My top five favorite things about Bangkok:
- The parks
- The food
- The night life
- The public transportation
- The opportunities
My top five favorite places in Bangkok:
- Vertigo Sky Bar
- Lumphini Park
- Chao Phraya River
- Kinokuya Book Store
- The Sky Train
My top five favorite places to eat in Bangkok:
- Siam Paragon food court
- Shabushi Restaurant
- Phahonyothin Rd. street vendors
- Thong Lor Japanese Restaurants
- Chinatown
Descriptions to come.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
The Rainy Season
The ominous low lying clouds moving steadily across the sky have brought rain, the fields are flooded with light brown water and the rice sown only weeks ago is a wash of flowing neon green that resembles the color of a nuclear reaction. Rice planting season in Thailand is under way.
Rice is undoubtedly Thailand's most important commodity, not only within the country's boarders as sustenance but also as an incredibly valuable cash crop. The country itself is the world's leading rice exporter. As an American growing up eating rice once or twice a week (I always had other options for my daily caloric intake) I never realized just how important rice was until I came to Thailand and began eating the simple white grains every single day, three times a day. Rice is the most important staple food for a large portion of the human population as many poor people rely on rice for survival. Like other foods, rice is consumed without much thought as to how it got from the field to the plate. Movies or documentaries on Asia portray the poor rice farmer wading through waterlogged paddies wearing a conical Vietnamese-style hat. They always fail however, to explain the dedication, patience, resilience and effort that goes into cultivating the most important food in the world.
No one plants rice in the dry season. The technique involved in pushing the rice through the mud is impossible if the earth is hard and dry. Rural Thai farmers bide their time during the dry season by either working in Bangkok or lounging around the village, performing odd jobs and taking care of their family. The dry season surrenders to rain halfway through the summer which allows farmers to being preparing the fields. The dirt must be soft and malleable before the farmers can even start tilling. The rice paddies are essentially small plots of land quarantined by earthen ramparts that serve as walls which hold water when the land is uneven. Agriculturally, rice is a crop that needs copious amounts of water, not just for nourishment but also as a stabilizer while the stalks are young and weak. Each plot is designed as a basin for holding water at shin level. If plots at lower elevations are collecting more water than those higher up, farmers will use pumps to defeat gravity and flood the entire field.
The saturated fields are tilled using a automatic push-style tiller which has two wheels about four feet in diameter that look like thin metal waterwheels attached to a gas engine mounted in between and controlled at the helm by long lawn mower-like handles. Before mechanical tillers, farmers relied on beasts of burden to prepare their soil, but now water buffaloes live the good life (wallow, eat, and sleep). The farmer tills the field down and back, covering each corner of the paddy until it resembles a muddy off-road race course.
Before tilling even begins though, right around the very start of the rainy season, depending on the size of the field, a number of plots are set aside as rice stalk nurseries. The farmers carry sacks full of rice seeds through the plot and sow handfuls at a time, covering the ground evenly with the little white pellets. The field will begin to produce a thick green blanket just in time for the rain. Once the rice has reached half-maturity it is bunched together in bundles and cut to the same length, looking like thick bouquets of flowers with the tops cut off. Finally they tie a thin piece of bamboo around the stalks to keep the bunch tight. The rice stalks are incredibly buoyant and just float in the water during planting. When someone needs more stalks, they simply grab the nearest bunch and continue working.
The planting process itself is rather simple but physically straining. The farmer grabs a bundle of rice stalks with his/her off hand holding the roots facing outward. With his/her strong hand, the farmer pinches about ten stalks away from the bundle just above the root, inverts his/her hand facing the ground and pushes the rice through the water and into the mud, letting go when he/she feels resistance. The process is repeated along rows and columns about a half a foot apart until the entire paddy is filled with a bright green grid of lined rice stalks. Quick planters can move at a feverish pace, pinching the stalks, entering the mud, shuffling backwards and grabbing for more stalks without hesitation. But most people talk and laugh, listen to music and take water breaks without hesitation.
But why do they have to plant the stalks by hand? Why don't they just throw the seeds throughout the entire field like they do in the rice nurseries? It's simple: the total grain output would be much smaller considering the distance at which the stalks would grow next to one another. By planting by hand, farmers can determine exactly how close they want their stalks to be, ultimately increasing efficiency. Plus, once the fields are flooded, the seeds are unable to survive under water and will not grow stalks.
In a few months the fields will begin to dry out and fill in and the bright green grid will slowly transform into a sea of top-heavy dark greens that look as though something is weighing them down, bending like a weeping willow; that's the grain itself. In a few months it will be time to harvest the rice.
Rice is undoubtedly Thailand's most important commodity, not only within the country's boarders as sustenance but also as an incredibly valuable cash crop. The country itself is the world's leading rice exporter. As an American growing up eating rice once or twice a week (I always had other options for my daily caloric intake) I never realized just how important rice was until I came to Thailand and began eating the simple white grains every single day, three times a day. Rice is the most important staple food for a large portion of the human population as many poor people rely on rice for survival. Like other foods, rice is consumed without much thought as to how it got from the field to the plate. Movies or documentaries on Asia portray the poor rice farmer wading through waterlogged paddies wearing a conical Vietnamese-style hat. They always fail however, to explain the dedication, patience, resilience and effort that goes into cultivating the most important food in the world.
No one plants rice in the dry season. The technique involved in pushing the rice through the mud is impossible if the earth is hard and dry. Rural Thai farmers bide their time during the dry season by either working in Bangkok or lounging around the village, performing odd jobs and taking care of their family. The dry season surrenders to rain halfway through the summer which allows farmers to being preparing the fields. The dirt must be soft and malleable before the farmers can even start tilling. The rice paddies are essentially small plots of land quarantined by earthen ramparts that serve as walls which hold water when the land is uneven. Agriculturally, rice is a crop that needs copious amounts of water, not just for nourishment but also as a stabilizer while the stalks are young and weak. Each plot is designed as a basin for holding water at shin level. If plots at lower elevations are collecting more water than those higher up, farmers will use pumps to defeat gravity and flood the entire field.
The saturated fields are tilled using a automatic push-style tiller which has two wheels about four feet in diameter that look like thin metal waterwheels attached to a gas engine mounted in between and controlled at the helm by long lawn mower-like handles. Before mechanical tillers, farmers relied on beasts of burden to prepare their soil, but now water buffaloes live the good life (wallow, eat, and sleep). The farmer tills the field down and back, covering each corner of the paddy until it resembles a muddy off-road race course.
Before tilling even begins though, right around the very start of the rainy season, depending on the size of the field, a number of plots are set aside as rice stalk nurseries. The farmers carry sacks full of rice seeds through the plot and sow handfuls at a time, covering the ground evenly with the little white pellets. The field will begin to produce a thick green blanket just in time for the rain. Once the rice has reached half-maturity it is bunched together in bundles and cut to the same length, looking like thick bouquets of flowers with the tops cut off. Finally they tie a thin piece of bamboo around the stalks to keep the bunch tight. The rice stalks are incredibly buoyant and just float in the water during planting. When someone needs more stalks, they simply grab the nearest bunch and continue working.
The planting process itself is rather simple but physically straining. The farmer grabs a bundle of rice stalks with his/her off hand holding the roots facing outward. With his/her strong hand, the farmer pinches about ten stalks away from the bundle just above the root, inverts his/her hand facing the ground and pushes the rice through the water and into the mud, letting go when he/she feels resistance. The process is repeated along rows and columns about a half a foot apart until the entire paddy is filled with a bright green grid of lined rice stalks. Quick planters can move at a feverish pace, pinching the stalks, entering the mud, shuffling backwards and grabbing for more stalks without hesitation. But most people talk and laugh, listen to music and take water breaks without hesitation.
But why do they have to plant the stalks by hand? Why don't they just throw the seeds throughout the entire field like they do in the rice nurseries? It's simple: the total grain output would be much smaller considering the distance at which the stalks would grow next to one another. By planting by hand, farmers can determine exactly how close they want their stalks to be, ultimately increasing efficiency. Plus, once the fields are flooded, the seeds are unable to survive under water and will not grow stalks.
In a few months the fields will begin to dry out and fill in and the bright green grid will slowly transform into a sea of top-heavy dark greens that look as though something is weighing them down, bending like a weeping willow; that's the grain itself. In a few months it will be time to harvest the rice.
Monday, June 1, 2009
A poem about chickens
Is this a chicken conspiracy?
Sleeping soundly sounds impossibly
preposterous, sending me sliding steeply into lunacy.
Like pawns placed perfectly
around the perimeter perniciously
forming a feather flapping filibuster
preventing me from dreamily freely floating far from reality
Tossing my torso to and fro
'til the tumultuous throaty torture tips me too far
flipping, flying, frustrated
further towards the floor in a furious fixated fervor
fearing finally my mind to me must meticulously muster energy to main my enemy
maliciously.
But honestly, can it really be
that the enemy with a brain like a pea has it in for me?
Or is it me and my conspiracy theory convincing me subconsciously
of an imaginary chicken wake-up spree.
I hate chickens.
Sleeping soundly sounds impossibly
preposterous, sending me sliding steeply into lunacy.
Like pawns placed perfectly
around the perimeter perniciously
forming a feather flapping filibuster
preventing me from dreamily freely floating far from reality
Tossing my torso to and fro
'til the tumultuous throaty torture tips me too far
flipping, flying, frustrated
further towards the floor in a furious fixated fervor
fearing finally my mind to me must meticulously muster energy to main my enemy
maliciously.
But honestly, can it really be
that the enemy with a brain like a pea has it in for me?
Or is it me and my conspiracy theory convincing me subconsciously
of an imaginary chicken wake-up spree.
I hate chickens.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Mass transit is good
Bangkok is a cool city but anyone who lives there or has even just visited will agree, there's just too much traffic. I like maps, but I especially like this map.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
The decision I've made
A long long time ago, I decided I wanted to join the Peace Corps after I finished college. It was a decision I made that would determine which paths in my young life I was to take. It would be years before I could complete my goal but the paths happened to be very straight and flat. I finished high school, entered college, finished college, joined the Peace Corps, and now here I am with less than one year left in my service. Everything that was placed in front of me while on each path had been easy to pass. I was preparing myself for that one ultimate goal, the Peace Corps, and I knew exactly what I had to do to complete it.
It's looking like I am going to finish my service successfully, which begs the question, now what? Even though I have 11 months left, "Now what?" is becoming a real part of my future. A long long time ago, I decided I wanted to join the Peace Corps, and then...I couldn't say. I drew a blank if I tried to plan for my future after my service, like someone who knows nothing about quantum mechanics pondering theoretical physics. I hit a wall and as a result, couldn't think of one good option.
How could I have been so irresponsible? How could I care so little about my future to just brush my inability to plan my life aside? How could I ignore the fact that I wasn't sure of anything after Peace Corps? But hey, back up, back up. These questions are valid enough to be asked but it wasn't like as though I never had something in the works. The truth is, after I was unable to decide during college where I would go after Peace Corps, I told myself the decision would be made within those two years of service. I did have a plan, even if it wasn't planned, and it worked.
The decision I've made for once I complete my service is to work at an international school in Bangkok and I'm going to pursue it passionately. I can say with no hesitation that I like Thailand. I know the people, I eat the food, and I speak the language. I'm comfortable here, almost as comfortable as I am in Michigan. Positions will open up starting in October and I will begin applying immediately. My decision was not made in haste. I've been thinking about where I want to live and how I want to live for over a year now. Bangkok is a big city with a few drawbacks, but for each drawback, it has something I like. International schools are popular in Bangkok and I'm hoping at least a few positions open up. Even though I was unable to plan for my life after Peace Corps, I was certain I'd figure something out.
What's my future look like now? It's time to eat rice.
It's looking like I am going to finish my service successfully, which begs the question, now what? Even though I have 11 months left, "Now what?" is becoming a real part of my future. A long long time ago, I decided I wanted to join the Peace Corps, and then...I couldn't say. I drew a blank if I tried to plan for my future after my service, like someone who knows nothing about quantum mechanics pondering theoretical physics. I hit a wall and as a result, couldn't think of one good option.
How could I have been so irresponsible? How could I care so little about my future to just brush my inability to plan my life aside? How could I ignore the fact that I wasn't sure of anything after Peace Corps? But hey, back up, back up. These questions are valid enough to be asked but it wasn't like as though I never had something in the works. The truth is, after I was unable to decide during college where I would go after Peace Corps, I told myself the decision would be made within those two years of service. I did have a plan, even if it wasn't planned, and it worked.
The decision I've made for once I complete my service is to work at an international school in Bangkok and I'm going to pursue it passionately. I can say with no hesitation that I like Thailand. I know the people, I eat the food, and I speak the language. I'm comfortable here, almost as comfortable as I am in Michigan. Positions will open up starting in October and I will begin applying immediately. My decision was not made in haste. I've been thinking about where I want to live and how I want to live for over a year now. Bangkok is a big city with a few drawbacks, but for each drawback, it has something I like. International schools are popular in Bangkok and I'm hoping at least a few positions open up. Even though I was unable to plan for my life after Peace Corps, I was certain I'd figure something out.
What's my future look like now? It's time to eat rice.
Monday, March 30, 2009
I'm getting tired
I was writing in my personal journal the other day about traveling, trying to explain to myself the reasons why traveling is important to personal development. The last thing I wanted to do was sound like a motivational speaker so I wrote the entry as if it was an interview. I've decided to share a small portion of why I feel like moving away from what you are comfortable with (your home) for even just a short time to relocate somewhere unfamiliar, removing you from your comfort zone, is beneficial to the foundation of life.
The mundane monotonous patterns we find ourselves living in are necessary to keep our lives going. Working, exercising, eating, and sleeping are often times patterned activities we do on a daily basis without even thinking of straying from. The pattern is at home, the home in which you are currently living and we're locked into this march towards some great goal, striving to complete the tasks we've set forth for ourselves. It's not until we divert our efforts, wandering from our home, that we can ever experience new and unique things and learn upon them, therefor increasing personal learned experience in decision making and social development.
Why are older people wise? Why can an older carpenter never having never taken a college course in woodworking give advice to a professor on cabinetry? The decisions we make and the resulting experience we gain, both positive and negative, will influence how we will continue to make decisions in the future; it's these decisions which shape our experiences, in-turn shaping our personal development. Removing yourself from what you are comfortable with and breaking out of the patterns of every day life forces you to make decisions you may not be used to back home - it's all about the decisions. Experience is a result of having to make a decision. Factors affecting decision making while traveling include, but are not restricted to:
- People
- Money
- Time
- Family
- Language
- Safety
Which of these is applicable to life back home?
These are the kinds of things I think about while traveling. The view out the bus window as the sun sinks between two camel humped mountains on the boarder between central Thailand and Isaan is remarkable, glowing bright but dulled enough by the hazy clouds that concentrate in the distance. Does seeing the sun set between the mountains mean I've experienced more? Is traveling about bragging about the number of places you been and things you've seen? Should I fill my blog with colorful explanations of my surroundings because that's my "experience?" However beautiful, my experience isn't shaped by a pretty scene, but rather by the reason I can see the sun setting in the first place: I had to make a last minute decision to travel west rather than to go home towards the east, thereby chasing the sun. I'm able to watch the sun set because I wasn't ready to go back home. I made a decision and my experience is only enriched by the sunset. A romantic may believe the two were meant for each other (my decision and the sunset) but I'm skeptical. To me, it's the decision which unveils the experience.
I'm back in my village now, preparing for a hearty Songkran. Traveling is tiring and it's nice to be back even if my routine will feel like a pattern. Like I said near the beginning of this rant, the pattern is necessary to keep our lives going. It will feel good to recharge the batteries and prepare for my next tour.
"We'll get somewhere, sometime."
The mundane monotonous patterns we find ourselves living in are necessary to keep our lives going. Working, exercising, eating, and sleeping are often times patterned activities we do on a daily basis without even thinking of straying from. The pattern is at home, the home in which you are currently living and we're locked into this march towards some great goal, striving to complete the tasks we've set forth for ourselves. It's not until we divert our efforts, wandering from our home, that we can ever experience new and unique things and learn upon them, therefor increasing personal learned experience in decision making and social development.
Why are older people wise? Why can an older carpenter never having never taken a college course in woodworking give advice to a professor on cabinetry? The decisions we make and the resulting experience we gain, both positive and negative, will influence how we will continue to make decisions in the future; it's these decisions which shape our experiences, in-turn shaping our personal development. Removing yourself from what you are comfortable with and breaking out of the patterns of every day life forces you to make decisions you may not be used to back home - it's all about the decisions. Experience is a result of having to make a decision. Factors affecting decision making while traveling include, but are not restricted to:
- People
- Money
- Time
- Family
- Language
- Safety
Which of these is applicable to life back home?
These are the kinds of things I think about while traveling. The view out the bus window as the sun sinks between two camel humped mountains on the boarder between central Thailand and Isaan is remarkable, glowing bright but dulled enough by the hazy clouds that concentrate in the distance. Does seeing the sun set between the mountains mean I've experienced more? Is traveling about bragging about the number of places you been and things you've seen? Should I fill my blog with colorful explanations of my surroundings because that's my "experience?" However beautiful, my experience isn't shaped by a pretty scene, but rather by the reason I can see the sun setting in the first place: I had to make a last minute decision to travel west rather than to go home towards the east, thereby chasing the sun. I'm able to watch the sun set because I wasn't ready to go back home. I made a decision and my experience is only enriched by the sunset. A romantic may believe the two were meant for each other (my decision and the sunset) but I'm skeptical. To me, it's the decision which unveils the experience.
I'm back in my village now, preparing for a hearty Songkran. Traveling is tiring and it's nice to be back even if my routine will feel like a pattern. Like I said near the beginning of this rant, the pattern is necessary to keep our lives going. It will feel good to recharge the batteries and prepare for my next tour.
"We'll get somewhere, sometime."
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Its offical
Our mid service conference took place last week in Bangkok and all of the volunteers were in excellent form. It's incredible to think that I've already been here for one year, living in this Kingdom for a whole 365 days of my life. Looking back, I can say that it's gone by quite fast, but I've also had moments that seemed to never end.
Some highlights include sharing a room with my homestay brothers, living on the Mekong River, and meeting my current girlfriend. That's right, it's offical, I'm dating a Thai national. She great and if you wanna talk about it, just give me a call. I'll be happy to fill you in.
I want to send a personal thanks to Paul and Cara Jacobson for sending me the trifecta of male magazine entertainment, Rolling Stones, Maxim, and The Economist. These three magazines have collectively kept me up to date with everything I've wanted to know over the past year. I love you two so much for thinking about me, and thanks again.
I raise my glass of lao kaao (Thai rice wiskey) and say "Here's to the coming year. May it be a safe and prosperous year full of potential."
Some highlights include sharing a room with my homestay brothers, living on the Mekong River, and meeting my current girlfriend. That's right, it's offical, I'm dating a Thai national. She great and if you wanna talk about it, just give me a call. I'll be happy to fill you in.
I want to send a personal thanks to Paul and Cara Jacobson for sending me the trifecta of male magazine entertainment, Rolling Stones, Maxim, and The Economist. These three magazines have collectively kept me up to date with everything I've wanted to know over the past year. I love you two so much for thinking about me, and thanks again.
I raise my glass of lao kaao (Thai rice wiskey) and say "Here's to the coming year. May it be a safe and prosperous year full of potential."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
