I guess I'm a lazy bastard

Last night, I covered uncountable and countable nouns in my intermediate adult class. I gave certain instructions and the students had to write a noun compatible with 6 different quantifiers. One of the instructions went as followed: Write down some things you can buy with your salary.

The first person to complete the instruction was my female student Van. She gave her answers and concluded the exercise by saying “and only one husband”. I couldn’t resist the temptation and had to ask her how much she was willing to give for a husband. She gave quite an ambiguous answer and I continued by asking her how it would work. Do you go to a room with a big glass window and you just choose the candidate you like most? I like number five, please. And then suddenly she said: “Don’t worry teacher, I wouldn’t want to buy you. You’re too lazy. You’re never home and never cook your own meals. I can’t rely on you, especially if I have children.”

I spontaneously started laughing. How could I argue? I am lazy to cook my own meals. Why would I when I can buy them all prepared and ready to eat for US$ 2? I think I’m going to stick to my laziness.

Writing is therapeutic

One of the greatest weaknesses I have is that at the core of my heart I want to believe that all people are genuinely good. Obviously, doing so spells naivety and it’s just not a realistic philosophy to adopt in today’s world. The last few days, Asia has been rocked by tragedy in Mumbai and sheer political lunacy in Thailand.

Up to this day, the most amazing trip I have ever made was my four month tour of southern India seven years ago. The whole experience was more than mind blowing. I remember arriving in Mumbai and absolutely hating it without any rational thought. I knew I had to give this metropolis another chance. Just before I went back home, I stayed a few days in this cultural hub and fell totally in love. To watch the Taj Hotel being ravaged and scores of people dying by terrorists who totally defy the core of Islam, has been hard to bear. India has just had its own 9/11.

Perhaps lunacy isn’t the appropriate word to describe the current crisis in Thailand. Maybe economic and political suicide is a better summary. One million people could lose their job due to the struggle for power. The government and the opposition are giving a new definition to hypocrisy. And the normal Thai is sandwiched between all this mess.

Another character flaw I have, besides my naivety, and I know it sounds like a contradiction, is the difficulty I have to trust people. Living in Vietnam certainly doesn’t help. I’m not going to get into the psycho-analytical reasons, but generally speaking foreigners fall into a different class. That means you always have to hold your guard. When you actually meet a local who you might get along with, might appreciate as a friend, and then have more lies and deceit slapped in your face, it hurts twice as hard.

My mission for the next few weeks: find some people who are genuine, folks you can trust. I’m tired of this protective wall around me. It’s starting to suffocate me.

The world goes round and round

It’s been a good week both at the office and in training. On Monday, I was interviewed for the DELTA course. The trainer immediately put me at ease by revealing I had been accepted already. My past experience and credentials were sufficient. Of course, this is the easy part. The first 6 months of 2009 won’t be a picnic, but hey, sometimes you have to "suffer" to get somewhere in life.

Training has been going well and my Achilles tendon/calf isn’t bothering me anymore. I’ve been able to resume my training schedule as planned. Yesterday, I did a 60 km bike ride and a 15 km run off the bike. I ran the distance in 1:04 on a hilly course without ever pushing myself, or as I would put it, an easy run. I feel very confident about my run for Powerman. The Open Philippines Duathlon Championships on October 19 will be a great test for that race. I wish though I had more time to stay in the Philippines as I’ve never been there before. Filipinos are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met and I’ve heard it’s gorgeous out there. It's a country on my to-do-list.