A monk in a brilliant orange robe, sipping emerald green Fanta through a straw. The lovely girl I tutored in French, who couldn't afford to pay me but brought me tiny animals she made out of paper for my windowsill. I think of my American friends, working in an office, starting at the bottom of the ladder, and I want to stay here forever. There is so much for a foreigner to learn, especially from Buddhism, which permeates the people's lives. I have never feared violence here.
People are open and trusting.
They teach you how to be compassionate, how to treat strangers, how to appreciate simple pleasures, how to accept that you really have no control over life. Of course, Thailand is changing, even Isaan. There is a four-lane highway now. My students love bootleg American cassettes, the fake name brand shirts and ICQ on the Internet. They can't understand why I prefer their music to that of my own country or why I don't want to live in America or drink Coke, and I can't explain it.