-^-for posterity-^-

i’m actually sitting in class right now. i brought my laptop to one of my lit classes where they are having a test. i sit behind the desk elevated on a concrete platform in front of 40 some bowed heads working feverishly on an essay comparing the thematic differences between homer’s ‘iliad’ and the movie ‘troy’. they pick their heads up every once in a while to stare off into a corner of the room or to rub their forehead as one girl is now doing. she just wiped her nose.

to the right of me there is a giant construction project going on. it’s not really giant, but the manpower that are working on the site would lead one to believe that. there are about thirty people working on a new set of classrooms. they are now hammering on the frames they have built for the new support columns. they build these ten or twelve foot high columns by pouring bucket after bucket of concrete into the frame they are now hammering. there is nothing like teaching about love and war to the sound of hammering and banging and booming.

there is also a remote controlled airplane flying somewhere in the distance. it’s quite easy to hear with all of the, ‘wwwwiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiinnnnnnnnnngggggg’, in the distance.

the day is almost finished and i will try to play basketball if the sky god holds off on the rain. a big brutish student is finished with his test but doesn’t want to be the first one to bring it to the front. i remember those days. i’m not equating myself to a big brutish guy either.

the wind is blowing fiercely through the classroom now. the windows are made of steel bars, much like a prison cell. one could see it as hampering the ability of students to study or one could use the excuse that the bars are necessary as reminders that, at times, there must be physical constraint to study. we all can’t just go willy-nilly frolicking around with our thoughts. we have to put them into little cages where they can rest.

i count three people finished with their test. one girl has given up and is about to go to sleep.

the class next to us just erupted into cheers for some reason.

i watched the musical ‘chicago’ yesterday and it was beautiful. i love watching musicals now and am convinced that every movie should be required to add a song or two by law. my line from the movie was when the lawyer character screams about the jury, ‘they can’t hear the truth above the roar!!!’ i thought it very true of modern america’s obsession with media and spin and hype. what is even true anymore? was anything ever true?

taught about hermeneutics in my other class today. should give a talk on the hermeneutics of teaching about hermeneutics in vietnam.

i watch for cheaters like a hawk. they wouldn’t dare cheat. i told them i’d cut off their pinky the first time they cheated and would work my way down the hand for each additional time. nothing like the fear of god to make someone go straight.

vietnam is such a beautiful place. there are giant tropical trees to my left and my right. the wind blows across the desk and blows my hair. the sky is pearl blue. i will return to my work and that will be all. there is nothing more to say when life is so peaceful, when only the thoughts trapped in your head can run around for a bit and a cool wind can press against the side of your head.