Apples don't grow in South East Asia, unless you're talking about rose apples.
I haven't had an apple since November, and then today my friend bought me a bag-full, knowing I'm from the US and like apples. Apples here are imported.
Oh man, they never tasted so good. First time I've eaten a whole apple. Everything but the seeds.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
A Grief Observed
Thoughts from "A Grief Observed" by C.S. Lewis.
Have you ever had the experience of someone "acting out of character" or "I thought I knew this person and then she said/did..."? You thought that your lover was acting out of character when she did X, but how can you be anything other than you are?
The problem is that you are constantly forming an image of your friend, your brother, your coworker. You are like a painter constantly looking up at your subject and then painting what you see. Then, when you see something different than your picture, you are shocked. Then you are angry, frustrated, disheartened. You constructed the wrong image. You only know that you constructed the wrong image when that person violates the image you constructed.
Think about your view of God. Think of when you get angry at God. This most often happens when you "thought you knew God". "I thought God was good, but then X happened". CS Lewis calls this the house of cards. You build this image of God in your mind. The only way you find out your image is an inadequate house of cards is when God knocks it down.
We are all constantly trying to tape everyone down. "Oh, I've finally got you figured out". We do the same thing with God. Every time we try to put God in a box, he breaks out of it. Every time we try to build an image of God, he knocks it down. How often will he knock it down? How often will he smash your entire world? As often as you build the wrong image. How often will you build the wrong image? As often as you undertake to build an image in the first place.
I've got to just swallow my humanity and accept that I must let God be God.
-----------------------------------------------------
If anything I just smashed my own image of myself. When I stood up from reading to come express my thoughts, I imagined I would be able to express them so eloquently. Upon letting my thoughts stream through my fingers, I find now that I am quite unable to express myself the way I wanted to through writing.
This is for me.
Have you ever had the experience of someone "acting out of character" or "I thought I knew this person and then she said/did..."? You thought that your lover was acting out of character when she did X, but how can you be anything other than you are?
The problem is that you are constantly forming an image of your friend, your brother, your coworker. You are like a painter constantly looking up at your subject and then painting what you see. Then, when you see something different than your picture, you are shocked. Then you are angry, frustrated, disheartened. You constructed the wrong image. You only know that you constructed the wrong image when that person violates the image you constructed.
Think about your view of God. Think of when you get angry at God. This most often happens when you "thought you knew God". "I thought God was good, but then X happened". CS Lewis calls this the house of cards. You build this image of God in your mind. The only way you find out your image is an inadequate house of cards is when God knocks it down.
We are all constantly trying to tape everyone down. "Oh, I've finally got you figured out". We do the same thing with God. Every time we try to put God in a box, he breaks out of it. Every time we try to build an image of God, he knocks it down. How often will he knock it down? How often will he smash your entire world? As often as you build the wrong image. How often will you build the wrong image? As often as you undertake to build an image in the first place.
I've got to just swallow my humanity and accept that I must let God be God.
-----------------------------------------------------
If anything I just smashed my own image of myself. When I stood up from reading to come express my thoughts, I imagined I would be able to express them so eloquently. Upon letting my thoughts stream through my fingers, I find now that I am quite unable to express myself the way I wanted to through writing.
This is for me.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
28.75 Hours
Thursday:
7:45 Faculty Meeting
8:30 - 3:00 Classes
3:00-9:30 Residential Duty (Middle School)
Total: 13.75 hours
Friday:
8:30-3:00 Classes
3:00-11:30 Residential Duty (High School)
Total: 14 hours
28.75 hours of work in 2 days? Bring it.
Too bad I'm not getting paid by the hour!
7:45 Faculty Meeting
8:30 - 3:00 Classes
3:00-9:30 Residential Duty (Middle School)
Total: 13.75 hours
Friday:
8:30-3:00 Classes
3:00-11:30 Residential Duty (High School)
Total: 14 hours
28.75 hours of work in 2 days? Bring it.
Too bad I'm not getting paid by the hour!
Friday, February 15, 2008
Tah Ton
Estuve sorprendido de mi conocimiento de Espanol dos semanas pasadas. Recibi un email cerca de un posicion para ensenar Ingles en un proyecto de ecologico en Argentina. Aplique a la posicion y recibi un documento en Espanol con instruciones que leer y escribir una respuesta en Espanol para evaluar mi conocimiento de la idioma. Escribi una respuesta al hombre y el dijo que mi Espanol es bueno y puedo aprender mas de la idioma cuando trabajando con los personas del proyecto. Solo problemo es que el Espanol que aprendi es Castellano y el dijo que eso es la manera de Espanol mas difacil para el entender.
So now, per his request, we are only communicating in English. I will not be able to do the original teaching position I was hoping for because it starts before my contract here terminates. We'll see if I can work something out...
As I was standing by the Maekok river a few kilometers from the Burmese border this morning I thought to myself "what did everyone else do this past week?" Probably attended school, sat at work, the usual. Not me. Naomi, Ajarn Arunee, and I took a trip up to the very northernmost region of Thailand to a place called Tah Ton. With us came 14 12th graders. The trip was part of a project called "Classroom Without Walls". Our group was staying at a river resort which arranged for us to volunteer at a local school dedicated to educating hill tribe minorities. The students were in charge of teaching 5 different ESL classes in the morning, and painting during the afternoon. I was so surprised at how well the students did and how much time and effort they put into making the trip worthwhile - good kids. On Thursday we spent the night in one of the villages with a host family. I stayed with 2 of the boys in a thatch hut sleeping on bamboo. It was such a cool experience. In the morning we were served breakfast by the family: omlettes, fishy rice, fishy noodles, and oranges right off the tree. It was the perfect authentic Thai experience that I had been waiting for ever since I got here. It was so memorable, and I'm glad the kids got to experience it as well. It was also an excellent opportunity to get to know my students better and establish a good rapport with them. Also, seeing them teach renewed by enthusiasm to teach - I'm fired up for Monday (it also helps that I reviewed the next chapters for all my classes hardcore).
I am so blessed. God is so good to me. I got to have an amazing week. Before we left we took a little speedy skiff to the Burmese border, scoped out the armed guards, and toured around the Maekok river for awhile taking in the most beautiful natural scene of bright green rice patties extending all the way up to the rolling hills of orange orchards. What an incredible job I've fallen in to. Of course now it's back to reality and I've got grades and student comments to prepare by the end of the quarter next month on top of some visa troubles I'm having since the administration put off my visa renewal until the day of the expiration. I'm sure I'm going to get stuck paying a fat fine for this. I just hope they don't make me do another border run. Oh dear me no.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
So now, per his request, we are only communicating in English. I will not be able to do the original teaching position I was hoping for because it starts before my contract here terminates. We'll see if I can work something out...
As I was standing by the Maekok river a few kilometers from the Burmese border this morning I thought to myself "what did everyone else do this past week?" Probably attended school, sat at work, the usual. Not me. Naomi, Ajarn Arunee, and I took a trip up to the very northernmost region of Thailand to a place called Tah Ton. With us came 14 12th graders. The trip was part of a project called "Classroom Without Walls". Our group was staying at a river resort which arranged for us to volunteer at a local school dedicated to educating hill tribe minorities. The students were in charge of teaching 5 different ESL classes in the morning, and painting during the afternoon. I was so surprised at how well the students did and how much time and effort they put into making the trip worthwhile - good kids. On Thursday we spent the night in one of the villages with a host family. I stayed with 2 of the boys in a thatch hut sleeping on bamboo. It was such a cool experience. In the morning we were served breakfast by the family: omlettes, fishy rice, fishy noodles, and oranges right off the tree. It was the perfect authentic Thai experience that I had been waiting for ever since I got here. It was so memorable, and I'm glad the kids got to experience it as well. It was also an excellent opportunity to get to know my students better and establish a good rapport with them. Also, seeing them teach renewed by enthusiasm to teach - I'm fired up for Monday (it also helps that I reviewed the next chapters for all my classes hardcore).
I am so blessed. God is so good to me. I got to have an amazing week. Before we left we took a little speedy skiff to the Burmese border, scoped out the armed guards, and toured around the Maekok river for awhile taking in the most beautiful natural scene of bright green rice patties extending all the way up to the rolling hills of orange orchards. What an incredible job I've fallen in to. Of course now it's back to reality and I've got grades and student comments to prepare by the end of the quarter next month on top of some visa troubles I'm having since the administration put off my visa renewal until the day of the expiration. I'm sure I'm going to get stuck paying a fat fine for this. I just hope they don't make me do another border run. Oh dear me no.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Role Playing
So,
Last week the high school math teacher just up and left one day. He had had a lot of personal problems, and then 2 weeks ago, when Chris died, it pushed him over the edge I suppose. The whole thing was a huge ordeal and was hard on everybody, but especially on him. They had spent quite a bit of time together and both liked to go out.
Well guess who is taking over? I've been pulled out of Sakthong house as a homestay parent and a new contract is being drafted to instate me officially as full time high school faculty. So I came to Thailand to teach ESL, got a job as a residential advisor, and am now a high school math teacher! Hehe, it's all so sudden it's quite absurd. It's funny, when I was in high school I always wanted to be a high school teacher, and now here I am, living out one of my teenage dreams. It's a heavy load, 23 periods a week - Geometry, Business Math, Math 2 (my same middle school class), Precalculus, an SAT prep course, and 3 computer sections. It's going to be challenging, but I love challenges. It was a little bit difficult for me to make this decision because I was making about 38,000 THB per month by basically sitting on my butt all day watching TV and reading books with the kids, swimming, and taking them on trips to town at Sakthong. Now I'm making 43,000 THB by teaching full time. It's a lot more work for not a lot more money. This was my first week and I was surprised at how exhausted I am. I haven't worked full time since, hm, since Summer 2006, and teaching is especially exhausting - you've got to be "on" the whole time. I like it though. It's not that I was bored working in Sakthong, but I just felt sometimes like I was wasting my time - it was just too easy. This will be good for me, really push me for the rest of the year.
Another perk is that I'll be replacing the old teacher on our Classroom Without Walls trip next week. I'll be going with the 12th graders up to the Burmese border to do volunteer work with a hill tribe that lives there. We'll be doing construction and some of the kids will teach English. It sounds really cool.
So I finished off my first week. Geometry and Business Math are very straight forward. I prepare lesson plans right from the book and it's no problem. Computer class is frustrating for me because there is absolutely no curriculum and I had been told just to make up something for these 3 classes to do. I don't know what to teach them. This week in precal was really difficult for me. The kids were at the end of the chapter where they had "learned" to graph all the complicated trigonometric functions. I essentially had to teach myself how to graph the hardest of the hardest so I could at least have some authority when trying to help them review for my test. I was scared, I thought I made the test too easy and they would finish it way ahead of time. As it turned out, only 3 people we're even capable of attempting the graphing section and none of them got them all right. Apparently they had just been doing all their graphing on a calculator. That's not math!
After Classroom Without Walls we start a brand new chapter together and I have this whole weekend and any free time during CWW to get on top of the new material. I started it today and I love it! It's about verifying and simplifying complex trig functions. It's so much fun, they're like little puzzles or mazes. I totally lost track of time tonight doing my lesson plans. I find the hardest problems and make sure I can do them so that I'll feel comfortable teaching the easy ones and asking questions. I love the mental stimulation. My mind is more mature than when I first took precalculus, so the hard problems are like little brain teasers - they take me awhile to figure out but they're completely doable.
This weekend is the Samoeng Strawberry Festival. I might go tomorrow, but Doi went and brought me back a bunch of strawberries and a starfruit! I can't wait to cut open the starfruit and have a go. I've never had one before.
Latest news on my volunteering aspirations: If I get a holiday I plan on going to Tacloban, Philippines to volunteer in a clinic (I want to so bad), but I may have no break at all, in which case I'll just be working straight from here till June.
I walked out of Central Airport Plaza last night with my KFC soft serve chocolate icecream (bought for 30 cents), smiled, and thought: "I am so happy here".
Last week the high school math teacher just up and left one day. He had had a lot of personal problems, and then 2 weeks ago, when Chris died, it pushed him over the edge I suppose. The whole thing was a huge ordeal and was hard on everybody, but especially on him. They had spent quite a bit of time together and both liked to go out.
Well guess who is taking over? I've been pulled out of Sakthong house as a homestay parent and a new contract is being drafted to instate me officially as full time high school faculty. So I came to Thailand to teach ESL, got a job as a residential advisor, and am now a high school math teacher! Hehe, it's all so sudden it's quite absurd. It's funny, when I was in high school I always wanted to be a high school teacher, and now here I am, living out one of my teenage dreams. It's a heavy load, 23 periods a week - Geometry, Business Math, Math 2 (my same middle school class), Precalculus, an SAT prep course, and 3 computer sections. It's going to be challenging, but I love challenges. It was a little bit difficult for me to make this decision because I was making about 38,000 THB per month by basically sitting on my butt all day watching TV and reading books with the kids, swimming, and taking them on trips to town at Sakthong. Now I'm making 43,000 THB by teaching full time. It's a lot more work for not a lot more money. This was my first week and I was surprised at how exhausted I am. I haven't worked full time since, hm, since Summer 2006, and teaching is especially exhausting - you've got to be "on" the whole time. I like it though. It's not that I was bored working in Sakthong, but I just felt sometimes like I was wasting my time - it was just too easy. This will be good for me, really push me for the rest of the year.
Another perk is that I'll be replacing the old teacher on our Classroom Without Walls trip next week. I'll be going with the 12th graders up to the Burmese border to do volunteer work with a hill tribe that lives there. We'll be doing construction and some of the kids will teach English. It sounds really cool.
So I finished off my first week. Geometry and Business Math are very straight forward. I prepare lesson plans right from the book and it's no problem. Computer class is frustrating for me because there is absolutely no curriculum and I had been told just to make up something for these 3 classes to do. I don't know what to teach them. This week in precal was really difficult for me. The kids were at the end of the chapter where they had "learned" to graph all the complicated trigonometric functions. I essentially had to teach myself how to graph the hardest of the hardest so I could at least have some authority when trying to help them review for my test. I was scared, I thought I made the test too easy and they would finish it way ahead of time. As it turned out, only 3 people we're even capable of attempting the graphing section and none of them got them all right. Apparently they had just been doing all their graphing on a calculator. That's not math!
After Classroom Without Walls we start a brand new chapter together and I have this whole weekend and any free time during CWW to get on top of the new material. I started it today and I love it! It's about verifying and simplifying complex trig functions. It's so much fun, they're like little puzzles or mazes. I totally lost track of time tonight doing my lesson plans. I find the hardest problems and make sure I can do them so that I'll feel comfortable teaching the easy ones and asking questions. I love the mental stimulation. My mind is more mature than when I first took precalculus, so the hard problems are like little brain teasers - they take me awhile to figure out but they're completely doable.
This weekend is the Samoeng Strawberry Festival. I might go tomorrow, but Doi went and brought me back a bunch of strawberries and a starfruit! I can't wait to cut open the starfruit and have a go. I've never had one before.
Latest news on my volunteering aspirations: If I get a holiday I plan on going to Tacloban, Philippines to volunteer in a clinic (I want to so bad), but I may have no break at all, in which case I'll just be working straight from here till June.
I walked out of Central Airport Plaza last night with my KFC soft serve chocolate icecream (bought for 30 cents), smiled, and thought: "I am so happy here".
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
I miss India
| To: "my email" CC: Subject: Hay david,I am rahul from india Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2008 23:57:51 -0800 (PST) | |
"I am happy there and i hope that you are happy there.perhaps you have forgoten me but i will never forget you.you told me that i would send my picture in your id..will you com to india for deepu's brother's marry in april.deepu told me that david would come but i am saying that you will have to come. please keep in touch"
This is the email I got from the guy who took me on his bike into Faridabad for McDonalds.
What if the wedding was during my week off in April and I went to Deepu's brother's wedding? I would surely be treated like a king for coming, hehe. I had told Deepu I wanted to go to his brother's wedding and would try to come if I could, but that was mostly just to be polite. It actually is a possibility though, depending on the date...
This is the email I got from the guy who took me on his bike into Faridabad for McDonalds.
What if the wedding was during my week off in April and I went to Deepu's brother's wedding? I would surely be treated like a king for coming, hehe. I had told Deepu I wanted to go to his brother's wedding and would try to come if I could, but that was mostly just to be polite. It actually is a possibility though, depending on the date...
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