The art of war is a lesson in peace
The politics of life to make the violence cease
The finest swords will all eventually rust
To build a legion is to gain their trust
Today I’m feeling:
Happy and positive though I have a nagging tiredness throughout my body. This could possibly be from pushing myself too much with exercise but the benefits of it outweigh this. Some of the things going on in the family are getting me down a little. This is connected with cultural differences but it’s hard not to judge a situation when something is so clearly unfair. No details to share here as yet. Perhaps if and when the situation resolves or is in the past.
Today I’m grateful for:
Finding the candy lady outside of school. Miyor and KhaoFang were walking around the park after classes and I bumped into them and they offered me a bag of candy of a type that I’d never seen before. I took one and it was tasty so I asked where they got them and they pointed to one of the stalls so I went to investigate and there was a cornucopia there! It was also a pick and mix so I picked out a couple of each to try the range. I didn’t eat any yet – I’m saving them for the weekend.
I was laughing to myself today about it because it feels just like when I was at school as a teenager. I always skipped lunch, saving my money to buy records instead. Then I would scrounge pennies off friends and buy candy from the van that pulled up in the playground every lunchtime.
The best thing about today was:
Getting my work permit so quickly sorted that I had time to grab another coffee before my class started. I guess it doesn’t take long when you’re handing over 6,000 baht.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
After making copies of my work permit I headed over to the office. It was only while I was there that I discovered that I have to fill out the visa application and pay another 2,000 baht for the visa when I take it to immigration next week. I thought that whole process was already done when I was at immigration at the end of last year but it seems that I was just on a bridging visa. Amy was not impressed to hear this, especially as I don’t even have 2,000 baht left this month.
Something I learned today?
This evening I found out that the 6,000 baht will get refunded next month. Woohoo!
Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10
I sat and helped a couple of students again, taking the time to work with them and encourage them.
Every morning now, when I arrive at school, I join Baipad, Jan and Apple and talk with them for a few minutes. Sometimes it’s a struggle to get them to look away from their phones but slowly they are opening up and chatting a little bit. I can especially feel that Apple is more relaxed now to speak English.
25 THINGS ABOUT LIFE I WISH I HAD KNOWN 10 YEARS AGO – 4. Don’t Start A Relationship If You’re Not in Love. I’ve done this more than once. You kind of like someone and think: “We might as well give it a shot.” Not a good idea. You’re either in love, or you are not. Don’t fool yourself. It’s not fair to you and the other person.
The difficulty with this is when growing up and learning about love. Our societies don’t emotionally prepare us as children for the consequences of love. It’s quite noticeable here in Chiang Rai, Thailand that a fair percentage of teenagers are not so much into the idea of romantic relationships yet. They might have urges and desires but many are still learning about how to make good friendships amongst themselves. I used to think that this was somewhat of a downside to the kid’s development and that they were growing up too slowly but now I see it as a benefit. In the West we are not aware of all the privileges that we have just by circumstance, to be able to grow up so quickly, whether mature or not.
In my own experience, I thought I was in love many times as a teenager but I was just in love with the idea of love, without knowing what it really was. My first relationships were rough on my partners as I had no clue how to treat them, having been told through society that chocolates and flowers could fix anything. It wasn’t until my mid-20s, meeting Bronwyn that I first felt what I consider to be true love. And then even that was not enough to keep us together.
It’s way too easy to say ‘Don’t fool yourself.’ We fool ourselves all the time without knowing. We do have to go through the process – love, lose and learn. Not many people get things right the first time.
Now I try to teach my students to guard themselves somewhat, to protect themselves from the huge emotional twists and turns of young love. When they break up, to encourage them not to dwell on something that wasn’t meant to be. To stop feeling like it is the end of the world. But I know, it feels just like that and words are sometimes little comfort.
1994ever 