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.