Movember gets the cut

"Remember, remember, the first of Movember,

The barber's chair and shop

I see no reason why the colon cancer season should ever be forgot . . ."

Phuket Gazette staff at the end of Movember

What my right hand will do tomorrow when it no longer has a moustache to stroke -- I do not know. This month has been the first time in my life that I have made even the most wispy attempt of growing facial hair. I was against it in the beginning. Given where I am in my life and where I am . . . Phuket, Thailand -- infamous for sexpats and sex tourists, I really had  no desire to look like a pedophile. However, I bit the bullet, because all the boys at the Gazette had signed up to donate 50 baht to a charity at the end of the month and to "raise" awareness about colon cancer with our moustaches. (Mind you that there is nothing in our contracts forbidding us from having facial hair, so we were safe.) So, on Movember first we started the day with freshly shaven faces. There are a series of rules that must participants must abide by: http://www.movember.com/

I have no idea why all the farangs ended up in one group.

I have no idea why the Thai guys all ended up in one group.

An entire news office of mustached men runs the line of creepy and hilarious, usually depending on if you are in or out of know. Lunch at the "Cheapy" up the street was always a smile as four to six moustached men gathered around the dinning table in plastic lawn chairs. It's still hard not to laugh about the bit of vanilla ice cream caught in the corner of Chris's moustache after we picked up ice cream cones on the way back from lunch. (Ice cream is a standard after lunch occasion.)

To balance out my own upper lip hair, I went ahead and let a soul patch grow. I have become surprisingly found of the look. I found myself constantly fiddling with it and was pleased to be compared to Guy Fox on more than one occasion, perhaps it is a look I will come back to. But as it stands tomorrow evening my moustache is headed for the barber shop's floor. Hair cut, a shave and a massage (cost: $9) are all on the books to celebrate my first full paycheck and the start of my four day weekend.

Questioning Home (Jackie)

After a month here I was hit by a sudden, staggering thought that unnerved me and made me realize how much I had unwittingly sacrificed by moving across the world on a whim.  What I realized, very quickly after coming here was that I had always built my ‘home’ within people, not out of brick or wood. 

All the warm fuzzy feelings associated with ‘coming home’ were chilled in a moment when I failed to picture a single home to go back too. My past homes were just a flip book of colored siding, yards and neighbors, speeding through my mind like a roulette spinner that never settled. Even the house I grew up sparked no feeling of comfort.  I even realized that I would be more at home living by myself than in my parents house. While everyone else here was speaking longingly of returning to their home abroad, hanging out with their friends, reliving old times, my mind was shooting through all the houses, neighbors, roommates, and friends I’ve lived with during the last 6 years. The last 3 Christmas’s spread out around the world, 6 of the last 7 Thanksgivings spent with families of friends . Every year in college I lived a different place, with different combinations of people, except for 2 years in the Mitchell house. Two fantastic years but when I walked out of the house and threw the last load of stuff in my car I wasn’t sad.  A house is always just a house. It was always my friends that made Bloomington home for me.  It was the perpetually unlocked doors at the Mitchell house and always coming home to see different friends lounging on the couch between classes and always having someone to share moments, stories, and life with that made it home.  

The worst part was to realize that many of those people who made life so bright and wonderful will not be there when I come back, and some have already gone.  That in itself is not a new epiphany, it happens every year during college. It’s always sad to have friends leave home, but it’s usually only one or 2 at a time and while they can never be replaced, it is not too difficult to find 1 or a few people that can fill the void they left behind. It is one thing to struggle to find a new running partner or someone who loves dancing, it is impossible to even conceive finding alternates for everyone in your life. When I moved I left behind the closest friend group and best friends that I ever had in my life.  I had cycling teammates and margarita rides, a stellar rock climbing group, dance fiends, party friends, physics partners, lab mates, co-workers, winos, foodies, road trippers, spontaneous adventurers, concert kids, book club folks, old friends, new friends and all the acquaintances that aren’t in any particular group but make life better by being around at the right moment . And most of all it is hard to even pretend to think about the possibility of finding anyone who can replace the incredible people who go beyond any group and are friends every day, all the time.

It’s frightening to realize that when I decide to leave Thailand, it won’t be to go home. Going back to the US still would mean starting life over from nearly scratch, just like any other country in the world. It makes perpetual travel pretty enticing.

That may have been a tad overdramatic. It’s just a lot to realize suddenly and exhausting to think about.  I enjoy my life in Phuket and think that after a little more acclimation and time I will love it. I’ve already made some new friends here and am starting to feel more settled. I have one fantastic friend who I have  more in common with than a lot of friends back home, despite being from different continents, and we have a blast doing everything from having coffee, teaching, snorkeling and  partying to full out vacations.  I also have a few good friends from an array of countries that I can count on for fun and support, tennis partners and scuba friends who I am growing closer too as time goes on. And I absolutely cannot take for granted the strong friendship that Issac and I still share, the countess dinnertime chats, weekend explorations, and finding strategic solutions to all the random issues that arise with learning how to survive in a foreign country.

I also still talk too many of my best friends back home on a regular basis and can’t put into words how happy and soothing it is to see your familiar faces, hear your voices, and laugh with you over the sometimes ridiculous, sometimes boring stories of our lives. It is always a highlight of the day and I am so appreciative of everyone who has been taking the time to keep in contact, even with the 12hr time difference!  Your endless support has helped me stay sane and even happy through a really difficult few months. Much love especially to Jessi, Kurtis, Kaitlin, Steph, Rob, Kara, Michele, Glenn, Marcia, and Tom. You are all incredible people and it’s wonderful to know I still have great friends to come back too, even if you are all spread out around the US and world J

 I love you all!

Loy Krathong- The Festival of Lights (Jackie)

Imagine a star-filled night sky, gleaming pinpoints of light in the darkness. Now  imagine dozens of large, brightly lit lanterns drifting in long chains over a lake and into the distant stars . People of all ages stand by the water, laughing, writing wishes on tissue thin lanterns, trying in pairs or groups to light the flammable ring within without setting the delicate lantern flaming.  More and more lanterns join the winding chain while bad wishes or unlucky winds send other lanterns to wither and smoke in the branches of trees or to crumple slowly into the water. The moon is bright and full and can be seen between the trees, shining brightly white among the cheerful yellow glow of the lanterns gliding past. In the water are hundreds of Krathongs, exquisite boats of intricately folded banana leaves and flowers, each lit with a candle and sent into the water along with any grudges kept from the year.

The krathongs are hand-made and exceptionally beautiful, and are made lovingly by people of every age, from little up. The porous trunk of the banana tree floats and is used as the base of most krathongs, which are then pinned with banana leaves and an array of colorful flowers.

While I did not make my own krathong this year, I watched as all the young children spread out on benches and on the floor of the school cafeteria  to make them, much more skillfully and creatively then I ever could have. Watching all the tiny hands cut, fold, and pin the leaves, delicately place flowers, and add multiple layers to their once plain piece of trunk astonished me and I couldn’t stop smiling and admiring their handiwork. Even my kids, the middle and high schoolers, who generally distain any and every school activity, worked in groups to make large and complex floats to enter in a school contest. Many of the girls preformed in traditional Thai dances and were painted up in heavy make- up and brightly colored clothing for the schools Loy Krathong event. Walking through school that day was like being on a Disney set, where every boy or girl was a prince or princess.  

Loy Krathong is a rare type of festival with a seamless intertwining of tangible beauty and emotional significance. It is unlike any festival or holiday in the States because it is a very personal celebration, though it is shared with family and close friends.  The idea of the festival is to let go of any grudges and receive forgiveness without having to admit or confess anything to anyone.  The symbolic gestures of releasing delicate lanterns into the sky or sending off bad feelings on a boat captures the essence of the celebration perfectly  as the grace and simplicity of the motions mirror the supposed ease with which forgiveness and inner peace is attained.

 Even though the celebration is much larger and more impressive in the North, Loy Krathong instantly became my favorite holiday and I’m looking forward to bringing it back Stateside. I’ve always loved watching the lanterns drift along at concerts and random night events and I have to admit that I was more excited about this holiday than I am about any of the upcoming American holidays. If you can find any large lanterns at home I would highly recommend letting one go with friends or loved ones, it’s beautiful to see and it feels surprisingly wonderful to make a wish on something, even if it is a drifting lantern.

Diving on the job, better than sleeping on it

Sitting at Nitty's restaurant, cafe, and budget hostel in Khao Lak, I'm happy. I'm tired and my back hurts, but a chair and a coffee milkshake are starting to work their magic.

I'm in Khao Lak for work. I put a half day in at the office this morning (Saturday) and then hopped on the motorbike for my first ever foreign-road trip. I've traveled plenty, but as I started the two and half hour drive north to Khao Lak, I realized this was the first time I've ever done any long distance driving out of the country. There was an indescribable relief as I headed across Sarssin bridge, which connects Phuket to the mainland. It wasn't indescribable because it was an enormous feeling, but because it was so odd. It was like being aware of the problem of being inside all day, but only once you had one foot through the door -- already striding toward a solution.

I picked up a pad of rice with fried onions and some fried chicken for lunch. I ate them in a small shelter next to highway 402 and a rubber plantation on my the way up. The seasoning on the fried chicken, especially the better stuff, always amazes me. It takes a specially seasoned meat to make you ponder the flavors almost every time you have it. I know Jackie won't be leaving Thailand until she's got the recipe for a good cashew and chicken dish; I wont be leaving until I can make a mean Thai fry chicken.

I got the second half of Saturday off this week because I'm actually on a business trip. Funny to think of me being on a business trip. (There is a lot about my life right now that I would have never expected ten years ago, even one year ago, most notably becoming an editor.) It;s a business trip because of the dive column I'm supposed to have prepared in two weeks.

I'm still struggling to get my fins under me and figure out what the dive community is like here and what matters to them aka our readership; however I'm making some progress. A dive company in Phuket, Sea-Bees, has a branch up here in Khao Lak, which is the famous jump off point for liveaboards heading to the Similan islands. I was put in contact with the manager, Marcus, up here and he offered to help me out. So I came up to interview him today and I'll be diving with them tomorrow morning for free (ethical journalism?).

The interview went well -- I think. It's so strange to be jumping into such a skill based profession like journalism with no training or experience. Obviously, the training is doing the work, but there is so much confidence, tact, and art to interviewing and this was the first professional interview I've ever done in my life. Luckily, Marcus is a happy, balding German, who was glad to talk. I struggled to move the conversation towards my original goal (wreck diving), because apparently the Andaman sea doesn't really have too much in the way of wrecks, which surprised me. I had thought that given that the areas nautical history dated back to ancient times with the trade  routes running from China to India there would be plenty of wrecks -- apparently there just isn't much to wreck on around here. None the less, the interview was good. I started getting a feel for how to do an interview and I also got some insights into what's important to the divers in this area.

I'm excited about the dives in the morning. The first dive of the day is going to be a dousy! With it just being a couple days since Loy Krathong (full moon of the twelfth month of the lunar calender) visibility on the wreck, Sea Charter, is going to be low and we might be dealing with a strong current, but we wont know until we drop down. The real issues is the depth. The wreck starts near the recreational dive depth limit of 40m, so we're going to be using Nitrox (thankfully I got my enriched-air certification) to extend our bottom time. No matter how you look at it, this wont be an easy dive, but it should be a pretty exciting one. The second dive will be an easier dive at some sort of sunken tin mining structure, which I'm also excited to do.

The issue of the Phuket Gazette that came out this week made me proud. Each week I've been more and more involved in the final product and this week I hit the trilogy: editing, layout (the first time I laid out a page it took me an entire day!) and contribution. It's the first time my name has been in a publication. It kind of feels like it's "self-published" because I'm on the editorial team and knew that it was going to be published, but I am published! Jackie and I were going to celebrate last night, but after dinner we were both tired so we had a drink, played a couple hands of cards in bedroom and then crashed out.

Things I realized suddenly in the shower (Jackie)

Today I realized suddenly that somehow nearly every facet of my life had changed, down to the littlest details of where I get my drinking water, how I communicate with people, and how I get around. Ignore the big changes like having a new job, new profession, new friends, new language, and no family in a new country on a different continent.

-Driving on the left side of the road

-Driving a motorbike

-Waiing before and after almost all interactions

-Always carrying a poncho

-Taking shoes off before entering any house and many stores

-No bath tub L

-Not throwing toilet paper into the toilet

-Excessive heat (in food and temperature)

-Going to the beach after school

-Interpreting world accents and slang (slapper, see you just now, come right with, sticki)

-Assuming any slightly masculine woman is a lady boy

-Drinking and washing cuts with only bottled water

-Being able to get antibiotics/most medicines without a prescription (not condoning this but its come in handy)

-Restaurants closing by 9pm at the LATEST

-Bargaining

-Being size XL instead of a 2 (I’m a 5’6 giant here!)

-Drinking tea as desert

-Taking laundry to someone else to do

-Not using air conditioning in 90 degree weather

-Eating out 3 meals a day almost everyday aka. never cooking

-No oven

-All drinks coming with distressful amount of sugar (at home it’s only black coffee and straight leaf tea)

-Seeing rats scampering around the streets

-Huge spiders in the house, horned beetles in the school (pets)

-Never stepping over bags or backpacks

-Eating fried chicken and bananas for breakfast

-Tiny, brightly colored Buddhist shrines on the side of most roads and outside houses

-Small offerings of food, drink, and incense outside of small businesses

-Not putting feet on anything but the ground (waaayy harder than it seems, you can’t even nudge the door closed with a toe)

-Eating rice with everything
-Street vendors selling fresh caught fish on ice 

-Feeling like it’s all completely normal 

Thai fire trucks, by request

Got multiple request for the fire trucks that were not pictured in my "On my way home..." post:

 A blurry fire truck pulls off of the main road

 Uh . . . . a fire truck

 A fire truck in the dark

Next time I'll make sure I get some better shots of the actual truck.

Halloween -- Thai style

Okay, I'll be up front about this, Thais don't celebrate Halloween (something about Buddhism being their official religion), but that didn't stop Jackie and I. We didn't hop on the expat "holiday" bar scene that feels like a generic appendage of every expat community in the world, from Accra to Buenos Aires to Phuket. We waited for the real holiday to roll around, we're not some fair-weather weekend celebrators. Halloween was on Monday, so we celebrated it on Monday

I kicked off the holiday by waking up and totally forgetting what day it was. The celebrations really started when I got to work, where, like any good office employee, I celebrated by browsing Halloween ecards. I eventually selected a diced up and overdubbed dancing skeletons video for Jackie's ecard.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlKSEYVZ7C4&feature=player_embedded




















Putting on our Halloween Party faces!               Ghostly coconut of rum starts levitating                                      


It was also payday, so Jackie and I rolled away from the inland cheapies for a sea-view restaurant in Rawai. Sitting above the gentle black ocean water we enjoyed the sand on our feet as we tried our holiday concoction, fresh coconut water with a shot of Captain Morgan. The glow of the candle brought the darkness of the ocean and the shadows of the looming tree above us to the foreground of our imaginations.

We paid the bill and awkwardly walked out of the restaurant holding our empty coconut shells.

After a quick trip to the 7/11 and Big C we had our stock of candy, as well as rum and apple juice -- a pale comparison to good spiked cider on a cold autumn evening, but still a reasonable fit for the our night.

Ar home we poured ourselves a healthy helping of spirits and gathered all the sharp objects we could on the front porch. We were making coconut jack o lanterns!

Jackie, surrounded by the weapons of her craft

We fine-tuned our holiday spirits with the proper play lists: http://8tracks.com/dirtyshirty/this-is-halloween and http://8tracks.com/endofmarch/monsters-witches-ghosts-oh-my

Isaac getting work done with the rock hammer            Jackie gouging out some eye-sockets

Then I took the rock hammer to my coconut with surprising success. In no time at all I was left with a mostly full drink and an almost perfect jack o lantern. I fiddled and fiddled with it until I was sure that everything I was doing was just making things worse. I was forced to retire from the creative world of jack o lantern "carving" and watched Jackie create a Vegetarian Festival themed jack o lantern as I sipped my apple juice and rum.

We made an effort to dance to the Time Warp, but it turns out there's a lot of free time between the explained steps.

Without parents to tell us otherwise, seeing as we are full grown "adults," Jackie and I were able attempt to build fires in our jack o lanterns instead of using candles.

Finally, I stripped down to the weakest "Batman" costume and snuck out the side door so I could come around front and do a little trick or treating. I admittedly felt a bit sheepish (not batish) standing in my underwear, wearing a mask, and asking Jackie to give me the candy that I had bought just an hour ago.

Trick or Treat!

All in all I have to admit that it was a stellar two person Halloween party!