KHORAT (Nakhonratchasima)

I arrived at the Khorat bus station, where Bill was waiting to pick me up. Bill is my predecessor here, and we have a couple of weeks overlap before he moves on.

Dropped my luggage in the new digs, exchanged my sweat-drenched shirt for a dry one, and then had an audience with the Abbot. In addition to Bill, the Abbot and myself, there were two other monks in the room. One, Pra Suwat, served as the interpreter.
We had tea, and discussed a slew of topics ranging from Abraham Lincoln to education. Lampor (the abbot) believes that behind different belief systems we are all the same anyway.

Fair enough. I can get behind that.

* * *

It has been ten days since my arrival. My time has been full, and promises to be fuller still. I'll use this entry to recap some of the highlights, and give a brief orientation to my place on the space-time continuim.

First, I'm not actually in Khorat. The temple is located about fifteen miles away, in a small village. It's about a 15 minute walk from here to the small town of Home Gardens, which is where I'm presently tapping out this blog. Aside from the internet; there are a couple of places to eat here, a number of small shops, some food stalls, and a place where I can have my laundry done. Another 20 minutes on foot takes me to the bigger town of Choho, the location of my language school employment. There's also a post office here and a large outdoor market.

I talk in terms of foot travel, but heat and humidity combine to make motorized locomotion preferable. The public transport is a vehicle somewhere between a bus and a pick-up truck, and I can flag it down just outside the temple gates. The price of a ride is 12 cents, whether I'm going to Home Gardens or all the way into Khorat.
The temple itself is a decent size. It houses 27 monks, 5 novices, a few temple boys and myself. Currently there are also about nineteen temporary novices, boys aged 10 to 13, who will be here for a week. Sometimes I wake in the morning to find them staring in my window wanting to see magic tricks.

I live in a house-room that was formerly the abbot's, so it's pretty spacious, relatively speaking. It has a bed, fridge, desk, couch, and a heavy-duty fan. There is a curtained door at the back of my room, which could reasonably be assumed to be a closet. Actually, it's a crypt, with ashes sealed into compartments along the wall. Occasionally relatives of the deceased will come by in the company of a monk to pay respects. I welcome them in; they light incense, candles, and do the appropriate chants. Talk about skeletons in my closet!

Another unique feature to the living space is my new 'alarm clock.' At 5 am everyday the temple bell is rung (the bell tower is close to my room, and actually a pretty cool place to hang out). I could probably adjust to this, maybe incorporate it into my dreams, except that the pitch sets all the temple dogs to howling and barking. I estimate about 30 dogs live on the grounds, half-wild, but taking advantage of buddhist sanctuary. Goodbye Timex; hello Fido.

In a related vein, I'm sort of inheriting a dog from Bill. When he first arrived at the temple he was met by a pack of snarling dogs. Except for one, who tail-wagged it's way past the mob and dropped a leaf at his feet. He has made sure this dog gets food and attention, and I'll keep up the tradition.

But my canine count grows larger! My bathroom is behind my house; a room with a squat toilet, and a barrel and bucket for showers. I was off to the toilet the night before last, and there was a very young puppy taking refuge there. Already missing some fur due to mange, and very frightened and hungry. I helped him along, and in the morning his brother was there as well, in the same bedraggled and vulnerable shape. So now I feed them, and they cry when I leave. I'll at least give them a helping hand on the road to survival. A friend suggested I name them Lucky and Chok Dee ('good luck,' in Thai).

The language school where I am teaching had an English summer camp a few days after I arrived. We took a train from Khorat to Khao Yai National Park, and for three days I sang, played, and spoke English with about 35 Thai kids. I've also taught 6 classes so far, ranging from kindergarden to adult conversation and writing.

This is not a tourist area, and a farang (foreign) teacher is a commodity. I will also be teaching two classes at the Buddhist University when it resumes in May. In addition to teaching monks at the temple, I am in the planning stages of forming a class in English Buddhism for the local village children. We are also discussing the possibility of creating a training venue here for monks from other temples. Further; I have been asked to teach at the local college, and to give English lessons to the Thai Army.

This is just the first ten days, and leads me to believe that I will have a meaningful and varied sojourn here.

I now have a mailing address; two, actually:

Ajarn Greg
Wat Pramuanrat
Choho, Muang
Nakhon Ratchasima
30310 Thailand

Ajarn Greg
Chance Language School
230/1 Mittraphab Road
Choho, Nakhonratchasima
30310 Thailand

Chok dee, all!
Greg