(no subject)
The day before yesterday, Natalie & I took a walk to the Carrefour that's located near the Arcade bus station in Chiang Mai. Just like in the French branches, there were 1,452,719 vendors to wade through before hitting the store proper: for those of you unfamiliar, it's set up almost like a Super Walmart, only without the rising bile and self-loathing that accompany any purchase from the Walton empire (the Carrefour Group actually promotes "responsible commerce").
In addition to refreshing hard-to-find travel staples & picking up a few small gifts for each other, we also walked out with the following:
- 1 artificial Christmas Tree (approximately 2 feet tall)
- 1 strand of clear Christmas lights
- 2 strands (one gold, one silver) of foil stars
Why a tree? I have no idea. Perhaps because it was only 69 baht (about $2.25). Maybe because after hearing "Jingle Bells" sung in every imaginable accent & played over ever PA system currently operational in Asia, I finally caved. All I know is that this is going to be my first Christmas away from my mother & after buying it, I felt a little less homesick.
So, despite the fact that I have burdened myself with an unwieldy cardboard box to lug around on public buses (ironic as I insist on carrying the world's smallest backpack filled with only bare necessities), I am overall quite pleased with my purchases. Natalie has been uncharacteristically supportive of such a silly and unnecessary purchase- but she has made it clear that I will be carrying the box throughout Mae Hong Son province.