Tag: students

We got that attitude! – 28th November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

When do you feel most yourself?

Hmmm… this is a tough question! Is it when I am happy and overjoyed with life? Is it when I am grumpy and down (which is how I have most often felt in my life)?

At times I felt most myself during a successful show I had put together, enjoying the music and feeling, the pleasure of everyone around me.

I often feel myself when I’m mostly occupied with something, though even when I’m lazing around I’m usually reading or watching something meaningful.

Gratitude Journal

I am still so happy and grateful for sports day yesterday. It was so much fun and the kids had a great time. I think they will be unsettled today but never mind. I also got sunburned and sweated a lot but today I feel pretty good. I need to integrate some exercise into my habits so I feel this way more.

Who the fuck are you to tell me who my friends are? – 27th November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Who are you comparing yourself to?

I think I compare myself with most people in my life. Friends, family, relations. Is it productive? I’m not often jealous of things other people do or things that they have, except their happiness or serenity. They often seem more capable to deal with things, though perhaps they’re not? It’s just what it looks like to me.

I noticed recently some people saying things bad about others and took it to be more about themselves – so and so is a miserable bastard, he’s a moron…etc… I have to make sure to catch myself if I ever do that.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful that it is sports day today and that I don’t have to teach. Many of the foreign teachers are hiding away inside maybe preparing lesson plans etc but I think I’ll hang around with the kids because this is the best time to be with them. They feel free and happy and will try to talk more than in the classes. The kids are why I’m here.

We got that attitude! – 24th November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I have approximately 10,000 days more to live. What are two or three principles you want to live by over these days?

3 principles I would like to live by for the rest of my days? What principles do I live by now?

One principle I have always tried to maintain is to try and be open-minded and understanding of other points of view. At the same time, I would like to be confident enough in my ability to be able to clearly express any point of view I may have.

I have often been contentious before, sometimes just to play devil’s advocate. I should be more understanding of other people’s beliefs and ideas, maybe learning where they come from, rather than rejecting them.

I find I have a fascination with Islam due to not understanding it enough or having the familiarity with it. An exotic religion if you like. Having grown up in a Christian country I can see how dull and rigid its dogma is. I have no doubt about Islam’s dogma but still find it fascinating.

So, #1 – the principle of an open mind.

#2 – Related to #1 is to never stop learning and growing. Doing the opposite leads to a closed mind. Thankfully I’ve grown to enjoy learning more about how the world works as it helps me learn about myself.

#3 – This one is a tough one. To not take offence and get and get angry when someone makes a personal attack on me of my work. Let it do. Don’t let it bother you. This means they have won.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful today for the clouds! Taking the edge off the insane heat. I’ve been standing in the sun a lot this past week as the kids had sports every afternoon. It was such a lot of fun to play with them that I accepted getting burned as part of the deal. Maybe time to invest in skin whitening cream!

We got that attitude! – 14th November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful today for meeting all the kids at the school gate this morning. The happy ones, the tired ones, the shy ones. They all make me smile. I was grateful for the opportunity to talk with Said this morning too as we haven’t had a chance to talk much yet. I was also happy and grateful to stand in front of the school assembly and make the kids laugh and have fun. I was happy and grateful to see a small smile on Puifai’s face when I helped her with some difficult work. It’s very gratifying to see the kids thinking hard and then suddenly getting it!

We got that attitude! – 13th November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

This week I still have some remnants of uncertainty. I’m going to be very busy with things at home as well as at school and it won’t leave as much free time as previously. I’ll have to plan carefully as I still haven’t managed to schedule in time for meditation and exercise. I’m pretty exhausted when I get home from school already. I just feel like chilling in my room or watching TV shows. I know I have to try and push past that. I can do it, right?

Whatever you do willingly, you enjoy. Whatever you do unwillingly, you suffer.

Sadhguru

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful today to the student in P5/3 who told me after a lesson that I am the best teacher in the world! It made me so happy though I’m not sure why she thought that. The class did go much better than the previous two though and I’m just glad that there was some appreciation. There will be some kids who think the exact opposite I’m certain!

We got that attitude! – 1st November 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

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

Then the cowboy turned the gun on himself as he sang – 4th October 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Cats don’t judge. A cat is just a cat.

My last day of school. How do I feel? A little sad and disappointed to leave my students behind but hopeful and positive for the next school. I can visualise myself in class, prepared. Happy.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to the students who made me goodbye cards. I could feel how much I had affected them and what a good influence I had been. They really touched my heart.

The older you get the less you’re worth – 1st October 2019

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Picture was taken a few months later when I went back for a visit.

Yesterday I told my class I was leaving. It was a little emotional – two of the students got teary. It was sad to see – those kids can’t go a whole semester with the same teacher. It did make me realise the impression I can make on students though. I hope I can work in the high school so I will still have the opportunity to see them sometimes. I know I can work in another school ok but I’m also dreading it a little.

Gratitude Journal

I am so happy and grateful to Amy for helping me through all the tough situations since we met. Many things I can deal with and help her with but there have been times when she had been so wonderful and supportive. I know she gets frustrated with me sometimes too but at the end of the day, she is always there for me. I love her so much.

Weight: 83.1kg
Resting heart rate: 50

The Carpenter’s Go-fer – 15th October 1984

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Sawing and chopping
Planing then stopping – and saying
Go-fer the tape, go-fer the screws
Go-fer the coffee, that’s what I could use
Having a rest, drinking his coffee
Just enough time to bite on a toffee
Before
Planing and chopping
Sawing then stopping
And saying
Go-fer the wood, go-fer the square
Go-fer the nails, go on – over there
I went for the rope
And put it round his throat
And pulled it as tight as I could
You know I think he wood –
Go-fer

6th July 2023 – I did a couple of days of work with a builder who was a friend of someone in the family in some way. I only remember moving bricks and sand around in a wheelbarrow but it’s probable that this experience inspired this verse. I guess I also did a pretty shit job as I was never asked to come back again.
To be honest, I felt pretty useless. I didn’t really understand how things worked at all. Common sense was still a way off for me. I was a late learner in some things. When Hayden shows signs of this too, I have to remind myself about how I was even up until my thirties.
When I consider how Thai students are coddled through school here and learn some of the stories of behaviour once they leave it’s a wonder that many can even dress themselves.