What I've Been up to for the Past Two Weeks

I haven’t really updated this in a while, but here is a short list of things I’ve done over the last few weeks:

1.  I secured one-on-one tutoring.  It’s been very helpful with my speaking and my reading, and my teacher, Aj. Patcharee, has helped both translate and sharpen the focus of the questions I plan to ask monks when I return to Samut Prakan sometime either late July or early August.  My lessons twice a week for two hours each session.  However, the lessons take place in the early mornings on Saturdays and Sundays, so my weekend nights consist of rocking out by going to bed early.   

2.  If I come back from this trip destitute, blame Thai massages.  I’ve had back problems since I was 13 (one of the lovely parting gifts from Texas schools) and the beds here are harder than I am used to, which on some days cause my back to stiffen.  Since my schedule is flexible, I sometimes get a massage in the afternoon, which costs all of $10.  Wikipedia has a good description, but it is basically a mixture deep muscle massage that focuses on the arms, legs, and back that also includes stretches. 

3.  Both my family and my friends said that I will lose a lot of weight while I am here.  I doubt that is true, mostly due to gaiyang, or grilled chicken.  It is delectable, it is oily, it clogs my arteries, and most importantly, I eat it way too much of it. 

4.  The EFEO (École française d'Extrême-Orient) Library is pretty awesome.  It has a small, but for me, useful collection of books in both English and Thai.  Unfortunately, I cannot check them out, but it is still nice to go there when I feel I’ve overstayed my welcome at one of the few coffee shops I frequent. 

5.  It turns out that I did not get all my paperwork in order before I left, so I came here without a Visa, which means I can only stay in Thailand for thirty days.  To remedy that, I am taking a trip to Malaysia for a few days as an “actual” vacation.  Ever since I have come to Chiang Mai, I have worked every day except for one.  So on Thursday, I am flying to Kuala Lumpur and plan to do nothing productive, except for seeing the sights.  So far, that includes going to the Islamic Arts Museum, the Aquarium, and a Hindu temple called Sri Mahamariamman.  When I fly back to Chiang Mai on the following Monday, I will have another 30 days in Thailand, which will last me the rest of my trip.

Sucesses!

Basically, the last few days lately have been made of success at all fronts. 

1) Bought a temporary cellphone.  That may not seem like much, but I was able to find, pick out, and understand most of the directions the good people at Jay-Mart gave me while only using Thai. 

2) I called a teacher at the A.U.A in Chiang Mai, and she has agreed to tutor me one-on-one three days a week.  Hopefully, this will help my Thai immensely.  

3) I decided to travel around the city in search of a bookstore.  I was able to find Suriwong Book Center and after searching through the Religions section, I found a book on Ajan Lee in Thai.  I always need more sources in Thai. 

4) I also decided to throwaway my anxiety about my smell (see the previous post) and I went to a place called The Monkey Bar.  I sat down at the bar and ended up talking to a guy, in both Thai and English, about a variety of subjects, including American Football and Soccer.  He kept pouring me Johnny Walker Black Label from his bottle.  I drank enough to be fun but not so much that I did anything stupid.  The Perfect Whiskey Equilibrium.

Tonight, I might stop by the Sunday Night Market near the Tha Phae Gate and see what is around.

ฝรั่งเหม็น (Smelly Foreigner)

After I ate dinner and returned to my guest house last night, I had an idea.  I am staying in an area with a fair number of bars, and I have not had a drop of alcohol during my entire trip.  So it crossed my mind that perhaps I should venture out to one of the bars nearby and have a drink or two.  Nothing excessive, but something to relax a bit before I went to bed. 

Instead, I stayed home.  I’m a very introverted person, but I still like to interact socially at least some of time.  But I decided not to go out because of a very simple, though aggravating reason.  As I mentioned, yesterday the temperature reached 34 C, which means I sweated like a cow at a Texas barbeque.  It was bad enough that the sleeves of my over-shirt turned a little brown, and I’m sure I smelled something akin to a war crime.  Trust me, it’s a lovely picture. 

Many of my friends know that I have hyposmia, meaning that I have a reduced capacity to detect smells.  If something next to me is on fire or someone douses themselves in perfume or cologne, I can smell it.  But outside that and a few other examples, odors are a mystery to me.  I’ve never really known how they work on an experiential level.  If I, something in my room, or some of my clothes have a rank odor, I’m none the wiser.  It’s led to some funny instances, like the time my frat brother Ben saved me from a few days on toilet by pointing out the meat I was about to eat was on the wrong side of spoiled. 

But it also makes me paranoid as hell about my own odor.  Add that with a propensity to sweat oceans anytime the temperature reaches above 72 F, and you have my hatred of summer.  Usually, I just stay inside or if I have to go out somewhere, I take my car and blast the AC to create my own little arctic nest.  And if I think I am a bit smelly, I spray my clothes with Febreeze and let that magical concoction do its thing.  But I don’t have a car in Thailand and I forgot my Febreeze in Wisconsin, so when I want food, decent internet connection, or anything else, I walk.  In the heat.  Sweating up a storm.  I tried to remedy the situation by buying some spray deodorant to cover any smell from my clothes, but since I can’t tell how much I should use, I thought it would probably just the bad smell with something else that was too strong to be pleasant. 

So the reason I am not going out tonight is that I’m sure I’m a rank mess, and I’d rather not oppress other people in a cramped space with my BO.  Just imagine a large, hairy, smelly, sweat stained foreigner hanging out at a chic Chiang Mai bar.  It’s not an image I’d like to make a reality. 

In Chiang Mai

Yesterday, I left Samut Prakan and flew to Chiang Mai in search of language lessons and what I hoped would be cooler weather.  I’m still not sure about the language lessons, but the cooler weather is definitely not happening.  The weather report predicted a temperature of 34 C (93.2 F) for most of the northern region today, which is around the point where weather stops being “hot” and is officially declared as “bullshit.” 

Before I left Samut Prakan, I walked around the old market near Wat Bang Phli Yai to see if they had anything of interest.  I picked up a few more amulet magazines, and happened across an amulet which had the likeness of the monk I am studying, Ajan Lee Thammatharo.  I bought it for 500 baht, which was more than I would like to spend, but I’ve been studying this monk for almost two years now, so it is nice to have a token that represents how much of my life I’ve wasted on this thesis topic. 

I’ll post the few pictures I’ve taken later.  I would have taken more, but something feels weird about going to a foreign country and taking pictures of places and things that most of the people probably consider commonplace. I feel awkward about it.  I’ll also talk more about where I am in Chiang Mai later as well, since I actually want to try and get some things done today. 

I will mention one thing, and that's I’m still without reliable internet access where I am staying.  Right now, I am in a coffee shop/restaurant called The Marble Arch, which serves English Food and drinks.  It also serves some Thai food, and I partook in some very well made Green Curry and chicken.  Unfortunately, because of stomach problems I’ve had in the last few days, I ordered it without much spice.  Which is sad, because curry is supposed to have enough spice for the UN to consider it a chemical weapon.  

Traffic, Big C, and Language

One of the downsides of the hotel where I am staying is that the rooms do not have clocks.  I’m a pretty time disciplined guy, and I like to wake up to an alarm rather than hoping I do not over sleep.  It’s especially a concern since I don’t know if I am completely over my jet lag, and I don’t want to start waking up at noon or some other late hour. 

So yesterday, I picked up a map at the front desk and walked to a place called Big C while the hotel cleaned my room.  If I somehow end up living here for five years, I might start to get used to the traffic. At the moment however, I’ll be glad if I somehow don’t get hit by either a care or motorbike.   I’ve already have had one close call. 

Enter Thailand

(Written 06-08-2012)

Due to a delay in my flight from Los Angeles to Narita in Japan, by the time I checked into my hotel in Samut Prakan (a Bangkok Suburb), I had already been awake for almost 30 hours.  Since my room does not have an alarm clock, and I decided to leave my cellphone at home, I thought it would be best to stay up until this evening and then treat myself to a good long sleep, and hopefully I will wake up sometime tomorrow.

That’s the plan, anyway.  I’ll see if my sleep schedule will stay intact.  But I don’t see myself being too active during the day.  This morning I decided to walk around the block surrounding my hotel, and even at 8:00 am, after being outside for only about 10 minutes I was covered in sweat.  Unless my body adjusts soon, I think I will shower at least 3 times a day so I am not a totally smelly farang.