It’s Monday afternoon and I have finished my two morning classes and I don’t have another class to teach until tomorrow morning. I teach sixteen classes each week, just slightly more than my Chinese colleagues, but less than the other foreign teachers. Sixteen teaching hours a week leaves me with a lot of free time. Since our scheduled with only some overlapping hours, much of the spare time is spent alone.
Americans make up most of the other foreign teachers, with a couple from Australia added into the mix. The Australians live across the hall from us in our old apartment. I can see that we will become good neighbours as they are older than the American teachers, while younger than us.
My wife and I are the examples who are always held up to the other foreign teachers about how it is all supposed to be done. Staff turnover is very high every year. The only exception other than us, is one young man who came partway through the year last year.
But, this post isn’t about foreign teachers. When My wife got back from her class, she saw me meditating in the spare bedroom on the upper level. Without disturbing me, she took this photo. She knows that meditation is vital to my well being, and she knows that I meditate while nude. This photo was an implicit acceptance of my nude meditation. And that acceptance means everything to me.