We Got It, You Want It: TP!

View courtesy of our balcony.

That's right. I'm talking bout some Thai Pride!

What a crazy week! We got to play some badminton, I started a new job, road a friggin motorbike taxi for the first time, and my cousin might have some free passes to Siam Paragon (possibly the most expensive mall in SouthEast Asia) bowling! Oh, and I think I'm falling in love with the local key maker. But more on that later!

Thanks for all the well wishes about the new job, Pals! It feels good to be the breadwinner in the family, AND we just have to make one border run to change our visa status and my school will deal with the rest of our visa papers. Cambodia anyone?

My work week started on Tuesday and was super confusing to say the least. I'm taking over for a teacher with only 9 school days left in the term. By Thursday, the school decided they were going to have an emergency one week shutdown because one of the primary students had been home for a week with Moo Flu, and five other students were sent home that day because they had fevers. The teachers and teaching assistants broke out some of the most sincerely happy dancing I've seen when this news hit. I was also relieved because being the new person made me so nervous I had trouble sleeping all week.

I really do like the new school though. The class sizes are small, and I get my own TA! Plus, there's a team of maids who deal with kid bathroom duty. (If you've ever had to deal with a class full of germy little ones, you'll understand how important and special this is.) There still seems to be the chronic "not enough paper in the copier" issue every school has, and of course, the guy who holds all of the paper doesn't come in until after the first bell. Oh, and I may have broken some type of rank rules by eating lunch with the TAs instead of with the teachers... but did I mention that I get free lunch, and it's delicious?!

After my first day, one of the office staff suggested I take a motorbike taxi home. We live fairly close to the school, but you have to cross this major street, which is crowded and super smoggy. The sois (streets) are very narrow and the terrain uneven. Plus, I walked to school in the morning and my feet were all cut up from the combination of cheap work shoes and sweat.

Ladies in skirts sit sidesaddle. I have no idea how they don't fall off.
And yes, this lady is also on a mobile!

The motorbike taxi is the one thing I said I would never do here because I value all of my limbs together on my body. It was quite an exciting ride for 30฿, but I can actually get an air conditioned taxi for about 40-45฿. The motorbike definitely held up its end of the bargain by weaving in and out of traffic and getting me to my destination quickly. Inhaling all of that bus and car smog was pretty intense. Almost everyone carries a handkerchief or small wash cloth with them to wipe off sweat or cover your nose from the fumes of the city, but I was too busy holding on for dear life to fish mine out of my purse. Definitely not recommended for rainy days... or you know, those who feel the same way about their limbs.


So every morning, school kids gather on the field and sing the national anthem. It is also played on the radio and tv at 8am and 6pm every day. Whenever you go to the cinema , the King's Royal Anthem is played before the movie starts, and it is a great offense if you do not stand during it. Logan and I particularly love the one played at the SF Cinemas (each theater makes its own version). I tried to find a copy online, but I think they are all blocked here. It is so interesting to be in a country with such heartfelt reverence for their leader. The SF Cinema version is definitely a tearjerker. I hope they do not change it anytime soon because we'll definitely have to take you to a movie to experience it!

While I couldn't find a copy of the SF Cinema Royal Anthem, I did find a short video on the King's composition of jazz music. It's pretty soothing, and I think he looked very stylish playing the clarinet!


Some car constantly drives down our soi blasting jams like "I'm a Flirt" with heavy bass. Logs and I started calling it the "I'm a Flirt" car. So the other day we were eating dinner with my cousin down the street from our place, and the car rolled down the street! It turns out it's a silver (most common car color over here) pickup piped with red and blue LEDs. My cousin new exactly who it was and called him "the shoemaker." Right away I knew who she was talking about because I call him "the key maker!" In fact, he had just made me a key on Sunday, during which I took this picture:
His little setup is at the far end of our soi across from the ghetto mall where "Birthday Sex" was playing over the PA one fine afternoon. He has a whole speaker setup in his little stand and blasts classic rock (Bon Jovi, anyone?) and I guess classic R&B so loud he had to turn it down several notches to hear my key order. He's too cool to be my friend, but maybe if I reinvent my wardrobe...
Or not.


All-in-all, a pretty good week, except that we have to have dinner with two of my evil aunts for one of their birthdays (this is the youngest aunt who actually lives in the States, but I haven't seen her since last time I was here seven years ago). Gag! Always something ruining a good week! My dad's sisters are picking us up and promised to make the visit as short as possible. We'll see how that goes. Maybe we can all offend them by ordering tons of beer!

Logan went to the Ratchada night market for some record digging with friends and is probably throwing back some cold delicious beer by now. I'm glad he's finally getting out of the house on his own and making the kind of contacts that it seems you need here to start doing stuff with music. I could sense he was getting a little too comfortable staying at home playing video games, and a little disheartened by the true nature of the club bump 'n grind scene here. Oh, but can someone convince him to stop playing GTA!!!

In any case, happy 4th of July! Blow something up and eat some yummy grilled meats! I expect the Pilsen crew to still hold down the corner with brooms and garbage cans for the post-blowup street sweep.

Lumpini Park at night.