Wanderlust: Expat Life & Style in Thailand December 2014 / January 2015 | Page 31

Life & Travel or China and continue skating. And then, four months, three countries, and one CELTA course later, a job came up that I couldn’t turn down. I accepted a teaching position in Bangkok. I was here to stay. BKK I love Bangkok. Yes, it gets deliriously hot and uncomfortably sticky. And I appear to be some kind of cockroach goddess, attracting scores of worshippers wherever I go, but nothing beats seeing fat monitor lizards lumbering around the lake in Lumpini park, watching the sun set from the steps of Wat Arun, or spending nights sampling the best food this earth has to offer: nutty somtam, chillihot morning glory, rainbows of fresh fruit, grilled meats, fish, sweet sticky rice parcels wrapped in banana leaves and stuffed with taro. Making friends and finding both my way and my favourite foods filled my first months, but there was a gap in my life where roller derby used to be. I couldn't ignore it. I needed to try. Even one new chum to skate with would be a success. Meet Up had been useful meeting other people by interest—books, films, teaching—so I set up a group, named it Bangkok Roller Derby, and got excited when a few people joined. After a much anticipated but dispiritingly under-attended first meeting, I tried a second. Six people attended, five women and a Thai guy who helped make a lukewarm gesture into a genuine venture. Sueb runs roller events across Thailand. He had heard about us from an Australian roller derby referee he knew and wanted to see if he could support us in some way. He showed up at the rink that Sunday and told me he was in the process of building a roller rink—did we want to use it? “I learned how much I could accomplish by being active rather than passive... Roller derby didn’t exist in Thailand in 2012. I changed that, and I’m nobody much.” He only had blades for hire, he said, but he could import quads for us. Two meetings down and Bangkok Roller Derby, impossibly, had a potential venue complete with pads and skates, a group of women who wanted to learn, and a roller-experienced fairy godbrother we affectionately named Sueberman. I'd taken a tentative step towards roller derby, and roller derby had taken a giant leap towards me. I remember the day laying the track at Lad Phrao with music blasting from the stereo in the centre of the room, and our first, excited sessions with newbies who'd never heard of roller derby and a few girls who had. Our venue was out-of-the-way but those of us who got it didn't mind the trip. People came and went but slowly a core formed. We picked a training day, had a logo designed, and T-shirts printed. I bought a whistle and attempted to emulate as closely as possible the coach who'd made derby come alive so spectacularly for me. It's been over a year since those first scary, exciting days. Some of the original crew are still skating with us, and though THAILAND.WANDERLUSTMAG.COMWANDERLUST  31