Hot stuff Toots!

Yesterday I saw a 89 year old groove. I wasn't expecting all that much. I've heard Toots Tielemans classics. Seen good and slightly off performances on TV. But what always stuck in my mind is that guys like Scott Henderson consinder him one of the greats. In fact: compares him to Charly Parker. Yes: this Scott Hnderson. But like I said Toots (also by virtue of the slick Hein van de Geyn on bass and the new-to-my-ears Hans van Oosterhout on drums) turned out to be one funky dude in his own right. Geez I hope someone was recording this gig. For one thing they played All Blues and Summertime in a mixed up version that I have never heard in my life. Top marks for the man playing the chrome sandwich!

Normalcy

Hold your horses: I know it's been a while. This time it was on purpose. I was playing a little game. A game called: Gee How Much Time Before You Feel Normal After An International Move. Well now you know. Of course some things are still weird. And what is normal anyway. But I don't walk around in wonder all the time anymore. So I guess this is it. More little experiments to come...

Alternate realities

Back in Holland and it's a lot of fun. Of course it's fun seeing friends and family. But I really get a kick out of the Star Trek thing: I know all these places and faces but a lot of the little details are off. I feel like I've been trough a wormhole or a space time anomaly. And of course I'm the only one who notices anything. A shop that was never there before. All the milk cartons have changed. Some one suddenly does a completely different job and has two kids... A lot can happen in almost four years.

I must confess: what helps is that I forgot a lot of things. How very windy Holland is. Or where exactly a restaurant is and how exactly you get there. Also good for that Twilight Zone feeling: I am used to do a lot of stuff Asian style. Sometimes I struggle to express things in Dutch instead of English or Thai. I feel my countrymen are pushy or smelly or have no manners whatsoever. And although sometimes it brings some discomfort: it never ceases to amuse me. It's so weird. I've stared at a couple of times already with that 'what are you smiling about-look'.

Time for some pictures

While Thailand seemed to be flying apart, we thought it might be a good day to visit the Pimai historical site. The idea of the trip was about three years old. But with (inter)national politics going awry and stony remnants of a huge empire that crumbled centuries ago: what a combination.

Here are the pictures.

Oh yeah: check out my pics from my trip to Vientiane while you're at it.

Haiku #6

Mid day: no birds sing
Summer heat on the roof
I hear beating wings

（；_・）

So: in the end I did sell my bike. I am now bikeless in Thailand. It feels like losing a limb. Well: maybe a finger. Or like walking naked trough the streets. Or like you've always had a full head of hair and someone waxes you while you're sleeping and you wake up and you have this sense that something is missing. Anyway. One last look at my Airblade.

Thank you Teacher Boris, see you next time!

Weird feeling: the last lesson is in the can as they say in Hollywood. Although I am fairly sure that I will continue to instruct people in some way, I am also pretty sure that they will not be 6 years old and in need of advice on anything from how to tie your shoelaces to doing homework the right way.

I'll miss it, but I had a good run. After my students drew, colored, held little speeches to wish me well, thanked me one last time and said see you next time (with an extra super special honorary wai-ing procedure) they ran out into the future like good kids do. As a matter of fact: so did I.

Reality check

Ah the joys of teaching. I'll miss it: standing in front of the class belting names, straitening them out when they need it, having fun, goofing off and running the show (because most if it is about The Show in Thailand).

Through it all though, I somehow manged to asses my students' development in almost every area. Dutifully scoring every worksheet, group exercise or test. Every move. Not only the important things like fluency, accuracy, behavior and creativity. I also kept track on how well my students stood in lines and sang the national anthem.

All this came together in my Fantastic Star System on the whiteboard. Good students get stars, bad ones get stars taken away and (after they hit zero) get demoted to the naughty/lazy student list on the other side of the white board until they shape up.

This being Thailand the goal is to keep that list empty and the level of sanook (fun) surrounding this list as high as possible (because boy, do those kids want those stars). One little flaw in the system: good students stay at a level of up to four stars (in the beginning) and up to six stars (in the final term). That's all the room I have and it makes it seem easy to reach the top.

Some kids stay at six stars for a long time without a lot happening. Not fair. So last Friday I marked two weeks worth of worksheets and decided to give everybody their 'real' score as an incentive to preform well on their final exams.

I did so with out prior notice while they were all finishing some Thai worksheet. But it didn't take them long to notice that I was erasing all the stars of good students, replacing them with numbers like 7 and then...8!

By the time I went in to the double digits they were all gasps and cries (mostly of joy). Some of the students with homework problems started quickly putting 'missing' worksheets on my desk. Especially after I explained that this was not the end of it and I would be giving enormous amounts of stars next week before and after the finals.

And then there it was for everybody to see: 'real' scores. Or at least pretty much as real as it gets in Thailand. Now the only trick is to make sure nobody gets left way down the bottom of the list. Remember: they are six/seven years old :)

Note: the picture is from the beginning of the previous year, when the scores are still near three stars. The the scores at the top are the team scores.

The long list turns to joy?!

I am currently in the process of trying move house (well: continents actually) without losing my head. And: without a house waiting for me on the other said so far.

From the moment I said 'yes' to the new gig, my to do list became a mile long. Who to tell and in what order? (This is still Asia). Where to get tickets? How to transfer all the Thai money to Euros? When to take the bus to Vientiane to get a new visa? Which books and things can I bring? What am I leaving behind? You get the picture.

The first time I did this (four years ago) was a little chaotic, quite hectic and very exciting at times. This second time around there's a lot more space to enjoy the process and the things and the people you're leaving behind. This of course has a lot to do with going back to a place and having done it before.

It will be very familiar to be back. On the other hand: I'm pretty sure a lot has changed in four years and it will be fun to reacquaint myself with my home town. And with the other mile long to do lists that are surly waiting. Hold on. I'm coming. At least here will still be here and now will still be now.

Wrong way holiday postcards

Just for fun and to confuse people. Directions: Print/attach to email. Send. Laugh.

More.... right here!

The right tools for the job

The more I come across fellow mediators, the more I'm blown away by the different ways people meditate. First there's what they do with their minds. That depends mostly on tradition. I know people who are just one with their instrument, people who count their breath, people that use mantras, rocks and even actual corpses for meditation.

Like I said that depends mainly on what tradition you came into contact with, be it Zen, Tibetan, Theravada or whatever (especially that last one's good :) But the range of 'equipment' people use is even more astounding. Especially in the sense that people are very particular about their set up.

I for one, I sit in the Japanese way because I used to own a bench. To approximate that, I now use two cherished Thai block pillows to sit on and rest my knees on a cushion. And last but not least I like their to be at least a hint of the Padma Rudraksh Mysorian sandalwood incense in the air.

Some people have elaborate altars with candles and statuettes or cushioned rooms or mats or blankets or music or meditation timers they can't do without. I have the incense. Honestly I'd hate to give that up. This is incense from Mysore The incense capital of the world. (By way of Bangkok's Little India in my case).

Okay, so what if their factory is now in Bangalore. It's still hand rolled and magnificent. And for soul stirring meditation: it says so on the box. No they are not paying for this (although they should). I think I'll crack open a fresh box right now. I guess I just love to replenish my senses. Hmmmmm Sandalwoooooood...

Haiku #5

Smoke rises the scene
Even older than these words
Seems new and absurd

Happy new year, happy viewing!

Just a quick hello and all the best from Khon Kaen. (And yeah: check out my new photo stream on the right, isn't it neat?)