Archive for January, 2008
Monday, January 21st, 2008
I don’t know how she does it…. but even when doing something as simple and down-to-earth as the laundry, she sets my heart afire.
There is beauty in all that she does…. grace in every move, and when she moves, she moves me.
With her hair pulled back, and a song on her lips, she reminds me that I am a lucky man. She doesn’t realize it, but her song is a lullaby for all my worries and woes.
Every move draws me closer to you, Dang. Every second I pray lasts just a little longer. One moment leads to the next, and I mourn the lose of the last as I celebrate the present stitch of time.
Mama, you ask me from time-to-time if I will ever bore of you, and I say to you, “Mama, how can I ever bore of you? Even when you do the laundry, you fill me with joy and wonder.”
Mama, Papa loves you.
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Wednesday, January 16th, 2008
It seems that much of my revolves around food, which makes sense when considering the whole cooking career thing. 
Anyway, tonight, Dang, myself, and our friends went out to eat at this great little buffet at Future City…. it was our way of saying thank you to Ant and Cherry for picking me up at the airport the other night.
Now, we do buffets in the U.S, which I generally steer away from, because they’re usually not much good. But, I can go buffet if I have to. In the States, it’s not so much fun for me to go buffet….. there’s a lot of eating, and that’s about it.
Eating buffet in Thailand is fun…. like most things in Siam, it’s communal. Rather than go around the buffet and grabbing little bits and peaces of everything in one plate for yourself, you get a plate full of one item, take it back to your table, and all eat from what is on the table family-style. This seems like an insignificant detail, but, trust me, it’s not. This simple gesture added a great deal of warmth and community to the experience.
There was eating, talking, joking, and laughing. Although, I couldn’t understand a word that was being said…. I could understand the smiles and laughs, and everyone alive speaks that language.
One of the things that happened at dinner that impressed me was the attention I received. They all knew that 1.) I didn’t know what I was eating, and 2.) I am still learning how to eat Thai-style with a spoon and a fork. Because of these, I received expert help and advice. They even took time to cut my fish for me…. I never would have managed that on my own.
Again, for me, another great night with wonderful friends. I hope to have many more like this.
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Sunday, January 13th, 2008
Today, I made my first trip with Noo-Dang and a couple of her friends, Rung and Panlop. Not only was this a fun trip, it was a good introduction to friends of Noo-Dang.
The day started out with a bus ride into Bangkok from Laksi. Telling you about a bus ride may sound like something better left without being described, but when you don’t speak or read the language, everything is an adventure. Or, shall we say, everything seems bigger than it really is, or more complicated. You’re working so hard to just not get washed away…. things that you do without thinking about back home are like performing open-heart surgery- like taking the bus. Sure, it was just an bus ride, but it felt like a trip to the moon.
When we arrived at the Korean War Memorial (this was erected to honor the brave Thais that fought in South Korea), I met Panlop. The first few minuets were somewhat awkward. I behaved like a man who had been deaf the past decade.”Huh? What? Huh?” interchanged with stupid looks on my face surely made the best of impressions. You don’t realize how much the way a word is said effects your interpretation of that word- it’s almost as important as the word itself.
“Hello, my name is Dee and I just got off of the stupid wagon.”
After my brilliant introduction to Panlop, I met Rung, and, yes, it was another sterling introduction on my part. Fortunately for me, my foot was already lodged in my mouth, so I couldn’t insert it again.
Now, before I go any further, let me say this: The Thai people are most gracious. Panlop and Rung repeated words as often as I needed without any judgment or ill feelings. They were patient with me while I adjusted to their accents and absorbed all that was going on around me. Not only were they patient with our communications, they went out of their way to talk to me…. this couldn’t have been easy for them, either. They had to try to communicate in a foreign language. I just had to listen.
Well, after sterling performance during introductions, it was off to the Thai National Museum. The cab ride there was nice. We talked, joked, and did lots of laughing. And, if I was feeling stressed before the cab ride, that was not the case afterward.
We spent a nice little bit of time in the museum…. the Thai people should be very pride of their history. I can see now where the Thais get such a refined and graceful culture; they have been developing and refining there culture for quite the long time. One of the things that impressed me about the Thais was that there culture and society are more than the equivalent to what was imported. There culture and society has much originality.
Next, it was lunch. And, of course, it was wonderful. I made a mess, as is my custom when eating Thai-style, got some pointers on disassembling my shellfish, and enjoyed every moment of it.
From lunch, it was off to Wat Prakeaw; this is probably one of the most famous site in Bangkok to foreigners. I’m not going to go into too many details about the complex, for you can Google the name and get lots of info.
What interested me the most, or impressed me the most, about Wat Prakeaw wasn’t the structure itself as much as it was the Thais there. First of all, if you don’t already know, Thailand is in mourning over the loss of the Princess, the King’s sister, and countless numbers of Thais had shown up to wai. This, as I understand it, is a form of paying respects for the dearly departed Princess. It was woefully hot, and most were dressed in black. There was genuine grief in the hearts of those there.
Next, what impressed me the most was the respect they showed for the Buddha. There was one particular building on the grounds (I’m not sure if you would call it a shrine or a temple), but it housed many Buddha. Needless to say, there were many tourists around, myself included, and it was easy to tell who was who; not because of physical appearance or proper following of tradition….. it was because of respect. I noticed the Thais approached the Buddha with reverence, so much so that the remained prostrate and reverent. I know they do this because, to them, it is the right thing, the proper thing, to do. But, in the course of being reverent for the right reasons, they gained my respect even more.
After that, we took a boat ride across the river to Wat Arun. The temple was quite a site to behold. Honestly, the scope of this structure is mind-boggling. Noo-Dang and I climbed the 3 flights of steps to the upper level and were rewarded with a view one seldom sees. I can’t move on without mentioning the last flight of stairs; they were steeper than steep. People approached with awe and trepidation. I’ve never gone down steps that you approached like a ladder before.
We finished our day with shopping. Everyone knew that I was needing some dress clothes for school; so, we went to fulfill that need. After the long day we had, there was still energy to help me find some clothes.
As you can tell, I had a good day…. but it wasn’t because of the wonders of Bangkok, it was because of the kindness, patience, and grace of Noo-Dang and her friends. They have made a lasting impression upon me, and I hope that I can return such kindness.
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Saturday, January 12th, 2008
I know that you must be expecting some intiguing and exciting travel antedote…. I mean, that’s what blogger do, right? Well, I don’t have that for you today…. I have something much better- the reason I’m in Thailand, in the first place.
I came to Thailand for one reason, Noo-Dang. See, she and I have worked so very hard to be together. My family can tell you how hard. Over the course of time, we’ve overcome barrier after barrier, until we had removed all of those barriers that were keeping us a part (school, time, space, nationality, culture, work, etc.)
Because we had faith in one another, and because we were willing to see things through, we are know in a dream…. the dream I’ve dreamt for so long. We are together…. and, yes, it’s as good as I dreamt. As a matter-of-fact, it’s better than I could have dreamnt. Noo-Dang is simply too wonderful for words. And I am too happy to tell you- I’m happier than I’ve ever been…. period.
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Friday, January 11th, 2008
The very first meeting, the meeting of dearest Noo-Dang, I was late for. Not how I wanted to begin my stay in Thailand.
My flight arrived close to the time that it was scheduled to. So, Noo-Dang was looking for me. It really shouldn’t take long to make your way from the gate to the baggage claim. For me, it took somehere in the neighborhood of two hours. The line to get your passport checked was one of the longest, and slowest, lines that I have ever seen. So, it took me that long to make out to where Noo-Dang was waiting on me.
I can only imagine how that made her feel. I’m not the only one who had been waiting for this moment. She had been waiting as long as I have. Also, her friends were there too. Just think, your friends are there waiting with you for someone you have talked about for weeks (maybe longer) and he never shows up…. that can’t be a good feeling. (I’m sorry for that Noo-Dang).
Finally, I made it through the line. Yes!!!! I’ll see her in just a minuet. No!!!!! My bags have saw it fit to stay in L.A. while I travel to Thailand. I went to pick them up, and they’re nowhere to be found. So, now I can’t go yet…. I have to spend time tracking down my bags.
(Am I ever going to make it to her?)
Yes, I eventually make it out to the main concourse about 2 hours late…. maybe later.
“Do you want a cab, sir?”
“No thank you.”
“Going to Bangkok, sir?”
“No. Thanks, though.”
“Want a taxicab?”
“No, no, no!!!! But thank you.”
(At the moment, all I want is Noo-Dang.”
As I make my way down the main concourse, I get a glimpse of a dream. Is it Noo-Dang? Can it be? Am I really seeing her? Yes!!!! Yes, it is her. Up untill this point in my life, this has to be about as happy and excited as I’ve ever been. O.k, I’m going to say it…. it was the happiest I’ve ever been.
I couldn’t display what I was feeling, but if I were free to, I would have yelled, clapped, jumped up and down, and many other silly things.
The rest, I’m afraid is private. I can only let you in on so much.
In the end, all that matters is that I finally found my way to Noo-Dang, even if I was late.
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Friday, January 11th, 2008
Yes, the title means exactly what it says…. I have found myself in Thailand. Very early yesterday morning, I arrived in “the Land of Smiles,” and ever since, it has been exactly that for me…. nothing but smiles.
I suppose you may know by now, I’ve been working very hard for some time now to make it this place. For months, I’ve been plotting, hoping, and working to be exactly where I am at this moment.
The first couple of days have been interesting ones, to say the least. You really don’t realize just how “foreign” foreign can be until you go somewhere as drastically different from where you reside as Thailand is from my home in Tennessee.
Now, don’t think for a second that “foreign” holds any negative meaning here- it doesn’t. It does make you do funny things, though. More than once, Noo-Dang has had to encourage me to not get ran over by the “zippy” mopeds that fly up and down the streets here (the fact that they zip up and down on opposite sides of the street than in the States doesn’t help much). It’s also funny watching me us a fork and a spoon to eat with at the same time (you eat with the spoon and use the fork like many use a knife in the States). It is moments like that that I wonder why God gave me a left hand…. it is so useless. As I was eating my Pad Thai for lunch (very good by-the-way), I had to keep a napkin to just clean up the mess I was making on the table. That’s very encouraging to Noo-Dang to watch me get about 3/4 of the food from my plate to my mouth. Hah!!!!! Anyway, with the right attitude, things like this can be a lot of fun and growing experiences. Foreign, for the most part, is a good thing.
Now, you may have noticed a new name, for those of you who don’t read my blog regularly enough to know, Noo-Dang. Noo-Dang is the one that I adore. She’s the reason why I am in Thailand…. for me, she IS Thailand. Noo-Dang isn’t the one my heart beats for anymore, she is my heart. A smile from her is enough to get me over mountains…. and it has. She has gotten me over the many mountains that stood in between us, whether she realizes it or not.
I hope to be better at posting to my blog than I have been. It would be a shame to let all the cool things happening to me, and happening around me, go unreported. Don’t hold me to it, but I’m going to try to be more dedicated to being a better scribe.
Look for me to post again soon, for I’m sure that every new day here will provide me with more than enough material to post.
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I don’t know how she does it…. but even when doing something as simple and down-to-earth as the laundry, she sets my heart afire.
