Complete Freedom

So the course is really tremendous but I've decided to stop! Big news - yes I know!! I got to school this morning and realised I didn't want to be there with all the constraints and rules and homework and and and... I went and spoke to the teachers and they were OK about it so I left there and then. Think its not an uncommon thing for people to do.

I got back to my room and in a somewhat ceremonious way tore up all my notes and binned them. I then looked at all the 'respectable clothing' I had brought with me - long sleeve blouses, long trousers etc and decided they had to go too. I was in a very defiant mood. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

My purpose for travelling was to encourage change... change in how I viewed things and what I wanted from life. The course was making me feel more and more confined and claustrophobic. It was definately not what I want or need.

I went down to the River Ping with Karen in the afternoon who had skipped school today and we sat in a very european type coffee house drinking cappucino. We had wanted to go on a river cruise but the boat's engines had given up so he was out of business for the day!

We then went to visit Ugly and Shan - two tattooists, we waited outside MacDonalds and they came on scooters to pick us up in the pouring rain. I was a little nervous as I saw Karen disappear off into the distance on the back of Ugly's bike and me on the back of some random guy I didn't know, going where, I had no idea - we arrived at their funky shop in no time and they were really nice guys. We looked through loads of pictures of tattoos and vowed to go back when we had clearer ideas of what we wanted. I am thinking of having either an elephant (not to scale) or a buddha or something similar like a lotus bud to represent my time here. Though having seen a really great buddhist prayer that is about 5 inches by 5 inches I am thinking maybe I won't have something small and discrete! I should mention here that Ugly was recommended to Karen by someone and she had been communicating with him via phone for a few days, these weren't two guys we just met on the street.

I am going to stay in Chiang Mai till at least mid May and do all the sites here and maybe a few short courses in yoga, more cooking and maybe some shorter massage courses. Then I will look at traveling around maybe head to Bangkok or down south for a while before heading back here to meet up with Sarah on 8th July. I love Chiang Mai and know I will have plenty to do here so have no worries about spending time here.

I've been here 3 weeks now and am only just starting to feel like I belong, this is where I want to be right now!