very thai 2... shopping

so, i am shopping for bed sheets* today at a local department store...
to the untrained eye, Robinson's looks like a store you'd find in any US mall. Browse a bit and everything seems fine, but don't get too close to the merchandise. Lurking behind every shelf and display is a poorly paid salesperson probably working on commission. Every shelf... every display... ok, maybe a salesperson for every two shelves would be more accurate.

As I tried to browse the linens, I couldn't get within arm's reach of a pillowcase without one of these helpful souls approaching me (usually unknowingly blocking my way) to say something very courteous in a language of which i still have sadly learned very little. feeling a bit cramped, i kept moving around trying to stay ahead of them... to no avail. i think there was a salesperson for every 4 square meters of floor space.... at least 8 employees assigned to a bedding section less than 1/3 the size of Macy's.

It was almost funny, except that i felt like i was trapped in some sort of twisted shopping video game, but lost my "invisible" powers, and was therefore unable to reach the point-laden shelves of bedding.

Again my wise husband quipped, "This is the only place in the world where they can afford to hire" more people than is actually helpful. Paying under a dollar an hour for perfectly good help, you'd think they could sell the sheets a little cheaper.

*shopping for bedding is an interesting experience in and of itself here... apparently, thais normally use neither flat sheets nor 100% cotton sheets of any kind. you have to go to the fancy specialty stores and/or pay through the nose for either of these luxury items unless you find a BIG sale. a normal "sheet set" here is made up of a fitted sheet and 2 pillow cases made of no less than 35% polyester (yuck).

very thai... transport

very thai is a new "feature" i'm starting on the blog...

the intention is to inspire & remind me to blog about things that are actually...well... thai. mostly because that is usually more interesting to most readers than our clean (or dirty) laundry, a sofa (however great the bargain), and maybe even puppies... so when i start to get too "domestic," please gently suggest that i return to my very thai column.

so here goes....

one of the most amusing and ubiquitous features of living here is interesting modes of transport and/or modes of transporting cargo... efficiency is key. as mike likes to say, the thai philosophy is: "if the vehicle is running, then the load is not too large."

Mike's cup of coffee...guys be warned...DO NOT follow the link!

Mike here...Oh...that's great...I will leave it up for you all I guess. I thought it would be fun to find out what kind of coffee I am. I knew it was a problem when the second question said something about not being interested in a certain kind of guy... but I went with it and found out when it was all said and done that I am a "low maintanence kind of girl..." oh I hope my oldest brother doesn't read this...

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe

But don't think plain - instead think, uncomplicated You're a low maintenance kind of girl... who can hang with the guys Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites. And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

Does this redeem me?

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hemi.htm

blog stuff for the uncreative

or maybe just feeling uncreative.... or maybe it's actually creative to put forth the effort at all... what am i talking about?

while reading a friend of a friend of a friend's blog, i discovered that there are websites devoted giving you something to blog about.... many involve taking a really random quiz & then being labelled (based on your answers) by the sage wisdom of the website... then your blog-readers can go find their own labels. like we need more labels.

anyway, as silly as it all seems, i couldn't resist... and my label is...

You Are a Cappuccino

You're fun, outgoing, and you love to try anything new. However, you tend to have strong opinions on what you like. You are a total girly girly at heart - and prefer your coffee with good conversation. You're the type that seems complex to outsiders, but in reality, you are easy to please

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

PUPPIES!

all NINE were there with proud mom, ginger, to greet us after we returned from a work trip to the north yesterday...

i read online that dogs fast for 24 hours before they give birth... so when ginger didn't eat all her breakfast monday morning (highly unusual for her), we felt kind of badly -- we had to leave within the hour for work in Chiang Rai. by the time we had our stuff packed in the truck, ginger got sick on the lawn from what she did eat... what to do?
mike wisely observed, "the good Lord has equipped ginger with all she needs" to go on without us.... so we left...

ginger did just fine, & we returned home the next day to 9 hungry little puppies.

not sure who the father was (she was pregnant when we adopted her), but i guess "golden" is a recessive gene....

hoping they turn out cute & as sweet as their mother.... so we can find good homes for them.

home alone

as of tonight, we are feeling quite alone in chiang mai... all of our visitors are gone...

our supervisors, Wade & Doug, kept us busy with meetings & language prep, and even had some fun with us after letting us know we have about 5 full-time jobs here...

our good friend (as well as someone else who tells us what to do :), herman, joined us for a great conference where we got to hang out with cool people who work in east asia...

the haleys (with their trick baby* gabe) came to help us with technical stuff at the Studio & to check out chiang mai (we're hoping they'll stay much longer next time -- it was fun hanging out with marjorie -- we both love shopping & jane austen)...

even our roommates, the haahrs, moved out as they get ready to transition to india...

so what to do now? make a visa run & check out a language up north, attend an area conference after that, then try to rest in between before we get ready for more guests of course!

*one of those "perfect" children who tricks you into thinking parenting is a piece of cake.

sofa

sorry for those of you visiting the blog with hopes of a new cultural insight... or maybe an update on how mike's diesel engine is running... but a girl just loves to brag about a bargain.

while you are looking, do you like the color we painted our walls? people here (especially thais)cannot believe that we paint ourselves... everyone else hires somebody else to paint... probably because it costs about $30 to have an entire house done.

ok, back to my bargain.... when we got our sofa set from some missionaries moving to Africa, we thought it was really cool... they had it custom-made here in thailand, & sold it to us for a steal (and i mean steal)... matching chairs & coffee table included...

what we didn't realize is that it was a major (& majorly expensive) retail store's idea of "enduring comfort & lasting style"... of course they didn't have to tell us that it's "ideal for casual living spaces".... we love it (and we especially love what we paid for it, now that we see the alternative)...

Here's the picture I saw when I opened up my latest pottery barn email:

Pottery Barn's "Seagrass" Collection

by the way, i know i've been a slacker about posting "adventures" that actually have to do with "thailand", but sometimes i feel overwhelmed with all of our cultural experiences.. and sometimes life is just kind of normal... anyway, i promise to post something a little more exotic very soon :)... ok, i thought of something... does this count? the wall hanging over the chairs is from a short trip over the border to burma we made when we had to renew our visas... i asked the little man we brought it from about it -- hoping for a really cool story -- he grinned & said something about a king & queen coming through town. about as interesting as our blog these days...

friendship

"It is easily forgotten that the fellowship of Christian brethren is a gift of grace, a gift of the kingdom of God that any day may be taken from us, that the time that still separates us from utter loneliness may be brief indeed."

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Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together

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note: Lest you think I have been doing some heavy reading, i got this quote off a friend's wilderness adventure camp website.

no thai word for "colorfast"

i wasn't feeling real perky this morning, so i decided to let mike entertain our guests, do an airport run, & continue to work through yet another weekend... so i could stay here, relax, and hope to feel better before church this afternoon (we go to a 4:30 service... i LOVE it... mike's jury is still out, at best).
then a thought occurred to me that i could at least be productive in my unproductivity, so i stared at the laundry basket for a moment & decided i'd found the cure for my guilt pangs. note to self: do not do laundry in a not-so-perky-somewhat-guilty state of mind.
not really thinking, i proceeded to do what i thought was a "light" load. this included an unfortunate mix of white shirts (including mike's favorite thai "red bull" shirt) & my flowing new lavender skirt with lovely crochet around the waistline. add a scoop of detergent, some fabric softener, & about 2 hours in my trusty (though lethargic) washer... and viola! a basket full of pink cotton... valentine's day IS coming up.

ginger update

you can't tell here, but ginger has been getting a bit thick around the middle lately (she asked me to crop her growing belly out of the pic... she's a little sensitive). we don't think we're over-feeding her (though she seems to be hungry all the time), she's gotten kind of lazy playing catch, & she started digging an area out of the backyard the day before yesterday.
the guy who gave ginger to us said he suspected she might be "with puppy," but we were hoping otherwise. well, at least they'll be cute.... i guess. anyone want a dog?

pics from our weekend with alyssa

"so, where are the pictures?" you ask...
i was going to post some & write a bit more about our wonderful weekend with my cousin, but since she did such a great job doing just that (& said some nice things about us :), i am going to send you to to her entry... enjoy!

click here to see alyssa's travel journal

p.s. be sure to click on her pictures to see more.

shock from my own culture

while enjoying lunch together the other day (at least up until then), mike & i overheard a fellow with an american accent (i hate to actually claim him for my country) chatting at high volume with his buddy about recent experiences in the chiang mai night scene. just as he was getting sickeningly graphic, my sweet husband approached their table & asked them to lower their voices. they left promptly.
in case you don't know, thailand is notorious for its problems with prostitution in just about every form... while we see the outside of some of the "girlie"clubs while walking around the night bazaar area, it is pretty easy to forget the nightmare that must be happening inside. this lost soul's loud proclaimation of his experiences, his analysis of this bar or that, and one girl or another was a shocking reminder of a part of chiang mai so foreign to us, yet so "normal" to many who have fallen prey to its seduction of easy money & "companionship."
we have been relieved & thankful to learn of several ministries & organizations reaching out to these "bar girls," but the battle is not nearly won.

catching up

this has been a busy few weeks & a few more will follow.
we just said goodbye to our supervisors who were in for the week to join us in meetings & to check on a language we are working on in chiang rai (the extreme north of thailand)... we are currently working on 2 major media projects (both of which have included major obstacles) & will attend a conference all this week, followed by more guests the next week... all this to say, i hope it's a good excuse to be a lazy blogger!

a few highlights from recent days:

1. we got to see my cousin, alyssa, again when her group came up to chiang mai! bargain shopping in the markets & the new "night safari" (a late night zoo with mostly nocturnal animals) kept us occupied. we had such a great time, we're now scheming on how to get our moms out here together.
2. we really enjoyed time in chiang rai... it included a visit with dan, mam & garuna (see the rutledge family)... i realized how much i am missing friends when mam put her arm around me as we were leaving & said in her broken english, "hope to see you soon... come back again and again and again," and i nearly cried right there.
3. mike went with our supervisors to see the opium museum while we were in the north. it is a sad monument to the hellish world that the opium trade created in the area. thailand has made great strides, by the way, to help its people escape dependence on both the use & trade of this killer.
4. i found one of my favorite movies, amelie, in a local store's sale bin for 29 baht (about 75 cents).... before you get too envious (or go out & rent this title), you should know that this is a french film ( sensitive viewers like me should censor a few scenes :), and that i just popped it into our player only to realize it has been dubbed into thai. i know. duh. every day brings little educational tidbits like this one... most of which include a footnote that asks, "caryn, do you really think the whole world revolves around english speakers?"
5. we learned to say "no msg, please" (ผงชูรส or "phohng chuu roht" for the extremely interested). hopefully this will mean the end of many unnecessary headaches.