051709 Thaikarl - working in seattle, dreaming of

friends,

after a month and a half in seattle, i'm sorta adjusted.  the weather is improving here, which is comforting, but Tok tells me everyday that it's hot in thailand, and i miss that.  i have been most fortunate to have a good run of work since i've been back. i was hoping to return to thailand in august, as i've never been in there in august or september.  but... my van has a blown head gasket.  so i have to get that solved.  repairing the engine is very expensive, 1500-2000$.  i can get another whole van for that much, but a friend suggested replacing the engine, which would be less.  whatever... means i won't be going back in august tho.  and since i'm living in my van, i have to have that taken care of.

yep, living in my van.  it's rather nice actually.  i'm only here to earn money to support the family in thailand, and get enough to go home again, so i don't need to be paying rent anywhere.  i have two house's to take care of in thailand already.  i'm comfortable.  i have a folding mattress on top of some plywood, resting on plastic tote boxes.  the totes hold my tools and supplies for working.  i find various places to park in the vicinity of whatever job i'm working the next day, so i don't have to commute to work at all.  but i can STILL manage to show up later than planned.  i have a membership at 24hour fitness, where i can take showers and go for a steam room.  i eat at all different places- the deli at safeway is generous.  since i'm driving around, i get my food at the store daily, don't need a refrigerator.  i have a little home made alchohol stove and stovetop espresso maker, so i make coffee right there between the seats. a microwave would be nice, but no way to power that.  i have an aircard for my my old notebook computer, so i have internet anywhere.

things back home in thailand are just fine.  the parakeets Tok has in a cage outside are breeding- there were 4, now there's 8 of them.  the cats are good, Teri (her daughter) did well in summer school and started a new term (i have to buy new uniforms for her as the school is different).  Mama is on medication that keeps her heart and kidney problems in check for now.  a neighbor died, so Tok helped with the cooking and preparations.  we talk on the phone everyday, and when we can we get on skype and do video and voice chats.  i ask her what her plans are for the day, most days it's a "normal" day.  a normal day is cleaning the house, washing cloths, going to market for food, cooking, eating, taking care of business.  the lack of crisis and drama is refreshing.  

the politics and demonstrations in thailand seem to have settled down, at least for now, air fares are a little more expensive than a few months ago, but much lower than they were last year.  i can't wait to go home again.  well, actually i can, as, that's the way it is for us now.

gorgeous the life!

Nu

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Read my Thailand adventure ::: http://www.thaicountrylife.com
It takes 10,000 hours to be an expert. Only 9,999 to go...

090410 Thaikarl - landed but not here.

friends,

arrggh. back in the USA.  what a weird place.  downtown seoul to downtown seattle- what a difference.  took the bus downtown.  had a piece of (bad) pizza, 5.34$!  190 baht.  i was suffering the usual re-entry traumas.  reading signs i don't care about. not used to people talking to me, so i'm not paying attention to the pizza guy and don't understand what he said.  cold.  driving on right.  young kids shouting and wilding in the mall. homeless guys shouting and digging through trash cans.  got on the number 11 bus.  the driver told us all to get off, there was a handicapped guy in a wheelchair slumped over not moving.  so the aid car was coming.  took me 4 hours to get to my brothers apartment from the airport.

but i didn't have any hassle with immigration and customs this time.  i got diverted thru a second x-ray machine, and asked some survey questions - "have you been on a farm?" because i put on my card that i visited vietnam.  that was it.

now i'm all confused about days and nights, traveling east is worst for "jet lag", getting my phone turned back on and paying for my storage room so i could get to my cloths and stuff drained the last of my bank account.

but here i am, and ready to hustle, work work work- that's my ticket home again.

onward!!!!!!

karl

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Read my Thailand adventure ::: http://www.thaicountrylife.com

090409 Thaikarl - a free day in Seoul, korea

friends,
since i had so much time on my layover, i decided to go exploring.  it seems you get a visa-on-entry (being american) so i went out thru immigration - got an entrance stamp for korea and went downstairs.  the nice lady at the information desk gave me a map of Seoul, and directed me to the right bus into town.  rode in and got off at the Namdaemun market in downtown area.  pretty cool!  i wandered around all day, figured out how to get the bus back, cleared immigration- now i have both stamps in my passport!  woo hoo.

korea is quite interesting.  seems to be rather wealthy.  lottsa cars, nice well regulated roads, huge towering blocks of apartments.  everyone is dressed nice- no raggedy folk that i could see.  there was all this interesting food, but i wasn't the least bit hungry.  i ate something-on-a-stick, had a couple of espresso's and that's all i had room foor.  tons of stuff at the market, rows and alleys and streets filled with little stalls selling all the usual mega variety of trinkets, cloths, do-dads, finery's, watches, jewelery, kitchen gear.  the korean people sure look different thant he thai's and vietnamese.  paler skin, rougher features, not as many cute girls.  some interesting style choices.  plenty of businessmen in suits.  smokers everywhere.  mobile phones stuck to everyone ears.  no pick-up trucks in korea either, only cars.  the merchant trucks have pickup beds, but they look and are merchant and delivery vehicles.  most of the motorcycles have racks on the back for deliveries of goods.  the personal motorbikes were mostly big scooter style things.  nearly every car has a 6inch LCD screen sitting on the dash- GPS systems???  the land seems to be totally manicured and terra-formed.  except for the steep hills, every inch seems like it was gone over in the past, or is being gone over in the present, lots of road and building construction going on.  really nice airport.

things to seem TOO expensive, jeans and shirts for 10 to 15 dollars in the stalls, espresso was 1.20$ a shot.  and good coffee it was too.  i think tok and i are going to have to figure out a trip here.  i think she would like the food- which is a critical criteria for her.  i didn't spend hardly any money, got a little mobile phone fob with the Korean flag on it, and had my thai name engraved  on a stick as a signature stamp, like the ones they use in japan.

what a deal twelve hour layovers are eh?  i'm all check thru here at the airport, and i still have two hours to wait.  feeling really confused about what time of day it's supposed to be.  i'ts 4 in the afternoon here.  it was cool this morning, but the sun came out and it warmed up.  the whole area is covered with haze- smog maybe?  but my eyes don't burn, so maybe it's just "marine air".  yet another country where i can't read the signs and understand a single word that's being said.  at least now in thailand i can understand a few things.  i pick up a couple of words each time, but it's back to null here. 

the Koreans hardly give me a second look, none of that "hey, it's a foreigner, would ya look at that" like other places.  except for my purple hair, got a few smiles and thumbs up on that.  guess i'll have to come back.
Onward!!!!  Nu
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Read my Thailand adventure ::: http://www.thaicountrylife.com

090409 Thaikarl - camped out at the airport in korea

friends,
free internet for 30 minutes at the airport in inchon korea.  i have like a 12 hour layover here.  jeez.  but it's a nice airport, and i have some korean money from a previous trip.  so i'll just have to hang out.
i wonder if i can go outside?  hmmm, i'll let you know!
onward!
Nu

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Read my Thailand adventure ::: http://www.thaicountrylife.com

090408 Thaikarl - bouncing back across the world

friends,
back in bangkok yesterday, i was considering how many times i've been here- 9 times.  i'm must be devoted to this place.  most people only get to thailand once, if ever, and for most it's a one or two week "holiday" place.  and as usual, i become obsessed with figuring out how to get back.  the lang song (medium) says two years till i'm living here.  hope so.  make it so!

new video on youtube:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRw7322EAr8
thai's celebrate a death quite differently than we do in the west, at least from what i've seen.  when i get back to my macintosh computer, it will be much easier to edit and upload videos.  i have a bunch more.  hope i can bring a better camera next time.

i'll keep posting.  there are stories and events i haven't posted yet.  to my surprise, there's people all over the world who are reading these messages on the blogsite.  check out:  http://feedjit.com/stats/thaikarl.blogspot.com/map/?x=94&y=50&w=160&h=94 you have to click on the map and drag it around to expose the USA and europe to see some of the flags... those are people who have been to the blogsite.  imagine that.

see yall soon,  Nu and Tok

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Read my Thailand adventure ::: http://www.thaicountrylife.com

090401 Thaikarl - I have a new friend

friends,
last month, when Tok and i went to the local waterfall, i met a Dutchman named Hank and his wife.  they were leaving the area as we were going in.  i talked with him a few minutes, seemed like a good guy.  His wife is thai, she talked with Tok a bit also.  Tok  said she knew the name of the village where they lived.  hank said they had a small gas station, on a corner,  in Lom Kow.

we went off to vietnam, and have been back, and i've asked tok a couple of times about going to see them.  then she told me she couldn't remember the name of the village.  well, i decided it was worth going out there, how many falangs would be running at gas station in the area?  surely someone could tell us where to go.

so we  got on the motorbike and headed north and west.  out in the countryside, passing fields of tobacco, corn, chillies and peas.  all the tobacco near our house has wilted and turned yellow from the big rain a few days ago, but a few kilometers away, the tobacco was just fine.  no big rain out there.  the day was warm, riding the bike is like having the oven door opened into your face, blasts of warm air, then a little cooling, then hot again.

we got to lom kow town, made a couple of stops to ask around, went back and forth a few times, and finally came around a corner and there was an intersection, with a two pump gas station on the corner.  we pulled up, i recognized hanks wife Sala, and she called to him, he came running out, thinking something was wrong with the pump.  it was just us.

we spent a couple of hours there, sitting around, drinking cold water.  hank lives here permanently now.  he has a cute story about meeting his wife.  she lived in holland, right next door to him.  she was divorced, and hanks wife took off for another man.  hank would babysit her young daughter, as he was left with two small children of his own when his wife took off.  before long, sala's  daughter spent more time at hanks house than at hers.  he said they were just friends and mutual babysitters for three years, but then, because of the conjoined kids, it got a little friendlier, then romantic.  hank said he used to come to thailand for a month two times a year for thirteen years.  when holland became part of the European union, and the borders effectively went down, many polish workers came to holland and the jobs dried up.  the poles would work harder for less money. (sound familiar?), so hank and his wife decided to pack it up, sold everything in  holland and moved here.

hank had a lot of knowledge about various businesses- chicken farming, pig farming,  insect farming (for eating).  either he's looked into it for himself, or knows other falangs who tried it.  he said the gas station was good business for thailand.  they were doing okay.  one of the most interesting things he told me about was a  thai friend of his who flies paragliders and paramotor!  hank says he's been up to the mountains with this guy, he'd drive the truck back down the mountain after the guys had launched and flown down to the valley.  i thought this was pretty interesting, as i still have my wing, harness and gear.  i'd thought about bring it to thailand, but the flying sites i've found online are all far away, but here's a connection right in this area.  so we'll see what happens next time.  i return to the US next week.  i need to get out to tiger mountain and get my wings on again, it's been a few years.  then maybe when i come home again.....????

Hank showed us his new jeep, and introduced us to his pet porcupine in a big cage, and a beautiful owl with one wing he rescued from the temple and cares for.

i've been told that one of the ways to keep your sanity and not feel so isolated is 1) learn the language and 2) make friends with other falangs in the area.  well, number one is ongoing, but will take me forever, but it seems i may have a start on number two.

have to finish up my jobs list in the next few days- painting under the house, putting up some rain-stopping tin, a little cement work off the porch etc.  then, the sadness of departure, and the culture shock of "the good ole USA", where i see on my yahoo weather, the temperature is near freezing and there is still snow!!!  %@$%(_Q&#(*^@*Q^%&&*@  whats up with dat???

moving right along..

Nu and Tok

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Read my Thailand adventure ::: http://www.thaicountrylife.com

090401 Thaikarl - never coming back.

considering the date today, i have great news!  we won the thai lotto, so i'm never have to come back to the united states.
woo hooooooo!!!!!

see ya!  NOT!

Anukhun

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Read my Thailand adventure ::: http://www.thaicountrylife.com

090327 Thaikarl - it's been raining, big time, pix and tweets

friends,
we've had rain the last few days. yesterday was a big one, with high winds.  we had to run around and secure all the windows and shades, even still, water got into the house, flooded the porches and generally made a mess of things.  all the tobacco crops will die from so much water, and lots of the tall corn in the fields got blown over.  i have a lot of work around the house to finish, but that was rained out.

finally got my gallery of photos from our trip to Vietnam up and ready for your perusal.
http://picasaweb.google.co.th/thaikarl/Vietnam?feat=directlink

our internet connection has been pretty flakey last few days.  i changes DNS servers and that helped, but it's still not great.

if you use twitter, i've been sending tweets from my phone.  follow me!

Tok made one of my favorite dishes today, one of many actually, but this stuff is GOOD!  it's called Yam Pra Duk Toe (or something like that) first time i had it, i swore it had vinegar in it, but it doesn't.  that flavor comes from fish sauce and lemon.  it has fish in it, but doesn't taste fishy, peanuts and green mango slivers. plus secret ingredients i can't identify.  man, its tasty, kind of salad like.

onward!  Nu

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Read my Thailand adventure ::: http://www.thaicountrylife.com

090319 Thaikarl - Getting accepted by the Ghosts

friends,

a few weeks ago, after the medium was here for mama, tok told me that the Ghosts wanted me to bring them a chicken and some alcohol, so that i would be accepted within their protection.  this morning we carried out that task.

tok bought a whole chicken yesterday at the market.  looked like a small turkey.  this morning we got up early.  well early for me: 6:30, showered and had a quick bite to eat.  we took the motorbike the small shop up the road and tok bought a small bottle of thai whiskey to add to the basket with the chicken and a woven sticky-rice box.  we went to her aunts house- sister of her mothers.  auntie wasn't home, so we went to the thursday meeting market in the village to kill some time.  when we returned, auntie came back.  her aunt sat on the floor and tore a banana leaf into equal strips, ten folded the strips into little cones.  tok added some leaves of some sort to each one, and some small yellow candles.  we went into her aunts bedroom.  there was an alter of sorts in the corner, with bottles of lotion, dried flowers, candles, incense and various other things.  auntie poured out a glass of cold water and put it up on the table, they opened the bottle of whiskey.  she lit some candles knelt at the alter.  auntie quietly appeared to "pray" and bowed and touched the floor several times.  after a few minutes, they searched around the house and found the ball of white string.  auntie cut some equal lengths of strings, and carefully tied three knots in each one.  then she tied a string to toks, mine and the young boys wrist (video).  when she ties a string, you hold our arm out, palm up.  she drags the stretched string quickly up your wrist, flips the string up under your wrist and over, makes the first over hand of the knot and makes the loop of the send part of the overhand.  she contemplated the loose knot before pulling it tight.  then she rubs your wrist.

that was it.  tok gave the chicken to her niece who took it downstairs and chopped it in half.  we got half a chicken to go with us, and brought back the rice.  we went home, tok started the cloths washing, i re-arranged the big jars behind the house and filled them with well water.  i'd bought another ball valve to put in line with the village water pipe that goes to the sink, because the water pressure is so high, when you turn on the sink tap it blasts out.  the extra ball valve would allow throttling down the flow.

while i was cutting the pipe and gluing in the new valve, i asked tok what had happened this morning.  she said it was difficult to explain, so i asked a bunch of questions and go something of an explanation of  what it was about.  I'll tell you best i can, as it's still a little unclear.  Tok uses the word "Ghost" to refer to whatever entities we were appealing to.  it is unclear if she means "ghost" - as a dis-embodied earth-bound spirit, or simply a non-physical being.  i asked her if the Ghosts used to be people,  but she didn't quite understand what i was getting at. she said she didn't know about that.  but she said they "have a boss, and soldiers, and workers".  The Ghosts wanted an offering for me, because i'm part of the family now, and if they are to include me in their protection, i must bring them a chicken and alcohol.  i asked tok what if i didn't believe in such things and didn't want to go "feed the Ghosts" myself.  she said they would just do it themselves.  what happens if you don't make the offering? then the Ghosts would be angry, and you will have some problem, a sickness, bad feeling, accidents, you, or others in the family will feel the problem of the Angry Ghosts.  She said the Ghosts will now protect and help me, as part of the family.  I asked her if they would help when i was in america.  she said i have to think to the Ghosts before i get on the plane, or they won't know where to find me.  i joked with her and said, what if i forgot? when i got to america would i have to shout really loudly "Hey! I'm over here! catch the next plane!"

so now it seems, i have been accepted into the circle of protection of the Ghosts that takes care of Toks whole family.  I won't tell you if i believe or dis-believe this.  it's something that is part of thai country life.  something that i have the privilege of experiencing, even if i don't understand what's going on.  that's part of the allure, part of the Quality of being here.

later, we had the chicken and rice as part of lunch.  i couldn't tell how the chicken was cooked, since they don't bake anything, and it wasn't fried.  tok said she cooked it by steaming.  i've never heard of that.  good lunch tho.

amazing thailand.  

nu
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Read my Thailand adventure ::: http://www.thaicountrylife.com

090317 Thaikarl - Ho Chi Min City redux

friends,  8 hours on the bus back to saigon was a bit grueling.  this bus was older and not as comfortable, and had a very LOUD horn, which the driver had to use a couple of thousand times.  similar to india, they honk when over taking someone, approaching a blind curve, or to get someone to move over.  you hardly ever hear a horn in thailand.  in india however, they honk their horns at any and all other times, just to make sure it is in  good working order.  we stopped at a bus rest for lunch.  i picked up a few large dead beetles for my friend don in the states.  a young Vietnamese man came over to our table to talk to us.  he was very nice.  wanted to practice his english.  the people in vietnam are all quite friendly to us.  if you want to set yourself apart from the average tourist, and evoke smiles, thumbs ups, and compliments of "oh modern", "very nice", and "beautiful"; dye your hair purple.  i'm the only person i've seen here with such hair color.  goes over good in thailand also.

when i was trolling the chat rooms for friends 4 years ago (which is how i met Tok initially) i also made friends with a vietnamese man named Luan.  I phoned to him last night, and after a couple of hours he and his friend arrived on motorbikes.  it was really good to see him and visit.  he has been working in japan for the last three years, so he said his japanese was much better than his english now.  he's doing well for himself.  when i knew him before he was living in the attic of a house, going to school, and living on a quick noodles.  now, after working in japan, he has a motorbike, an iPhone (!!!!!) and is ready to take the entrance exam to enter university.  he's really funny when he gets all shy about not knowing the english words for what he wants to say.  big smiles and laughs.

one of my other friends here is a young girl named BeHai.  she is a street vendor how just charms money out of you.  she's one of those who always has some soft-sell way to extract a few dollars from you.  i used to buy cigarettes from her, but now she is selling books.  i learned from an expat last time, that she takes care of her grandmother and a few random kids with what she earns.  one of her spiels is to say "i want to ask you a question"  and i always tease her and say, "Behai, i can't marry you, you are too young!" - and now i can add "i'm already married".  she laughs and says that's not what she wanted to ask me.  what she does want to ask is if i will buy a book or some smokes later, or can she have some money for new jeans, or it was her birthday a few days ago, can she have something for her birthday.  i always just give her a few dollars for her.  if you buy a book, the boss gets most of the cash.  we friended another bookseller this time also.  her name is How.  i did buy a couple of books the first night, but since then i just give her a couple of dollars when i see her and tell he it's for her.

the kids who sell gum and kleenex are are funny.  8 or 9 years old, and out working the streets with their mom.  they are easily distracted with the "watch me pull off my thumb" trick or other diversions, before they remember they are supposed to be selling you and go back to "buy gum???"

there is just so much of interest and mystery here, as there is in all of this part of the world.  but, we have a  plane to catch back home.  i'll be able to post pictures and video from there.

Onward!  Nu and Tok.

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Read my Thailand adventure ::: http://www.thaicountrylife.com