Not Busy, Just Thai'd Up

I have delayed writing this post for several reasons: 1) I have finished two 18-page papers in about three weeks, and do not desire to write any more. 2) I have created a new project for myself- the Community Mural! Which will be elaborated upon after it has been finished. And 3) All I want to do is watch anime- I am kind of obsessed with Clannad right now.  The timing of this isn’t exactly perfect, seeing as how I will be leaving Thailand soon, but the positive side of this is that it gives me something to do instead of Globalization readings, which I should probably be doing. Also, I wouldn’t be doing this post if I weren’t waiting for Clannad to load.

So! Let’s get you children caught up! Last week, I did a lot of work because I was tired of thinking about how I had to do work, and it was stressing me out.  So, I banged out the rest of my papers at four in the morning one night. Feeling like a superhero.  I also spent a lot of the time being very upset because one of our professors is a jerkface who changed the schedule on us and we had to find out through another person, not even him.  I shall complain about him no further.  Jai yen yen (keeping a calm heart).

Hmmm. Last week on Wednesday was Loy Krathong, a Buddhist holiday that is sometimes equated to Valentine’s Day- idk why.  But essentially, it’s a REALLY BIG celebration where everyone gets together, and does things like make krathong (boats made out of banana tree trunk, banana leaves, and flowers) which everyone floats down the river, sending their regrets for that year away.  It’s really neat! 

            We made krathong in Thai class on Wednesday. But, I had a headstart on learning how to make them the day before because I skipped Sex Industry class to go to a Loy Krathong party at Healing Family on Tuesday where I learned how to make them.  The atmosphere was so fun- everyone was doing something whether it was cooking food, folding leaves, cutting leaves, or putting together the actual krathong.  There were also impromptu Gangnam Style dance parties.

Ze banana tree stalk

someone more skilled making some krathong

they're SO FUN!

 

            Throughout the entire week, people were celebrating Loy Krathong- there were parades and fireworks and lanterns let off every night.  Wednesday night, I headed into the most terrifying traffic to go let my krathong and regrets float down the river.  It was the most horrifying time- people here are obsessed with fire.  Fireworks were going haywire, and almost hit some of my friends in the face, and people were not waiting long enough for their lanterns to fill up with hot air so sometimes the lanterns would sink instead of rise.  This was terrible because we were amidst a VERY large crowd of people.  Loy Krathong is definitely worth checking out, but be careful everyone. Also, Yi Peng is better.

            Friday was SUPER exciting!  Payap hosted International Day, a festival that celebrates different cultures.  They had tons of foods and performances from all around the world.  My favorite food was the kebab made by the angry Turkish fellow.  But the supposedly French chocolate muffin was pretty bangin’ too.  I fell in love with that day for several reasons: 1) it really showcased a lot of the diversity and talent that exists in Chiang Mai.  We had Turkish men do a crazy dance, some Burmese students did a traditional dance that seemed to showcase Burmese games, traditional Thai dance, a lot of singers, some hotty Thai boy dance group, and my friend Owen.  Holy crap. I’ve never seen someone use a yo-yo like him.  It was like magic.  Like him and the yo-yo were one.  He placed 18^th in the world for yo-yoing. What is this species of man that can do this?!?!!?! He also won the grand prize- 10,000 baht for winning the talent show aspect of the performances!

            The most fun for me was the Healing Family performance.  We showcased Healing Family products by modeling their random pieces of fabric as makeshift clothing, and danced to “Gangnam Style” with the artists.  Our makeshift clothing kinda came off, but it was really fun- the best was seeing how much fun all of the artists were having.  Their smiles were beautiful.  We also made a Chinese dragon that some other people operated through the crowd.  It was beauteous.

            On Saturday, Alex and I went to a day-long cooking class- we learned how to cook five different Thai dishes: pad Thai, mango and sticky rice, panaeng curry with pork, tom kaa gai (coconut soup with chicken), and papaya salad at Baan Thai Cooking School.  It was really nice because they picked us up and took us back to school. After arriving at the school, we got to choose from a list of fifteen dishes- for each of the five courses, we could choose one of three options. 

            Then, they took us to the market to tell us about the ingredients that we would be using for the day, and how to shop for them at the market.  It was actually a really handy experience.  We had to wear aprons and handkerchiefs while we cooked, and they were persistently urging us to smile as we cooked while they took pictures of us.  The instructors were really entertaining- one kept insisting that the more hot chilies we used, the sexier we would be. Apparently, I’m not very sexy.  Mai chawb ped.  I highly recommend a cooking class to everyone- the food is the best if you can follow the directions correctly, because you can adjust everything to your tastes! Por ejemplo, my papaya salad was araawy maak because it didn’t burn my mouth to oblivion with spice.  And my pad thai was awesome because I could adjust the amount of oyster sauce that went in it.  I love cooking thai food! It’s so easy and quick!

            Time to watch anime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! P.S. My next post will be late because I won't get back from Angkor Wat until Monday. 

In life you take the good with the bad.  And for this week, the bad came in the form of sickness…twice.  Monday night into Tuesday, I had a fever.  So I did nothing, and it went away.  Not so bad.  But Friday night, I had food poisoning.  After five hours of vomiting out what felt like all of my intestines and disgusting amounts of diarrhea until 3 AM, and then a butt ton of sleep, I got better (props to Kristina for taking care of me- thankyousomuchiloveyoualot!). Thank goodness.  So fellers, DON’T EAT AT THE ART CAFÉ by Taepai Gate! It might look snazzy, and it has good pumpkin pie, but really, the possibility of five hours of hell is not worth it.  Everyone who eats there ends up not feeling well, although not everyone throws up.

But NEXT to the Art Café is this most wonderful place to buy glasses! The people are really nice, and they even complimented my Thai J  but they speak English really well, so no frets if you can’t speak Thai.  They are also really bored- I feel like they don’t get heaps of business.  I literally walked into the place, said I wanted some glasses, and they kept piling frames on frames on frames on the table in front of me.  They had this sweet deal where I could buy a frame, and get the other frame for free if I just paid for the lenses.  To top everything off, the eye exam is free, and the glasses are ready the next day! Two pairs of glasses = $237.  All of that sweet business for a decent price? I say, getchoo some glasses dur!  I am through advertising.

Another amazing thing that happened this week: visiting the Healing Family Foundation where my friend Emily volunteers, also known as the place that I referenced in an earlier blog post (where I’m getting lots of souvenirs for yens guys! On another note, if you click on "Healing Family" at the beginning of this paragraph, it will take you to a YouTube video that my friend Matt made for Emily- it will give you a bit of insight into what happens at this place and how amazing my friends are. If you click on "Foundation" it will take you to their website!).  The Healing Family Foundation is a community for mentally and physically disabled people.  Here, they are taught how to weave in a Japanese wave style so that they can make amazingly beautiful things (did you watch the video to see what they do and how beautiful their work is????) like bags, shirts, coasters, hair clips, shawls, table runners, etc.  It’s a place where these people can come together and find a special community, a family, and great friends.  This place is amazing, but the people are even greater- they stole my heart.

I went with Emily on Thursday after class to hang out with them and see what she does.  We did a lot of arts and crafts with them: we made edible turkeys (BECAUSE IT WAS THANKSGIVING Y’ALL!) and other out of Oreos, pretzels, nasty licorice pieces, M&Ms and berry candies, and then we colored pictures.  They are really creative, and Emily is so great with them because she gives constant words of encouragement when they proudly show her each colored stroke.  My favorite part though was rehearsing for our dance on International Day (a Payap event) next week.  Emily is bringing some of the people at Healing Family to school so that we can all show off their work, and hopefully sell some of their products to support them financially.  They all LOVE to dance, and they’re really good at it. One of the guys, Tiang, choreographed both dances that they are doing- he’s really fun because he likes to change things up, and he gets super into it.

 

During my short time there, I felt a little uncomfortable because not only did I not understand what they were speaking (still not a master of Thai), but I also didn’t know how to communicate with them effectively the entire time.  But somehow, they accepted me into their little world for a short time, and we bonded on a level where we were all having fun with each other despite the barriers.

Another heartfelt moment this week was PIH Thanksgiving.  Now, they celebrated Thanksgiving on Tuesday, which was a little odd, but everything else made up for it.  I am a stickler for having my annual Thanksgiving foods- I get really upset when I don’t get my grandmother’s stuffing and pies, my grandfather’s turkey and mashed taters, Tom’s sweet potato casserole and green bean casserole, and my mom’s amazing can-opening skills to plop the cranberry sauce and olives in a bowl…but PIH did something amazing and so I wasn’t too heartbroken.  We had mashed potatoes, roasted chicken (turkey is too expensive), broccoli and cheese, cinnamon rolls, and salad.  It’s not my favorite annual meal, but it wasn’t Thai food.  It was really special and sweet because Thanksgiving is a totally American holiday, but they reached out to us and gave us a lil family and tummy lovin. 

After dinner, they blasted some American tunes, and my SEIAGS family scared the Thai people by getting a lil rowdy.  That’s right- gettin’ down with Miley to “Party in the USA” and “My Milkshake Brings all the Boys to the Yard.” Dinner ended in a little dance party- not to take all the credit, but I’m pretty sure I had a lot to do with it *brushes shoulders off*- all I had to do was get on the table mouthing lyrics to “Don’t Stop Believin’”.  #crowdpleaser (for some reason I got into the random hashtagging thing- someone please tell me if I’m doing this correctly- I don’t really understand it)

 

A second most excellent dinner that was eaten: flower food.  A group of food-experimental friends and I plopped into this really adorable hipster-looking restaurant, Saimok kab Dokmai, where flowers are not only decoration, but food.  I felt like a fairy.  We sampled a few dishes- the coconut soup with flower petals, the curry with flower petals, deep fried flower petals, flower petal omelet, and spicy flower salad.  We also got to sip on some roselle juice (my favorite) and some rockin blue-colored butterfly pea juice.  It was a little odd to see purple and white flower petals just laying around in my dinner, but they were quite tasty!  They tasted like herbal, perfumey spinach leaves. Now I just wanna go around sampling people’s gardens.

Now, for the most magical moment.  The Festival of Lanterns- YiPeng, a Lanna festival!  Saturday night, we all went out to Mae Jo University to watch hundreds of paper lanterns be let go into the air.  The festival is a northern Thai holiday meant to be a way to make merit, and it coincides with Loy Krathong, a celebration in which tons of banana leaf boats are released into the river (I’m gonna see it this coming Wednesday!!!!! YEEEEE!!!!!).  It felt like the Fourth of July and Christmas mixed all in one- I just felt like I was in a fairy scene.  We waited around for hours amidst thousands of people sitting on square pieces of plastic, and after the sun went down, Buddhist chanting commenced for an hour.  After two hours of waiting, we jumped at the cue to begin lighting our lanterns.  And before the mysterious signal that the man with impeccable enunciation referred to over the speaker, hundreds of lanterns were released into the air, floating into the dark oblivion of the night sky.  It was so beautiful- on my camera, they look like stars, but in person they looked like magical twinkling fairies. 

Matt and I tried to set one into the sky, but ours caught on fire.  He threw it to the ground, and tried stomping it out- this was a great idea until the fire exploded around his leg and singed his leg hair.  It was scary and hilarious all at the same time.  But we (more importantly Matt) got over it after deciding to just enjoy the scenery despite our failure.  AHHHH! My words and pictures just don’t do it justice.  Just. Come to Thailand during the end of November!

OKAY! Sorry that my post is like two days late.  Between sucky internet that won't upload my pictures, and doing a crap ton of other things, like doing research for my term papers (UGH I'M STRESSIN!), I had a hard time making my Monday deadine.  WOOPS! So, please, enjoy my new post on Humpday.  Also, Happy Elections! :)

Have you ever had one of those weeks where you feel like you felt like you grew into yourself a little bit more?  Ya know that feeling of surprise after you try on this really great pair of pants or a pretty shirt that you think would never flatter your figure…and then it does?!  That’s how this past week has made me feel.  I’ve had such an excellent week, it’s ridiculous.

Let’s start on the Friday before Halloween! Which is also the Friday after I got back from Vietnam.  That night, the International Community thing was having a Halloween party at some place called Mr. Yum’s- I wasn’t going to attend, but four hours before the party, I decided that I was going to seize the chance to dress up like a weirdo because I love doing it, but never have a chance in Thailand where I feel like everyone is judging me.  Laura and Maia needed a third bear for their Three Litte Bears costume group, so I hopped in as Baby Bear!  We perused around Big C to gather all of our items for Big C, then rushed back to campus to hurriedly get dressed.

Seeing everyone dressed up was really fun- some had incredibly clever costumes like “Same, Same, but Different”, or Jason’s Chad Micheal Micheals (from Blazing Glory) using clothing from the free clothing box, or a Sims character.  It’s really funny because for most of the Thai people, dressing up does not constitute elaborate clothing- but rather normal clothing and a Halloween headband or some zombie makeup. As always, the people made the venue- Mr. Yum’s was kinda lame, except for the free sodas and French fries, until the dancing started.  I danced for four hours straight, and the next morning, my entire body was sore.  I threw my neck out during the dubstep part.  The band played some songs by the Carpenters, and I just about died with happiness, and everyone attempted dancing to slow songs, or salsa dancing, and our mock version of square dancing.  It was lovely.

The highlight of the night though: LAURA, MAIA AND I WON BEST COSTUME! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! I was absolutely certain no one was going to understand the reference to the Western fairy tale, and that we would not win, but WE DID! Our prize- a certificate, and a flask of rum J

On Monday night, it was Mickey’s birthday.  After a day of classes, and attempting to do research for my two term papers (omg I’m freaking out because I only have a month and a half to do research and write about 40 pages of intelligent sentences! Like really- I bit off all of my nails last night), about half of our SEAIGS groups went out to celebrate her birthday at this really delicious restaurant called Dash.  It has Thai food and Western food, including soup, salad, pizza, sandwiches, and pasta.  Holy crap.  Not only is the atmosphere beautiful (outdoors, candlelit, wooden furniture with colorful table cloths, and Christmas lights), but the food is absolutely delicious.  The spaghetti and the BLT were scrumptious, the Teak burger was juicy, the cheesecake with a mango sauce was to die for, and the brownie with ice cream was uncooked but slightly heaven.

The waiter was awesome too.  He spoke English in a manner that made him seem pretentious, but he’s actually a really weird and sweet fella.  He set up karaoke for us, and sang a few times- he was way too into it, but I loved it.  The night was filled with Disney karaoke, Gangnam style dancing, and embarrassing Mickey.  Check out the video that my friend made about the night (click on 'video')!  There’s nothing like great friends, great music, and great food all together.

"Hey Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, HEY MICKEY!"

 

Essentially, the same group of people went out to celebrate Cam’s birthday on Thursday.  We went to Sumo Sushi for dinner- absolutely delicious, and they work fast!  I learned that generally, women can’t become sushi masters because our hands are a warmer temperature than male hands.  So many people went to her birthday dinner, that some of us finished eating before the others even got their food, so Sam volunteered to go explore Niemanhamen with me in order to find Cam a birthday cake, but also to film me running down the street in pumpkin shoes.

Yes, I ran down the street in pumpkin shoes.  Why? Because Mischa Collins of the show Supernatural wanted me to.  How am I getting orders from such a man?  Through GISHWHES! Earlier this year, my friend asked me to join her team on GISHWHES, and I said YES! I kinda wish I hadn’t accepted because I have way to many other things to do and I’d been stressing about money and time conflicting with all of the other things that I want and have to do because this scavenger hunt is elaborate.  I will explain no further- you should just check it out because it’s worth it, especially if you are obsessed with Supernatural. 

During this adventure, we found a mini birthday cake that was presented to Cam at Sangdee Gallery!  Now, ever since the first night I went to Sangdee Gallery, I’d been wanting to perform.  I love to sing in the shower, I love to sing in my car, I love to sing while walking through campus.  Aside from the two times that I’d sung karaoke in Thailand, I had never performed for people.  That night, I set out to do so.  The timing was perfect because I could dedicate a song to Cam in response to all of the times that she has praised every person in our group, telling us how beautiful and awesome we are.  Lemme tell ya what.  Performing gives you such a high.  Such a high!  I felt liberated, and I felt like I grew a little bit, I felt as if I had made a lifelong dream come true. 

Now, the last main event of this past week was the weekend trip to Sukhothai, Siam's first Thai capital, founded in the 13th century.  We stayed at Sila Resort, which is this beautiful half hostel, half motel thing.  The walls were colorful, flowers were everywhere, and the room I was staying in had A/C.  The rooms were only 200 baht per night, which is excellent for the great conditions of the room.  The restaurant at the resort was delicious too!  They serve breakfast all day!  This includes muesli, yogurt, fresh fruit, pancakes, omelets, ham and eggs, and more!  It was amazing to have a light breakfast that did not involve over processed white bread.

We travelled through the ruins of the Old City’s historical park on the bikes that we had rented for 30 baht (HECK YEA I CAN RIDE A BIKE!).  Riding through the city through the ruins felt like we were travelling through history in a romantic way.  The trees gave wonderful shade, the manmade lakes glistened in the sun, and the light breeze was soothing as I pedaled past ancient buildings, eroding away with time.

The structures were impressive, and it felt so weird to be able to see and touch these buildings that have existed for hundreds of years.  The most exciting ruin to me was the Khmer temple originally built for Hindu gods, but converted to a Buddhist temple after it was discovered during the reign of Rama XI.  I was sorely disappointed that the siva linga and the statue of Vishnu laying on his Naga seat were no longer there.  Nearby, there was the most beautiful, reverential tree I’ve ever seen.  The roots twisted over top of each other, crushing the cement blocks in their grasp as if to give a fatalistic message to mankind, while also cradling statues of deities that the people gave to the tree in recognition of its sanctity.  I hugged it, but then I saw the red ants crawling over it.

The other awesome site was the giant Buddha.  He sat, in his ginormous glory, while a Thai family prayed to him, and a man with a tiny squirrel-ish pet added gold leafing to his elongated fingers.  I learned that one of the 32 marks of the Buddha is his long fingers; another is the flame that exudes from the top of his head as a symbol of his wisdom.

Emily and I marveled at how all of these sites made us feel.  Not being religious persons, we were surprised at how awed we were in their presence.  It’s the effort and meaning that people place on these objects and places that make them so inspiring.  I think about how much effort went into making these sites colossal, and intricately beautiful, because the people love their gods so much that they want to take the time, effort, and resources to pay respects to their gods in this physical expression of their love.  Others make a pilgrimage to see these sites and pray to the Buddha, admiring him with immense love and duty in their eyes.  Even though I am not a believer in any conventional belief systems, I cannot help but feel a tiny bit of the reverence, awe, and love for the Buddha, for Christ, for the saints, and any other sacred being or form when looking upon these stony embodiments of a people’s love, or watching people take the time to worship their gods.  This is why I like religion.

So, all in all, this past week has been a memorable one.  And there will be even more awesome weeks to come.  I only have a few more weeks left in Thailand, so I’m gonna make it count.

This title was my own creation, and has nothing to do with the Good Morning, Vietnam soundtrack that I am still listening to.

So! My adventures in Ho Chi Minh City ended with a slight mishap in determining which terminal I belonged in.  And the beginning of my adventures in Hanoi began with a silent taxi ride (my driver didn’t speak much English and seemed to enjoy the silence) through the night.  The hostile I booked in Hanoi, Central Backpackers Hostel, does airport pickup service, so for the first time I got to feel like one of those special people who have to look for their names on a piece of paper.

 

My first impression of Hanoi…well, by this point, I was tired of the city because I usually dislike cities anyway.  To make matters worse, Hanoi is much busier and crowded than Ho Chi Minh.  I stayed in the Old District where there is a lack of tall architecture, the streets are narrower, and there is no end to the amount of clothing and shoe shops in sight.  Hanoi is incredibly busy, and has some of the craziest traffic I’ve ever seen.  During my stay in Hanoi, one of my friends, Elias, walked out in front of a car so that we could cross a sea of traffic that never stops.

So, Central Backpackers Hostel is amazing.  It’s cheap, has awesome people, free bia hoi (the fresh brew that costs 4000 dong, approximately 5 cents) from 7-8 pm, free breakfast (consists of banana, bread, jelly, butter, and tea or coffee), provides lots of different kinds of trips.  The best part was the people I met there. More on that throughout this post.

First order= dinner.  After free beer hour, I went to dinner with my newfound friend and dormmate, Elias from France.  We ate at Quan An Ngon Restaurant.  It was okay- too pricey for so little, but this is working in the mindset of a poor college student/traveler and a backpacker.  Make sure you ask about the sizes of the dishes because what you would think would be a served in a large proportion, could be the size of your fist.  The restaurant is cool though- it has the same community as street food on the sidewalk with a classy flavor and decor, distance from the traffic, and way more options.

 

That night, I just took it easy talking to different backpackers at the hostel.  Beyond where people have travelled, it’s amazing to get a glimpse into what occupations they left behind, some of their hobbies, what their friends are like, etc.  Everyone is so different, yet everyone is tied in this cycle of wanting to experience the world and going on pretty much the same route to do it.  In terms of future travel, I also discovered through these people social networking websites geared towards helping backpackers such as Couch Surfing and Be Welcome.

Next day, I made Elias my exploration companion to explore the west end of the district.  We passed the large statue of Vladimir Lenin, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, the Presidential Palace, and the One-Pillar Pagoda.  The sights were rather boring, and we didn’t spend long in any location.  The palace should have been more exciting, but it was basically a bunch of sparsely decorated rooms and old cars that you viewed through glass.

 

I went to the Temple of Literature, where Confucius taught a bunch of students, afterwards.  It was an interesting mixture of modern topiaries and old buildings.  I find Chinese architecture and idols really beautiful and interesting, but I was so tired of looking at religious art, statues, and buildings, that I felt pooped.  Despite this feeling, I definitely like the temple a lot.

That night, Maia arrived in Hanoi, but she was exhausted from her journey in Luang Prabang in Laos, so I went out with some people at the hostel. During free beer hour, I sat with some people that I knew, and met some more people.  After a few beers, a group of us went to get dinner two shops away, and thus the party group was formed.  We ended up at a dance club where I discovered that I am an amazing dancer according to the reactions of the surrounding folk.  Here’s some advice for you other young ladies who love to dance: in Hanoi, there are plenty of gross foreign older men who like to try to watch young ladies dance and try to dance with them or more.  So, if you can’t take it, don’t shake it.

 

Next day, I spent the day exploring the area around Hoan Kiem Lake with Maia. Most of it was just walking around and getting a feel for the city, which I won’t explain, but here’s a quick and dirty list of what we did.

So that pretty much concludes my adventures in Hanoi! Hanoi is a very crowded city, and I didn’t do a lot of the things that one could do there. The city offers a bunch of different museums for people depending on one’s interests (Fine Arts Museum, Museum of Ethnology, Vietnamese History, Women’s Museum, etc.), trips to Sapa, etc. The buildings are amazing because you can see a wide variety of buildings within one block- Chinese architecture, French architecture, modern buildings, run-down buildings, fancy and clean buildings, and more…all stuck together in a weird combination.  It’s quite fascinating.  Hanoi was okay, but I was ready for HALONG BAY!