“Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But, since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” – Andre Gide
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to be able to go to places and meet people, even though we can’t speak the same language but we can still discover new things about each other and sometimes learn about their incredible stories and experiences. I know I couldn’t do this many years ago and now I’m able and very grateful to have acquired this skill.
Music from The Misunderstood, Angelic Upstarts, Passage, Surveillance, 13th Floor Elevators, Lozenge, Vaz, Hard-Ons, The Damned, Queen, Captain Beefheart, Melt Banana, Crass, Hitler SS, Meat Puppets, I Am Above and on the Left, Thee Headcoats, Party Diktator, Supertramp.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to be living in this part of the world. There are many times in a week when I marvel at the views of the rice fields and the mountains. Their depth changes depending on the weather conditions and time of day. There are good and bad points about every place to live but I certainly feel grateful for my time living here.
Gratitude Journal
Dear George, I am so happy and grateful for your positive outlook and influence. You have helped me through a difficult time and I really appreciate having you as a friend. You judge fairly and behave honorably and make friends with everyone. I want to greet the world everyday with the same smile you have. Thank you.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to Kru Noon for helping me with things in this first week here. I was also happy and grateful to Boyan for checking that I was prepared for assembly this morning. That was appreciated.
24th March 2021 – Boyan also worked at my previous school. He’s Dutch, into Muay Thai, often racist, misogynist and homophobic and the only thing he ever talked about was himself. He was a complete caricature and that was the only way I could like him – if I could view him as not being real.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to hear positive feedback from the Thai teachers about my teaching. It gives me some pride and confidence that what I’m doing is ok. I am also so happy and grateful that, so far, there is actually less work to do. Putting the lessons together is pretty straightforward so I have spare time to consider doing a little extra for the kids.
24th Mar 2021 – This school was happy to work with textbooks which made putting lessons together pretty straightforward, though for some reason they still required new lesson plans year after year – surely one of the most ridiculous ideas amongst the many deficiencies found in the government education system here. Anyway, life was a little easier for a little while
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful that I can find good resources online to help myself grow. I feel myself being pulled towards them and away from time wasting.
24th Mar 2021 – This is still relevant though the resources have changed as I have since. Then I was digging deep into Stoicism and philosophy, some of which influence has paid off and continues habitually now. Now I’m looking at more literature summaries and art-related content.
I think I successfully passed my first test. The kids seem to be ok with my style of teaching and the lessons I wrote went ok – I’m still trying to gauge the level of the main class though.
I was also uplifted enough to drop into CRPAO after school and meet some of my old students. It was heartening to know how much they like and miss me. I think I can make good connections with most kids. Let’s see where this job leads.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to have the opportunity to work with Kevin from one of my favourite bands next year. It’s exciting to think I can meet and help them. I love this aspect of my life. It’s a lot of planning ahead but I look forward to doing that.
23rd March 2021 – With a couple of weeks until a tour across Malaysia, Sabah, Singapore and Java was due to start we had to cancel everything because of the Covid pandemic. I still need to get refunded for the flights as I don’t think the tour will happen within the two years the tickets are being held for us. Not quite the ‘journey is better than the destination’, more, the ‘planning was better than the reality.’
Although I turned off my alarm this morning I managed to force myself out of bed and complete a task I’d set for myself – cutting the grass in our driveway. I’ve suffered all day with stinging blisters as a reminder!
I also managed to get a little reading in, a little light exercise, and write my first lessons for this new school – tomorrow I’ll be able to judge how successful they are and make adjustments.
I also managed to record half an episode of the Chiang Rai Alternative Hour – which I’m really enjoying making.
I’m pretty happy with the way the day has gone.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful for my ability to handle and accept change.
23rd Mar 2021 – This is an important understanding in my life. Each time I go through a change I will grow. I realised this most obviously when moving from England to Australia in 1994. If I hadn’t made that change I wouldn’t have grown and be where I am now. Sometimes you are in control of changes and other times you are not – but growth will come either way. Some changes may feel like mistakes but eventually, you understand that they are not.
Music from Foojitsu, Kleg, Faust, Trumans Water, Devo, Lightning Bolt, Good Boy, Unsane, Bill Laswell, Charming Hostess, Grim Clone Band and Sly and the Revolutionaries.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to meet with Tok at Utopia, who made my first coffees for the day. I am also happy and grateful to meet a couple of teachers at my new school who were helpful towards me on my first day.
Gratitude Journal
I am so happy and grateful to meet my new students today. It’s nerve wracking and compelling. Being around kids is very fulfilling. This morning I had some regret about leaving my last class behind but got excited for meeting all these new ones. They are typically friendly and happy, naught and shy…. I am grateful to the teachers I met who were friendly enough to give me advice.
Weight: 83.2kg
Resting heart rate: 51
1994ever 