I Have Almost Made up My Mind to Take the Course

Late afternoon, I made a call to the course manager to talk about my visa issue. She told me that she would produce a letter to be presented at the immigration office. As this course does not require a student pass, which is fine in itself, my status as a tourist won’t change. I don’t know if there is any participant from overseas except me. If there is any, I believe that he or she is also entitled to stay only for 30 days. Even if I get an extension with the letter, it won't be enough. I need a further extension to complete the course because the final assignment is in April. I’ve already made rather too many land-crossings. The Woodlands checkpoint is suspicious.

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With the certificate, what would I intend to do? Having been a city dweller since I was born, my desire to live in a more humanly natural or fundamental, if materially inconvenient, environment is still strong. If I feel overwhelmed in some negative way in such an environment, that should also be fine. I believe that is something I need to go through. In fact, that is what I should have experienced when I was so much younger. Once certified, I may seek a position in a developing country.

When I was around 30, I thought about working at an Israeli kibbutz, to make my hands dirty. But I never took any action to make it a reality. In hindsight, it seems a wise no-action. I don’t want to extend my hand to help colonizers to further their occupation work.

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Also today, I deposited the total amount for the camera. It was successfully done, even though it took me more than half an hour because of a $5 note, which the two deposit machines, located at TB Plaza, repeatedly rejected.