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November 12, 2004
jot-maai sawng (letter two)
And here is the second bulk update I sent...on November 12, 2004.
Hello to everyone yet again!
Thank you so much for all the replies I got, I read each one with a smile on my face and a wish for more. It's great to hear from all of you, as much as you want to say...don't worry about taking up my time. :)
It's been over a month since I first arrived in Thailand. I'm approaching a point where I'm feeling more at home and getting used to the place...which in turn lets me look at it with less awe-filled eyes and think about how much I honestly like it here, with all of it's fantastic qualities and all of it's faults. Oh, and the weather is amazing...this is the perfect time of year.
I'm guessing most of you have never been in a situation where you are singled out in a culture where pretty much everything about you is totally different than the majority of the people around you. Your hair is different, your skin is different, your height is different, and when you try to talk, the people around you don't even speak your language... It's quite humbling and makes me wonder if the things we think are different too, or maybe inside we're all very much the same.
I wish I had a recording of all the reactions I got when I say I'm from California. They become very interested and say wow! I try to explain that America is not so great and I'm more interested in them and their country...but no. Unfortunately, Thailand is one of the countries that supports Bush and his war because the US gives them lots of money.
While I'm on the subject, I want to express my sincere sorrow and sympathies to all the people of the world (except for those who voted for the bastard) regarding the results of this election. Tom Bevitori expressed the general feeling better than I could, but I'm not going to quote him here as I want to keep this letter at least somewhat appropriate. :) America should hang it's head in shame...for a while, but then look on the other side of things and think maybe his second term won't be as bad as his first. It may sound ridiculous, but he's proved that he's good at playing the game, and now his next move may be to make sure the history books don't write him as a bad president who was bad for the people. Could he possibly do some good? Let's hope so. And never forget, it's against the law for him to run again in 2008 so keep smiling!
On a lighter note, I want you all to know there's a little gecko that shares my room with me and likes to talk late into the night. I try to tell her that learning Thai is hard enough, I have no time for her and her funny language. She's quite cute.
A couple weeks ago, I went to a town called Pai. It's very small and in the mountains. There was a street festival for two nights with music, food booths, vendors, and plenty of thai whiskey. It reminded me almost too much of Nevada City and Hot Summer Nights or Victorian Christmas. It's a tourist town; a hub of activity for treks, rafting trips, mountain biking, rock climbing, and various other outdoor adventures. I rented a mountain bike at US$1 for a week and went on some pretty serious rides everyday into the mountains, chasing down waterfalls and hot springs and temples and bannana trees. One ride (about 8-9 miles uphill) took me to an amazing waterfall that seemed to be a meeting point for goddamn americans in Thailand. Up until that point I had met only two americans in the 3-4 weeks I'd been here. At that waterfall alone there was like 10 people from all over; Seattle; Texas; California; Minnisota...it was good to speak regular English again but was a little strange at the same time. Pai is almost not a Thai city. It's a very well mixed up town of people from all over. Some came for only a week and ended up living there for two years...I was in a bar with about 12 people; one of them was Thai. Not just Americans, but English, Spanish, Israeli, Australian, Swedish, Russian...it was very cool to see the mix of culture and language but in terms of experiencing the real Thailand..I could have been anywhere.
I've been taking many pictures which I plan on posting to a website so anyone who wants to see them can check them out. I'll let you all know when I get that organized...should be soon. :)
Oh, and those of you who have, want, need, or could use a cleu, check out the website at
http://www.consciouslife.org
Consciousness, Life, Earth, and Universe. What else is there? If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please, go take a look at the website... It was all started by my mother and step-father and they have an amazing thing going here. There are going to be hard times ahead and we all need something to believe in and remember. Please give it some of your time.
Okay, I'm itchin to get off this computer again, so I'm not going to make you read more for a little while! I want you all to know I'm so happy here and there still isn't any serious culture shock but I do miss and think about you a lot. I'll write another update sometime soon, as I may be leaving Chiang Rai on a trip south for a while.
All my love and good wishes to everyone,
Bodhi (or Tom, whatever you know me as.. :)
Posted by Tom Bodhi at 05:05 AM | Comments (0)