Monday, April 30, 2007

PHOTOS OF OUR BIG DAY


Nan says, "Bring it on!"
Sorry it has taken me a while to get some of these photos up. Please enjoy the page of photos by simply clicking on the green arrow above which will take you to a live link page full of our wedding insanity.
If you still don't see any pictures of you, more are coming!
Thanks again to everyone who took part or sent wishes!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

April 22ND We Did IT

Dr. Jim, Sim, and Nan are pictured here just after the ceremony finished. Dr. Jim acted in my father's place.

I've been more than overwhelmed ("well you can't be more than overwhelmed, overwhelmed means overwhelmed") with all the good wishes from long distance, and the friends who traveled the distance to Chiang Dao and support Nan and I during our wedding. It was magical for us and I believe a lot of fun for everyone who came with us. I'll be traveling for a few days, but plan to create a link for wedding photos and so forth in about 1 week. If you were there your photo will be on the link, so stay tuned.
I'm not just the luckiest man in the world because of my beautiful and loving bride, but I'm the luckiest man in the world because of the kind of friends and family members I have beside me. Thanks for the calls, emails, cards, prayers, and thoughts. LOVE YOU ALL!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

McFE is Free in Bangkok


THANKS Ferrari

This one is for the American. Americans have a magical way of lying to themselves about nearly everything by simply naming it with something very easy on the ear. They are so sensitive about labels and titles that they can’t even hear the word toilet without shuttering. “Restroom, thank you, or washroom, or ladies room please.” Well we can call it a haven for luxurious stenches and it still is going to smell like shit. As Cheech and Chong proved, if it looks like it and smells like, it’s not necessary to taste it. My favorite is the labels of American affiliation and specification or we can simply call it by the Sim acronym AAS. (Please pronounce the S at the end strongly and hold it.) I am no longer white in America, I am a European American or Caucasian American. Odd since I have never been to Europe. I do have a good idea that whoever came up with the Caucasian thing meant to say dick who insulted an Asian.


I must say that I was so brainwashed since I taught at a public high school for a decade, that I knew all the labels and used them with properness and piety—even often paying close attention to mixes. “Could I have the African American student with the knife please step back from the Asian-African American student with the gun. And could all of you Latino Americans please stop making fun of the Mexican American’s Spanish.”

So I go into a restaurant when I first arrived in Thailand and was sitting alone. This black guy struck up a conversation with me. He was really a nice guy and told me he’d been living in Thailand for years. “Well, as an African American?” I asked with all good intentions, “how do you find Thai people.” He furrowed his brow and became very agitated. “What the HELL you call me?” I stupidly repeated the phrase. “I’m from Nigeria! I’ve never been to America. I wouldn’t want to go there either, they treat black people like shit.”

Great? I guess labels are only good so long as you stay in the lightly populated areas, like the USA. If you come to visit the populated area of the globe, just talk to people like their people and unload your Americanism at the door. Although keep your freedom fries thing, that’s funny. Oh and the WUZ UP thing makes everyone laugh, don’t give up on that.

I am an American and I have certainly picked up this skill of labeling for effect while being raised there. So what is the point of this rambling? I’ll just tell you straight out, I don’t like the idea of being called a dirty old man. I would, from now on, when I get caught in the act of observing the beauty of a stunning woman, prefer to be referred to as a mature connoisseur of feminine exquisiteness. This acronym will be McFE and should be pronounced with a Scottish, absolutely not Irish, twang and of course hold the E a long time for effect.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

BIGGEST OUTDOOR WATER FIGHT IN THE WORLD



PREPARE TO GET WET! Today there is a sense of foreboding in the Kingdom of Thailand. No, that's not the word, anticipation is a better expression. In truth it is a little of both. We here in Thailand are about to have our Songkran festival or Thai New Year!
Like all holidays here it is not to be taken too seriously, despite stemming from Buddhist traditions. It is of course a baptism or cleansing as people look to the new year for a better life, more luck, more love, but especially -- considering these are Thai people--more fun. This is going to be 5 days of chaos! In truth it is the biggest water fight in the world, stretching from Phuket up to Chiang Rai, from the border of Cambodia to the border of old Burma. Young and old will take to the streets in tacky flower patterned shirts and dump water on anyone they see. Drinking massive amounts of penny whiskey and beers while driving around from one water fight to the next is something out of a child's dream weekend! It truly is amazing.
On the negative side during this 5 days of insanity, the nation will experience massive loss of life from alcohol related accidents. If you are here, lets have a great time, but for me I'm going to do my fighting on my feet and stay out of the back of roaming trucks.
I must say though the best time I ever had during Songkran was riding around in a Toyota truck with about 10 relatives of my girlfriend and buying chunks of ice so that we could throw icy cold water on our competitors while we whizzed by.
Don't like getting wet? Stay home then you stiff. Songkran is for having fun, and if you're not in the mood you had better not venture outside. We'll be waiting -- you'll be WET!

Monday, April 9, 2007

Always Something Being SOLD


Again the poor who peddle their wares seemingly everywhere. This girl, smiling as if I'd given her a fortune, claims to be deaf and walks about with a card that says the prices of her little toys and explains that she cannot speak or hear. I say claims to be because actually most of these people are just working a very good system because it is much more difficult to say 'no' to someone who just tilts their head and smiles at you than it is to someone who actually enters into a conversation of broken English or rudimentary Thai. I did buy one of her little toys, just 50 cents, but I guess for me I feel that buying things from people courageous enough to get out there and fight is far better than supporting beggars who just sit with a hand out.
Beaches in Thailand are often swarming with peddlers of food and trinkets, but they are seldom rude. They will walk up and ask if you would like to buy, but they move along if you show now interest. Sometimes though, on my sleepy post sea food feast moments, I just want to sleep and they will walk right up and give your seat a nudge and ask if you want a fresh coconut or a glowing key chain. That can be a bit annoying.

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Rich Thai Poor Thai


One of the biggest surprises for Western people when they first arrive in the Kingdom of Thailand is the extreme wealth that they will encounter here. One of the biggest shocks for Western people when they come to the Kingdom of Thailand is the extreme poverty.

Thailand, like most emerging nations, is a contrast of the haves and havenots at such an extreme that it can at times feel as if we have been transported back in time to a feudal system in which lords and surfs function in harmony. I guess the hardest thing to understand is how is there peace. The poor here, many living in tin shacks or $40 a month apartment cubicles, seem to live in harmony with the Mercedes driving, mansion dwelling, land and business owners. Most crime by the poor is done against the poor and most crime by the wealthy are done against the poor.


To truly understand the dynamics of this is somewhat ineffable but I do wonder if part of it isn't the Buddhist belief that people are born to a destiny that should not be questioned. If you are born poor, then fighting to get rich is to go against the karma of your past life. If you are born rich, then managing the wealth and people who are at your disposal is your karmic duty as well. I have a good friend who is a classically trained musician and a fabulous one at that, but because of her family's wealth she is forced to manage their business instead of pursue her love of music. Odd? No, it's practical and wealthy Thai families have a sense of heritage and future that goes beyond the individual who might want to pursue something completely different. It isn't like these wealthy Thai people can't do their love as a hobby and certainly they have the resources to do just that.

The mystery to me is that the poor, who obviously outnumber the rich, don't rise up and begin killing the rich in an effort to take something for their family. It really doesn't seem to happen here. Poor neighborhoods, like little villages, just want to be left to live and fight against development and advancement more often than getting on board.

Thailand is a land of amazing contrasts. The school where I teach costs students around $11,000 a year, while the average Thai worker only earns about $200 a month. Cheap labor of course means massive profits for those doing the hiring and so the division between the groups will only grow. Why do parents pay for their students to be trained in English, Japanese, and Chinese, and have top teachers brought in from around the world? It is not hard to understand that it is to KEEP THE DIVISION of those who HAVE and those who Do NOT. A child born in a tin shed along side a river will 99% of the time die in a tin shed along side a river, and what is oddest of all is that they really will expect nothing more.

Monday, April 2, 2007

DEATH


Left is a photo from Thai World View of a Buddhist funeral.
Well no one wants to talk about it or admit when they think about it, but a series of events recently has brought to mind the reality of death. I am not a particularly morose person who dwells on the topic, but lately it seems some things have got me thinking about the inevitable end more than usual. I think it began with my tires needing changed. I think of my car as being brand new, but in truth it's almost three years old -- regardless of the fact I'm still just paying interest on the loan -- it has been three years. Death of tires, and the fact that I'm 39 and therefor over half way most likely, is beginning to get into my brain.
Then one of my girlfriend's college friends was killed in a car accident and she called me from the funeral. In truth western people should not go to Thai funerals because they will probably feel very uncomfortable at these events. In the background, when Nan called me, I could hear laughter and chatting as if she was at the mall. I asked her directly, "Aren't you at a funeral." "Yes," she responded, "and all my friends are here, it's so good to see them."

I was in shock. Funerals in the west, especially when the deceased is 22 year old, are grim affairs. People say little and speak in quiet voices or sobs. Everyone talks about the waste of someone so young passing and the tragedy of it. We cling to life like no other society on the planet. I actually felt a little angry that her friends were enjoying the funeral, so when she came home we chatted talked about it.

Buddhist don't see death as negative, it is an end to karma and a rebirth awaits. In truth when people die young, despite the emotional attachments of those around them, most Buddhist believe that the person has already learned a lot of their lessons in life and this is why they have passed so young into another existence.

"But, shouldn't friends be upset, someone died." I insisted.

"They are sad and want to pay respect, but the person who died is gone and we are not."

Now my Nan is in the rare 1% Christian minority here in Thailand, a big reason my Mom was so happy when I brought her home to meet her. She said even the Christians here do not dwell on death the way Americans do. We truly can't accept death and Thai people seem to have a much more positive outlook on the loss. It is freedom for the one who has passed, in the same way someone graduating from college and going out into the world must be accepted, so to are those who have passed.

There is no right way to morn. We all deal with loss in our own way, but I must say this is one part of my American heritage I may never lose. Death affects me, scares me, and the impermanence of life is well --for lack of a better word--a bumber.







Sunday, April 1, 2007

Fruits and Fish







Left fresh fruits and fish.

One of the real pleasures of Thai living is the street food. Markets spring up all over the city, usually produce salepeople work on a sort of rotating basis selling their goods in a different street market every day. At Satit Kaset there is a market somewhere on the university campus every day. There are 2 big ones a month. These block about four streets so venders can set up and sell. They sell a little bit of everything, but mostly they sell clothing and food. Teachers and students flock to these looking for bargins and lunch.