I have finished all of my teaching assignments and I am now relaxing with lots of free time. I will spend the next week sight seeing and getting ready to come home on the 18th. Just a week and a half away!
As some of you may know, my beautiful Grandmother, Helen Jones, made her transition on Tuesday. She was 91 and died peacefully at her home with family by her side. She was in my eyes a true Saint and one of the most influential people in my life. She was the best Grandmother that a Grandson could ask for and I will miss her terribly. I know that her Spirit is here with me now in Thailand and forever more. Her funeral was held on Friday afternoon in Denver, which was about 6 am on Saturday here in Thailand. I contemplated coming right home but after talking to my family and Kru Lek, I decided to finish my commitment to the students here as I am sure that this is what my Grandmother would have wanted too. Saturday morning I got up early with Kru Lek and Thor and Am and we made an offering to one of the local Monks and in return he did a Buddhist chant and prayer for my Grandmother and my family. You will see a picture of the four of us waiting for the Monk. Thank you to everyone for your kind words, prayers and healing energy.
I taught at Ban Hin Turn last week and it was great. Thursday was a scout camp day where the school set up several stations to teach scouting skills like tying knots and a small ropes course. I was manning one station where we sang songs and it was a very fun day but not without some excitement. There is one dog at the school that has never really been very fond of me. And despite my best efforts to gain his trust and friendship with food and sweet talking, he decided that he would give me a farewell scare on my last day. As the day was coming to a close I was walking from the playground area back to the office to get the rest of my things and just like in an old western movie where the bad guy and the sheriff meet in the center of town with a serious as a heart attack stare I spotted this dog about 50 yards away growling and staring me down. There was no one around and he was standing right in my path to the office. I continued to walk slowly towards him speaking in a friendly voice and after I had only taken about three steps he burst into a full sprint right at me barking and growling. I don't know if I did the correct thing, (what do you do in this instance anyway???), but in a traditional fight or flight response, (with emphasis on the flight part), I did a 180 and ran the fastest I think I had run since maybe high school. I ran back into the playground where several students were finishing up the ropes course and I got behind about 15 third and fourth graders. As soon as the dog saw me get behind the students he stopped his pursuit and went back to his day as if nothing had happened. The adrenaline was intense! I told the students that "that dog just tried to eat me!" The funniest part of this story is that one of the students, Phil, a 6th grade girl that is the epitome of cute, said as calmly as could be said.... "Christian... walk, don't run." I am not sure if she was scolding me because I was running on the school grounds and that is frowned upon or because if I didn't run the dog wouldn't chase me. In any case, the students and I had a good laugh about the entire incident. The rest of the day one of the teachers escorted me around and ran the dog off every time he would bark and come in my general direction.
I taught the final Saturday at the Buddhist Temple yesterday. We played Pictionary and sang songs to practice English. It was a blast. The Monk that sponsored the 3 Saturday classes came by to say thank you and give me a certificate of appreciation. You will see above a photo of he, myself, and all the students.
Today I am back chillin at the beach and will stay 2 nights here. This next week will include some sight seeing including taking a boat out to some beautiful coral reefs for snorkeling and I might take a train to Hua Hin, the next biggest city near here, with some of the high school students. I think the train will be a great way to see more of Thailand. Can't wait to write all about it and post some photos next week.
Namaste
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