So far she has:
- gotten a free ride in Seattle from a senior citizen on the way home from the Pike Place Market (taxi = $9)
- paid $30 for a Seattle sweatshirt from a Vietnamese couple in Pike Place and then made them give her back $15 because a Thai couple were selling the same sweatshirt down the lane for cheaper
- noticed that even in America old men date young women (Thai idiom: old cows like to eat young grass)
- been exhausted because I make her walk at least 2 km a day
- received a Swedish massage and complained that it was too soft
- drunk the best damn latte in Seattle but complained it was too strong
- resorted to drinking her Nescafe 3 in 1 (from a Thai Sewen!) because it is just right
- eaten about 1/10 of the portion sizes given in American restaurants
- called me her boyfriend to at least 3 strangers ("put len!")
- referred to a man surrounded by 7 women at dinner as "the bee has many flowers to pollinate!"
- taken several pictures of photographs of Miao tribespeople in a restaurant to prove that we have them in America too
- eaten BBQ, mac and cheese, potato salad, cole slaw, corn bread, and cupcakes while hearing a country band play and complained they were all "jute"
- said everything in the Northwest is just exactly like New Zealand
- seen her first snow and ridden her first car ferry
- burped in my face about 20 times (no "excuse me" neither)
- complained the hotel we are staying in reminds her of a rural police station
- confirmed her belief that Thais do everything the best in the world
We are now in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Next stop: the tulip festival in La Conner, WA, and then more Seattle adventures.
Stay tuned...
Brett "Greng Jai" Niessen, conductor
2. Wow, back from a snowy and cold but also sunny weekend. Weird weather
for the northwest, but she's seeing it all.
Pee Mian is slowly morphing into a different person. And I am
learning a great deal about this force of nature.
- This is her first real 2 week vacation. Ever. In her whole life.
- It is the first time she has traveled alone, except to Bangkok.
- It is the first time in her life she has not had to care for her
mentally ill father and older sister.
- Rather than her normal waking time of 4:30 am, she has been sleeping
until 9am, and I can see a 180 in her attitudes and mood.
- She is exceptionally quiet in group situations. Today we played
Cranium at a friend's birthday party. She did help us guess the clue
"umbilical cord" which I was sculpting from Play-doh. Apparently my
fetus was "geng maak". Actually it was, "Brett tam fetus geng maak!"
- She purchased a super cool, belted, white rain jacket with big
buttons. Tay maak! Very Burberry. And on clearance. Nun leh.
- She wore a sweatshirt all weekend that said "She who must be
obeyed." Bought second hand in Phonphisai for 100 baht.
- She still showers two times a day and still leaves the house with
powder on her face, even though it is 34 degrees Fahrenheit here.
- She naps every day for at least an hour.
- She said she was "booboo" which apparently is slang for a tomboy.
Was that her coming out? Mai neh jai. But it was a big step!
- Having met my friend Amelia (said birthday girl), she decided to
give her a silk purse because "when her mouth smiles, her eyes smile
too. she has a sweet face, like an angel sent to protect you from
heaven."
- I am setting up a school visit for her. I said she should dress
riap roy. She said, "I am on holiday. I don't have any riap roy with
me." I said, "mai ben rai, mai mee krai riap roy nai northwest loei."
(Don't worry. No one in the Northwest is neat and tidy anyway.)
Tomorrow she's off on her own to see Volunteer Park, the Asian Art
Museum, and the grave of Bruce Lee.
Sanuk lai duhhhhhh!
3. Ok, Pee Mian is magic.
Yesterday she walked one block from my house, met a farang speaking Thai to her daughter next to a school, and started talking. The woman is luk krung (half Thai). Mian explains she will walk 10 blocks to a park and museum. The woman says, "No way! It's too far. I will drive you." Free ride eek layow!
Then at the flower conservatory, in the park, she asks a farang guy to take her picture. He replies, "Hai pom tai roop mai krap?" (Can I take your picture, maam?) This dude married a Filippino woman, who he met while living in Thailand 17 years ago, and he says next, "Bai nai daw?"
She says for lunch. So he drives her to the restaurant I recommended, they dine together, get coffee, and then he takes her to his house where he is a sculptor of metal and glass and has a studio. He was at the flower conservatory getting ideas. Mian meets his wife and little daughter. Then he drives her to my apartment. That's 3 free rides in this city!
She didn't have to walk at all the whole day and she met two strangers who speak Thai! What up with that luck?
I keep telling her Americans are not this nice, but maybe her super big winter jacket, scarf, and hat warn people to her "I'm not from around here" status.
BTW, in any situation - in the car, restaurants, museums, other people's homes - she continues to wear the jacket, scarf, and hat, because she says America is too cold.
At night we had Chris, Deaw, and Tammie over for dinner. I cooked salmon, grits with cheese and sundried tomatoes, lemon broccoli, and appetizers of endive, orange, honey walnuts, and balsamic glaze. Pee Mian gin wine dang duay! She was super impressed with Chris's Thai (very polite, like a Thai lady) and enjoyed the ability to talk freely with Deaw. Tammie was hilarious as always. Mian said she is key len! I tried my hardest to get everyone fat with seconds and dessert.
Today she's off to Chinatown and Pioneer Square, Seattle's old town. I can only imagine what she'll get free today.
Now if only she can get herself laid...
4. Is anyone else noticing this express train makes a lot of stops?
Amazing Thailand!
Today was not Pee Mian's lucky day. She actually had to walk to
Chinatown. And she had to take a taxi back, driven by a fierce faced
and rude Khek! Mai chop, she says to me with a grimace on her face.
I said, tough luck, because most taxi drivers in this city are Indian.
I recommended about 5 things to do - Asian History Museum, Seattle
library designed by famous architect Rem Koolhaas, the aquarium, the
zoo, and old city or Pioneer Square as it's called. But apparently
she did one thing and one thing only. And I've learned that
recommending museums to a rural Thai is like asking a farang to wipe
his butt with his hand. We'll do it, but not unless forced.
She went to Uwajimaya - the Asian supermarket that is as big as a
Costco. But for the sweetest reason imaginable - she bought
ingredients to make my favorite meal of all time - her muu tawt
gratiem prik thai. This fried garlicky peppery pork with an oyster
and fish sauce marinade is like meaty heaven on a bone. The best part
was that she made fried rice with endive leftover from yesterday's
meal! Those Thais waste nothing. Of course, the pad pak ruom mit
that she bought at the supermarket (premade) was jute, and she went on
to tell me the three ingredients it was missing.
Then we started drinking...
Me wine, her beer.
Oh, Nelly.
It turned into Oprah and the night completely changed as she started
telling me why she has remained single all these years and how
everyone keeps teasing her behind her back that she is a tomboy.
Apparently, after college, she was working as a teacher. She met a
boy and fell in love. They stayed in the same house near the school
where they taught. But she didn't tell her parents this because they
were living in sin. On weekends, she would go home to help her
parents with their farm. Her boyfriend (coworker to the parents)
would help the parents, too, with housework, ironing their clothes,
and picking fruits and rice from the farm. She loved this boy very
much because he was polite and helpful and had a good heart. He was
from the South. So one day he decided he was going to buwot phra and
do it down South in the town where he grew up. Because he was a monk,
she could not contact him, but she planned to go see him a few days
after his 3 months were up. She got to the town, and his mother saw
Mian. She handed her a card, and said, "I thought you would be very
excited to know, my son is getting married! Here's the invitation."
Pee Mian's name was not on the card. She went back home and did not
see her boyfriend that trip or ever since. She stayed in her room for
a month and cried. Her parents were very upset at their daughter's
condition, but did not know why she was so sad. She could not take it
anymore, so she went to see a friend in Udon, whom she knew in
college. She explained the whole story to him. He said, "Mian, I
never thought you would be able to let a man into your heart because
you work so hard. I am surprised you let this man into your heart.
But the important thing is not to stop. You must keep going."
So she went back to Phonphisai, and everyone in her family was waiting
at the bus station - they had slept there overnight worrying about
her. On the bus ride, Pee Mian decided that no man would ever stand
in the way of her success again. So she studied to take the exam for
a masters degree in Bangkok, but she was so brokenhearted, she could
not think so she failed the first time. Then she studied more,
waited, and took the exam the next year. She passed and attended
school in Bangkok for two years. After getting a job as a supervisor
in a far away district, she was finally able to move to Phonphisai,
where she lived in her childhood house with her older sister, father
and mother. Her older sister had an accident which resulted in brain
damage and multiple personality disorder (or schizophrenia - not quite
sure). Pee Mian took care of her, because she felt she owed her
sister her life. When Mian was 7, she swam into the Mehkong River,
was caught by a current, and pulled under the water. Her older
sister, Nang, swam in and rescued her from about 15 below the surface.
Mian was sure she would die from drowning. So she never as an adult
minded caring for her sister.
Her other older sister could never pay her bills. Pee Mian paid for
her entire house from her savings. She paid the school fees of her
nephews and nieces. Then her father became mentally ill, thinking he
was back in the war and strangers, including me, were the enemy he was
trying to fight. I often had to beat a retreat when these episodes
happened. Pee Mian cared for him, too.
And ever since the two-timing monk, and her broken heart from it, she
has never been able to love another man. Who knows what that means
for the rest of her private life. But the tears were flowing and we
hugged.
You know, I really kinda love her. I think in some ways, we are
alike, and it felt really good to listen to her and not once say, Oh
yeah, that's just like when I was in college... or I know, that's just
like my last relationship. She may talk a mile a minute, but I think
what she needed tonight was just someone who can really listen. And
it taught me that sometimes that's what I need to do, and not try to
give advice.
Pee Mian really is magic. Thank you, Buddha, for sending her to me.
5. Well, it appears Pee Mian's luck is back. Today she navigated the Seattle Metro bus from my house to the University of Washington, where I graduated from and where Anne is currently a student. On the bus, she made a friend who helped her to know when to get off using directions I had written. She went on a prospective student tour, and made friends with a young woman from Chicago (she was 17) and there are several pictures to prove it. Pee Mian could not get over how big the campus was and how many students were walking around the quad. She marveled at the profuse cherry trees blooming in pinks and whites.
At the end of the tour, she noticed a fenced off area with tents in the brick courtyard known as Red Square. Signs read 'staff only.' So Pee Mian walked around until she found a gate manned by a very old person. Figuring old people's eyes are bad everywhere in the world, she schussed her way into a gate with a large group of people, counting on her short stature to go unnoticed. Once inside, it was a Candyland of free food and drinks (the most delicious food is free food! she says) and UW paraphernalia. She managed to score two free UW baseball hats from two different tables. And stuffed her face on lunch food that she didn't have to pay for.
After she was full, she followed the herds of students, assuming they were going shopping, 'because that is what university students do after class - they shop and eat,' she found her way to University Avenue, the main drag of shops and restaurants. After some exploring, she got back on the bus and made it back to my apartment.
When I came home from work, we drove to Ballard, a neighborhood in the NW of the city, to visit the farang artist she met a few days ago. We saw his studio where he explained how he made sculptures out of bronze, glass, and iron. He explained how his kiln works, showed us photographs of his work, drawings of current projects, and molds and tools he uses to make his sculptures. His most notable piece is a lily pad made of 400 pounds of glass in the San Francisco Arboretum in Golden Gate Park. He was a really sweet guy, and because he managed a foundry in Ayuthayya, his Thai is quite good.
Then off to Carta de Oaxaca, one of the most popular restaurants in Seattle, where we must have waited an hour. Pee Mian said that was a first, too. She has never waited for food in her life. We met my friend Ranae, a fish biologist and apparent tomboy whose antics tickled Pee Mian pink. They were fast friends, but mostly Pee Mian could not grasp the concept that people wait to get food. They just go to another ran in Thailand. She liked the food because it reminded her of Thai food - spicy, sour, and sweet.
Tonight I heard more about her father. How he became a monk because when he was 80, he promised Buddha that if his mentally ill daughter got better, he would buwot phra. She did get better, so became a monk for 7 years. At 87, he went back home so Pee Mian could care for him. She told me how he built their house with his own hands completely out of wood, with no nails. It is a traditional diorama house with no fourth wall, and raised on stilts so you can norn under the house on hot days. Last year, a great typhoon ripped through Phonphisai. It tore roofs off houses and weakened cliffs to the point that homes spilled into the Mehkong River and the canals leading its waters to the farms. But the only thing that happened to Pee Mian's house was that one mirror in the bathroom came off its nail and broke. The house next door, built of concrete with a tile roof, lost its entire roof and all of one upstairs bedroom to the strong winds. Her father lived by very strict rules: he prayed every day for one hour, he made the lines of seeds at his farm using string to ensure the lines were straight, and he always napped every day for at least two hours. He did live to be 93, so he must have been doing something right.
Pee Mian said her proudest accomplishment in life was to take care of her father, mother, and sister. Really it was her older brother's responsibility, but he moved to another province and never came back, except for his funeral due to alcohol poisoning.
Tomorrow she will observe the school where I used to teach, and see how an American school functions. Funnily, it is the richest neighborhood in Seattle, Mercer Island, so she is in for quite a shock. Then in the evening we see Anne for dinner, followed by a red eye flight to Philadelphia. Next stop, Parentland.
6.
7. Sorry for the delay! I have failed in my duties as conductor of the greng jai express local train. First there was a typhoon and flooding, and then an earthquake, then terrorist attacks, and you would not believe what oil prices have done to the cost of rice, but now that train is back on track!
Soon, I will update my blog gluaygluay.blogspot.com with pics of her trip. I'll send note of that when it's done.
2. Wow, back from a snowy and cold but also sunny weekend. Weird weather
for the northwest, but she's seeing it all.
Pee Mian is slowly morphing into a different person. And I am
learning a great deal about this force of nature.
- This is her first real 2 week vacation. Ever. In her whole life.
- It is the first time she has traveled alone, except to Bangkok.
- It is the first time in her life she has not had to care for her
mentally ill father and older sister.
- Rather than her normal waking time of 4:30 am, she has been sleeping
until 9am, and I can see a 180 in her attitudes and mood.
- She is exceptionally quiet in group situations. Today we played
Cranium at a friend's birthday party. She did help us guess the clue
"umbilical cord" which I was sculpting from Play-doh. Apparently my
fetus was "geng maak". Actually it was, "Brett tam fetus geng maak!"
- She purchased a super cool, belted, white rain jacket with big
buttons. Tay maak! Very Burberry. And on clearance. Nun leh.
- She wore a sweatshirt all weekend that said "She who must be
obeyed." Bought second hand in Phonphisai for 100 baht.
- She still showers two times a day and still leaves the house with
powder on her face, even though it is 34 degrees Fahrenheit here.
- She naps every day for at least an hour.
- She said she was "booboo" which apparently is slang for a tomboy.
Was that her coming out? Mai neh jai. But it was a big step!
- Having met my friend Amelia (said birthday girl), she decided to
give her a silk purse because "when her mouth smiles, her eyes smile
too. she has a sweet face, like an angel sent to protect you from
heaven."
- I am setting up a school visit for her. I said she should dress
riap roy. She said, "I am on holiday. I don't have any riap roy with
me." I said, "mai ben rai, mai mee krai riap roy nai northwest loei."
(Don't worry. No one in the Northwest is neat and tidy anyway.)
Tomorrow she's off on her own to see Volunteer Park, the Asian Art
Museum, and the grave of Bruce Lee.
Sanuk lai duhhhhhh!
3. Ok, Pee Mian is magic.
Yesterday she walked one block from my house, met a farang speaking Thai to her daughter next to a school, and started talking. The woman is luk krung (half Thai). Mian explains she will walk 10 blocks to a park and museum. The woman says, "No way! It's too far. I will drive you." Free ride eek layow!
Then at the flower conservatory, in the park, she asks a farang guy to take her picture. He replies, "Hai pom tai roop mai krap?" (Can I take your picture, maam?) This dude married a Filippino woman, who he met while living in Thailand 17 years ago, and he says next, "Bai nai daw?"
She says for lunch. So he drives her to the restaurant I recommended, they dine together, get coffee, and then he takes her to his house where he is a sculptor of metal and glass and has a studio. He was at the flower conservatory getting ideas. Mian meets his wife and little daughter. Then he drives her to my apartment. That's 3 free rides in this city!
She didn't have to walk at all the whole day and she met two strangers who speak Thai! What up with that luck?
I keep telling her Americans are not this nice, but maybe her super big winter jacket, scarf, and hat warn people to her "I'm not from around here" status.
BTW, in any situation - in the car, restaurants, museums, other people's homes - she continues to wear the jacket, scarf, and hat, because she says America is too cold.
At night we had Chris, Deaw, and Tammie over for dinner. I cooked salmon, grits with cheese and sundried tomatoes, lemon broccoli, and appetizers of endive, orange, honey walnuts, and balsamic glaze. Pee Mian gin wine dang duay! She was super impressed with Chris's Thai (very polite, like a Thai lady) and enjoyed the ability to talk freely with Deaw. Tammie was hilarious as always. Mian said she is key len! I tried my hardest to get everyone fat with seconds and dessert.
Today she's off to Chinatown and Pioneer Square, Seattle's old town. I can only imagine what she'll get free today.
Now if only she can get herself laid...
4. Is anyone else noticing this express train makes a lot of stops?
Amazing Thailand!
Today was not Pee Mian's lucky day. She actually had to walk to
Chinatown. And she had to take a taxi back, driven by a fierce faced
and rude Khek! Mai chop, she says to me with a grimace on her face.
I said, tough luck, because most taxi drivers in this city are Indian.
I recommended about 5 things to do - Asian History Museum, Seattle
library designed by famous architect Rem Koolhaas, the aquarium, the
zoo, and old city or Pioneer Square as it's called. But apparently
she did one thing and one thing only. And I've learned that
recommending museums to a rural Thai is like asking a farang to wipe
his butt with his hand. We'll do it, but not unless forced.
She went to Uwajimaya - the Asian supermarket that is as big as a
Costco. But for the sweetest reason imaginable - she bought
ingredients to make my favorite meal of all time - her muu tawt
gratiem prik thai. This fried garlicky peppery pork with an oyster
and fish sauce marinade is like meaty heaven on a bone. The best part
was that she made fried rice with endive leftover from yesterday's
meal! Those Thais waste nothing. Of course, the pad pak ruom mit
that she bought at the supermarket (premade) was jute, and she went on
to tell me the three ingredients it was missing.
Then we started drinking...
Me wine, her beer.
Oh, Nelly.
It turned into Oprah and the night completely changed as she started
telling me why she has remained single all these years and how
everyone keeps teasing her behind her back that she is a tomboy.
Apparently, after college, she was working as a teacher. She met a
boy and fell in love. They stayed in the same house near the school
where they taught. But she didn't tell her parents this because they
were living in sin. On weekends, she would go home to help her
parents with their farm. Her boyfriend (coworker to the parents)
would help the parents, too, with housework, ironing their clothes,
and picking fruits and rice from the farm. She loved this boy very
much because he was polite and helpful and had a good heart. He was
from the South. So one day he decided he was going to buwot phra and
do it down South in the town where he grew up. Because he was a monk,
she could not contact him, but she planned to go see him a few days
after his 3 months were up. She got to the town, and his mother saw
Mian. She handed her a card, and said, "I thought you would be very
excited to know, my son is getting married! Here's the invitation."
Pee Mian's name was not on the card. She went back home and did not
see her boyfriend that trip or ever since. She stayed in her room for
a month and cried. Her parents were very upset at their daughter's
condition, but did not know why she was so sad. She could not take it
anymore, so she went to see a friend in Udon, whom she knew in
college. She explained the whole story to him. He said, "Mian, I
never thought you would be able to let a man into your heart because
you work so hard. I am surprised you let this man into your heart.
But the important thing is not to stop. You must keep going."
So she went back to Phonphisai, and everyone in her family was waiting
at the bus station - they had slept there overnight worrying about
her. On the bus ride, Pee Mian decided that no man would ever stand
in the way of her success again. So she studied to take the exam for
a masters degree in Bangkok, but she was so brokenhearted, she could
not think so she failed the first time. Then she studied more,
waited, and took the exam the next year. She passed and attended
school in Bangkok for two years. After getting a job as a supervisor
in a far away district, she was finally able to move to Phonphisai,
where she lived in her childhood house with her older sister, father
and mother. Her older sister had an accident which resulted in brain
damage and multiple personality disorder (or schizophrenia - not quite
sure). Pee Mian took care of her, because she felt she owed her
sister her life. When Mian was 7, she swam into the Mehkong River,
was caught by a current, and pulled under the water. Her older
sister, Nang, swam in and rescued her from about 15 below the surface.
Mian was sure she would die from drowning. So she never as an adult
minded caring for her sister.
Her other older sister could never pay her bills. Pee Mian paid for
her entire house from her savings. She paid the school fees of her
nephews and nieces. Then her father became mentally ill, thinking he
was back in the war and strangers, including me, were the enemy he was
trying to fight. I often had to beat a retreat when these episodes
happened. Pee Mian cared for him, too.
And ever since the two-timing monk, and her broken heart from it, she
has never been able to love another man. Who knows what that means
for the rest of her private life. But the tears were flowing and we
hugged.
You know, I really kinda love her. I think in some ways, we are
alike, and it felt really good to listen to her and not once say, Oh
yeah, that's just like when I was in college... or I know, that's just
like my last relationship. She may talk a mile a minute, but I think
what she needed tonight was just someone who can really listen. And
it taught me that sometimes that's what I need to do, and not try to
give advice.
Pee Mian really is magic. Thank you, Buddha, for sending her to me.
5. Well, it appears Pee Mian's luck is back. Today she navigated the Seattle Metro bus from my house to the University of Washington, where I graduated from and where Anne is currently a student. On the bus, she made a friend who helped her to know when to get off using directions I had written. She went on a prospective student tour, and made friends with a young woman from Chicago (she was 17) and there are several pictures to prove it. Pee Mian could not get over how big the campus was and how many students were walking around the quad. She marveled at the profuse cherry trees blooming in pinks and whites.
At the end of the tour, she noticed a fenced off area with tents in the brick courtyard known as Red Square. Signs read 'staff only.' So Pee Mian walked around until she found a gate manned by a very old person. Figuring old people's eyes are bad everywhere in the world, she schussed her way into a gate with a large group of people, counting on her short stature to go unnoticed. Once inside, it was a Candyland of free food and drinks (the most delicious food is free food! she says) and UW paraphernalia. She managed to score two free UW baseball hats from two different tables. And stuffed her face on lunch food that she didn't have to pay for.
After she was full, she followed the herds of students, assuming they were going shopping, 'because that is what university students do after class - they shop and eat,' she found her way to University Avenue, the main drag of shops and restaurants. After some exploring, she got back on the bus and made it back to my apartment.
When I came home from work, we drove to Ballard, a neighborhood in the NW of the city, to visit the farang artist she met a few days ago. We saw his studio where he explained how he made sculptures out of bronze, glass, and iron. He explained how his kiln works, showed us photographs of his work, drawings of current projects, and molds and tools he uses to make his sculptures. His most notable piece is a lily pad made of 400 pounds of glass in the San Francisco Arboretum in Golden Gate Park. He was a really sweet guy, and because he managed a foundry in Ayuthayya, his Thai is quite good.
Then off to Carta de Oaxaca, one of the most popular restaurants in Seattle, where we must have waited an hour. Pee Mian said that was a first, too. She has never waited for food in her life. We met my friend Ranae, a fish biologist and apparent tomboy whose antics tickled Pee Mian pink. They were fast friends, but mostly Pee Mian could not grasp the concept that people wait to get food. They just go to another ran in Thailand. She liked the food because it reminded her of Thai food - spicy, sour, and sweet.
Tonight I heard more about her father. How he became a monk because when he was 80, he promised Buddha that if his mentally ill daughter got better, he would buwot phra. She did get better, so became a monk for 7 years. At 87, he went back home so Pee Mian could care for him. She told me how he built their house with his own hands completely out of wood, with no nails. It is a traditional diorama house with no fourth wall, and raised on stilts so you can norn under the house on hot days. Last year, a great typhoon ripped through Phonphisai. It tore roofs off houses and weakened cliffs to the point that homes spilled into the Mehkong River and the canals leading its waters to the farms. But the only thing that happened to Pee Mian's house was that one mirror in the bathroom came off its nail and broke. The house next door, built of concrete with a tile roof, lost its entire roof and all of one upstairs bedroom to the strong winds. Her father lived by very strict rules: he prayed every day for one hour, he made the lines of seeds at his farm using string to ensure the lines were straight, and he always napped every day for at least two hours. He did live to be 93, so he must have been doing something right.
Pee Mian said her proudest accomplishment in life was to take care of her father, mother, and sister. Really it was her older brother's responsibility, but he moved to another province and never came back, except for his funeral due to alcohol poisoning.
Tomorrow she will observe the school where I used to teach, and see how an American school functions. Funnily, it is the richest neighborhood in Seattle, Mercer Island, so she is in for quite a shock. Then in the evening we see Anne for dinner, followed by a red eye flight to Philadelphia. Next stop, Parentland.
6.
Pee Mian is awesome.
Thursday I took her to my old middle school, where I was a 6th grade teacher. She observed classes taught my two friends Janet and Bruce. This is on Mercer Island, home to the rich and fameless of Washington State. She saw math, English, and social studies classes. When I picked her up, she had gotten a free Islander Gators t-shirt (dai kong free eek layow!) and noticed that every nation has students who are geng, lazy, striving, and not too bright. She videotaped classes to show her teachers back home what American schools are like. She was most impressed with how teachers here ask so many questions of students and demand students create their own knowledge through projects and research. That night we had perfect spring rolls with Anne and her husband Soren, then we actually found a Thai restaurant that was up to Mian's standards.
After Anne lovingly sent us to the airport, we caught our redeye flight to Philly. Landing in the morning, we dropped off bags at my friend Casey's pad, napped, and washed the naughty bits. We ate at a typical Philly diner where the slammed the plates down with a bang (mai supap!) and every sentence had "honey" at the end. "Want some more coffee, honey?" We then met Casey for lunch at UPenn, but we only ate i-team. Then I was shocked and amazed at Pee Mian's interest in American, Asian, and European art at the Philly art museum. She loved the nature paintings of the mid 19th century and of course tried to touch all the oil paintings and sculptures. And she commented on the dirty looks the guards kept giving her - I wonder why?
Then we raced to the train, which we made by a minute, and relaxed on our way up to Doylestown, where my brother now lives. We had a barbeque meal and Mian said the chicken was the first farang meal that really impressed her. Except my meal, of course. She loved my nephews Jack and Andrew, and Andrew (3) had to show off by donning his Elmo costume. Jack wore his Tanzanian shirt and fez while playing the guitar. Then he gave us a magic show where he magically pulled a scarf out of his (short) sleeve shirt. "Nothing up my sleeve!" he said.
On Saturday, Mian and I slept late - she slept for 9.5 hours! Dad made a waffle breakfast with berry topping and then we all drove to Lancaster for an Amish country tour. Mian was amazed at the politeness, costumes, and non-technological ways of people in America choosing to live without development. We saw them ride around on push scooters (wheels are ok, but gears and pedals are not) and horse and buggies. We ate German pretzels with mustard, and then visited with Tom and Sarah, RPCVs from group 112 who I trained in Utong. They now run a B&B in Lancaster called the Walnut Leaf Inn. That night after dinner, our neighbor Chris came over with her mom. Chris has been teaching English in Ubon for 4 years but is home now because her father has brain cancer. So Mian got to wow Lao with a farang which made her very happy.
Today we ate another farang breakfast of eggs, bacon, bagels, and coffee. Then we hit Doylestown for the Mercer Museum, a packed collection of American tools, clothes, vehicles, and room displays from 100 to 250 years ago. I fed her thin crust pizza, and then asked if she wanted to go to a fake old village or real semi-old town. She chose the latter, so we wound up in New Hope, on the Delaware River. We checked out the art galleries, and she marvelled at all the fat people as she blithely took video of them, narrating in Thai, "These are the fat Americans. I need to step aside on the road because they are so big. Sometimes they get in the way of my pictures. And they talk funny" (They were from Jersey.)
Mian loved my family and we've talked about the Muslim situation down south, the king and the scary situation with the prince vs. the princess once he dies. Based on seeing their houses, she is convinced my brother and parents are rich (they are not) and when I said, Make yourself at home, she responded, I am not brave enough to call a house this beautiful my own.
There are more funny details, but I am exhausted, and we've been doing a ton, so I haven't had much chance to write. Her trip will be extended because we learned her flight to Thailand was supposed to leave Seattle 13 hours before we arrived from Philly in Seattle - doh! So now she is staying an extra 3 days because that was the only alternative flight we could get.
So I don't know if the Greng Jai Express Local has made an extended stop or simply sped on through 4 stops. But I grow to love her more and more with each extra hour she sleeps. It's na song san that she has admitted she works 7 days a week, because on weekends, work allows her to escape the drudgery of taking care of her sister, as much as she loves her. And her generosity is astounding - she said she gave her laptop to her niece for use at college. How her family comes together is amazing, too. When she needed a car to get to work, her brother gave her 25%, her parents 25%, and she paid 50%.
More to come. Tomorrow it's Philly cheese steaks, South Street, and Independence Hall (Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin's House, etc.)
Raa tree sawat!
7. Sorry for the delay! I have failed in my duties as conductor of the greng jai express local train. First there was a typhoon and flooding, and then an earthquake, then terrorist attacks, and you would not believe what oil prices have done to the cost of rice, but now that train is back on track!
Last stop, we were eating dinner in Seattle with Soren and Anne, where Pee Mian FINALLY liked the Thai food in Seattle. In fact, she had been making her own Thai food in my apartment the last two days because she was convinced American food was two things only: fatty and bland. We then flew to Philadelphia.
We gorged on diner food, where Mian said they were rude for slamming down plates, toured the art museum, and barbequed with my brother, his wife, their two sons, and my parents. Saturday we drove to Lancaster where she saw Americans who willingly give up technology, and then were manhandled by all the fat Americans who forced her off the sidewalk because they took up so much room in New Hope. Saturday night during dinner with my parents, the term role model came up, and I explained why my dad was my role model - he cooks, cleans, helps my mom, can fix everything in the house, and never let his job come in the way of being with his family. Dad cried at that. Pee Mian kept saying how cute my dad was because he took such good care of my mom while her ankle was broken.
So we tried to make ourselves fat with Philly cheesesteaks the next day, Monday. My mom had to stay home because she had broken her ankle 2 weeks before. In pouring rain, we toured Elfreths Alley, the oldest continually inhabited homes in the USA, the Betsy Ross house, where we toyed with creative anachronism type tourguides - you know the kind who refuse to let on that we actually live in the year 2008 - they keep thinking it's 1776. Trying to explain Thailand (which was Siam back then) and the Peace Corps to them was like trying to shove a potato up your nose. So Mian and I spoke to them in Thai no matter what they said, had a laugh, and trounced off to the Liberty Bell. Her response, "I guess this is a big deal. They had to search our bags. Good thing I didn't bring any mangosteen. Would they confiscate them here?"
BTW, when I asked Mian to bring me Thai fruit, she brought me a Thai fruit poster instead. It now hangs on my office door and everyone asks, "What is a longan? Or a mangosteen? Or a rose apple?" For some reason, grapes are on it, though I never thought of those as Thai.
Our Philly day ended with a strident tour of Independence Hall where the guide (an obviously retired schoolteacher) used words too big for children or foreigners to understand. She even shushed a man translating in Portuguese for who appeared to be his mom. I asked Mian what she understood. Mai rue ruong! I said mai ben rai, nobody else did either.
Dad sung'ed us to airport where he hugged and kissed Mian on the cheek. She got red! I said, you're in America and we hug and kiss here. She said, Ok, add another man to my boyfriend list! Later I said, yeah, but two are gay, and one is married. She said, Who cares? Thai men have minor wives. I can do what I want!
After an uneventful flight back to Seattle, Mian spent a day resting and doing laundry in my apartment. And she did my laundry and cleaned the place! She tried to do the Seattle underground tour, but got on a suburban bus somehow and saw herself leaving the city. She realized this, got off, crossed the street, and caught the same # bus going in the opposite direction. She chose not to call me because she wanted to prove she could do it on her own. Geng, no? So she stopped at Uwajimaya, the Asian grocery store, and made a Thai feast that night for the two of us. Spicy som tam with cucumber and carrot, geng peht saparote, fried pork ribs (my favorite again!), and pineapple fried rice. She commented on how nice she thinks Americans are, and how she can imagine now that there are nice people in every nation. If only we could have the chance to meet them, share meals with them, and laugh together.
Next day, she made her way to the Japanese garden and the Washington State arboretum, and somehow back to Uwajimaya again! That night we had Anne and Soren over for a final feast. After some packing, it was the official send off to the airport. She said, it was the best experience of her life, thank you so much for take care me, she felt very proud she could do this all on her own, she appreciated my hospitality, and she felt that Peace Corps had finally come full circle after she has worked directly with three volunteers now. I cried, because I was sad to see her go, but also proud of what she had accomplished, and how much she had let herself go and relax. I made her promise before she got on the plane, that she would give herself one day a week to rest from now on. She grimaced, then softened and said, I will try.
It really began to feel like she became a part of my life, and not at all like those annoying house guests you have for days or weeks, that you just dread trying to keep happy.
I received an email from her about four days after she left saying how she arrived home safe and sound. She was telling everyone stories about America, showing them pictures and videos, and handing out her tchohke gifts like keychains, the free University of Washington hats she stole, and various sweatshirts and t-shirts. This is from an email she sent where she said she had just mailed me a kilo of cafe lao (coffee!).
"I told all my cousins and my friends that I got a great warm welcome from you and your family in USA. The most thing that you and your parents made me felt good that you told me I had took care you for 2 years, only 2 weeks was not enough for me. Please say Hi to all your friends Ann & her husband,
Diew & Christ, Tammie, Lory, etc. Miss you so much. Pee Mian."So this train comes to an end. But I have a feeling with Mian's 10 year visa to the US, she'll be riding that train again. Until next time, remember kids, a little greng jai never killed anybody.
