hai jai cao (give heart breathe in)

Jan 09, 2007 22:19


Its been a long long time. This is going to be a long long entry,  just so you know. Boring about Thailand. A general update. But there will be photos that you can look at the end. Or, If you just don't want to read this because it's too long to settle into and becuase my words never really flow into eachother, you can just skip to the photos. Or you don't even have to do that. The choice is yours.

So. Thailand has been...interesting. Seriously, its not for a lack of a better word, things here are interesting. Different from Canada and more ways than I'll ever know. Its been inconsistent, I've been inconsistant. Foreign lands. Thailand. I still laugh at the fact I'm in Thailand. THAI-LAND. hahaha. Bombs, floods, coups, robberies. Okay, I play that up too much. Sorry Thailand. It's safe and all that for the most part. I know the streets now, I know the words and the people and the places. It would seem that I live in Thailand. (although I always keep a bit of a distance). So, the rotary is strict as hell and I hate my club passionately. Im not allowed to do most things because I'm a girl and they say that Im too young and make up all kinds of rules that dont exist to keep me home. I seriously, seriously don't like the Thai rotary. There are a lot of awful things I could write because it is so difficult to respect and accept everything here after being raised with such a different point of view, but instead I will tell you the things I've done and why I love Thailand because otherwise I'll just get angry and hate Thailand which I don't at all want to do. So. Here goes...

35 things I love about Thailand

1.  My first host Father's laugh- It is so jolly and high pitched and he never holds it back. It sounds like concentrated happiness and I also love that his brother has the same laugh.

2. My Thai G-ma - Because she is seriously tough. She works in a garage and doesn't take anyones shit. She's Chinese and she's a rock. Actually, she's a bit scary, but she loves me and gives me all kinds of crazy foods. Ie. intestines, fried bananas and weird chewy red pill things that taste like spicy fruit.

3. the exchange students for knowing where its at.

4. My Best Thai friend, Nut because she is so nice, thoughtful and funny. Soo boy crazy. We spend classes reading at Thai pop magazines (a la J-14 and Tigerbeat) and an English/Thai dictionary. She made me a bracelet, I love her.

5. Temples - they are everywhere, visually articulate, precise and historical. they're ancient and beautiful. golden dragons on the roofs touching the sky and Buddha's that havent moved in a million years and never will sitting inside, giant and wise.

6 Text Messages - Everyone here texts messages everyone. They're fun, I send them often. I caved. technology is fun. So what?

7. Ajhan Sumjit - A teacher at my school, wise and happy, giving, so sweet and has such a big heart it is unbeliveable.

8. Buddhism - It DEFINES Thailand. Its ancient, peaceful, calm and eternal.

9. Sticky Rice (Coa Niao) - try it and you will understand.

10. Old Thai women - because they have THE coolest hands I have ever seen in my entire life and they are like the best parts of all of the nicest Grandmothers rolled into one cute, tiny Thai woman.  (save for my thai grandmother because shes a bit intimidating)

11. Motorbikes - Because I love wind in my hair. When you wear a skirt on the back of one you have to sit with your legs crossed at the ankles hanging over the side of the bike and try to hang on if you can

12. Being in the sea at sunset- Because when the sunsets it is BEAUTIFUL and it melts the mountains into the the water and you can just float and feel small in the water and watch the colours swirl around you until everything dissapears. And sometimes the water is so salty you can sit cross-legged in the ocean and keep your head above the surface.

13. The North of Thai - More on that later, but pretty much my favourite place in the entire world thus far.

14. Cucumbers - Thai people eat cucumbers with almost every meal and i love cucumbers.

15. Tofu - i eat a lot of tofu.

16. Craig and Zen - two foreign language teachers at my school who are pretty much my best friends. fantastic for openminded, objective, funny conversations and always good for a laugh.

17. Crossing Thai roads - a skill I had to aquire to say the least. A challenge because they are so busy and there is no real structure on the roads so there are cars and motorbikes and people everywhere. the trick is to just walk and never stop walking. Even if  youre barely moving, never stop because you'll get stuck in the middle and never get out again. Try to dodge the bikes and not get hit and youre done. no problem.

18. Driving down gems St. on Friday afternoon - People from all over the world make their way to Chanthaburi for the gems. theyre that good. The streets are completely flooded with so many differnt people pouring from the shops. Its a treat for the eyes. Everythings bustling and vibrant and makes me feel like Im driving through a movie.

19. the fact you can leave your shoes anywhere in this city/country and they wont be stolen.

20. My neighbors - they are simply lovely people.

21. the fact that most shops and restaurants are virtually empty at all times and stil manage to stay in business and also because they'll have 4 people working that just sit in the corners sleeping. If you all knew how many times Ive had to wake people up to buy something I think you would laugh.

22. Belvitas - Belvitas are cookies that Nick and I always eat until we almost throw up, then we leave the extras on top of random cars and take photos.

23. Palmy - Shes a Thai pop star and I went to see her in Korat (note: rediculous night. so so so so so much fun, but rediculous). She makes me feel like I know about Thai pop-culture.

24. Leo beer

25. My cellphone - because its become a fixture in this Thai life of mine.

26. zombies by the Cranberries - its ALWAYS playing everywhere in Thailand.

27. the noodle man and lady that work at my school because theyre nice, always wave to me, give me extra noodles and taught me how to order said noodles in Thai

28. Thai massages - Because they hurt so much in the best way and make it so that I cant help but stand up straight. (although they've also left we with terrible bruises)

29. Pineapple Lady - Stern lady with fast hands who I buy pineapple from most days after school.

30. Monks - I dont know why, i just like seeing monks walking down the streets randomly and i especially love listening to them chant -its like the most beautiful ensemble work of all time

31. Selec moo liung - my fave thai noodles

32. Night Markets - because they are so alive. Lots of street vendors working under dramatic lights that make it so that you can see all the smoke and steam sailing through the air. So many people, always busy and buzzing, I cant explain, im not that good of a writer, just come and see one and you will understand.

33. Thai films - theyre absurd and hillarious.

34. chili powder - I always use way too much and my eyes water and I start coughing. Whenever thai people ask if what im eating is spicy i always say no to try and sound tough even though i am usually in excrutiating pain.

35. Thai karaoke - i cant decide if i love it or hate it, its squeeky and toney, but its become a part of my soundtrack, so i have no choice but to love it.

Chiang Mai tour was the best consecutive ten days I have ever lived. All of the culture and art that i have been so anxious to see, because it is definately not in chanthaburi, was in chiang Mai. (also it was awesome to get to roam the cities with friends and by myself  and see what there was to see). It wasn't just Chiang Mai. Chiang Rai, Sukothai, Phrae, Phitsanulok, korat, Mai Sai. Its funny because I felt like in Chiang Mai was the most culturally rich city in terms of traditional culture and folkart. Its a city that fuctions for tourists and therefore is able to maintain its traditions. People come to see the temples and the dance and the art. Its also funny because I don't know if tradition in Chiang Mai would still be alive without tourists. Its all a big contradiction. All of the workers can speak english, people's lives depend on tourism. Its what eats away at Thailand and what keeps it running. The night market wouldn't be the night market without hoards of white people to buy everything up for next to nothing prices.  I hated that every single place I went people looked at me like I was a money bag, speaking english to me, always trying to sell me something. I always spoke Thai with them though because I can't stand feeling like a tourist in this country. The temples in Chiang Mai are the nicest Ive ever seen. we went to a cave with 300 year old Buddha's carved in the rocks and crawled through the tiniest little holes, hitting our heads while venturing deeper. Saw a thai dance show. A proper one with some actual discipline. I was so happy, I just sat there with a stupid grin on my face in awe with the way the dancers moved. There is so so so so so much history to Thailand and so many secrets and they all come out in the art here and I love it. everything is rigid and fierce but peaceful and precise. I bought a puppet the size of a small child, and its the most gorgeous thing that I have every set my eyes on. Its a marionette and I have no idea how to use it...yet. Ill mention it again, the temples are incredible. I keep thinking about the temples. Theyre just unbeliveable and completely humbling. Chiang Mai is alive. The night bazaar is insane. SO many people you can barely move and anything you could ever want to buy is available cheap. Also...there are clubs. Yes, I went clubbing. hayley lewis. clubbing. I never saw it coming but it was actually so much fun. Drinking whiskey and dancing, tuk tuks back to the hotel at 3 am, sleeping at 5 and up again bright and early. Down side to the clubbing thing is that you definately start to see parts of thailand that are otherwise tucked away   ie. disgusting fat white men and tiny asian women dancing in the grossest ways possible. (its a part of the culture, always has been for thousands of years). Aside from that Chiang Mai is an incredibly vibrant city with a good mix of people, friendly Thai's and its clean which is somewhat unusual for Thai.

Next, Mai Sai. Mai Sai is the northern most province in thailand and it boarders Myanmar (Burma), It is possibly my favourite city in the entire world.Its scary and drab but festive and welcoming. i cant explain it. If ghosts exist this is wherethey live. Its such a creepy place. Something just holds heavy in the air. In the hotel we stayed ini found two dead mice lying beside eachother in an empty room on a red carpet. one of the mice was on touched and the other was cut clear in half with a knife and was missing the top half of its body. there was no blood on the ground. I'm telling you all, strange people live in Mai Sai and Im sure its haunted. Lots of sketchy tourists probably trying to sneak over the boarder, women roasting chestnuts, oddly quiet and cold. That was odd. Realy cold Thailand. People were selling winter coats and scarves instead of flip flops and tee shirts. I loved the fact that everything felt a little sketchy, I loved that the city felt haunted, I loved taht  everything was a little bit dangerous. Its all fresh ground and there is nothing that comes close in grimsby. Its an amazing feeling to realize there are places in the world that you wouldnt have even be able to dream of without being there, and now I have an intense urge to visit myanmar...sorry mom.

Went to visit hill tribes in Chiang Rai. Really interesting to see how people live. theyre clinging to their culture and survive from the money they get from tourists. theyre not Thai or Burmese, they just kind of stay in the mountains and live their lives, secluded from the rest of the word. they all speak the same language Ive never heard before. A few of them spoke thai so I could talk with them. nice people. Always smoking from crazy pipes and playing squeeky instruments. Its funny because they know that theyre of interest to the tourists so they kind of end up exploiting themselves and their culture becuase its the only way to maintain it. Either way, an experience, something to see, sort of human-zooish but still good.

got chased by dogs in phrae.

sukothai was christmas. All of the exchange students set up a tree in our hotel lobby and played secret santa. Went out drinking on christmas night, "Thailand is awesome!" all dressed in our best and dancing the night away. the hotel we were staying at had potatos so i was happy. A christmas Ill never forget, probably one of the best. Amungst friends, drinking in the land of thai, singing christmas carols at the top of our lungs. Some of you even got a phone call. Those of you probably have a general idea of the nighs events and how much fun it was. The trip was just fun. which is good because i forgot for a while to just have fun, and this is what im doing now, in thailand while I can before I have to go home and work and be focused. Also, beautiful 800 year old buddhist ruins in sukothai made my life a little bit better.





































MYANMAR (BURMA)                                                                                                                                                       THAILAND (MAI SAI)







It was so nice to have hot showers and a bed that wasnt just a slab of wood, but made it difficult to go back to bucket showers and beds that function better as a coffee table than they do a bed. ohh well. tis Thailand. I also need to mention that the other exchange students are awesome and i love them. I cant believe that i have typed so much today. My 80 year old wrists wont be pleased. none the less, Ill write a bit a Phu Kradeung...quickly, its rushed, im sorry.

OKAY. so. Phukrdeung is a mountain in the northeast of thai, in a province caled Loei. its tall and its a 5 km trek up. It was hard and everyone was dripping with sweat. I had the worst blisters that have ever existed in the history of man. For real, i couldnt even walk. We went on a 30 km walk around the mountain and It took me and a group of four others the whole day. Mostly because I could only move 2 cm at a time. however, i saw a wild elephant because my blisters slowed us down. My group and I just sat for 40 minutes, looking down, sitting on a giant rock cliff watching a giant elephant tear through the forest below us. we named him elephunk einstein elephant extrodinaire because we are just cool like that.  It got dark and we hiked back home through the thick thick forest and finally made it back to camp 3 hours late. haha. no one even noticed so all was well. Waterfalls and Buddhas, free anything, "mentos" cabins, slumber parties, never going to bed, always being tired, camping, pocky, korean bbq, guitars and singing, speaking english, napping, sunrises at 5 am, conversations, drunken rotary men singing neil young. PhuKradeung was awesome (Thailand is awesome!) and I left my heart at the top.













Thailand is Thailand, I'm half way done with this trip. I have no idea what is going to happen next but Ive decided I want to be an anthropologist. A Theatrical antrhropologist.  And, (this is so off topic) go and listen to the song dont let me down by the beatles (off of past masters, not let it be naked) because it is an incredible song. This entry is just skimming the top of what it is to be here, words and photos fall short. But maybe this will give you an idea. and make you want to come and visit Thai and see me.

Two more things and I promise I'm done.

1. I just went to intense thai yoga with my host mother and it was awesome.  went for moo dang and nom ron. motorbike, yoga. Havent actually moved in 5 months, Im gonna be so sore tomorrow.

2. There is talk of travel to india with the fam. Ive been invited. holy fuck. I would die of happiness because I have wanted to go to India since I was 13. NOBODY TELL MY MOM OR DAD. Carly...one word and your southern can is mine. ..goin'  to cambodia in 16 days for a night.

THAILAND

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