The last 30 years…

After high school, I graduated from California State University, Long Beach with a Bachelor of Arts in Biology.

In 1978 I took my first seasonal job with the Forest Service. I worked for the National Forest Service, in a variety of different positions, including, Fuels Inventory, Fire Fighter, Timber Marker and Cruiser, Forestry Technician, Logging Road Inventory and mapper, Lookout/Fireguard, Biological Technician and Fireguard Foreman.

In 1993, I was a Kayak Wilderness Ranger on the Misty Fjords National Monument in Alaska. It was the first time I ever saw Alaska and I was thrilled as you can imagine. I got to see plenty of wildlife during the season including pods of Orcas, even a humpback whale. I was lucky with the weather as it was the sunniest and driest season in 25 years.

In 1994 I returned to the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska to do tree surgery in some of the nastiest terrain ever imagined. In October, I left the Forestry Service, never to return.

I had worked for the U.S.Forest Service for 14 seasons during the period of time from 1978-1994. I worked most of the seasons on the Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon. I also worked on the Plumas National Forest in northern California, the Shasta -Trinity National Forest, the Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon and my last two seasons were on the Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska. I worked as a Kayak Wilderness Ranger on the Misty Fjords National Monument near Ketchican in 1993 and I was on Prince-of-Wales Island working in Silviculture in 1994.

My pattern of living in those days was like this: In the summer I worked. In the winter I traveled. I’ve been able to visit India, Japan, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Greece and Thailand.

In 1981 I took my first trip to Israel. I opted for the Kibbutz experience. The Kibbutz experience is what completely changed my life from the introverted kid to what I am today. I worked in Israel until 1995 when I travelled to Thailand and taught at A.U.A, Language School in Khon Kaen from July 1995-April 1996. This means American University Alumni and is an American -owned Language school with many branches all over Thailand.

In April 1996 I took my last trip to Israel and lived in Jerusalem. I didn't work but devoted myself to studying the Hebrew language at Hebrew University in a summer program. I was enrolled in an Intensive Intermediate Hebrew Course. I returned to Thailand on Sep. 3, 1996 and taught English in the Foreign Languages Department of Khon Kaen University, and have remained in the country ever since.

I landed my current job at St. Gabriel's School which is a Catholic all-boys school. I am not Catholic but I currently teach Science to grade 8 students. There is a new program in Thailand to expand the English program to include Math and Science and since I have a Bachelor's in Biology I qualified.

In the future , I might like to work in an International School in a couple of years, here in Thailand. I do hope to return to the States again some day as I miss hearing the language and miss the mountains and deserts.