They want me!

Four weeks to go and our adventure may just be beginning. My mom always used to say that wanting something and having it are two different things . . . we'll see. I know that I will be going through a whole range of emotions as our future unfolds. I do know that Payap University wants me. They have been very pleased with the work that I have been doing this summer and they would really like me to be a part of the faculty.

I have really enjoyed working with the students. We had our first student recital and the Jazz combo from the Jazz Improvisation Workshop that I teach 3 times a week for 2 hours each session performed and it was a blast! The students are having a great time playing together and are really trying hard and playing well. On Saturday, August 7 I will have the last Recording Techniques workshop that I have been teaching for 2 hours every Saturday morning. The students will be doing their own mix of a song that we recorded in the studio. The private marimba lessons with the potential percussion students and private lessons with the instrumental students working on Jazz improv skills has really been a treat. Word got out to Prince Royal College (which really is more of an 8th through 12th grade) that I was here and they actually hired me two hours a week to work with their percussionists giving master classes. That has been great and has helped pay for my Thai tutoring 3 times a week with a little left over to pay for food. Believe it or not, I am actually beginning to read some Thai which is really exciting for me.

I'm tired. I have been working very hard for the school but it has also been very rewarding. I think that a lot of the tiredness is from concentrating so hard while trying to communicate. I find myself sometimes in mid sentence realizing that they really don't have any clue what I am saying and so I start over and try again.

The meeting with the President of Payap went very well. He made sure that we set a date for Kalya and Dean Chaipruck and myself to go to dinner with him before we leave. He seemed very positive in seeing the need for a Percussion Professor in the College of Music.

So . . . wanting and having . . . wanting and having. That is what we are praying about and what is very heavy on our hearts. The average salary for a Thai professor is about 24,000 baht per month. That translates to about $620. All of a sudden things are looking a little more expensive in Thailand. An average wage for a Falang (foriegn) professor is about 30,000 baht or $930 per month. A far cry from what I am used to making but then, again, this is Thailand. Suddenly all of the platitudes we so easily spew about giving up this and that before we really make a decision are really put to the test.

The good news is that I don't have to make any quick decisions yet. No offer has even been made. No application filled out. Just talk. All I can do is keep moving forward and seeing where this chapter goes. That reminds me of when I would check a book out from the library as a kid. This sounds crazy, but I would often read the last page first and then read the book to see how it arrived there. Life isn't like that, and yet, the story still unfolds and takes twists and turns and tests your hopes and dreams.

We miss home. We miss family and friends. As things wind down here we hope to clear our minds, pray and make wise decisions and not (as is my inclination) necessarily or unnecessarily take the easy way out.

Taking Shape

We are at a point now in our stay in Chiang Mai where things are slowly starting to take shape. Tomorrow (Thursday) Kalya and I are meeting with the Garden of Hope leaders at their children drop-in center to see what their ministry is about and what future possibilities there would be for some volunteer work. This was exciting news for us. I know that Kalya is really looking forward to begin checking into the possibilities. For a while it seemed like we wouldn't be able to have some of these meetings but it seems that persistence is a virtue and now the meetings will be taking place. Next Tuesday in the morning we will be meeting with leaders of New Life Center. Both of these ministries are working with children who are being rescued from child trafficking and in many cases trafficking in the sex trade. Kalya will be so good with these kids and we are very excited to see what the future might hold volunteering with one or more of these groups. Our stay is so short this summer that we can only really do fact finding and pray for the Lord's leading about where to volunteer if we should move here in the future. There is, understandably, an application process to go through to work with these groups of at least 3 months before you would begin working with the organization. We totally respect that for the safety and care of the children. So, while things were looking difficult to set up, all of a sudden the doors were opened to meet with the leadership of these groups. Praise God and pray for our ears to be open to His leading.

Also, next Tuesday in the afternoon, I have a scheduled meeting with the President of Payap University to discuss a possible future here in the College of Music. The teaching here has been going very well with very positive comments coming back from the students in the Jazz Improv workshops that I have been doing. The private teaching (percussion, and jazz improv) has been sort of hit and miss. One thing about Thai students is that they are not as punctual as you might expect at this level of education. That will take some getting used to for sure. Classes either start somewhat late or, as the case was today, I will show up to my office only to find out that there is a note on the door saying that so and so is unable to come for their lesson today. I know a lot of that has to do with my being a guest here and the students having to schedule time with me around their actual schedule. So . . . Mai pben rai (no worries).

I was speaking with the Dean of the College of Music the other night and discovered that the responsibilities of the faculty are divided into 4 categories: Student Life, Community Service, Staff Development (e.g.writing papers, giving recitals), and Teaching Classes. Yesterday I did some community service and went with Ajarn Wassunchai to play at the Hospital in the patients' waiting room. It was fun. He played piano and I brought a snare drum in and played some brushes on the drum with him. Next week his son will join us on Saxophone. Jam, his son, is a senior at Payap University in the College of Music and is very talented and a really great kid. It has been fun working with him. There is a core group of students in the Jazz Workshop that I am really beginning to warm up to and starting to build some relationships. The building of those relationships takes time, especially with the language barrier, but it is so worth the time and effort to try to build up their confidence and let them know that we can have a lot of fun (sanook mak mak) being and playing music together.

Next week I will start some language tutoring 3 days a week for one hour each day. I am looking forward to that. I am doing much better but sometimes my brain just shuts down and things I thought I knew don't come back quickly enough. One of the best experiences with the language issue was last week when I went to lunch. All of the tables were full but there were two part time workers from the College of Music that recognized me and asked me to join them. They spoke about as much English (actually a little more) as I spoke Thai. But, you know what?, we communicated and it was a really great meal together.

As we enter our 5th week here, I know that we will have a lot to think about and I know that it will be hard to think about many of the choices that lay before us. At the same time, it's when we make choices that our story unfolds. We pray that our story will be honoring to God and His plan for our future.

Bryan

Finding Our Rhythm

We are still early in our stay here. I have only been teaching now for almost two weeks, but we are beginning to find some sort of rhythm to life here in Chiang Mai. In the picture to the left you can see my office. Do you see the work area in the corner with the bulletin board and three great desk top areas? Very ergonomic making the work flow more smoothly and effectively. That's not my spot. See the desk to the left with a couple of books, box of crackers and a back pack? That's mine. Actually I feel very blessed to have a space at all. Payap has been so gracious to me to give me a shared office space with my own key and, most importantly, air conditioning.

Here is a typical week, so far: I come in to school at 10:00 in the morning on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and I usually spend time preparing for the Jazz Improv workshop that I teach on those days from 3 to 5. I also have 5 private students, 3 on mallet keyboard and 2 graduate students wanting more intense time on jazz improvisation, that come in sometimes expected and sometimes unexpected. I am trying to have a very open policy with the students and be there for them when they ask for extra help. I have also had rehearsals the past two weeks on two to three nights a week for "the big concert" scheduled for tonight with the Chiang Mai Youth Concert Band. The Band consists of students in the high schools and colleges in the area as, sort of, a community band but also a group that requires an audition to participate in. They are quite good and are playing some very challenging music. It has been fun playing with the percussion section and coaching them and getting to know them. Two of them are students of mine at Payap. The theme of the concert is Dances From Around the World and each section is wearing a traditional dance costume from somewhere in the world. The Percussion section is wearing a dance costume from Burma and today (3 hours before the concert) I will discover what the section brought for me to wear tonight. I think I can't wait . . . or can I? On Saturday mornings at 10:00 to Noon I teach a recording techniques class in the school's recording studio. The studio is awesome and I am really enjoying my time so far working in it.

The schedule is working out great and I am still trying to get the language skills happening. I have been encouraged to just try speaking and not worry about the mistakes. Like a child learning a language, the understanding comes first and then the speaking skills start to follow. I'm noticing that. When I hear people talk, I can understand some of what they are saying even though I would have never thought up what they said on my own. It's funny, when I want to communicate, I can often think of one word that I could use but can't string a sentence together for the life of me. I will just keep plugging away and asking questions and repeating phrases. I think that a tutor is something that will happen soon.

Kalya is awesome. She has been so supportive of me and my weak language skills. I am so lucky to have her for a wife and friend. She is really making our humble studio apartment a nice home. If you look closely at the picture, you can see her making one of her many "deals of the century" buying orchids for our balcony at the Orchid Shop in the gardening center that we went to the other day.

She is starting to get in touch with some of the many organizations that deal with children and, specifically, child trafficking. She has gotten some phone numbers and is starting to make some contacts to get a feel for what the possibilities are.

We have been exploring Chiang Mai a lot more and I have only gotten lost twice, once alone and once with Kalya riding with me. Obviously I found my way back, or I wouldn't be writing this right now . . . now, if I could only remember how to get home from this great coffee shop that I am sitting in right now . . . haha.

Life is starting to settle in. The rhythm is beginning to happen. Kalya is making what we have for now an awesome home. I am already getting great feedback from the students and some of the staff about the teaching that I am doing at Payap. I am feeling both helpless and somewhat more confident with my Thai. My language skills are like Thai food, a great mixture of sweet and sour. We miss home, we miss our kids and grandkids and our friends, but we also know that we are beginning a story here and we are so excited to see how this chapter will read.

Blessings,

Bryan and Kalya

Scooting in Chiang Mai

Now, before you start thinking, "Oh, I hope Bryan is being very careful riding the scooter in Thailand. I am so worried that he will get hurt", rest assured that I have not forgotten my defensive driving from scooting on my Vespa in the states. The difference here is I am . . . FREEEEEEE! And, yes, I am carefully free but free none-the-less.

Scooting (and driving for the most part) in Thailand is way different than driving in the states. First, if you can fit, you can go. If you are headed to a stop light and you are on a motorcycle or scooter you are not only allowed to move to the front of the line, you are expected to. Weaving around the cars is a-okay. The main thing is to keep your wits about you and be very aware of your surroundings and once that happens you just go where you need to.

Parking is also very easy on the scooter. However, as you can see by the picture, the problem sometimes can be remembering where in the heck you parked your bike. I think I know now why so many people leave their helmet sitting on top of the side mirror. It's really nice to have some sort of marker on your ride so you can find it when it's time to go. Thailand is a very scooter friendly country. Parking is never an issue and you are way more free on the road than you are driving a car. I can't tell you how many times in the states I have wanted to cut to the front of the line, or pass the slow vehicle along the side or in that narrow space between them and the center line and have had to just suck it up and follow dutifully behind (I can see some of you cringing already). In Thailand it is never a problem. As soon as you see an opening you just go and no one gets mad or feels violated like they are entitled to stay in front of you and hold you up. Everything remains "Jai Yen" (a cool heart) and you move right along.

I always thought that since Thailand is so laid back (translated: sometimes hide your true feelings), that they tended to get their pent up aggression out on the road. I don't believe that anymore. I just think that they are getting from point A to point B and there is a certain understanding on the road amongst the drivers and therefore there are really no worries.

So, yes, I AM BEING CAREFUL, but I also am driving the way that I know at some time in your life you have always wanted to drive but our culture in the states just won't allow. If you really want to feel the real freedom of the road, come to Thailand, rent a scooter and . . . ENJOY THE RIDE!

Sawadee!
Bryan