An unexpected skill developed

Hello folks,

Well, the past few weeks I have been moving into my new house and that involved moving everything I owned from one place to another using my only means of transportation - my motorcycle. During my time in Thailand, I have seen just about everything on a motorcycle. People here literally grow up on them and are often driving as soon as they can reach the handlebars and foot pedals. I'm still a bit unnerved seeing what appears to be a 10-year-old driving a motorcycle on the highway. These modern beasts of burden are used to transport people (up to 4 people have fit on a motorcycle...5 if you count the baby they sometimes squeeze in there), food and merchandise (it can be carried in the basket in the front, by the person riding, dangling from the handlebars, held in one hand while using the other to drive or tucked in between your legs as you drive) and any thing else one could imagine (rice, wood, chickens etc...it's all been seen before). These little motorcycles (more aptly called motorbikes) are an all-purpose machine and every last cent is milked from them.

As I began packing, I contemplated my options for transporting my stuff from the apartment to my new house (which is about a 10 minute drive from the apartment). It turns out that initially I was in luck - the owner of my new house offered to help me move and use his truck. Problem solved. But being the procrastinator I have the tendency of being when it comes to packing, I wasn't completely ready by the time he arrived. So I moved my trunk and suitcases in his truck leaving what seemed like only a little amount behind to be transported on my motorcycle later. A good plan I thought at the time. The next day I dragged a fellow teacher back to the apartment and we planned to move the rest of my stuff. I was going to drive and she was going to hold things on the back. Well, I had a bit much and here is what the motorbike ended up looking like...there was a large backpacking backpack on her back and my smaller day pack on mine, she had a chair in one hand and a large plastic bag full of stuff in the other and wedged in between my legs was another bag of my junk. It was quite the site and after a little thought about our safety (see Mom, I did think twice) we decided to give it a shot. New experiences like this are what living abroad is all about. We took of and it was a bit shaky at first, but much less so than I thought. As we got going it became easier and the drive was a breeze and we were rewarded with looks of confusion and astonishment from our fellow drivers on the road. I like to think they were a mix of "what are those foreigners doing?"and "wow, I didn't think foreigners could do that!". We arrived at my house unscathed and incredibly proud of ourselves. Unpacking was simple and that was that - I was moved in to my house!

But no, it did not stop there - there was actually one item that I forgot at the apartment. Before leaving I had asked the owner if I could store a folding table I had acquired in the storeroom until I could figure out how to get it to my new house. She said yes and there it sat for a few days. She gave me a call to remind me that it was still there and not having figured out any better alternative I set out for the apartment with the intention of riding back with the table. Now, this is not a huge table but it is by now means something that will fit in the basket of my motorbike nor did I have someone riding with me. That meant that the only option was to hold the table in one hand and drive with the other following the example of countless others. Now, I've driving one handed before around town and it's enjoyable and I'm comfortable doing so, but I've never attempted to do so with something in the other hand especially something that would provide additional air resistance. But I did it anyway. Again, like the first ride it was a bit shaky at first, but as I got going it was much easier. The one challenge to this was the fact that the table wanted to act like a large wing and I had to constantly wrestle with the table to keep it in the most aerodynamic position or face the real possibility of it flying back out of my not-so-tight grip. Again there were more looks and smiles and I gave them a huge grin back and I eventually made it home safe and sound without dropping the table once.

My skills were tested again as I went shopping for all the household essentials I needed to acquire to make my house a home. Yui was in town that weekend and came with me and we shopped like we had a car. While we were shopping we gave little to no consideration to the fact that we came by motorcycle and made many purchases - some of which were bulky (sheets and pillows) and heavy (sauces and pots). We arrived at the bike and were honestly a bit stumped at first and we both had our doubts about our ability to get all of this home at once. But after a few minutes of reorganization and shifting we managed to get everything on the bike and were off. Again, there were bags in the basket, in Yui's hands, dangling from the handlebars. The pillows and sheets were between my legs and the rice cooker was in Yui's lap wedged in between the two of us. We made it home, but as we got closer to my house the number of cars on the road decreases as do the number of street lights and it became very obvious very quickly that my headlight was blocked by the bags in the basket. But Yui (the incredible person that she is) found a way to add the bags to her load and off we went and we completed that last 2 minute drive without any problems.

At that point I felt like I had successfully completed my motorcycle training and was officially "Thai" on my motorcycle. It was a wonderful feeling and another step/accomplishment during my adventures here.

Now with that extra confidence and experience nothing seemed like a challenge. So the most recent adventure on the motorcycle happened today as I went shopping for my Christmas tree. My parents had just sent a package out and they had included a few Christmas ornaments and few other assorted ornaments and presents and it seemed very appropriate to get a Christmas tree (plus I just really wanted a Christmas tree to celebrate however I could...more to come on this later). Knowing that I could get a real tree like at home, I stopped at a plant market on my way home from school. I found a perfect little tree (I'll post a picture when it's decorated) to be my Christmas tree and another tree which was just really pretty. So I bought the two of them for about 100 baht (or $5) and began the process of getting them home. But after buying them, the owner brought out the two pots and two bags of soil that I had also purchased and proceeded to ready my motorcycle. He first placed the two trees in the basket and made sure to spread them apart so I could peer out from behind them as I drove and them placed the soil in a larger bag and balanced that between my legs. Finally, he flipped the pots upside down and tied them to the seat where the second passenger should sit and I was ready to go. I jumped on and placed the soil between my legs and I was off Christmas tree and all! The looks this time were a bit different and a young boy couldn't take his eyes off of me but it was simple and almost normal.

So that's that. I do realize that I just talked about carrying things on a motorbike for a while, but thought it appropriate for the blog and plus I wanted a written record of it. Plus it's my blog and I can write what I want (and I'm really not sure if anyone is still reading this).

RM