Category Archives: Writing

Fun in Thailand

Dec 27, 2016Images, WritingRupert Symons

Hello all,

I am having a great time in Thailand. The weather is consistently above 30 degrees so on the beach nearly everyday. The sea is like a bath.

There is a constant whirl of social life of course because I know so many people here from previous years including the massage ladies on the beach who let me lie on their massage beds in the shade for no cost. They cooked an amazing bbq the other night. I thought my stomach would explode afterwards lol.

My friend Max took me to the Buddhist Temple yesterday. His mother passed away too recently.

You buy special bouquets of flowers, soaps, rice and other essentials which are offered to the monk on duty. He says prayers for her, and sprinkles water on you. You light candles and from them 3 incense sticks. Then you sit quietly and meditate for a bit. Then leave quietly when ready.

He said we should be happy because she is with the stars now and has no worries, stress, or problems as we do on earth when we are alive.

Afterwards I felt a weight lifted from me. Quite a special experience.

Needless to say the rest of the day was spent merry-making!

I am doing a few free English lessons near the guest house in the early evening before the boys and girls go to work in the bars and restaurants. Better English gets them better pay and makes it easier for them to get good jobs.

First lesson: RUPERT, not LOOPA. Perhaps on reflection the latter is more appropriate.

We talked about the meanings of names in English. One of the boys is called Dong. I said it meant the sound of a bell. Had to think on my feet there!

Thailand

It’s a place which you can come to to relax and forget about the stresses of life. The beaches are sandy, and the turquoise sea shines like Thai silk. But the stresses are in your head and body, and so in fact they come with you wherever you go.

To get the most from friends, boyfriends, relationships of any sort, you must drain your soul of stress and conflict before you seek to travel. Then you can rejuvenate, recharge, relax. There is only one way to drain them -be honest with yourself and others about your priorities.

Of course if you are honest with yourself and others you may not get your holiday. You may not keep your friends, boyfriends, and loved ones. But if they really love you they will love you more for it.

And then your stresses and conflict will be drained,.

Afghan girl

Sep 21, 2016Coursework, Part 2, Prose, WritingRupert Symons

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/23/world/steve-mccurry-afghan-girl-photo/

Getting into Project One of Part Two which is about characterisation. First we get a photo of someone we don’t know and write a little description of the person. Here’s mine.

The girl was about twelve years old. As I walked past she looked over her shoulder, straight at me. Her face was grimy as if it had just finished a dusty, sweaty journey. Her skin beneath the grime was smooth and orange-brown. Burnt umber. Her eyes startled me. Brilliant white with leaf-green, dark rimmed corneas and small pupils. Her hair was jet black so that it was not discernible under the rust coloured cotton headscarf draped loosely over her head and shoulders like the a hood. There were sparse flecks of intense gold in the cotton. Her eyebrows were thick, but flat, black and perfect. The straight, unturned up nose had a flat scar on the left of the bridge, slightly darker and redder, as if some skin had been planed off. The unsmiling lips were slender and slightly pouting in defiance. She was silent and still.

She looked at me with no curiosity for a second or two, then turned away from the sun to face forward. No hurry, nobody to see, nothing to do, nowhere to go. How could such ugliness have happened in the sight of this beautiful child?