you to pay more because
of the color of your skin. In all the other countries in SE Asia I’ve been to,
from clothing to just a bottle of water, merchants in this region try to rip
you off at every turn. It’s not the case in Myanmar. Now, mind you, some
institutions will try to charge you more because you’re a foreigner. There’s no
getting around the 8000 Kyat foreigner entrance fee at Shwedagon Pagoda whereas
locals get in for free. That said, on
several occasions, I’ve not had to pay the tourist fee just by saying “di hma
nei deh” (I live here). :::Aternately::; Vice.
If you enjoy your vices, you’ll love Myanmar. A pack of smokes is 70 cents. A
12 oz mug of ice-cold draught beer is 75 cents. Liquor is cheaper here than
anywhere else in the world.
W-Water. It’s the stuff of life, but you
can’t drink the stuff that comes out of your tap. I suppose one could if you
boiled it first, but bottled water and it’s distribution are big businesses
here. You’ll need to find a ‘water guy’ and your landlord is the person to ask
about this. The water guy will tote your 10 liter bottles up your stairs and it
costs $0.60 per big bottle.
X- Xylophones. Myanmar traditional music is
unusual. I can’t really say that I’ve found a non-native person who’s been able
to say they enjoy it. Akin to jazz, I’ve heard it called xylophone players on
methamphetamines. It’s kinda crazy. And again, going back to the proximity to the
public loudspeaker thing, be sure you’re well away from sources of this music
unless you’ve got a good pair of sound-cancelling headphones.
Y- Yangon. It’s a city of 5 million people
and spread out over a large area. It’s by no means a megacity, nor could one
call it cosmopolitan. As Rudyard Kipling famously noted: “This is Burma, and it
will be quite unlike any other land you know about.” Yangon is the center of
this land unlike any other, and Yangon is unlike any other city.
Z- Zoology. Somewhere in Myanmar, wild tigers
still roam. There are wild elephants too. Then there’s the infamous Burmese
python. Deer, pigs, peacocks and bears are out in the jungle. As a country that
is the size of France and has only 50 million people, when I’ve gone out into
the countryside, I’m struck by how much undeveloped land there is. Poachers,
illegal logging and the pressures caused by rural poverty continue to encroach
on the wild parts of this country, but it remains, at the moment, a place where
there are regions untouched by man. The Yangon zoo is worth visiting too.
I hope you have enjoyed this A to Z. If you have any questions about living and teaching in Myanmar, I'm here to help. Joko(at)edulinkaustralia(dot)com.
