1. $6-$7 massages -- EVERYWHERE 2. 35B Thai food 3. The wai 4. A 24-hour 7/11 on every corner 5. 1 liter Lipton lemon ice tea 6. Cheap, already-cut fruit (especially chompu) 7. Bargaining in markets to bring the price of a dress from 750B to 250B 8. Motorcycle taxis 9. Fancy movie theaters, popcorn, and the king's anthem 10. 25B fruit smoothies and 50B coffee frappes :)
I'm looking forward to in America:
1. Being understood in English 2. Hearing Spanish on a regular basis 3. MEXICAN FOOD 4. America's version of Chinese food 5. A decent Denny's Grand Slam breakfast 6. Good customer service in stores and restaurants 7. Target! 8. Driving again.....and on the proper side of the road! 9. Clear blue skies and shining stars 10. My lovely friends and family
1. Why this has to be the land of the disposable. Thai people are incredibly resourceful, so why can't they figure out a way to stop making crappy things that break down or short circuit in a week? Seriously, the quality of items is substantially lower than most places I've lived; yet they have an abundance of these crappy things, so they simply buy another, and another, and another until the landfills are overflowing with discarded, crappy one-use-only things. Thais do remarkable things with recycled paper and plastics, yet instead of having marked bins for plastic and paper recycling for people to sort in the first place, they simply wait for everyone to throw their garbage away and then sift through each and every bag on Saturday. Why go through the extra work?
2. The "no-return" policy in each and every store -- reputable or not. I tried returning the wrong size curtain the very next day after buying it, and they refused to give me a refund or a gift card with the amount of the purchase. This happened the first month I moved here, so I have since learned my lesson, but it still irks me to think about it. If something doesn't work, why won't the store take responsibility for it?
3. Toilet seat lids on public toilets. Come on girls, you know how it is -- for us to be able to flush the toilet, we would have to put the lid down just to reach the flusher handle. What's the point of this useless toilet seat lid if the lid will never be down in any normal setting?? That's just an extra step we need to take to flush the darn thing.
4. While we're on the pot, I might as well mention the absurdity of squatty pottys. I really see no use for these things. I've been forced to use them before, and they are not convenient, are messy, and take longer to get business done. So what's the point??
5. Paying to use the highway when it neither saves time or money to get to the desired destination. Okay, sometimes it does get us there faster (if time is of the essence), but going to church....it takes exactly the same amount of time, but costs us 45 extra baht.
6. Putting a guard at every conceivable entrance to something, yet these 'guards' are little more than traffic directors. They are there to blow their whistle at you, point you in the right direction, and open a gate from time to time (if there even is a gate). It just blows my mind that our school has three gates guarded 24/7, yet the guards are asleep at their post every night. Do they make me feel safe? Well, let me ask you -- would you feel safe with a guard asleep at his post? I rest my case.
7. Taxi drivers that don't want to take you where you want to go. It's not as though I'm asking for a free ride; I am willing and able to pay, but for some reason taxi drivers reserve the right (that they use quite liberally) to refuse to take you someplace if they don't want to go there. 'What do you mean, you aren't headed to Bangna? You're headed to wherever the customer is going, fool.' It still astounds me that people can outright refuse to do their job. I mean, it's their job. In a country full of rich and poor, one would think that they're not in any position to turn down money. But they do. Every weekend. Whenever they don't want to drive my way.
It's funny how they call Wednesday "hump day," implying that by Wednesday the week quickly snowballs into blessed weekend-land. Maybe for some people that's how to week works. Unfortunately not for me.
Fridays are by far my longest and busiest days. Today was no exception. In fact, today was probably the busiest Fridays of all.
Observe:
6:50: Left for school (which happens to be about 20 steps outside my apartment building) 7:00: Started a typical Friday school day with 1st period prep, followed by two classes (short stories and a vocab test....nothing too unusual). 11:15: Lunch time. This is the time I look forward to the most during the school day because I usually skip breakfast and am starving by lunch time. Unfortunately, there is no rest for the wary -- or the overly busy. Instead of lunch, I printed and stapled copies of the first issue of the middle school newspaper, then went straight to middle school worship practice in which I supervise. 11:55: 4th-5th period. More testing. I was so hungry that I asked a student to go down to the cafeteria after he was done with his test and grab me a sandwich. 2:20: School officially ends. Although I wanted to rush out to the seamstress to pick up some alterations, the students came pouring in asking questions. 2:35: I hustled the students out and hurried down the street to pick up my clothes. But she told me to come back later. Wasted trip. Wasted energy. 3:00: Softball game -- women teachers vs. women students. We won. I hit a home run and a grand slam. Now why couldn't I do that when I actually played on a team?? 4:20ish: Soccer game against the U13 soccer girls. I was already exhausted from running around bases so much that I contributed very little to the game. We lost. Well sort of. Our player tipped the ball into the net because he was tired of playing. I was relieved to be done. 5:10: Rushed back to the seamstress since I forgot I was supposed to come at 5. 5:25: Got home, and after trying on the clothes, realized that I paid the woman too much since it didn't seem like she altered anything. I showered quickly and rushed to the 7/11 to pick up a nutritious dinner of a banana muffin, Pringles, and a Slurpee. 6:30: Went to Wii Worship (a worship/fellowship time for high school and middle school students). 9:15: Finally came home for the night.
I am so exhausted. So tired of running everywhere. By tomorrow morning, I'll be so sore. Right now I can barely think straight.
While writing this, I have been watching Little Women, and realized I haven't watched this movie since bringing it over with me to Thailand. And now I remember why: the overwhelming feeling of loss and frustration is too strong to go through on a regular basis every time I watch Jo refuse Teddy, and then turn around and marry that old German professor. Trust me, Teddy's accent is way better than the pudgy German fellow's. But of course, let's not forget how Teddy becomes an absolute player and charms his way into Jo's younger sister Amy's life through marriage. Wow, Teddy, great move, the first sister you were in love with turned you down, so you go after her younger sister. I am too attached to this film. I know. But the happy ending needs to be there, and I'm left completely dissatisfied with how the story turns out.
This movie and I have a love-hate relationship because I'm drawn to Jo's character so much for her passion, tenacity, and spirit; and then of course Teddy (or Laurie as he's also called), is too charming in the boy-next-door kind of way that I have a hard time resisting him. It also helps that he's played by Christian Bale. If I totally spoiled this film for you then I'm not sorry. It's been out for almost 20 years. Watch it. Or read it.
Please forgive my irritability; it's probably because I'm past exhaustion, haven't had a decent meal all day, and wish I were Jo. Married to Teddy of course. I want that happy ending.
In just two days, one of the greatest days of the year will be upon us. I say this without a shred of sarcasm, because unlike other single ladies, I am content with my status. I enjoy being single, and oddly enough, I've learned to rest in God's contentment while living in a place that so acutely points out the fact that I am alone.
God and I have had this discussion many many many times, and I've been on both sides of the fence when it comes to wanting to be in a relationship and wanting God's perfect timing. But the truth of the matter is, there is absolutely no point in waiting around for a man in order to start living. I'm tired of buying into the false lies married couples throw out to singles about how their life is now complete with their spouse in it. Awesome. I refuse to believe that God made me incomplete to begin with. It's like parents who simply expand their love with the addition of another child--their love is never divided between children, it simply grows. I'm not half a person without a husband, but my life will simply grow to include him when the time comes. Although He said it is not right that man live alone, He also did not promise that every man and woman would find someone to spend the rest of their lives with. So why wait around as if He did? Seriously singletons, live fully in this freedom, because if marriage is ahead, this freedom certainly isn't. Not to say that marriage is like the 'ball and chain' often described, but it is different. You're caring for another person constantly. You're asking their opinion and advice constantly. You're trying to please that other person constantly.
Lord, thank You that You have given me the gift of singleness.
To be honest, I never despised the love-holiday. I think it's rather cute having a day devoted to romantic love. While other single ladies take the path of depression with a side of chocolate, or bitterness with a side of alcohol; I use it as an excuse to take myself out on a date. I've worked the last several Valentines Days, but that doesn't mean I still can't have a little fun. Usually my self-date entails a romantic dinner for one (either homemade or a nice dinner out), getting all dressed up and going out with other single ladies.
This year is no exception, only it's twice as busy. Not only am I teaching all day, but immediately afterwards, I'm playing basketball against the Varsity girls team, rushing off to Thai lessons, working a quick dinner in, and then I'm going to try and find the Siam Museum to watch a movie with the ladies. I don't know how it's all going to work out, but so far this is the plan. It's a shame V-day is on a Monday. So much to do! I won't even be able to sit and dwell on my singleness like most ladies do.
Although I won't need chocolate or alcohol to cheer me up, I wouldn't mind the chocolate...
So instead of celebrating "Singles awareness day," I'm going to embrace Valentines Day for what it truly is: a day to love others and be loved in return.
But it was probably only 2....or something like that.
Today for roommate night we decided to try something different. Instead of the usual dinner/game/movie/chatter, we decided to have a picnic in a park a little ways away from home. Since a couple in our group had walked there a few days ago, we decided to attempt it as well.
Wow, was it a hike. We walked through everything from neighborhoods, banana fields, little wooden bridges, and of course the main roads. We had little school children repeating the only English word they know when we passed by them: hello! The eight of us took back roads that were simply gorgeous and quaint in the setting sun. I was sorely tempted to take pictures the whole way, but I placated myself with just a couple. I didn't want to look too much like a farang. So what began as a back-road romp turned into a cityscape of side roads and poor directions. But after an hour of walking, we finally made it to Paradise.
Paradise Park actually isn't a park, it's a mall. But let me tell you, it is like paradise. Instead of delving into the wonders of Paradise, we'll continue in our journey. I picked up a tuna melt, ice-tea, and what I can only call 'pancake bubbles' and we were on our way to King Rama 9 Park.
Which just so happened to be another half mile down the road. (possible exaggeration...)
The park was enormous -- a green haven in the midst of a, to use the cliched term, concrete jungle. People were exercising -- and not just by jogging. A woman set up this gigantic platform and led aerobics for about 30 women and men. The sun had already set by the time we got there, and in all honesty, it was completely dark within twenty minutes, but we made it!
There was a pretty sizable man-made pond complete with huge black fish right there in the center of the park. Not gonna lie, I think the lochness monster is actually hiding out in there. So with a mix of Burger King, green curry, tangerines, and a bag of chips, we all enjoyed a picnic in the dark. Good news: I wasn't bit by bugs once. :)
Next adventure: visit the park via moto-taxi, and actually watch the sun set over the water.
First off, that's a lie. There are more than two freckles -- there's a whole face of 'em. But it's a Thai freckle tale, nonetheless.
Somewhere at the beginning of the school year, we had class pictures taken. It was a fun event, and the girls were going crazy with straighteners, curling irons, and blow dryers. The boys were fooling around in the picture-taking room and teased each other mercilessly for the poses the photographers were making them do. Teachers also got pictures taken. I ordered class pictures and received my own complimentary individual picture set. Now I'm stuck with a dozen pictures of me in various sizes. Makes me feel like I'm in middle school again. Oh wait, I am. The point being, when the pictures came in I was distinctly devoid of the one thing that defines my face: my freckles. Thanks "U-Smile" for photo-shopping these right off of me. Apparently, if they don't like what they see, they delete it.
The story continues about a month back -- right before Christmas break -- when I had to see a dermatologist about, well, skin problems. In my follow-up visit after my doctor checked the affected area on my hands, she pointed at my face and asked if I wanted to make an appointment to get them removed by laser. I asked her what she was talking about, and she said my freckles. With a frown and a smile, I told her no. I had to ask why in the world would she ask such an odd question. Her reply, Thais don't like freckles. They come in all the time to get freckles and other moles removed. Ah, that answers so many questions. This is why I've never seen a Thai with facial moles or freckles. This is why I've heard so many comments on my freckles (not that I'm the least bit Thai). And this is why all my freckles were photo-shopped out of my school picture.
Some days are memorable because everything goes according to plan. Some are memorable because they don't.
My day was memorable because, even in work-out clothes, I was told twice that I was gorgeous.
Actually, that's not really why my day was memorable, but it was certainly great to hear. :)
I love my 8th grade class. I love them so much that I look forward to every interaction I have with them -- regular class time and otherwise. It usually takes us a few minutes to settle down because we like talking so much, and during one such settling-down period, a very interesting conversation ensued.
You see, several months before coming to ICS, the current middle school teachers showed the students the picture and bio that new teachers sent in (ie: the current 8th grade class saw our pictures last year as 7th graders) so they could familiarize themselves with their future teachers. Apparently I looked younger in my picture than I do in real life (and much better looking too); therefore I had some students eagerly awaiting my arrival. Boy was I a disappointment......for all but one brazen student.
Honestly I can't remember exactly what we were talking about, but the banter between me and a few of the students was light. One of the boys, (and I'll admit to having a soft spot for him), was talking about how he knew he and I were going to get along well even before meeting me. How we were meant to be the best duo.
And the the icing on the cake: "Miss Lissa, phew, when I saw you in person for the first time at that assembly....I knew it was love at first sight. I blushed the first time you looked at me."
Now, I know he loves the big talk, but I'm not gonna lie, it was great getting my ego stroked. And to my credit, I didn't blush under the flattery -- even in front of the entire class. I shook my head in resignation, going along with his joke. "You're right my friend, I knew we'd make the perfect pair. It was meant to be."
............And he blushed for real right in front of the whole class. The room burst with laughter. He tipped his imaginary hat off to me, and I slyly changed the subject to our favorite subject: Grammar.
