The Laos visit was really nice. I am looking forward to working there next year. I am telling myself that I will study Lao (the language) for one hour every day that I am home. I don't know if that is true or not...you know what 'they' say about good intentions...but hopefully I can remember my helpless feelings of being a stranger in a strange land without the ability to read, write, or speak. That should inspire me to study.
I am in Bangkok again. This is my third visit to Thailand. I really like it here, except everything seems really "expensive" to me. For instance, a good meal in a restaurant costs like $3.00 per person, instead of $0.80, like in Laos, or $1.20, like in China. My wallet is not prepared to return to the U.S. yet. *shudder*
I explored the city today; took a tour of Jim Thompson's house (an American who moved to Thailand just after WWII and is reponsible for introducing the rest of the world to Thai Silk), ate lunch on the street ($0.75), went shopping and got a REALLY cool Black Belt Jones t-shirt that I am excited about (but it was really expensive: $3.00!!!), scored some cute stationary (I am addicted to school supplies), took a river taxi, ate sushi and fried rice for dinner, went to a grocery store and was pleased to find a Mr. Bean PEZ dispenser, a Kinder Egg, and a to-go package of mango with sticky rice. I have also been spending time lamenting over the expense of bootleg DVDs in Thailand. I'm going to stock up when we return to Beijing on Tuesday.
There are so many awesome places in the world. I am having difficulty deciding the country in which I should spend the bulk of my life. To me, they are like potato chips. I don't want just one, you know? What I want to do is live in Thailand long enough to be elligible to own property (5 years), and then buy a nice place and allow my parents to retire to Thailand, which is 100 times better than the Florida life. The money would go further, ya see? Plus, the climate is nicer and, let's face it, Thailand is just cooler than Florida, how can I even begin to compare the two? It is like cubic zirconia vs. diamonds.
I am in an internet cafe, and the text box I am typing this entry into is microscopic. You must excuse spelling errors.
mwa! (that was a kiss? I guess I am feeling affectionate...)
ckb
Wednesday, Jun. 18, 2003 at 7:30 PM
