Punctuated Equilibrium

Punctuated equilibrium is a method of understanding change, particularly how change and the development of conflicts seem to progress in extended periods of stasis, punctuated by sudden shifts in radical change.

Though the novelty of living in Thailand has diminished, there is something to be said about taking periodic abrupt departures from the routine.  Pursing these manufactured visits of change, now for three years running, forces me to re-evaluate all my assumptions and presents an opportunity to instill new practices and behaviors.  Extended exercise, renewed focus on research, attending church daily, always making progress.   It is interesting how these trips to and returning from Thailand has always eased the transition for so many significant changes.

My first classes ended yesterday and I can assure you that I was entirely exhausted at the end of the day.  I woke up early (5:30am) to go running at Rajamangala stadium, which is about a half mile from my room.  This is something that I would regularly do when I lived at the Hua Mak campus two years ago, but for the first time, my good friend Sup joined me.  We ran for about an hour until we were both at the brink of dehydration, which set on quickly once the sun peeked out from behind the clouds.

After spending some time recovering and making final preparations for my first class, I stopped by to see the City Campus staff that both Jet and I became friends with last year.  It is typically Thai custom upon return visits to share gifts of appreciation, no matter how small and trite they are.  Jet packed a plastic bag full of Easter chocolates and candy as well as several bottles of lotion from Bath and Body, which they all loved.  It’s amazing how things that seem so trivial can make such a difference.

My first class was at 10:30am and it was so warm and humid that morning, I was thankful to be in an air conditioned classroom to cool me down before class began and dry up the sweat that soaked through the arms of my shirt.  I don’t know if it is because of the extra weight on me than my previous trips, but I don’t remember sweating this much just walking from my room to my classroom.  We’ll just see how much weight I can sweat off before I return back home.

The first class went smoothly with 26 students.  Students began showing up about 1 minute before class and most had arrived by 10:40am, which was a good sign for the first day of class.  I asked students if they had wanted to start class earlier at 9:00am so that we could end class by around lunchtime for the rest of the semester, but the students rejected this because having class so early would have them fighting the terrible morning traffic.  I always found it interesting how faculty over here have control of changing class so freely.  Class ended at 3:30pm, which gave me some time to return back to my room and resolve the air conditioning issues I had.  Luckily for me, the solution they had for me was to change rooms to a location with a working air conditioner.  I couldn’t have been more appreciative to the ABAC staff for resolving this issue so quickly.

Before my second class, I attended the daily 5:00pm church service.  This was a practice I followed two years ago and was something that I missed while away at the City Campus last year.  My second class started at 6:00pm, but most of the class did not arrive until around 6:30pm.  There are 24 students in this class and they were a good contrast to the morning class.  The majority of the morning class students (day MBA program) had limited work experience while the majority of the evening class (evening MBA program) had several years of work experience.  Consequently, I was able to get a lot of participation from the evening group, which was awesome as it kept me awake, active, and engaged with the students.  Class ended at 10:00pm and I left straight to my air conditioned room to sleep.  It was a very good sleep last night.

Today I met with the director of the international office to discuss partnership opportunities with UW-Whitewater.  The discussion was productive and I now have several other meetings scheduled with the deans of the school of business and school of management in the coming week.  My goal is to have some tangible results in hand before I leave at the end of the month.  I am both hopeful and optimistic, but I do recall the disappointment I had with my efforts two years ago when I failed to accomplish any lasting partnership with JSU.  I hope that experience will be an advantage for me this time around.  After my meeting, I walked out for lunch at my favorite location to eat across the street.  They are my favorite because they serve my favorite dish, “ka mon gui” (chicken with rice).  I could literally eat there every day for the rest of my time here in Thailand.  Delicious.

After lunch, I took my first load of laundry to be washed.  This entails packing all of my dirty clothes into a carry-on bag, walking it over to one of the street coin-operated washing machines, and waiting until it finishes.  For some reason this is one of the most humbling experiences for me that I experience while in Thailand, probably because the experience is so public.  I could pay ABAC to do my laundry, but doing it myself is so much cheaper and it allows me time to walk around and explore the area around me.  While waiting for my laundry to finish today, I noticed that there were several different stores along the walk than two years ago.  The most interesting one was a Muay Thai instruction school.  I also passed by some very tempting street vendors.  One was selling fried chicken drumsticks, which I love.  Another was selling whole grilled chicken with minced garlic that smelled delicious.  And to my surprise, there was a vendor that was selling my favorite dessert, which is a type of wafer sandwich filled with a marshmallow-type cream.  Since an objective of mine is to lose weight while here, I will try to stay away from those desserts.  It may be tough.

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