Real life

When I was teaching English in Reunion and I used to tell my friend Michael that I needed to get back to the states and to a "real job." He used to correct me and tell me "teaching English is a real job." At the time I felt that my job was a sort of "practice job" for a real job, maybe with an NGO. Then I worked with an NGO for a year and realized that every task in the "real" working world is not quite as efficient and meaningful as I might have imagined.
A customer was in the restaurant today and she had gotten wind of the fact that I have done a lot of traveling in the past few years. She asked me what I had majored in at K and then asked, "so when you stop working here what are you going to do, like in your 'real life.'" At first I was stunned, then I laughed and shrugged in that classic Lindsay manner and said "this is it, this is my real life."

Insults

What is the most effective way to insult a group of young Muslims? Perhaps serve them pork and then bring up the subject of Isreal.
During lunchtime the other day a group of three young men dressed in suits came into the Thai restaurant. I took their order and then brought them their complementary wonton soup. As I was setting the soup on the table one asked me, "what kind of meat is the soup made with?" "Pork, I think, but let me check with the kitchen," I responded. The three gentlemen began to wave off the soup with vigor saying, "no, no, no, we don't want any." I quickly came to the conclusion that they were Muslims and began going over their order in my head to be sure that there would not be pork in any of the dishes that they had ordered.
Another young man in a pin striped suit joined the group of three. I asked him what I could get him to drink and he held his throat and said, "I have a cold, what kind of tea do you have?" I told him we only had Chinese Jasmine tea. He asked "d'you have any jus'regul tea?" I responded according to what I thought I had heard, "What, you want Isreali tea?" He spoke louder and enunciated more clearly "No, I said REGULAR tea." "Ohhh, no, sorry, only Jasmine" I responded.
I went in the back to fetch his tea and began to reseign myself to the fact that I would be getting no tip from the gentleman after having offered them pork and then brought up Isreal out of the blue. But I guess being a young woman serving a table of young men trumphs all political and religious faux-pas. They left a hell of a tip.

Man in the lobby

"So what are you going to do with all of those languages?"
Why do we always have to do things for some greater purpose?
When I speak to my Thai co-workers in Thai and then the Chinese customers in Chinese people are impressed. Most then proceed to tell me that I should try to get a job with the big three. "You should go into business" they all say.
There was this white man standing in the lobby this afternoon talking very loudly to the co-owners of the restaurant who are Taiwanese and Thai (contrary to popular belief, these are actually different nationalities). The white man works for an auto parts supplier and he was telling the two Asian men about his trip to Bangkok and the nice limo that he got to ride in and the place that employed young women where he went every night with his coworkers for fun and the other place where he had a nice massage from a young Asian woman. Then he started talking about how you can order an Asian bride online.
I was in the dining room setting the tables for dinner and I was about to throw a plate at the man. Just listening and not having the courage to tell him to shut his fucking mouth made me fell complicit in the whole thing.
"Why don't you go into business?" If this is the culture of business then I guess my response would be "Because I believe in the value of every human life. Because I believe that girls your daughter's age should not have to work jobs that you would not want your own child to do just because they were born on a different side of the globe."
I often try to tell people this, but either I am not expressing myself very well or my message is falling on deaf ears.
When I left work today one of the owners asked me what I was going to do this evening. I said sarcastically "I am going home to buy an Asian wife online." I always make jokes about the things that piss me off that I feel I don't have the power to change. Next time, though, I need to tell the white man in the lobby that he needs to shut his mouth.

I am back

I am no longer in SE Asia, but I now work in a Thai restaurant where I speak as much or more Thai than I did when I was actually in Thailand, so that counts for something, right?
I took this self-help seminar when I was in high school (called the Forum) where they told you that making declarative decisions about poeple limited the way in which you can percieve them. For example, if I say to myself, "My coworker is an idiot" she can then only occur to me as an idiot.
I agree with their theory, but I enjoy judging people. My coworker is an idiot.
The owner of the Thai restaurant was away on business over the past few days. I asked my coworker where he was. She told me he had gone to buy restaurant supplies in Mongolia. This concerned me and I thought about it several times. "Dear lord, the owner is trying to buy coconut milk, lemon grass, and shrimp in a yurt on the arid steppes of Mongolia." I was honestly concerned.
The owner got back last night. I asked him where he had been. He said on business in Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. I was so releived to hear that he had not attempted to buy supplies for a Thai restaurant in Mongolia.
My coworker thinks that Malaysia is Mongolia. She's an idiot, but what can you do?

Lindsay's last entry

Why is my body smarter than my mind? Since I have gotten back from Thailand I have woken up before 6 am everyday, regardless of how late I went to bed. I lay in bed and my mind tells my body "go back to sleep, you haven't had enough hours of sleep yet and it is way to early to get up!" My body replies back, "Why should I go to sleep, it's the middle of the day and I am hungy for dinner!" My mind says "It's the middle of the day in THAILAND, but you are in the U.S. now, so you can't go by that time anymore." My body replies, "Watch me!"
In the end my body always wins out and that is why I am blogging at 7 am.
Since I am back home now this little commentary on jet lag will be my last blog entry. Thanks to those you who took the time to read about my and Josh's travels and be sure to send me your blog address the next time you travel!!!

The last hours....~Joshua

Today is both an exciting and sad day. At 4pm we depart from the Chiang Mai train station, heading south towards the Bangkok airport and the next morning we officially leave Thailand. This is the third time I've had to pack up my bags and leave Thailand behind and I can never help but get sentimental about it all. Of course I am looking forward to getting home, to family and all that is great and familiar about being home after such a long absence. In fact, I wouldn't be very happy right now if I was forced to stay around much longer. I don't have a job or really have that much to do here so it has become a bit boring. That being said, I can' t help but constantly be reminded of all the things I'm going to miss. The amazing cheap food for every meal, the fun of speaking a foreign language, escaping the American media machine, I could go on.....I know I will be back again sometime in the coming years, and that at least comforts me. I'm not sure how many of you are even reading this any more but I will try to make one last post, possibly once I get home, in an effort to throw together some thoughts about the 6 months as a whole.

Merit making

Josh and I are enjoying our last week in Chiang Mai, seeing friends for the last time, eating favorite foods and getting all of our last minute shopping done before we head back to the states. Last night we went out with Josh's Thai tutor for his birthday. I asked him if his parents had called him for his birthday and he said "yeah, my Mom called and said 'honey, did you go to the temple today and make merit?'" He said that he told his Mom that he had wanted to go to the temple, but that he hadn't had time.
In order to "make merit" Thai Buddhists do any of a number of things. They burn incense at the temple, donate money to the temple, donate food or clothes to monks etc. The goal of these actions is to guarantee that you will have a favorable rebirth. Cetain days are more auspicious for making merit than others, like holidays or your birthday, for example. I really like the way that Thai Buddhism has no pretensions about the goal of these "merit making" activities. Of course it is nice to do good things for other people, but Thai Buddhists also won't beat around the bush in saying that they do good deeds in order to guarantee a favorable rebirth for THEMSELVES. I am not sure that other religions are so up front about the fact that human beings do good things not only to serve others, but to serve themselves as well.
It was funny to hear that going to the temple and making merit was something that Thai mothers nag their sons about, because my own mother certainly has never nagged me about making merit!