Jan. 28

To all the good friends that I've known,

My experience in Thailand lately has not been remarkable. Phetchaburi, the city I live in, is the center of a large farming area. My university has one 9-story building and if you go the top of it, you look out on a view of rice-farms and palm trees for as far as the eye can see.
In 1850, the British diplomat John Browning visited Thailand and wrote a book about it, including his visit to a mountain near my city. He described the exact same view... except that back then the palm trees grew in orderly lines to mark property boundaries. The vast majority of my students are the children of local farmers.
I am generally trapped in the area of the university because the only way to get anywhere is to take a motorcycle taxi... which I'm only occasionally willing to risk. This doesn't bother me as I have a nice, simple life here. My best friends are: Keith, a foxy old British teacher who always has a twinkle in his blue eyes, Joke, the local pharmacist who lived in the Bay area till 9-11 when they kicked him out, and Boat, an affluent young guy whose goal in life is to become fluent in English. He's always willing to help me be comfortable in Thailand. Also, There are many other people here in Phetchaburi who are kind to me.
Aside from reading, drinking, and writing an environmental essay, I enjoy taking walks on the sprawling campus and observing the wild creatures. It's not uncommon to see a white heron fishing in one of the ponds. Also spectacular is the great variety of butterflies. The most common of these have tiger-like wings: monarchs I think. Then there are huge ones with fire red bodies and black wings, each with three red spots. Then today, I saw a colossal green grass-hopper. When it saw me, it took a great leap and landed vertically on the wall... a remarkable feat of athleticism when you think about it.
Mm.... I shouldn't forget to mention the trip to Bangkok I took with my fellow teachers and students. Here I saw the temple of the Emerald Buddha. The temple complex is vast, colorful, and full of statues and murals. Most of these are quite out-landish and weren't all that intriguing to me. However, I did enjoy the statue of a mostly toothless hermit doctor in lotus position. All that's known about him is that he impressed an early king enough to erect a statue of him.
The Emerald Buddha itself is about 3 feet tall and sits on a pile of golden thrones and objects. It's highly revered by the people and has been for many, but I don't remember how many, centuries. To me, it's a mystery how a piece of carved jade becomes so hugely important. But then, as Hamlet said more or less, "There are many things in heaven and earth undreamt of in our philosophy."
Anyway, soon I plan to go see an elephant. As I hear, there are owners who bring them around to some restaurants nightly.
I hope things are well with all of you on the other side of the globe.

kind wishes,

Blue Falang