fatigue

Ost-Asia is a very busy place. I am feeling very tired. The kids, they are full of energy and very capable. But something is missing, I think. They take in much data, they give out many good ideas. But there is lack of incubation. The ideas are half-formed, the implications they are not worked out much. It is very hard to teach humanities here.

But this is not only a difficulty. It is also a challenge. And my friends, Kapten Hokk and Major Anonym (good name, this one), are very encouraging. They understand not all schools here are like theirs. And they tell me their school is also like mine anyway. So it is good. We sit around and drink Spanish wine and think of how the world is now a small small place, much to be protected.

The other day, the Kapten (funny, sounds silly to call him Kaptajn) said something from Chesterton, "The hidden room in Man's house where God sits all the year/The secret window whence the world looks small and very dear..." I think this is the essence of the humanities, is the heart of it. That is the thought that makes us put on our fatigues and go to war in the classroom.

Oh yes, we are sitting in the hawkers' centre today. Then along comes little boy who makes noise at big hawker. Hawker is about maybe thirty years old, curly hair and thick eyebrows. He says to the boy, "Kann..." (insert famous Hokkien obscenity). Then he is quite shocked, this barbarian and his two Chinese friends all laugh very loudly. Major says, "He's read your blog."