Teetatea V: My sixth

WISDOM

To understand reality is not the same as to know about outward events. It is to perceive the essential nature of things. The best-informed man is not necessarily the wisest. Indeed there is a danger that precisely in the multiplicity of his knowledge he will lose sight of what is essential. But on the other hand, knowledge of an apparently trivial detail quite often makes it possible to see into the depth of things. And so the wise man will seek to acquire the best possible knowledge about events, but always without becoming dependent upon this knowledge. To recognize the significant in the factual is wisdom. Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

THOUGHTS TO PONDER

Life is a train of moods like a string of beads; and as we pass through them they prove to be many colored lenses, which paint the world their own hue, and each shows us only what lies in its own focus.---RALPH WALDO EMERSON

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Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.---ABRAHAM LINCOLN

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There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state to another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.---ALEXANDRE DUMAS

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“It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes... we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions - especially selfish ones" --- Alexander Solzhenitsyn quotes (Russian novelist, Nobel Prize for Literature (1970), b.1918)

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“Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfish to seek other than itself.” ---Kahlil Gibran

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Saturday, March 5, 2011

My sixth

Today is my sixth year anniversary here in Thailand along with a good friend of mine, Ate Che. I actually forgot the date until I saw her FB status reminding the special date. I remember six years ago I was so impressed on Bangkok however, I didn't have the guts to try any Thai food as I found it very smelly at first.

It took at least a month for me to adjust and tried pad ka phao ta-le which I did like very much considering I'm a spicy food fanatic. We learnt about the food just in the restaurant near our apartment in Rama 2. My palate has been used to anything spicy before coming here having Korean food for years in my previous workplace in the Philippines as an Academic Supervisor to a Korean owned language school.

I remember, we were the very first to live in that newly renovated apartment in Rama 2, Bangkok. We used to go to Central Rama 2 a lot for meals and shopping. We did go jogging also for a couple of times at the park at dawn. I miss those moments we had that time, that was all so fun, we didn't have to worry much and we just enjoyed our stay in Bangkok. It was also amazing though we used to work very far from home, we didn't have any difficulty in using any transportation. Bus number 140 was our best friend.

We took more pictures and went to many places in the city. We met some other friends who was here ahead of us and spent time, actually more times hanging out at Landmark's Hunstman bar as they have a Filipino band. And of course, the Sunday services at Holy Redeemer Church in Ruamrudee.

It has been six years, I guess it's too long. I looked back and assessed what the years have thought me, and actually a lot. Teaching has made me even better and the experience in teaching Thai learners is different compared to Koreans and Japanese as I used to, much as I was trained for adult teaching before coming here. The six years have given me more ability balancing the approach in dealing with young learners and adults. I've been teaching in a university in here on weekdays and with kids from pre-schoolers to high school (teenagers) at the weekends. I realized I love kids as I love teaching adult students and that's the very distinct lesson I got in my six years of teaching in Thailand. And if I get another chance to venture another environment, or a new perspective, I think I am ready to move on and will be looking forward for another set of new encounters. When will that be? I hope soon.