Letters to Lisa Part 6

Letters to Lisa Part 6
Paul
Dateline: March

Dear Lisa,
I’ve been talking to Paul a lot more lately. He doesn’t frighten me anymore. I understand him more now. He is actually a pretty cool guy. Intense yes, but it comes out of a passion for this school, these kids, and the desire to have good teachers for them. In this, Paul and I are identical. We both tend to be extremely sensitive. I was too sensitive to him before, hence my fear and uncomfortableness. He bounces ideas off me now regarding things in the office and life in general.
Paul is now one of the few people I actually spend time in conversation with. What a turn of events that is! And as I learn more about the school and see some of the things he deals with regularly, I have a better understanding of why he “seems” so intense. He has frustration from some really ridiculous situations that I’m afraid I can not talk to you about. (You’re a manager so I know you understand personnel stuff.) But I get it now. I’m his sounding board now.

Sometimes we strongly disagree on things, but it’s always work. We know work is work, and relationship is relationship. If we get into about a work issue, we can still be friends afterward. It’s nice to be able to do that. There’s usually a little bit of a short cooling down period after, then everything’s ok.
Paul told me recently he’s moving back to Thailand, were he taught before. If I have a Taiwanese soul, Paul’s is in Thailand. I wish him well and will miss his camaraderie in the office.

Everything else is just daily life. I get up, go to work, go home, relax (eat dinner, watch a movie, talk to friends etc.), go to bed and do it all over the next day. Life he is just like in America. You have routines you follow as you live your life. The only difference here is everything is in Chinese. I am ever aware of being a foreigner. On the days, I don’t think about or feel my foreign-ness are good days. It means I didn’t get any crazy looks, nobody asked me to take a picture, and I was able to communicate in Chinese relatively easily. Those are very good days!

Zijian, (See you later)

D
Paul… Post Script. It’s the end of May now and Paul has moved back to Thailand. I’m the Lead Teacher now. Meaning, I’m the intense asshole everyone treads lightly around. I so completely understand why Paul was grouchy at times. It’s funny how life is so circular sometimes. My boss even comments sometimes..”You remind me so much of Paul.” In this case, I take it as a compliment because I know it’s meant as such.