A proud new owner!

Aside from the tea I'm currently in love with, I thought it time to write about some of the recent happenings around here.

Last Friday I finalized the purchased of a 2004 Yamaha Fresh II motorbike (and helmet). I now have wheels. The next challenge is to learn how to drive in Thailand. I've been trying to figure out how to best characterize driving in Thailand and the best I came up with was controlled chaos. The rules of the road that exists in America, do not apply here. Rules are determined by the biggest car on the road. As in Thai society, there is a definite hierarchy to driving. As a pedestrian, you are the smallest object on the road, thus you must yield to everyone. Bicycles come second and have the right-of-way only during encounters with pedestrians. Bikes are followed by motorbikes, which are then followed by cars. Progressing up the hierarchy becomes a bit more difficult as trucks of all different sizes cruise the road. But, nearly everyone yields to trucks. Those that do not, are no longer driving. So having acquired this bit of information I set out on my first ride. One of the closest parallels to me driving in Thailand is me first trying to speak Thai. My first conversations were disjointed and consisted of me fumbling around saying things like "can I have a penis". I elicited many laughs and friendly offers for help. My driving elicited similar responses. All joking aside, I am really enjoying cruising around and am going to enjoy getting to know the city this way. And my driving is not that bad and it's getting better all the time. I'll post some pictures soon of me on my bike.

This past weekend I headed north to Chiang Mai (where I spent most of my time when I studied) to see some friends and watch Pirates of the Caribbean. The bus ride took about 2 hours and was standing room only. I caught the last leg of a 24 hour bus trip from the south to the north, so most everyone on the bus had been riding for a long time and had claimed their seats. Silly me, I thought buying a ticket claimed my seat. The standing wasn't bad and I was able to chat with the person standing next to me, so all in all a good trip. I met up with several of my friends Friday night and spent a good bit of time chatting. It was really good to see them all. Saturday was spent shopping and getting the necessary supplies not found in Lampang and going to watch Pirates. I loved it. And it seemed like I was the only one in the theatre laughing. I guess the jokes aren't as funny when they are read from sub-titles. I did hate the ending. Stupid cliff-hanger. Sunday I headed back to Doi Saket (where my host family lives) and saw my host family. It was great to see them and we went out to lunch to celebrate three things - 1) my graduation 2) my birthday and 3) my coming back to Thailand. The weekend was really nice and I enjoyed myself and it again reminded me why I love Thailand.