The lady selling fruit said what!?!

This is a simple post but it follows a theme that has endured throughout my time in Thailand. There have been numerous incidents over the past year where I have either overheard or simply been told something that people think I can't understand. It is normally something that they would not have said if they knew that I understood. There are too many instances to recount many of which are very humorous. The most recent occurred as I was driving home from teaching an extra class the other day. I stopped at the fruit stand along the road and bought some lynchees from the lady there and I was paid her and was getting on the motorcycle to continue on my way she made a comment about how hairy my legs were. I looked back at her and smiled. I don't think she knew that I understood what she said and I drove off. Many times, that how it goes and they're none the wiser. But on occasion I like to let them know I did understand what they said with some subtle comment or indication that I speak Thai. It's quite fun. But I'm sure it's been done to us as well. We (meaning people I speak English with) sometimes speak like we think nobody understands us. I guess it's a universal thing.

RM

Embarrassment

I went to class with my fly down today. I didn't realize it until about halfway through class after it seemed like the entire class couldn't stop talking in hushed whispers and laughing. That's the thing of note to write home about today.

Fruit

One of the reasons I love Thailand is for the fruit. There is an abundant supply of fruit throughout the year and in such a tremendous variety. From mangos and rambutans to lynchees and pomelos and other fruits whose English name I don't know, I'm constantly able to eat delicious and fresh fruit. It's wonderful. As most Thai's do, I have developed that habit of eating some fruits after my evening meal. After you finish the meal and most of the plates have been cleared away, out comes the fruit. It's usually the fruit that's in season at the moment, but that can be nearly anything. This evening I partook in a few lynchees after dinner and was just about in fruit heaven. Lynchees are a wonderfully tasty and juicy fruit and I can't seem to get enough of them. They are just coming into season and are already climbing the chart on Ryan's Favorite Fruit List. For those who are interested, at the top of the chart is the mangosteen followed by the banana and the pineapple which are threatened by the new contender, the lynchee. The salaa (that's the Thai name...I don't know the English name) is also up there. Go FRUIT!

Speaking of fruit, when Taryn, my sister, was in Lampang this weekend I gave her a fruit tour and showed her all the different fruits in the fruit market and told her how to eat them. It was great fun and we bought a lot of fruit which is always a good thing. Even now, after almost 16 months in Thailand, there are still fruits which appear seemingly out of nowhere which I am then obliged to find out about and taste. We encountered several at the market the other day.

ผมรักผสไม้ (pom rak pom-la-maai) or I love fruit.

RM

Another small world revelation

I have to go through this process of getting a criminal background check. The Thai government recently changed the standards and requirements for foreign teachers after the whole ordeal with John Mark Carr went down. So I made a call to my friendly neighborhood US Embassy and inquired about the process. It's simple enough - a few fingerprints here, a few forms there and the obligatory processing fee and it's taken care of. I was chatting with the guy who answered the phone at the Embassy and told him that I need a background check because I was a teacher and one thing led to another and it was soon revealed that he is from Lampang and a graduate of none other than Bunyawat Witthayalai School. It was neat.

RM

Earthquake Part II

As the impacts of the earthquake are felt, the world media actually picked up on the earthquake. It turns out that vibrations were felt as far away as Bangkok and Vietnam and some buildings in Chiang Rai (a city in northern Thailand) were damaged. I've come across two articles which talk about the earthquake if you're at all interested. The first one is from the Bangkok Post and the second is from the BBC. Click on this link to go to the Bangkok Post article and this link to go to the BBC article.

Take care.

RM

Earthquake!

So I felt my first earthquake yesterday. I was sitting in the office working and all of a sudden we felt the building shaking slightly. During the earthquake, P' Aoy (the office assistant) and I looked at each other to confirm that it wasn't just us who felt the vibration. Soon after, a bunch of students came down and were asking about it since they felt the earthquake too. We got online to the USGS site and were able to find the epicenter. It turns out that the quake was centered around a point in northern Laos, north of Thailand and south of China. I figure that the epicenter was roughly 300 km from Lampang. Within an hour, the USGS website had information about the quake and said that the quake had a magnitude of 6.3. While looking, I came across some neat graphics that they have created and thought that I would show them as well. I'll think I actually use these graphics this year when I teach plate tectonics again in the winter. But here is some more of the information that I found.

Here is a map of where the quake was. If you see the dark green area towards the bottom of the map, look halfway between the top of that area and Chiang Mai and that's about where I am.This next map shows the vibrations from the quake. You can see the where the epicenter is and the vibrations radiate out from there. Lampang is marked on this map and you can see that it shows light vibrations in and around Lampang. This last map I found to be really interesting. It shows the fault lines in the area as well as the location and magnitude of all of the earthquakes in the past 10 years. Very interesting.

And that's that. I've now experienced an earthquake and have learned a bit more about what the USGS does.

One very interesting last tidbit before I go - all of this information was recorded and complied by U.S. Geological Survey, National Earthquake Information Center World Data Center for Seismology located in none other than Denver, Colorado, USA. Yet another example of just how small the world can be. Pretty darn spiffy if you ask me.

Peace,

RM

(all images were taken from the USGS website http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007ckan.php#maps).

My Sister!

My sister has arrived! I finally met her at the airport in Bangkok at about 2 am after she had been traveling for about 26 hours and after I had been traveling for about 12. It was a wonderful reunion. It's been about 11 months since I've seen her. As I mentioned before, she has an internship/job in Bangkok for 6 weeks and so I made my way to Bangkok to spend a few days with her before she started working and before I started back up at school (which, by the way, started today...more on that to come). I made it to the airport at about midnight and so I had about two hours to kill in this beautiful new airport of ours. The time passed by without much of note happening save the constant barrage of people asking if I need a taxi. Taryn arrived and we found the driver that the law firm had sent to pick her up (yup she had a driver with a sign standing in front of the gate...you know you're a lawyer when...). We made it to her apartment by about 3am and proceeded with a little unpacking, gift exchanging and catching up before we succumbed to our bodies desires to sleep and fell asleep at about 4 am only to wake up 2 1/2 hours later to get Taryn to work on time. Taryn, the darling sister that she is, brought me several little gifts from the US. My first gift was the taste sensation of the south (or something like that...she said it much more elegantly) in the form of pecan pie. It was fantastic and a wonderful surprise. That was followed by my camera. Now this wasn't a surprise as I had picked this out and had racked my brain several weeks prior trying to figure out which one to get. My current camera was on its last leg. After surviving and performing superbly during all of my trips abroad (yes, this camera and my passport are the only things that have been with me to every country I've visited), my camera had reached the end of the road and was starting to succumb to the constant beating that it's taken the past few years. Granted, I took care of it as I traveled, but there is only so much you can do when you're out on these adventures. But despite all those adverse conditions, it's performed wonderfully. So, with that in mind and my desire to move from the realm of point-and-shoot into more advanced photography (and more zoom), I'm the proud new owner of a FujiFilm FinePix S6000FD digital camera. I should also note that it's a birthday/Christmas present from my parents and sisters and for that I'm very grateful. Needless to say, my few days with Taryn are well documented as I had a fun new toy to play with. Taryn had to be at work the next morning at 9 am. I couldn't believe that they were making her come and predicted that they would send her home as soon as she arrived (I wasn't wrong). We met up with another intern, Carlos, and had breakfast. Now, this provided me a wonderful opportunity to embarrass myself. One wouldn't think that breakfast would provide such an opportunity, but it did. I had it all planned out. I knew exactly what Taryn and I were going to eat for her first breakfast in Thailand. We were going to eat one of my favorite meals, khao man gai (rice with chicken topped with a pepper and ginger sauce). It was going to be perfect. We were walking to find a restaurant and Taryn asked what was in it and I told her rice and chicken. She then reminded me that she was a vegetarian. I looked at her all cockeyed and suddenly realized that I had completely forgotten that she was a vegetarian. My brilliant plan came suddenly tumbling down all around me. I tried to save face and make up some silly excuse but to no avail. All she could do was shake her head at me with that, "you silly boy" look on her face. We found something else to eat that morning. Our next stop was the law firm where she'll be working and made a few rounds to meet the folks she needed to meet and then as predicted they sent her home. We went home and promptly fell asleep, Taryn in the bed and me, in heaven, on the couch. Couches are a rarity in Thailand and a soft couch is even rarer (they are usually made of wood) and Taryn's apartment was equipped with a brilliant one. It was simply brilliant. We stayed in those positions for the better portion of the morning and early afternoon and after the daily mid-day rain shower we headed out to do a little shopping. Nothing more to write home about there. That evening saw us trekking across town with the inspired goal of catching a glimpse of the King as he left the Royal Ploughing Ceremony. There was no actually sighting, but we did see his car and the long procession preceding and following his car. Dinner and a trip back to the apartment rounded off the rest of the evening before we called it a night. Tonight, I was also the lucky recipient of a collection of short stories and mysteries from the Outer Banks of North Carolina (a childhood vacation destination) and the first season of the TV show Scrubs and two chocolate chip cookies! Bed. Taryn had to go into work so I went with her to the office before coming back to the apartment for more quality time with the couch. I was lucky and found the Royal Ploughing Ceremony on television and watched that (more to come about this later). After it was over, I promptly fell asleep and didn't leave until long after the mid-day rain shower (PS we are in the transition period between the hot season and the rainy season. An umbrella has now become a permanent addition to my daily attire). I tried to get into the National Science Museum but was unable to because it was a holiday so I spent my time taking random pictures all across the city. You've gotta love new toys. Taryn came back and we headed to dinner at the night bazaar. Dinner and more gifts - tonight I received a box of heaven aka Nerds candy and a Duke t-shirt - then bed. The next morning, Taryn headed off to Phuket with the law firm for a weekend away and I spent more time with the couch and my camera gallivanting around the city taking pictures. I met up with a bunch of friends from Bangkok that evening and started out at the night bazaar in the beer garden drinking a wonderful beer over dinner and ended at a little club nearby. That was the second night in several nights that I was up until 4am. Then it was the long bus ride back home and that rounded out my weekend in the Big Mango. Taryn is planning on coming up to Lampang for the weekend and so we'll have a wonderful time in Lampang. I'll be able to show off my town, my house and my cooking skills (not to mention my motorcycle skills) and be a tourist in my own town which will be a wonderful change of pace. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

Over and out,

RM

A Happy Birthday note and something to ponder...

Today is a day of celebration. Today my sister, Sara, turns 19 (Sara, if you happen to take a break from your busy college schedule and read this, happy birthday). Today is also Cinco de Mayo so those of you who can drink a margarita, please do in celebration of that holiday. And finally, today is Coronation Day in Thailand. The current king, HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej, had his coronation ceremony on this day in 1950. In celebration and recognition of this event, there is a ceremony of sorts in Bangkok.

Now on to that little thing I wanted to ponder. I've come across a little fact of sorts that I find very interesting and have wanted to share with the world for some time now, but haven't. It is now that time. If you are a member of my family, you know that April 6, May 5 and June 9 are all special days. April 6 is my older sister’s birthday. May 5 is my younger sister’s birthday (see above if you didn't catch that earlier). ;-) And June 9 is my birthday. It just so happens that every one of these days is also a national holiday in Thailand and I find that fascinating.

April 6 is Chakri Memorial Day and commemorates King Rama I, the founder of the Chakri dynasty. Different dynasties have ruled Thailand and the current dynasty (the one that HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej is a part of) is known as the Chakri dynasty. The Chakri dynasty has ruled Thailand since the founding of the Ratthanakosin era in 1782 after King Taksin (the only King to rule during the preceding dynasty of Thonburi) was declared insane. Now, they celebrate this dynasty and their achievements on April 6, which also happens to be my older sister’s birthday. May 5, as I explained earlier, is Coronation Day and is also my younger sister’s birthday. Finally, June 9. June 9 was the day that HM King Bhumibol Adulyadej ascended the throne in 1946. This past year, as he celebrated his 60th anniversary on the throne as the longest reigning monarch in the world, the entire country celebrated this anniversary during the days leading up to and following June 9 the day of his ascension to the thrown. June 9 is also my birthday.

I've come to realize this after spending time here and celebrating these holidays right along side everyone else, but I couldn't help but notice that those important dates were very connected to important dates for my family. I'm not going to read into that at all, but I do find it fascinating.

And with that, I'll call it a day. But before I go I just wanted to say that my older sister is going to be here in four days! She has an internship/job with a law firm in Bangkok for 6 weeks and will be arriving on Tuesday! It's been just under a year since I've seen her and I can't wait! And despite how excited I am about all the little things that she's bringing for me (Nerds candy, a new camera etc.), I'm publicly declaring that I'm more excited to see her than recieve all these little gifts.

Later folks.

Ry

A very historic town and two tremendous towers

Morning.

I realized the other day that I had yet to write about the last few days in Malaysia before heading home and decided to finish that entry and wrap up my trip so here it goes.

I last left you as I was leaving Borneo and heading back to peninsular Malaysia. The plan was the stay in Kuala Lumpur (KL) for a few days with a day or two day trip down to Melaka for a visit before heading on home. I arrived in KL in the morning and began the arduous process of getting into the city. The airport is about 75 km outside the downtown area but there are lots of forms of transportation and so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I arrived and was welcomed by swarms of people who had come to see the Malaysia Grand Prix. The place was packed. I arrived on the first day of the Grand Prix and sure enough accommodations were booked all across the city. I was tired from climbing a mountain and traveling and after a few unsuccessful attempts to find a place to stay I left. I was near the bus station and the stress of the city was getting to me and so I just left. It was good I was near the bus station and it was good I had a destination - the quiet port city of Melaka. I arrived in the afternoon to the setting sun and quickly found a place to stay. The downtown area is full of incredible buildings built during either the Dutch, British or Portuguese periods and had that "colonial" feel to them. They were all painted red and the colors were really brought out by the setting sun. The weather was cool - it briefly rained cooling the city down and freshening everything up perfectly. I wandered around for a while just simply soaking up the atmosphere which Melaka had plenty of. the next morning I hit the historic sites. Melaka was the center of the world for a while as the point of contact between the East and the West. Much like Singapore, Melaka was a place where the monsoons met and so it was used as a place to exchange goods and wait for the monsoons to change enabling the different parties to return home. It has a long and fascinating history starting with its establishment as a city by an Indonesian prince and the ensuing colonization by the Dutch, the British and the Portuguese and then independence. There were old remnants of Dutch forts, British administration buildings and churches which had all been restored and turned into museums and they all provided a good overview of the history of the area. But after several museums, I was ready for something else and went to China Town. I was staying in China Town and so I took the opportunity to explore the city. One theme of the trip has been the presence of Little India's and China Town's in every city I go. The Chinese immigrants that have come to SE Asia (specifically Peninsular Malaysia) over the past centuries have developed a new culture and have called themselves Straights Chinese (for the Straight of Melaka) or Baba or Nonya cultures. After getting my fill of China Town, I headed off for dinner and then a trip to the mall before heading off to bed. The next morning I went to the sights that I wasn't able to get to yesterday and then headed out to the bus station ready to take on KL.

I got to KL and quickly found a place - the race was over and the fans had left. At this point, I was ready for the big city and soaked it up. The hustle and bustle that had only a few days ago rubbed me the wrong way was now exciting and new and I was glad to be back in this environment (at least for a few days). I decided to just start walking and see where I ended up and actually created quite the perfect afternoon. I passed by one of the most beautiful mosques - not as elegant as the mosques in Brunei, but it was nestled in a grove of palm trees along a river and was very beautiful. I passed by the National History Museum and of course stopped in to catch up on my history and then walked out only to find an incredible view of the Petronas Towers. These towers, the international landmark for KL, dominate the skyline. I saw them as the bus came into the city - it's impossible to miss them. Despite their dominance, I find myself searching for them trying to catch a glimpse of them whenever I can. And they do reveal themselves at different points as the skyline gives way. I never got tired of looking at them. As I was starring at the skyline a man approached me and wanted to take a picture of me with him and his two sons. So we stood there and his wife took the picture. He had come to KL on vacation. He was from Sabah (the state that I had just come from in Borneo) and was excited to see a foreigner. We talked for a bit and then they moved on. I was soon approached by another man who was undoubtedly watching this other man get his picture taken with me and worked up the courage to come over and talk to me. It turns out that this man (we were eventually joined by his friends) were from Burma. They are working in KL for 5 years. Their government allows them the chance to work abroad for 5 years and then they must come back. One of the men in the group was heading back the following day and so they were out to celebrate and see the city for one last time and they thought a picture with an American would be just wonderful. I obliged them and chatted for a bit about Burma and their histories and was fascinated. Burma is so close and I have been on the border of Thailand and Burma several times and am resisting the urge to go. I'm torn as to whether or not to go. But this conversation was wonderful. We parted ways and I wandered until I found a good place to eat and then hit the night market in China Town near my hotel. It was a bustling market and didn't have much charm to it at all. It was dirty and people were pushy - it's a far cry from some of the markets I've been to and had gotten used to. I left quickly. My hotel was just off the market and my window actually looked down on it. It was noisy for most of the night, but I got a good picture of the market from above. The next morning I got up and it was Monday. Monday's for most people in Malaysia are holidays and many mosques and things are closed (including the Petronas Towers). So I walked. There was a park and some interesting points of interest outside the city a bit and so I made my way there just enjoying being in the city outside of the downtown area. I loved my little walk in the part and ended up at the National Museum. I went in hoping for a reprieve from the heat, but the air con wasn't up to standard and neither was the museum and I soon found myself walking again. I needed another escape from the heat and so Internet cafe it was and one of the blog entries that you've probably not yet read was written then. As I write this I realize that my evenings have become very uninteresting. I've been getting up so early to avoid the heat that by the time the evening rolls around after a day of walking, I'm beat and end up getting dinner and then calling it a night. So, I'll skip that uninteresting part of the day and move on to the next morning. I guess this entry isn't very interesting either as I'm not really in the mood to write and it lacks any sort of pizazz.

The next morning was an exciting morning. It was the day of my visit to the Petronas Towers. I got up early and went to the towers to stand in line to get a ticket and ended up getting one of the first tickets. I hung out in the little informative display in the lobby waiting until my assigned time. I don't know if I've mentioned this or not, but I had a revelation about the towers that made me feel real stupid. I've known the towers were the Petronas Towers forever. I've also know that there is a gas station in Thailand named Petronas. I've also seen that same company in many different places in Malaysia. But it wasn't until I arrived in KL that I put 2 and 2 together and realized that the towers were built and owned by Petronas, the Malaysian National Oil Company. It all made sense now. In my tour of the towers, I found out that the three floors on either side of the Sky Bridge (the bridge connecting the two towers) are home to the Oil and Gas Lounge. The tour was really neat and it was cool to be in the towers as they are such iconic symbols of Malaysia. As I walked out of the towers, I looked skyward and started snapping the obligatory photos of the towers and as I was taking those few photos I saw a familiar face. We recognized each other at about the same time - it was the Thai couple that I had met in Brunei about a week earlier! We had managed to cross paths again. It was very bizarre. But we said hello and chatted for a bit before parting ways again. We also realized that we were on the same flight from KL to Chiang Mai and would be traveling together as we made our way home. The towers rise up from a rather large structure (which doesn't look very large situated below the towers, but actually is) which contains a huge mall. Inside the mall, in addition to shops and restaurants and such, there were two galleries sponsored by Petronas. There was the Art Gallery (which they sponsored and provide free entry) and the Science Center (a hands-on, thrilling, science center for kids...this was not free). I wandered through the Art Gallery and saw a wonderful photo exhibit and a really neat statue collection. 2007 marked the 50th year of independence for Malaysia and so they are celebrating the achievement and so the display was a collection of photos from the past 50 years showing different moments in Malaysia's past. It was a very neat stroll through time. The sculptures were made by a Japanese engineer turned artist and consisted of pieces of metal arranged in ways so that their movements were in part controlled by motors and magnets and in part by kinetic and potential energy. Their movements were controlled chaos. They never quite did the same thing twice but they always operated within a defined boundary. They were stunning. I hit the mall and got nice and chilled before venturing out into the heat and finished my tour of the city. At this point, I was tired of walking. But I couldn't bring myself to go back to the hotel since I wanted to get some pictures of the Petronas Towers at night so I dragged myself back to the mall and went to a movie. I saw the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in Malaysia under the Petronas Towers. I would have liked to have seen Entrapment, but that would have been too complicated. I had dinner and I had killed most of the afternoon and the sun began to set and I got my pictures. I headed home, packed, slept and was off the next morning bound for home.

And that concludes my summer travels (at least my excursions out of Thailand). I'll be sure to add to the blog in the next few days and complete my attempt at updating things.

Until then,

Ryan

One rainy day

The weather is changing. For the second day in as many weeks I've found myself waking to the sound of rain falling on my tin roof and the grey skis of a stormy day. Last time this happened, I had nothing planned and spent a wonderful rainy day engrossed in my current book, several movies and my lunch and dinner preparations. Today, however, proved to be a different story. There were two private classes to teach and several errands to run and I roused myself out of bed at 7 am and headed for the shower. My dreary mood was replaced when I walked out the door and was hit the smell of rain and the newly wetted rice fields, the sounds of the insects and frogs, and the mountains shrouded in clouds and mists off in the distance. My dreaded ride to work became a pleasant ride through the rice fields soaking up the crisp and fresh air that the rain brought with it. Teaching wasn't as relaxing but it was enjoyable. I met several students on campus I hadn't seen in a while as well as several teachers and the reunions were wonderful. It put me in the mood to go back to school. The afternoon ushered in more rain and it waited until I was on my home to start and so I took refuge in a local coffee house. I had put my book in my bag as I walked out the door and soon enough found myself curled up on a couch drinking a caramel coffee and reading my book while the rain fell outside. Not a bad unplanned afternoon activity. The rains subsided and I headed home to grab the necessary materials for my next class and off I went. Ajaan Ryan's class for this rainy Thursday afternoon was a lesson on directions. What better way to teach that than with paper airplanes and make-believe trains. With my three 5-year-old students, I taught them "right", "left", "top", "bottom" and of course "fold" and "un-fold" and we proceeded to make paper airplanes. We then walked to the end of the classroom and proceeded to learn "throw", "straight", "near" and "far". This lesson involved lots of coming and going as they threw their airplanes across the room following my commands but it was also full of smiles and laughs as their planes did unexpected things. The rains came again shortly after I had arrived home and I heated up the remains of my culinary creation from yesterday (an eggplant parmesan casserole of sorts expect with parmesan and it wasn't really a casserole since I don't have an oven) and now that's brought you up to speed.

For those who are interested, the book I curled up with was Kerouac's On the Road. I've been captivated by Kerouac and haven't put the book down for more than several hours since I started reading. Kerouac's always been an iconic figure of the "beat" generation (I don't know exactly what that means) and a popular author of friends of mine, yet I hadn't picked up a copy of any of his books until the other day. On the Road has been intriguing and has stirred up my desires to hit the road and proceed with unabated enthusiasm and without a care in the world and simply go. His visit to Denver was a surprise but their adventures there and his descriptions of my hometown were appreciated. They gave me a nice warm and fuzzy feeling and made me long for the streets of LoDo.

Cheers.

RM