I'm bad with photos

I bought a camera here, but I never take pictures. I'm constantly forgetting to take it with me and never thinking about it. It eats batteries like Isaan people eat fish and to me, it was a waste of money. The reason I didn't buy one in the States and bring it with me in the first place is because I'm not a photo snapper kind of guy. It's not my style and never has been.

To me, writing a blog without photos is like playing in the snow without a sled or some skis. It's still fun, but not as interactive. Photos make a blog much more interesting. I do realize however, people don't always need photos to look at and would rather just read what I've got to say. So, I've compromised. Whenever someone else is taking photos, I usually see if I can't mooch off of them and add their cache to my collection.

I know this blog has been spotty at best, but bare with. I'm new to the whole "public journal." Isn't that a contradiction anyways?

So what's up in Thailand hu? Well, over the past four months I've found that it's much better to stay at site in your village than off hiding in the nearest big city every weekend. The way things work here is what I would describe as the opposite of the American suburbs. In the burbs, you wake up in your house, get in your car through your garage, drive to work, work all day, drive home, enter your house through your garage, and go to sleep to wake up and do it all over again. Some people don't communicate with their neighbors at all let alone see the light of day. But here in Thailand, your business is everyone else's business. If you're not an open person coming to Thailand, you're an open person before you leave. Everyone wants to know everything. What did you eat, have you showered yet, what time will you be home, why were you in your backyard for so long yesterday, who was that I saw you with down by the river, are you going to look for mushrooms like so and so told me you were, have you eaten yet, can you do my English homework for me, do you need water, where were you just now, what did you eat with your rice? That's no exaggeration and probably more of a downplay. This is my life.

When I'm in Bangkok, no one knows me. Sure I've got some friends who live there, but they constitute less than 1% of the 7 million people who call "Krungthep" home. More than once I've been in Bangkok feeling lonely. People shoulder to shoulder with me on the SkyTrain and I'm so lonely I feel depressed. "Why haven't any random people asked me if I've eaten yet today or not?" I ask myself. Then I realize, I'm not in the countryside. Put my in my village with the smiling faces I encounter regularly and life is warm. I'm part of this now. It's finally becoming comfortable.

That's not to say Bangkok isn't fun. If you've got a wingman, someone to roll with, and you can speak Thai...you hit the streets. Figure Bangkok out. Enough said.

Let's now change speeds and see what Tony's got going on at site.

Tony's current projects:

Co-teaching four days a week at two different schools.
Multiple teacher trainings
Hosting an English camp
Constantly landscaping around my house
World Map - Going to paint a world map on a wall at my school
Building a chair - It's harder than it sounds

It feels like I've always got something on my mind. Even when I'm relaxing with the family I spend a good portion of my day with across the street, I can feel the gears turning. Living in an Eastern culture is something that I knew would provoke a lot of new synapses but I never expected them to be firing so regularly. And what a fun little thing I got goin' on here too. I think about how the people here who know me as "Aa-tet" would react if they saw me in the Upper Peninsula. They have this view of me as a tall white Thai-Isaan boy because that's what I've been portraying but if you know me you know I'll never forget where I came from (god what I wouldn't do for a PBR).

Mekong Update:

The Mekong is starting to lower a bit after reaching it's maximum capacity and flooding a few people out of their homes. I like the Mekong. I'm glad I live in a village on its shores.