Except for the innate materialistic attitude of most Thai, the holidays are not much of a presence. Sure there are Christmas trees and carols playing everywhere, but it’s more of “something that happens in December” and “an excuse to draw consumers into purchasing even more shit they don’t need” rather than a religious holiday. This year more than ever, I feel especially distant and devoid of holiday spirit. This is not to say I embody the opposite of holiday spirit, but that it’s just another month. Some of you may know the familial ongoings within my mother’s side, so this should come as no surprise.
Furthermore, I received an email from Grant in Iraq. You hear of all the casualties in Iraq, but forgive me if it’s never hit this close to home, even if it is two degrees of separation. This is why I still watch CNN and diligently read the news online even if my main objective here is to step away from it all. My life is just a tiny, inconsequential sphere in the grand scheme, or at least this one in particular.
But onto the positive: this weekend was a success. I sense a change coming in my degree of comfort being here. My cousin Jua took me out for kway tiao reung (boat noodle soup made with pigs blood mixed into the broth – shut up, it was awesome). I made a gigantic batch of fettucine carbonara when I discovered my cousin Ling really liked it. There were eight very happy members of my family devouring it all, with the youngest ones clamoring for more. And what was seemingly disconnected Thai vocabulary began to come together into (albeit simple) sentences. I drank an assload of Singha and I met a lesbian - finally!
Sorry, I just wanted to be shocking and try to deceive you all into thinking I’d switched teams. Actually, she is a friend of my cousin Hua’s from grad school. She’s a photographer/hipster type and she invited me to come along on a photo shoot next month. She also knows an editor at Wallpaper*, a British arts magazine with Russian and Thai editions. This is the epitome of “cool” in Thailand.Well, to those who aren’t like peasants and such. No, that was not meant to be snobby, but rural, poor farmers don’t really give a shit about whether there’s a branch of B&B Italia nearby. Whatever, I drool over it.
My latest BIG DECISION is whether to drop 50K+ baht on either a Canon 30D or Nikon D80. I’ve got a pocket digital, but not an SLR. I have a 35mm SLR, but the fickle, trendy Thai have essentially banished film from their stores. I know, life is hard. But I bought pencils finally, so my sketchbook will cease to exist in name only.
In case anyone is wondering why I’m still in Bangkok, I do plan to travel, but my primary purpose here is not to backpack around Asia. Me? Backpack? Are you kidding me? I like air conditioning, regular showers, and plentiful changes of clothing. I do not like to carry shit around. I enjoy sitting in coffeeshops reading magazines/books and listening to music while I observe people. I look at art and wistfully berate myself for not creating any. It’s what I do. I dabble in sights/the party scene and hone in on the food; my primary goal is to seamlessly fit in as a native. Screw the tourist/expat experience. Now if I could lose 10 pounds (seriously, the chicks here diet all day or go to the spa for weekly “slimming treatments”).
That being made clear, the weekend trips will start after New Year’s, when the prices go down. The weekend trips will gain momentum after I’ve had a few weeks of Thai instruction, so that I can actually go without speaking English for days. And my international trips are subject to my visa – the first will be in February, to Vietnam.
And with that, I bid you adieu.
Thon and me, goofing off with my MacBook camera. I call this a collaborative effort in PhotoShop. He turned 10 on Friday. Like some people I know, he’s quite smart, but ADD causes him to bring home poor grades. I’m telling you, this kid is a genius. He can draw you any kind of car (accurately) from memory, and he can do it well. Apparently his IQ score is off the charts. Thon is my cousin Jua's kid.
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