BRAIN OVERLOAD AND IMPENDING DOOM

Bangkok, Thailand

Sitting looking out my window over the roof-scape of the structures below, I am reminded of youth. I remember distinctly the same view 10 years ago when I was fresh and scared, excited and full of wonder. That view was one of my first in Thailand and was one of my first international moments. Now I look over the same roofs and wonder how I got here? How has this world turned 365 x10 times, 3650 revolutions since I last saw this? What has changed? What is the same? Are the differences going to be within me or within Asia? I think both.

I feel strong. Good. Ready to be in a position of responsibility, ready to approach this job with correctness and draw the distinction between work and vacation. It is interesting to feel comfortable here because frankly I do now know this place well anymore. The last time I was here I was 17, however I do feel able to travel with confidence. Who knew that aimlessly rambling and popping out the other side still alive could be turned into a salable asset, that travel hours logged can make you marketable? I don’t feel confident about Thailand, but I do feel comfortable in Thailand. I feel ready to take it on without crippling nervousness in a position of semi-authority.

This entrée already deserves a borage of knocking on wood. Ultimately writing about my current optimism will of course guarantee hard times to come. That is the way of the world, the world of my luck. I know down the road there will be troubles, hard times, confusing situations and moments when I feel inadequate. Those entrees will also have to be written and when I look back on the rosy writing of today I will surely laugh. Well hopefully.

I love the bright and wide eyes of the students. It is incredible and empowering to see their mentality and outlook change right in front of me. I see connections made, assumptions shattered, questions formed and questions resolved. In many ways it feels like watching a child develop. Never is a brain as busy as when it is subjected to new environments and surroundings. Traveling is literally the fastest way to make new connections within the brain, it is a biological fact that not since infancy when the human brain is truly like a sponge, can the brain develop as rapidly as when abroad and stimulated. There is no other way to learn so much so quickly. The standard and formal paradigms of education fall to the wayside as a traveler begins to learn with all senses at once . No longer is information transmitted solely through words on a page interpreted through eyesight and translated for the brain to process. Instead holistic over-stimulation smashes into the cerebral as sounds, smell, touch, sight, taste and emotion transmit new information simultaneously.

It is excitement. It is the greatest hit. It is what all travelers ultimately come back for. I can watch it in my students and I can feel in brewing within myself. Bring on the confusion!!!!