First Blog Thai Two

I definitely came to Thailand for several concrete reasons. I thought...... I thought it would teach me some good life lessons. I wanted to learn another cultural way of life by living in another country rather than just traveling through it. I wanted to be able to speak intelligently with Evy in regards to her desire to study abroad for a year. I wanted to be able to have a base for a discussion on the challenges and rewards of a year away from your own cultural norms and home. To give Evy and Megan the chance to travel internationally, and experience a country like I experienced England when I went with my mother when I was a young teenager. It was a valuable experience for me and believe it will be for them. Also, by teaching English as a second language to the poorer students of Thailand I will be giving back something to their culture as well as a skill they may be able to use in the future. To try and learn another language and use it for later more comfortable travel would benefit me greatly as Thailand is a beautiful country. I wanted to see if I enjoyed teaching as a possible future career and to enjoy a laid back culture before immersing myself back into a corporate American job. The timing was right, I was laid off, just coming off a winter skiing everyday, and finally had the ability to sell my home and pay off all of my debts. What a relief that was!!!! So, as with many things in life, the timing was good . I had some money in the bank, and now I had the good timing. So what better time to try this undertaking and learn the lessons I so concretely foresaw .These were my my western "concrete" ideas, but as with many things in life, our preconceptions and prejudgements can make us look foolish, and sometimes crack a smile at the hilarity of it all.

Throw all that out the window!

Thailand has the lessons she wants to teach! And she is not open to conversation on the subject.

Everyday life is vastly different living in Southeast Asia compared to the magnificent Wasatch Mountains. But it seems even with the great difference between the two places their is regularity even in southeast Asia. For starts, there are two daily occurrences I must relate. First, we have a daily dog fight wake up call every morning at 6am. You would think these dogs would figure out who is the toughest and not have to fight about it every morning. But NO!!! every morning starts off with the neighbors dog barking. Let me tell you this dog can bark. One would think that a dog would tire of barking after a short time, but not this dog. He can and will bark for an hour straight, sometimes more. Many of you may know me for my proclivity for some slight embellishment. But I assure you this has happened so frequently that I have indeed set a watch to it. And after two episodes of this timing I grew despondent and quit. Now,this of course is just the catalyst for the ensuing knockdown drag out dogfight that always, I mean always, takes place. It seems to last around 15 minutes and ends with the endless high pitched whining of the defeated dog(s).They could be more than one, they make enough noise. From 6 am to 7am we have this lovely wake up call to look forward to. Why is it that these dogs would fight so incessantly......... and everyday, at the same time....... And not learn? How many times do you need to get your butt kicked till you learn to stay out of the next dogs territory?

I guess territory is at a premium in Thailand, or there must be some overcrowding as the fight is always at first daylight every morning. I am sure every dog on the Soi (a Thai small street) eventually joins in as there is a cacophony of noise that any John Philip Sousa bandleader would be proud of, it seems that the dogs like picking on the smallest and weakest amongst them. How to turn the ables?

The only thing I have yet to see work is a crazy, drunken Irishman. No jokes, or disparaging of the Irish race. He was Crazy, and he was extremely drunk. But he did intervene, and it worked. It is almost impossible to describe how odd it is to be drinking beers in a quaint beach resort island bar and have a large drunken Irishman storm out of the bar to get into a fight with two local Soi dogs. My first assumption was that there was no one in the bar that would fight this crazy drunken Irishman so he had to take what he could. But ............he did effectively breakup the dog fight which would have became the uncomfortable entertainment for the who;e bar. So, we congratulated him on a job well done, and his response was "I am Irish I always fight with and for the underdog".

Hmmm, even a drunk Irishman answers a stupid question..............lol...........anyways I still cannot believe a Irishman would leave his beer in a bar. Or run out and join a dogfight, after leaving his beer. And all to protect the underdog! I tell you, you gotta like the Irish! That was on Koh Chang, an Island in the gulf of Thailand. Did some fabulous snorkeling there as well. And meet up with Pam. Pretty fun times were had.

The other thing I wanted to talk about was the Crazy Bike Lady,she comes by every morning preceded by her rhythmic squeaking sound. It sounds like a small chirping bird, getting closer and closer. This is much more calming occurrence than the dog fight wake up call.I went out on morning to see who this was, t turned out to be a very tall, very old, very tall, Thai lady, wearing a very large straw hat. I wish I had got a picture of that, very cool sight, she was dressed all in robins egg blue and her bike was dirty navy. I will try for a picture for all to see but I don't want to become this ladies paparazzi. Pretty hard being surreptitious when you are six foot three, and white, on a small and quiet Thailand Soi. Feels good to have my first blog typed ...till next time Shawn