Tis' the Season

“All I do is party. Ha ha ha ha.” – "Bounce," MSTRKRFT

Like I said last week, December is full-on Thai holiday mode. With the king’s birthday last week, Constitution Day this week, and Scout Camp, Christmas, and New Year’s coming up- the celebrations won’t stop for a while. To get festive I bought my first (and hopefully last) fake Christmas tree. I give myself points for trying.

"That's a sad lookin' Christmas Tree Charlie Brown."

King Day

The King is highly revered in Thailand. Everyone loves him and speaking poorly of him will land you in jail. As such, his birthday is a huge deal. People have the day off work to relax and be with family. It’s also is the same day as Thai Father’s Day. I had a minor freak out when someone told me this; how could I miss that Father’s Day was coming up? Anyway I remembered/researched that American Father’s Day was a couple months ago. Whew. I’ve got another few months before I can go through this again.

I met up with some friends and we headed into downtown Bangkok for the King’s Birthday. The protests weren’t happening that day out of respect for the king. That being said, there was a ton of police out to make sure nothing got out of hand. Thais filled the street dressed in yellow, the color of the king.

We ended going to Siam Mall. This is one of the most high-end malls in Thailand and it was beautiful. How often do you see a Formula 1 car hanging out?

Most of the day was sent exploring and seeing the various shops the mall had. We didn’t really end up spending much- it was pretty pricey. We lucked out and found a movie theater that was playing Catching Fire in English. It was great. Very exciting and included a standout performance by my girl Jennifer Lawrence. You looked great out there honey. Call me.

Before any movie in Thailand  begins, the Thai Royal Anthem is played. Everyone is expected to stand out of respect. This is true about the National Anthem as well. The National Anthem is played every morning at school and sometimes randomly on the streets. If it’s played, you’re expected to stop walking and stand still until the anthem ends. As a result, you see people frozen in place for several minutes and then see them start walking again in unison immediately as it ends. It’s kind of like a reverse flash mob.  

Stoop Kids on the Stoop

I’ve mentioned before the small convenience store right next to my apartment. It’s run by a small family and is sort of a gathering place for the neighborhood. There’s a patio out back that’s filled with a sporadic stream of children, teenagers, and adults. Sometimes another teacher and I will go there to enjoy a beverage or two and hang out with the crowd. Most people there can’t speak English and I can’t really speak Thai. But we’re able to trade a couple words and it ends up being fun.

Last week I met a local guitarist nicknamed Jack. He loves American songs and quickly grabbed his guitar and started playing. I was pretty proud that I could bust out every word of “Country Roads” by John Denver, much to his surprise. We ended up swapping songs and singing Thai renditions of American music. Somehow I ended up showing him how to play the one song I knew on guitar- “Wagon Wheel.” I’m pretty terrible at playing guitar. I played it about three times slower than it should  go. But he was able to pick it up and within minutes he could play the whole thing. All these ASP skills coming in handy.

The shop usually hosts parties once a month too. Here’s a birthday party they held a couple weeks ago.

Later that weekend I saw Jack again. He told me that he played “Wagon Wheel” at a gig the night before. Awesome.

Nickname?

That makes me realize- I haven’t talked about nicknames yet. All Thais have an English nickname that they’re given as children. Most of them have no meaning or significance behind them at all. Most are simple like "Bow," "Fern," "Ice," or "Benz." These are usually what I call my students because their Thai names can be difficult to pronounce. I have to keep my immaturity in check when I call on “Poo” and “Pee.”

Well, that’s the week. I’ve locked down plans to go to Chiang Mai for New Years. Chiang Mai was dubbed "The Chicago of Thailand," so I really can't go wrong there. The rest of the month should be pretty mellow as I have to save up some Baht to go. But that's OK- I just found a website that has every episode of The Sopranos. 

Mark

P.S. Sean Klamm - don't worry, I'm cranking these out on a weekly basis. We see you.