This is my happy dance. :)

I am doing it because I just took on a super scary challenge, and it worked out even better than I could have expected.

In the rather good Fluent in three months, Benny the Irish Polygot (yep, that's really his brand) argues that if you really want to learn a language, you need to regularly evaluate your weak spots, and then do something to directly take them on.

As I mentioned in Plateaus, I've hit a natural comfort in my interactions here, and it was going to be tough to progress if I didn't do something about it.

My solution was to go and find a conversation partner - someone I could speak Thai in normal conversations with for 15 minutes a day. In my ideal world, it'd be an exchange - that they'd also be interested in learning English, and want to speak 15 minutes a day of English with me. Half an hour, every day, and a great way to level us both up.

I looked online (with some rationalization that I'll be leaving Phuket in 6 short weeks, so maybe it made more sense to form a longer-term relationship that could follow me to Chiang Mai, blah blah,) Mostly, I looked online because it was a whole lot less scary. But, no luck. I'd have to do the scary thing, and ask a real person.

Maybe you're an extrovert. Maybe you're outgoing. Maybe doing something like that seems easy to you. If so, imagine sitting alone, in silence, in a room by yourself for six hours. That's what this feels like to me. Sitting alone for hours is easy.

But, again, stagnation feels like comfort. So, Mr. Dictionary and I worked out the translation, I worked up my nerves (thanks to a pep talk from the guys), and I headed to dinner. I sat around awkwardly after finishing up my food, waiting for the person most likely to be able to understand me to get a free minute (she had, I think, a gentleman caller. Or at least an old friend. It's Saturday night. People are relaxing, Steven.)

In any case, the free moment came, and my Thai, which seemed so reasonable on paper, hit the real world, which meant pretty much every third word was lost in translation. No control over which - my tones just aren't that good. But, together, we made it through to comprehension. Thai Language. English Language. Exchange. 15 minutes, 15 minutes. You know someone who wants?

"Me", she said, excitedly in Thai, "I want to do that, and also her" (gesturing to my friend who makes the most delicious food in Phuket, and speaks the second-most English in the place). Then, into English, "Give me few days, and I ask here. So if I gone, and she gone, someone else."

In two minutes, I went from scared to having someone volunteer to set up a language club. This is amazing. And, for the first time, I can feel like I'm giving something more than too-few USD to this city, these people. Speaking good English here opens up lots and lots of opportunities, and makes a huge difference in your earning power.

There's an article coming one of these days about tourism, development, and wondering if my being here does more harm than good. But for today, I'll take making the lives of a few really lovely people a little better. It's a fine start.

And if you'll excuse me now, I need to go press play. The dancing must continue.