Today everyone wore yellow in support of the King who is very sick. I had heard rumors that he died months ago, but what do I know. I didn’t question it since there are serious consequences if anyone were to take that as disrespectful towards the King. It was quite cool to see a sea of yellow at morning assembly though.
Not sure if I ever talked about this before, but the amount of sweeping that happens at school is amazing. Every morning students are sweeping the driveways and sidewalks at school. They sweep the sports court. They sweep the classrooms when needed. Just about every surface is swept. There is trash thrown off to the sides of roads, but the school surfaces are swept. I wonder how they decide who’s turn it is to sweep or do they just do it automatically? They don’t use store bought brooms like we do. They are all made out plants, bamboo poles and sticks. I can’t even find a broom like we have in the US in a store. They are all these natural material brooms. They are very short too. I have to bend over to use a broom.
I’ve been noticing that the students are more comfortable with me. There are more and more students saying Good Morning, Hello Teacher or Good Afternoon than there use to be. In fact, by the end of the day the words Good Morning and Good Afternoon no longer make sense to me because I’ve said them so many times in a day that they just sound like gibberish. This is a good thing and it’s mind numbing at the same time.
I never use to have any reaction to coffee. I think I’m starting to notice it now though. Or more, I notice the absence of it. I still don’t drink it and feel more awake. I can still drink it in the evening and have no problem going to sleep. What I am noticing is a craving when I haven’t had it in a day or two. Then, I feel my system relax a little when I do have it. I’ve had this calming reaction with sugar my whole life – no sugar high, but a calming of the whole nervous system after I eat sugar. I’m wondering what this is all about. I’ll fill you in later if I figure it out.
At lunch, Noi asked if I believed in ghosts. I wasn’t sure how to answer. I don’t know that I do believe in ghosts. I’m not sure I don’t. I hadn’t really thought about it. So, I told her I didn’t believe one way or another and I didn’t much care if they were real or not. She went on to tell me all about ghosts and that they were beings that most of us can’t see and that they live on different plane than we do (she didn’t use those words). Since most of us can’t see them, we could be bumping into them right now. Some people can see them so they have to be real. She told me all this with the energy I didn’t know what ghosts were and if I knew, then I would understand that they are real. It was interesting that the question started off if I believed in ghosts like there was a choice and ended as if there is no question – they are real, I just don’t understand. I still don’t care if they exist or not.
After school, I threw my laundry in the washer and headed to get coffee. The weather was delightful today – warm but not hot and dry. So, I went to the outdoor coffee shop that serves better coffee and is cheaper because I wanted to sit outside anyway. They were closed. So, I went to the other coffee shop which I like, but not as much. Just before I was going to leave, Tip and her daughter came in. Fai was so excited to see Aunt Rraine and came to sit with me and draw pictures for me. Tip told me that just before they got to the coffee shop, Fai asked when she could see me. Completely adorable. It was nice to have coffee with them. Well, Fai had ice cream, not coffee.
When I woke up this morning, my first though was “no I don’t want to”. But after I got up and was more awake, I went back into the state of indifference. I’m hoping this becoming a more natural state for me to be in instead of something that happens once in awhile.
(c) All rights reserved Kimberly Fiore
Rraine Drops 