Thai Language Test and The Liberation Garden
This past Saturday I was in Bangkok for a Thai Language Test. I had been preparing for it for the past half a year or so. And I knew I would be taking the test for the past year and a half. My teacher helped me prepare. She used official questions from past tests to train me. We trained mostly with listening and reading. And we did some writing as well.
The test went well. The first part was reading and it was the hardest part due to the limited time. There were 36 questions that got progressively harder and longer. We only had 50 minutes to answer all of them. 25 minutes into this component, I had worked through halfway through the questions. The next time I checked the time, we only had 5 minutes left to finish. I had another 10 questions or so to go through. Once the time was up, I quickly filled in the remaining multiple choice blanks at random hoping they may hit a right answer at least once. Once the test pages were collected by the staff, everybody said the same thing. There wasn't enough time.
However, the next part was easier. It was the listening component and we ended up finishing 15 minutes before the allotted 50 minutes were up. It was also challenging but the fact that the multiple choice answers were already on the page before we heard each test question made it one level easier. Next we had to write two essays. This I had much greater ease with than the first two components. With writing there's a level of simply expressing yourself from start to finish without worrying about being right or wrong. Of course I made sure my spelling and grammar were correct but I also knew they wouldn't be looking too deeply into the content of what I wrote.
The final step was the interview component. For me this turned out to be the easiest component. I had an easy time talking to my interviewers and they weren't asking me difficult questions anyway. They asked me mostly about Thai fruits. At one point they asked me why I was taking this test. I told them that I wanted to gain the certificate from it but that more importantly training for a test like this one makes you learn a lot more. If I didn't take the test, I may be satisfied with watching videos and reading books in Thai without really trying to dig deeper. But thanks to the preparation I went through with my teacher, I learned a lot more and improved on a level that wouldn't be possible with just watching Pokemon in Thai.
Other people I talked to after the exam confirmed that they were asked about fruits as well. Before the interview, I had asked the student next to me in the testing room if he would like to practice speaking in Thai before the interview. I asked him in Thai hoping he would continue the conversation in Thai as well. However he just answered back in his native English. Then I asked him again, this time in English, if he would like to use this time to practice our Thai before the interview. This time he rejected the idea by saying that he was preparing mentally by thinking in Thai. I wasn't happy with his answer and I refused to continue chatting with him in English.
Immersion has been an important aspect of my life here in Thailand. I have had Thai friends throughout my journey. Currently I have a new girlfriend and we speak together in Thai. I always talk to my neighbours and the staff at school in Thai. I haven't shied away from talking to people because that's where language is best learned - in real life scenarios. What we learn in the classroom can easily fade away if we don't apply it in our daily lives. I felt that the student who was too nervous to practice Thai with me before our interview - he had admitted to being very nervous before the start of the first component - was blocking an opportunity that would be helpful to both of us.
The test went well. The first part was reading and it was the hardest part due to the limited time. There were 36 questions that got progressively harder and longer. We only had 50 minutes to answer all of them. 25 minutes into this component, I had worked through halfway through the questions. The next time I checked the time, we only had 5 minutes left to finish. I had another 10 questions or so to go through. Once the time was up, I quickly filled in the remaining multiple choice blanks at random hoping they may hit a right answer at least once. Once the test pages were collected by the staff, everybody said the same thing. There wasn't enough time.
However, the next part was easier. It was the listening component and we ended up finishing 15 minutes before the allotted 50 minutes were up. It was also challenging but the fact that the multiple choice answers were already on the page before we heard each test question made it one level easier. Next we had to write two essays. This I had much greater ease with than the first two components. With writing there's a level of simply expressing yourself from start to finish without worrying about being right or wrong. Of course I made sure my spelling and grammar were correct but I also knew they wouldn't be looking too deeply into the content of what I wrote.
The final step was the interview component. For me this turned out to be the easiest component. I had an easy time talking to my interviewers and they weren't asking me difficult questions anyway. They asked me mostly about Thai fruits. At one point they asked me why I was taking this test. I told them that I wanted to gain the certificate from it but that more importantly training for a test like this one makes you learn a lot more. If I didn't take the test, I may be satisfied with watching videos and reading books in Thai without really trying to dig deeper. But thanks to the preparation I went through with my teacher, I learned a lot more and improved on a level that wouldn't be possible with just watching Pokemon in Thai.
Other people I talked to after the exam confirmed that they were asked about fruits as well. Before the interview, I had asked the student next to me in the testing room if he would like to practice speaking in Thai before the interview. I asked him in Thai hoping he would continue the conversation in Thai as well. However he just answered back in his native English. Then I asked him again, this time in English, if he would like to use this time to practice our Thai before the interview. This time he rejected the idea by saying that he was preparing mentally by thinking in Thai. I wasn't happy with his answer and I refused to continue chatting with him in English.
Immersion has been an important aspect of my life here in Thailand. I have had Thai friends throughout my journey. Currently I have a new girlfriend and we speak together in Thai. I always talk to my neighbours and the staff at school in Thai. I haven't shied away from talking to people because that's where language is best learned - in real life scenarios. What we learn in the classroom can easily fade away if we don't apply it in our daily lives. I felt that the student who was too nervous to practice Thai with me before our interview - he had admitted to being very nervous before the start of the first component - was blocking an opportunity that would be helpful to both of us.
สวนโมกข์ Liberation Garden
That is the sole photo I took in Bangkok during this trip. I was there for three days. I arrived Thursday night and spent Friday walking around the parks by my friend and CS host's home. At one point I was in Jatujak Park (สวนจัตุจักร) when I searched in Google Maps for art galleries nearby. I found one right nearby on the outside of the park fence. However I wasn't sure which exit I should use so I waited for someone to pass to ask them. Somebody did pass and I got up to ask them where a suitable exit was. He told me that he wasn't sure and that he was looking for an exit himself. What was great was that we spent the next 30-45 minutes walking around together. First he took me to the place I had shown him on Google Maps. It was closed. Then he made a suggestion to take me to the Liberation Garden and he showed me photos from it. I let him take me a step into the unknown, not realizing what was in store.
Once we got there and walked through the building, we sat together for only a short time. He had to get going. I stayed and dove into a meditation that would be highly captivating. There was a special room for meditation that I liked. But actually there were many spaces for meditation and even more if you wanted to use your imagination and meditate in a divergent spot. I came out of the meditation, took a break, and then went back in for more. This happened once more, each time the duration of my meditation getting shorter and shorter. I had had enough. I went to the bookstore and dug through the books, eventually getting two pocket books for myself and my new girlfriend.
I don't remember at which point I had realized something but it happened during my stay in the garden. Another garden with the same name and same founder exists in Suratthani province. I was brought there by my Couchsurfing hosts with whom I stayed in Chumpon. I had also meditated there at the top of a little hill with a Buddha statue at the centre. The name of these two parks means Liberation, a freedom from bondage.
This is a kind of freedom found within. It is explored through meditation. And another word for it is Nirvana. This is not a kind of freedom that the constitution of any country can give to its citizens. This is something found within no matter what country we live in. The various freedoms given to its citizens in many countries such as freedom of speech and freedom of assembly don't even come close in importance to this inner freedom that is our birthright. This is a freedom from stress and freedom from emotion that no outside entity, whether it be your parent or your government, can give you. I find that important to emphasize because there are so many people fighting governments around the globe for more and more freedoms. Meanwhile all the freedoms a government could give you couldn't measure up to the inner space of freedom available to you. Don't take my word for it. Experiment for yourself.
Get comfortable and sit in an upright position or lie down. And start breathing deeply in and out. You can start with questions such as "What is freedom? What is liberation from bondage? Am I free? How can I gain greater freedom?" Let the all-pervading power of the universe deliver to you its messages but do not hold on to these thoughts. Just let them come and pass as you continue breathing. And by letting these thoughts and all others go, you are diving into deeper waters that will yield greater amounts of freedom. Freedom from stress and freedom from attachment go hand in hand with meditation. Enjoy your experiment with truth.
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