It's fascinating how quickly one's environment becomes a part of oneself, how quickly we absorb our surroundings and the way of life and thinking around us. After just one week in the U.S., Thailand already felt like a distant memory, a hazy dream. Now, after three weeks, it's almost as if we never left. The people who rode on a scooter with the wind in their hair, traveled to islands and other countries on weekends -- they seem like other people, living other lives.
That's not to say, of course, that we have slipped seamlessly back and that coming back here and re-establishing our lives hasn't been difficult as hell. Our first week back, while staying with my parents, I tried to shield myself from the outside world as much as I could. The only places I went to were the library and the playground. I didn't watch TV, read the newspaper, go through the mail, or expose myself to any kind of media. It made coming back less overwhelming.
But I could only hide for so long. We had apartments to see, cars to test drive, appointments to make. The minute we started this process of repatriation, things got stressful. Quickly. The problem is that no one gives you the benefit of the doubt here; no one gives a crap. No one is watching out for us to make sure everything we need is taken care of, is resolved. There is no human connection; it's all about business.
The other thing is where we have come home to. I've always detested American suburbia. To me, the American suburbs are devoid of personality, soul-less, indistinguishable from one another. Over time, I had gotten used to these types of surroundings, and it helped that we had pretty easy access to all that Washington, D.C., has to offer. However, coming home to the suburbs again after two years abroad, living in a country full of life and character, has only highlighted how mind-numbing the 'burbs can be. Even driving down streets I used to think were picturesque, past houses I used to consider charming, I feel boxed-in and claustrophobic. Everything is just too clean, too sanitized, too quiet. Too organized, too controlled.
It's funny, too, watching the people in this area -- everyone speed walks, purposefully, as if on a mission. Even during the weekend, in the supermarket, out at the playgrounds, everyone is in a hurry to get somewhere. I remember feeling frustrated when I would be stuck behind students walking to class on campus in Thailand. The students would walk slower than snails move, as if they had all the time in the world. Now I wonder what the rush is. Now I'm the one sauntering.
I feel even more weighed down now that we have begun acquiring the material possessions necessary to live here -- cars and furniture among them. I've never been one to accumulate much in the way of material possessions, but now they feel even more limiting and restricting than before. And even though we are lucky beyond belief to have so many of the conveniences, creature comforts, and options that so many in the world don't have, I no longer enjoy them. Instead, I feel these amenities only serve to complicate life and enable me to "participate" passively in life without doing much, making me lazy and complacent.
Of course, coming back has its advantages -- we're much closer to family and friends, we've been able to visit the library almost every day, we've visited the free museums in our area. And I've certainly come to appreciate the level of intellect that exists in this area; the depth, independence, and strength of many American women; and the freedom we have to express our opinions and thoughts, and to disagree with each other and our government. Still, I do feel the stress of daily life here creeping slowly back into mine. If only I could export the best of this country abroad, life would be grand!
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
One Week in America
I can't believe we've been back for only one week. Thailand already seems so far away and a distant memory, and our life there feels like a dream. It's been a disorienting, confusing, and overwhelming week, trying to understand again how life works here and re-establishing our lives again. Everything has stayed the same, but we haven't. Life here is almost as foreign to us now as life in Thailand once was...
- Even when it's 90 degrees outside, it still feels cool enough to me to put on pants and a long-sleeved shirt.
- When paying for the bill after a meal, my husband forgets and wonders out loud if we need to tip, as if not tipping were an option.
- Everything now seems negotiable, regardless of what we're shopping for.
- Getting use to having and operating voice mail again.
- We miss seeing Asian faces around, even though we are already in a town with a good-sized Asian population, so we go to the local Asian market just to feel at home.
- Our son has been mispronouncing words the way he's heard them pronounced the past two years: "kitchen" is now "kitshen" and "chips" is "ships."
- Forgetting about and getting used to the tedious process of credit and background checks just to rent a place, instead of being able to just show up and sign a lease on the spot.
- Paying for everything with cash.
- Forgetting that we no longer have free access to virtually any book, movie, or music we will ever want.
- It feels too formal and impersonal when people address me by my last name.
- Being unused to hearing European foreign languages instead of Asian ones.
- American food is no longer appetizing, feels overly processed and "fake," and doesn't taste good.
- Feeling closed off from the outside world because the doors and windows of all the houses are always closed, we have to drive to get anywhere and can't just walk or use a scooter, and don't hang our clothes outside to dry.
- Forgetting that we can't just buy minutes at the 7-Eleven to use our cell phones.
- Looking at 7-Eleven stores with fondness instead of indifference.
- Forgetting that many places you need to go to are closed on the weekends.
- Not blinking an eye when my kid runs off out of my line of sight at a public place full of people.
- Everything feels too clean, quiet, and sterile.
- Getting used to seeing so much green in all the trees and grass again.
- Even when it's 90 degrees outside, it still feels cool enough to me to put on pants and a long-sleeved shirt.
- When paying for the bill after a meal, my husband forgets and wonders out loud if we need to tip, as if not tipping were an option.
- Everything now seems negotiable, regardless of what we're shopping for.
- Getting use to having and operating voice mail again.
- We miss seeing Asian faces around, even though we are already in a town with a good-sized Asian population, so we go to the local Asian market just to feel at home.
- Our son has been mispronouncing words the way he's heard them pronounced the past two years: "kitchen" is now "kitshen" and "chips" is "ships."
- Forgetting about and getting used to the tedious process of credit and background checks just to rent a place, instead of being able to just show up and sign a lease on the spot.
- Paying for everything with cash.
- Forgetting that we no longer have free access to virtually any book, movie, or music we will ever want.
- It feels too formal and impersonal when people address me by my last name.
- Being unused to hearing European foreign languages instead of Asian ones.
- American food is no longer appetizing, feels overly processed and "fake," and doesn't taste good.
- Feeling closed off from the outside world because the doors and windows of all the houses are always closed, we have to drive to get anywhere and can't just walk or use a scooter, and don't hang our clothes outside to dry.
- Forgetting that we can't just buy minutes at the 7-Eleven to use our cell phones.
- Looking at 7-Eleven stores with fondness instead of indifference.
- Forgetting that many places you need to go to are closed on the weekends.
- Not blinking an eye when my kid runs off out of my line of sight at a public place full of people.
- Everything feels too clean, quiet, and sterile.
- Getting used to seeing so much green in all the trees and grass again.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Sh*t, Look at All the Places We Hit!
My last post from Thailand -- a final walk down memory lane to all the places we've visited in our two years here. There are still a million other places we never got to, but I'm happy with how much we got to travel. So long, Thailand. Thanks for the memories. We will never forget our time here!
Thailand
Bangkok
Ayutthaya
Koh Chang
Koh Samui
Kanchanaburi
Erawan National Park
Chiang Mai
Sukhothai
Koh Lanta
Koh Larn
Rayong
Khao Yai National Park (my husband)
Bangkok
Ayutthaya
Koh Chang
Koh Samui
Kanchanaburi
Erawan National Park
Chiang Mai
Sukhothai
Koh Lanta
Koh Larn
Rayong
Khao Yai National Park (my husband)
Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
Penang (my son and I)
Kuala Lumpur
Penang (my son and I)
Singapore (me)
Vietnam
Ho Chi Min City
Hue
Hoi An
Hanoi
Ho Chi Min City
Hue
Hoi An
Hanoi
Japan
Osaka
Nara
Kyoto
Nagoya
Osaka
Nara
Kyoto
Nagoya
Taiwan
Taipei
Hualien
Taroko Gorge
Sun Moon Lake
Chuang Hua City
Lukang
Toayuan
China
Hualien
Taroko Gorge
Sun Moon Lake
Chuang Hua City
Lukang
Toayuan
China
Hong Kong
Cambodia
Siem Reap
Siem Reap
Indonesia (my husband)
Bendung
The Philippines (my husband)
Manila
Manila
Friday, July 3, 2015
Living the Island Life One Last Time
Following our trip to Sukhothai, we returned to Chiang Mai for one more day, then came home to regroup for a couple of days before heading out to show our visitors island life as the last leg of their visit. We went to a small island, named Koh Larn, about a 30-minute ferry ride from Pattaya. Unlike beautiful Koh Larn, Pattaya is a seedy city frequented by foreigners for its sex industry and about 1 1/2 hours' drive from us. Just walking through the port area of Pattaya made me feel dirty.
It was on this trip that our visitors got a small taste of what living and traveling in Thailand might be like. First, we had hired a driver -- our morning taxi driver during the school year -- to take us to and from the port of Pattaya for an agreed-upon price. But the day prior to our departure, I received an email from a teacher's aid at our school, who is neighbors with the driver, telling us that the driver's taxi cab had been rear-ended, so a taxi-driver friend of his would drive us instead, and that the friend was asking for more money. It wasn't that much more money than what we had agreed on, but it still didn't sit right with me that we were paying the price of his accident. Nevertheless, it being the day before we were to leave, we agreed to the change in driver and amount of payment.
On the day of our trip, the driver showed up on time to pick us up, but he didn't seem to know where he was going. Due to that and bumper-to-bumper traffic for much of the way, a trip that was to take less than two hours took about three hours instead. By the time we got to Pattaya, it was early afternoon and we were all starving.
Once in Pattaya, we were immediately visually assaulted in every direction by leering men. We tried to ignore it and look for lunch. Unfortunately, walking around, it seemed every restaurant was closed except for a fairly pricey western-style grill. Fortunately, the food was decent, and as it was my husband's birthday, I surprised him with a large piece of the best chocolate cake I have tasted in Thailand.
After lunch, we took the ferry to get to Koh Larn. Once there, we walked to the place where we were staying. The streets there were narrow and crowded with people, animals, tractors, scooters, tuk tuks, and songthaews. It was quite a scene. Our first afternoon there, we took a songthaew to Samae Beach. The songthaew ride was harrowing -- the driver drove at breakneck speed on narrow roads that were steep and windy. We held on for our lives. At Samae Beach, we walked and our kids played in the water. Samae Beach was busy, but fairly scenic with mountains in the distance. There also was a building with a solar-paneled roof shaped like a sting ray.
After a couple of hours there, at around 5:30 p.m., we decided to head back to the hotel. As we were walking towards a songthaew to get on, a group of people got on and took up all the space. So we decided to wait for the next one. Immediately, everyone from the passengers to the songthaew driver began talking in Thai and gesturing. Everyone was insisting that we get on, even though there was not one single space left on the bench in the back of the songthaew. After some confusion, one of the passengers told us in broken English that songthaew was the last one from the beach for the day, and that we HAD TO get on that one. Everyone started shifting and a couple of people got up for all of us to sit with our kids in our laps. Then, once everyone realized we were completely ignorant of the ways of the island, they asked us whether we were staying on the island that night because the last ferry heading to Pattaya was at 6:00 p.m.
We got so lucky that we decided to leave at that time rather than stay longer; otherwise, we would've been stranded at the beach and would've been walking for at least an hour or two on windy, steep roads alongside speeding scooters and cars just to get back to our hotel. We were also lucky that people were nice enough to inform us about what was going on. This experience was the epitome of living and traveling in Thailand, and of our experiences with the Thai people -- you're never completely certain of what is going on, no information is ever communicated to visitors to inform them of any kind of schedule, and you just have roll with the punches or you'd go insane, but people will help you out once they realize you're a clueless farang.
We finally returned to our hotel for a shower and dinner. The shower in our friend's room had no hot water, so we reported it to the concierge. Of course, when they went to check it out, hot water came out. Later, when she decided to shower, there was again no hot water. The way our day was going, we were neither surprised nor upset about the shower.
Dinner that night was a disaster. We chose a restaurant recommended by someone at the hotel. At first glance, it seemed like a cute place with an amazing water view. But that was the only good thing about the restaurant; nothing else seemed to go right. We waited forever for our food to arrive; the waitstaff made mistakes on our order; all the lights at the restaurant kept going on and off; and our friend's and her son's dishes were super spicy despite instructions to add no spice, so dinner was torture for them.
As if that weren't enough already, the power went out at our hotel that night. It wouldn't have been a big deal except it was hot and muggy without the air conditioner. My husband spoke to someone at the hotel who spoke English who told him that it was probably caused by some work being done on the cables in town. After about half an hour, I was about to wake up my son to go outside for some fresh air when the power returned. Phew.
The misadventures continued at breakfast the next morning. When I booked our rooms, I had made sure that breakfast was included, but when we ordered breakfast for our kids, we were told by the Thai staff that they weren't included and that they could only get a small box of cornflakes and milk each. I was quite annoyed by this information as there was no indication that the kids wouldn't get breakfast on the hotel website or the booking website. We three adults ordered breakfast and had to give the kids some of our food to supplement. Luckily, as we were heading out for the day, we ran into the Australian proprietor of the place. He asked us how breakfast was, and we told him what had happened. He told us the kids were entitled to a full breakfast like everyone else, and the problem was resolved for the next morning.
The rest of our second day there went well, fortunately. We hit another beach called Tien Beach after another harrowing songthaew ride. Getting to the beach area was a bit of an adventure itself with rocky terrain and a walk above the rocky shores, but the beach was gorgeous with pristine water. It also was a quieter beach with fewer people, though there were quite a few speed boats and other boat tours. We rented umbrellas and beach chairs at 50 baht per person for the entire day, parked ourselves under the umbrellas, enjoyed the temperate water and the view, ordered delicious food delivered to us for lunch, drank delicious cocktails, and had a relaxing and wonderful day at the beach. It was just what we needed.
The next morning, we all had a full breakfast, got on the ferry to go back to the port of Pattaya, and our driver picked us up, all without incident. The drive back took only an hour and 20 minutes as there was no traffic whatsoever. All's well that ends well!
The view from Pattaya's pier:
On the way to Koh Larn: A beautiful house on its own island, and views of Koh Larn from our ferry.
At Koh Larn: Colorful buildings near where we stayed, a wedding being set up at the parking lot where the songthaews usually park and pick up passengers, the view at the horrible restaurant where we ate the first night, and a menu item at another restaurant.
At our hotel:
At Samae Beach: Building with sting ray-shaped, solar-panel roof, a floating pier, a colorful shack, and the colorful rocks at the beach.
At Tien Beach. The third picture is of my husband's foot. He stepped on a sea urchin, and a woman who was referred to as a "doctor" came over with a stone and pounded on the wound site to break up the spine that had gone into the skin.
It was on this trip that our visitors got a small taste of what living and traveling in Thailand might be like. First, we had hired a driver -- our morning taxi driver during the school year -- to take us to and from the port of Pattaya for an agreed-upon price. But the day prior to our departure, I received an email from a teacher's aid at our school, who is neighbors with the driver, telling us that the driver's taxi cab had been rear-ended, so a taxi-driver friend of his would drive us instead, and that the friend was asking for more money. It wasn't that much more money than what we had agreed on, but it still didn't sit right with me that we were paying the price of his accident. Nevertheless, it being the day before we were to leave, we agreed to the change in driver and amount of payment.
On the day of our trip, the driver showed up on time to pick us up, but he didn't seem to know where he was going. Due to that and bumper-to-bumper traffic for much of the way, a trip that was to take less than two hours took about three hours instead. By the time we got to Pattaya, it was early afternoon and we were all starving.
Once in Pattaya, we were immediately visually assaulted in every direction by leering men. We tried to ignore it and look for lunch. Unfortunately, walking around, it seemed every restaurant was closed except for a fairly pricey western-style grill. Fortunately, the food was decent, and as it was my husband's birthday, I surprised him with a large piece of the best chocolate cake I have tasted in Thailand.
After lunch, we took the ferry to get to Koh Larn. Once there, we walked to the place where we were staying. The streets there were narrow and crowded with people, animals, tractors, scooters, tuk tuks, and songthaews. It was quite a scene. Our first afternoon there, we took a songthaew to Samae Beach. The songthaew ride was harrowing -- the driver drove at breakneck speed on narrow roads that were steep and windy. We held on for our lives. At Samae Beach, we walked and our kids played in the water. Samae Beach was busy, but fairly scenic with mountains in the distance. There also was a building with a solar-paneled roof shaped like a sting ray.
After a couple of hours there, at around 5:30 p.m., we decided to head back to the hotel. As we were walking towards a songthaew to get on, a group of people got on and took up all the space. So we decided to wait for the next one. Immediately, everyone from the passengers to the songthaew driver began talking in Thai and gesturing. Everyone was insisting that we get on, even though there was not one single space left on the bench in the back of the songthaew. After some confusion, one of the passengers told us in broken English that songthaew was the last one from the beach for the day, and that we HAD TO get on that one. Everyone started shifting and a couple of people got up for all of us to sit with our kids in our laps. Then, once everyone realized we were completely ignorant of the ways of the island, they asked us whether we were staying on the island that night because the last ferry heading to Pattaya was at 6:00 p.m.
We got so lucky that we decided to leave at that time rather than stay longer; otherwise, we would've been stranded at the beach and would've been walking for at least an hour or two on windy, steep roads alongside speeding scooters and cars just to get back to our hotel. We were also lucky that people were nice enough to inform us about what was going on. This experience was the epitome of living and traveling in Thailand, and of our experiences with the Thai people -- you're never completely certain of what is going on, no information is ever communicated to visitors to inform them of any kind of schedule, and you just have roll with the punches or you'd go insane, but people will help you out once they realize you're a clueless farang.
We finally returned to our hotel for a shower and dinner. The shower in our friend's room had no hot water, so we reported it to the concierge. Of course, when they went to check it out, hot water came out. Later, when she decided to shower, there was again no hot water. The way our day was going, we were neither surprised nor upset about the shower.
Dinner that night was a disaster. We chose a restaurant recommended by someone at the hotel. At first glance, it seemed like a cute place with an amazing water view. But that was the only good thing about the restaurant; nothing else seemed to go right. We waited forever for our food to arrive; the waitstaff made mistakes on our order; all the lights at the restaurant kept going on and off; and our friend's and her son's dishes were super spicy despite instructions to add no spice, so dinner was torture for them.
As if that weren't enough already, the power went out at our hotel that night. It wouldn't have been a big deal except it was hot and muggy without the air conditioner. My husband spoke to someone at the hotel who spoke English who told him that it was probably caused by some work being done on the cables in town. After about half an hour, I was about to wake up my son to go outside for some fresh air when the power returned. Phew.
The misadventures continued at breakfast the next morning. When I booked our rooms, I had made sure that breakfast was included, but when we ordered breakfast for our kids, we were told by the Thai staff that they weren't included and that they could only get a small box of cornflakes and milk each. I was quite annoyed by this information as there was no indication that the kids wouldn't get breakfast on the hotel website or the booking website. We three adults ordered breakfast and had to give the kids some of our food to supplement. Luckily, as we were heading out for the day, we ran into the Australian proprietor of the place. He asked us how breakfast was, and we told him what had happened. He told us the kids were entitled to a full breakfast like everyone else, and the problem was resolved for the next morning.
The rest of our second day there went well, fortunately. We hit another beach called Tien Beach after another harrowing songthaew ride. Getting to the beach area was a bit of an adventure itself with rocky terrain and a walk above the rocky shores, but the beach was gorgeous with pristine water. It also was a quieter beach with fewer people, though there were quite a few speed boats and other boat tours. We rented umbrellas and beach chairs at 50 baht per person for the entire day, parked ourselves under the umbrellas, enjoyed the temperate water and the view, ordered delicious food delivered to us for lunch, drank delicious cocktails, and had a relaxing and wonderful day at the beach. It was just what we needed.
The next morning, we all had a full breakfast, got on the ferry to go back to the port of Pattaya, and our driver picked us up, all without incident. The drive back took only an hour and 20 minutes as there was no traffic whatsoever. All's well that ends well!
The view from Pattaya's pier:
On the way to Koh Larn: A beautiful house on its own island, and views of Koh Larn from our ferry.
At Koh Larn: Colorful buildings near where we stayed, a wedding being set up at the parking lot where the songthaews usually park and pick up passengers, the view at the horrible restaurant where we ate the first night, and a menu item at another restaurant.
At our hotel:
At Samae Beach: Building with sting ray-shaped, solar-panel roof, a floating pier, a colorful shack, and the colorful rocks at the beach.
At Tien Beach. The third picture is of my husband's foot. He stepped on a sea urchin, and a woman who was referred to as a "doctor" came over with a stone and pounded on the wound site to break up the spine that had gone into the skin.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Northern Thailand: Sukhothai
In the middle of our trip to Chiang Mai, we also made a quick trip to Sukhothai via a five-hour bus ride. We had planned on staying there for two full days, but because there isn't much to do in the city outside of the ruins, we left a day early and returned to Chiang Mai.
Sukhothai was an early kingdom that existed from the 1200s to the 1400s. Its capital, the ruins that we visited, has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Instead of biking through the historical park, as originally planned, we hired a tuk tuk for the day to take us to all the sites of the ruins. It turned out to be a good plan as the ruins were fairly spread out. The ruins were in a number of different zones, and each zone required purchase of tickets. However, the two kids were free, and each of the three zones cost only 100 baht for adults.
The ruins were magnificent. I enjoyed these ruins even more than those in Ayutthaya: Not only was the main site in Sukhothai grander and more majestic than the main one in Ayutthaya, but Sukhothai was also practically free of visitors and tourists, making everywhere we went peaceful, quiet, and meditative. While the adults walked and reflected in silence among the ruins, our boys ran around and explored on their own, using their imagination and creativity to make up games and stories as they used the ruins as forts, hideouts, and whatever their imagination allowed. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely and are so glad we made it to this beautiful place before our departure.
Sukhothai was an early kingdom that existed from the 1200s to the 1400s. Its capital, the ruins that we visited, has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Instead of biking through the historical park, as originally planned, we hired a tuk tuk for the day to take us to all the sites of the ruins. It turned out to be a good plan as the ruins were fairly spread out. The ruins were in a number of different zones, and each zone required purchase of tickets. However, the two kids were free, and each of the three zones cost only 100 baht for adults.
The ruins were magnificent. I enjoyed these ruins even more than those in Ayutthaya: Not only was the main site in Sukhothai grander and more majestic than the main one in Ayutthaya, but Sukhothai was also practically free of visitors and tourists, making everywhere we went peaceful, quiet, and meditative. While the adults walked and reflected in silence among the ruins, our boys ran around and explored on their own, using their imagination and creativity to make up games and stories as they used the ruins as forts, hideouts, and whatever their imagination allowed. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely and are so glad we made it to this beautiful place before our departure.
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