Sawadee. I am in Laos now, updating my diary from an internet cafe. Is that pitiful? Actually my excuse is, I had to pay for an hour so I might as well use it.
Laos is a nice place. I like the weather (even though it is the rainy season right now...), the people, the food (don't get me started...I will probably turn into a little butter dumpling this year gorging myself on Thai, Lao and Indian food).
However, I am experiencing alot of frustration over the languge. Picture if you will: I spent a year in China. In the first few months, I didn't know ANY Chinese, but my brain does this horrible thing where it tries to think in SPAINISH whenever it heard 'foreign' languages. So I battled all this year against the Spainish brain, and it finally went away like two months ago.
Sadly, now I am in Laos, where they do NOT speak Chinese (not that I am surprised...) but what is my brain doing? It is thinking in Chinese in response to the Lao languge! Gah! Assimilation will be painful.
*sigh*
I just hope I can understand English when I am in the States.
I have bought several postcards already and will probably mail some tommorrow.
If you e-mailed me, I probably won't respond for a while because my server takes a long time to view as a web page, and I can't use my Outlook until I get back to the states.
First class travel on Thai Air is highly recommended by me. I mean, they gave me an entire bath kit AND a banana AND a pair of socks AND a pack of playing cards AND a TIME magazine! All for free! There was perfume in the bathroom! My meal came with wine and cheese! Real cheese, mind you, not artificial cheese that comes pre-sliced! Glorious cheese!!! Aged to perfection, with some gourmet crackers and a small loaf of crusty french bread.
No wonder they call their 'first class' "Royal Orchid". It was absolutely royal, baby.
I think I'm in love.
ckb
Sunday, June 15, 2003 at 8:00 p.m.