I made a cold, damp trek out last night to buy beers and I remembered every single thing that I needed for the evening. It wasn't until I was home and pretty well buzzed that I realized I'd forgotten to buy coffee for this morning. This is not an uncommon occurrence for me these days. It's not really a secret that I feel pretty disconnected from my life Pre-Thailand at this point. Have I always been this forgetful, or have I finally become like a Thai person? Living entirely in the moment with no thought or concern about the future. Lord knows I don't drive like a Thai person, eat like a Thai person or speak like a Thai person. The thought of fully assimilating into Thai culture leaves me with a headache. I fear for myself when I return to the real world. I really do. There's no Thai word for logic, you see. I think the closest they have to that here is mai pen rai, which roughly translates to "forget about it." It's a great place to visit, but I think my brain would short circuit if I tried to live here long term. I'd say I don't know how all those creepy European guys have managed to live here for 5-10 years, but I think the fantastic amount of girls throwing themselves at their feet might have something to do with it. None for me, thanks.
At the local bar on Friday night, the bar owner offered me a Muay Thai lesson after pouring half his beer in my glass. Thai people are really friendly like that, they'll happily give you anything they can. I feel sorry for the tourists, really. Bangkok, Koh Tao, Phukett, tourist traps aren't really Thailand. There'll be Thai people and great beaches and the people are still really friendly but it's all with an edge to make money. It's like going to a resort in Jamaica. People there are unendingly nice in an effort to part you with everything in your wallet. Round here, it's a little different. They're nice for the sake of being nice. And they love farong. I get invited to parties when I walk past, people frequently give me food and offer me rides. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I have thai friends, but my co-teachers and the family are all quite friendly, and I know I can go to them for help if I need it.
All in all, it's not bad here, if a little bit lonely since Kat and Jacques moved. My neighbor (from Kentucky) periodically shows up around my backyard to hang out, but I find myself a bit wary of his company. He's managed to have a confrontation with every other farong I've met in Chumphon. Right now we're on good terms, but I'm not holding my breath on that lasting forever. Since I've been over here, I haven't met a lot in the way of American guys that I thought were giving our country a good image. They're usually jerks. Really big ones. It's one thing to meet an asshole over here. It's a horribly embarrassing thing to meet an asshole here who's from the same country as you. I was afraid it was just me becoming bitter about my home until I talked to a British guy on Koh Tao at length about how much he hated the tourists from England. As he succinctly put it: "It's hard to watch somebody that is associated with you by place of birth fucking up something you love." Wise beyond his years, the boy is.
I think I just drank an ant with the dregs of my coffee. Oh well. I could probably use the extra protein. I quit eating meat altogether a few months back. That lasted for about three weeks, and I ended the deal pretty messed up from lack of protein. As it turns out, you cannot eat enough peanut butter and eggs here to make up for lack of meat in this country. I've heard rumors of tofu being served at restaurants, but I've yet to find these magical places. So I just choke down a little chicken once a week and then go back to blissfully killing long beans and dragon fruit... and lots of eggs and peanut butter. Speaking of which, I need to buy more peanut butter. And stop and get some of those divine veggie spring rolls that come with that spicy sweet sauce. I'm gonna have to learn how to make those things before I leave here. Or move to Vietnam next.
My agency just called me to tell me they did something productive. I mailed my passport off to them (a terrifying experience, I assure you) and they promptly threw it in a drawer and didn't do anything with it for a really long time. My visa expires tomorrow, and I was becoming a bit concerned about their ambivalence towards my monetary situation. (It's 500 baht per day overstay fees. Ouch.) Luckily, I got the head of HR on the job, called him the man and he just called to inform me they've switched me to a Non-B. No more trips to Burma for this girl! Now I just need them to apply my work permit, which will probably happen some time around October, if I've grasped the way Thai time works.
The rain just stopped for 20 minutes and then started back up. Sigh. How depressing. I'll never make it to the night market to buy shorts while it's doing this. Not to mention anything else. Maybe it's just as well. Last time I went, a woman whipped out a tape measure and measured me for clothes. I saw the number, 32, and was just congratulating myself on getting to be such a skinny bitch when she nodded seriously and said "extra large." That's right kids. Extra large. I have lost so much weight that my boss commented on it when he was in town and I am an extra large. Oh, the humanity. Of course, I've heard horror stories of girls needing to buy men's xxl shirts, so maybe it's not so bad. I guess I'll just keep on dancing and maybe buy myself a bike.
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