Interesting Observation

While reading a book, I think I've concluded something about philosophy. Western philosophy seems to be about the facilitation of practical and traditional learning: they want you to "learn more" about the way we learn. Eastern philosophy seems to do the exact opposite; learning in eastern philosophy seems to be centered around the notion that what we know is completely incorrect and that everything we know is a veil over our eyes, smoke and mirrors, whatever metaphor you want to use. Eastern philosophy seems to want you to unlearn what you know and open your mind to the "truth," the truth being the "unlearned or untapped" knowledge that can only be obtained by completely changing the way we think about concepts or ideas.

This seems to be the major divide between the two schools of thought. Not all philosophy originating from the west is western thinking, and same goes with the east. Western and Eastern philosophy isn't as simple as geographic location, but the complexities described above. Most people would find this important or pertinent to what they do, but to me this is an important revelation. I like and respect both schools of thought, but I think I would habe to agree with Eastern philosophy more, because I think there are a lot of ideals that people hold now-a-days that are negative and flat-out wrong. A lot of problems in today could be solved with some "innovative thinking," changing the way we look at things in our lives which might give us perspective on what is and should be important to us.

Interesting thought I figured I'd share.

More than a month

A little over a month until I ship out, and I'm noticing some changes. I'm becoming much more introverted; I'm not talking as much. I want to see how things change, or don't, without my interaction, but I also am much more deep in my own thoughts, mainly about my trip. I keep planning, thinking, and wondering about my trip and experiences. I'm starting to read a lot more, or at least enjoy reading more. I appreciate the value of good literature, but there's one thing I absolutely hate about reading: those damn computer readers that you download books on and it's basically a small screen. Those things take away from the reading experience; not only can you not write notes or anything down, but the physicality of the book makes for a much better connection, and you don't have to worry about a battery life. The jitters and nervousness of my travel is gone completely; everything that remains is anxiousness. I want to go, and I want to go now. The sooner the better. I need to experience and change and grow and develop, and I feel stagnant being where I'm at.

On a brighter note, Cambodia and Thailand are looking to be the highlights of my trip. Sitting on a beach, experience international city life, and, the best part, important historical monuments. So many temples, shrines, and national icons that have affection entire empires, and the fact that they're breathtakingly beautiful doesn't hurt! Studying in Xi'an will be awesome and I'm excited about the prospect of learning Chinese in China, but lets face it, with sites like these, how can you beat it!

Temple in Bangkok

Po Tao

Phuket

Angkor Wat

Angkor Thom