Focusing on what can be changed

Once again feeling healthy as a horse. Eating like a cow, digesting food properly even without multiple stomaches. Energy back to full-on cheeky monkey levels.

Tutoring Tibetan monks. My students are brilliant and inquisitive, incredibly fast learners. If only I could pick up Hindi so easily! English lessons entail a great deal of hand-waving, drawing pictures, laughing about "dogs with horns" and other wacky forms of communication (miscommunication?). Beneath all the brevity lies the sad reality that Lobsang Damchoe wants to learn to say, "I am scared for my family in Tibet."

On that note, a "Free Tibet" would be a dream come true, but China has no motivation to make this a reality. Even if a western nation demands China lessen their grip on Tibet, such a demand would be laughable! The Chinese Government would say, "Who are YOU to tell us about giving people their land?" America, for example, has a sterling reputation for snatching land away from Native peoples, followed by systematic assimilation of their culture. Even now, we pump oil through Alaskan native land (with the occasional nasty spill), wreaking havok on delicate ecosystems to satisfy our addiction to fossil fuels.

I'm ashamed for the actions of certain American leaders, but I still love my country. I love my freedoms, video games, orange sherbet, a comfy couch, water that doesn't give me diarrhea and a decent sized TV. I appreciate that I can openly complain about my government, marry whomever*, and live in relative luxury. I'm reasonably patriotic, and I hope I present myself in a manner that portrays Americans as responsible folk.

Forgive the tangent.

Tibet: I can't free their people, but I can help a few who have escaped to India. Learning to speak English goes a long way towards finding jobs and understanding current events. I'm focusing on things I CAN change, because it's just too painful to pull my hair out over the injustices that can't be changed. More in the next entry.

*some exceptions apply