Drifting through Thai time

I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity. -Gilda Radner
Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans. -John Lennon
There are a number of enticing prospects on the horizon just now. Several women worth knowing better, professional prospects to pursue.... I have even been offered a free doctoral degree (which would take the next two years of my weekends to complete), followed by the position of Dean of International Students.
However, I am content to move slowly, in a conscious drifting. An inner voice is cautioning not to forego present happiness in exchange for mental apparitions of anticipated future happiness. Or, in much simpler terms, for now it seems best to appreciate each day and trust life's unfolding.
After working in this Thai university for 2 and a half months, the school term is now over. Can you believe that? Two and a half month's work followed by three months off with pay! Someone should have tipped me to this phenomena years ago.
I do have some projects on the burner to keep me busy. In addition to my regular teaching duties (and at about 5x the salary), I have been instructing M.A. and Ph.D. classes on the weekends. This will continue throughout the break.
Also, the graduate department of the university is attempting to create their own standardized English proficiency test and I'm on the ground floor of that ambitious endeavor.
In addition, I'm helping to construct a 12-week English course for executives.
Then there are the short-term assignments that come my way. Last week I wrote an article for a public administration journal, and developed a pre-enrollment listening-speaking exam for the university. This week I'm writing a unit for an English textbook. In another month I'll be conducting a two-week English camp for an elementary school, followed by a five-day English camp for graduate students.
I'm also tutoring four women from a nearby town on a weekly basis.
Work aside, I've moved into a new home! While my former roommate was a nice enough Thai man, I decided that I wanted a space of my own. After spending the day interacting with a different language and culture, it's nice to have a private sanctuary. Although, in truth, even in the States this would be my preference. Maybe I'm just a sanctuary kinda guy.
The new house is next to the 'worker's village,' also located on campus, and I enjoy the proximity. My dwelling is two stories, and basically backs up against a rather large jungle. There were a couple of lizards living in (or at least frequenting on a regular basis) my bathroom. If I opened the door suddenly, I would see them scurrying up the wall and back into the ceiling. Now these aren't the type of lizards that eat flies. These are the kind that eat puppies. The smaller of the two was as large as my forearm, tail excluded. Still, I wouldn't have minded their presence if I hadn't had their droppings to contend with on a daily basis. Imagine cleaning up after a pigeon, but one that was about ten fet tall. Anyway, I bought some chicken wire and blocked their access to my toilet. If bears can do it in the woods, then lizards can do it in the jungle.
Speaking of which, I was teaching a class last Saturday from 4 to 7pm. At 5:30 my phone rang, and I turned it off (I don't answer the phone while I'm teaching). At the end of the class, I turned it back on and there was also a text message: YOUR HOUSE IS BURNING.
It's always something, isn't it? As it turns out, the jungle behind my house had caught fire, and burned all the way up to my building. Somehow (and I don't know how), the structure didn't catch. Ashes came in through the cracks, and it still smells like a campfire inside. But all is well.
I purchased a tv, to expand my entertainment options. A new dvd goes for under three dollars, and that includes the just released movies still playing in the theatres.
Next Monday I'm off to the beach with 16 Chinese students who are here on a three-month exchange program.
Next month I'm heading north to Chiang Rai for a five-day meditation course. Chiang Rai is part of the infamous Golden Triangle, and going there to meditate seems a bit like going to a temple for a heroin score. I'm looking forward to the adventure.
This is just a nutshell of my present time-space world. Everyday has its moments. The percentage of Thai women that are beautiful seems to defy the laws of probability. And a genuine Thai smile hits your eyes and doesn't stop until it reaches your heart. Also, while it may be environmentally unsound, I'm enjoying the chance to drink coke from a glass bottle.
But now I would like to end this entry on a less trivial note. There's been a lot of birth and death in my life recently, or at least in the lives of friends. I contemplated that as a topic for this blog, but I was more inclined to experience the process rather than expound upon it.
...when we finally know we are dying, and all other sentient beings are dying with us, we start to have a burning, almost heartbreaking sense of the fragility and preciousness of each moment and each being, and from this can grow a deep, clear, limitless compassion for all beings. -Sogyal Rinpoche
In particular, I lost a close friend to cancer. Those of you who know me, most likely know of Paul as my companion on two lengthy Alaskan expeditions. I won't eulogize, but I did want to say that his absence is tangible, and that his presence in my life will be missed.
This one's for you, Paul. Happy trails....
Let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseperable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life. -John Muir
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