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Published: December 6th 2007
perhaps one day soon i will blog about the beauty of the Royal Grand Palace and the unbelievably ornate alter that the emerald Buddha sits upon. (the Buddha is actually made of jade, not emerald and they change his outfit based upon the season. Thailand has 3 total, summer, rainy and winter. it is currently winter, a chilly 85+ degrees) perhaps one day i'll give you a stunning description of the golden stupas with shiny blue mosaic glass tiling that reflects light in a way that would make even the most mastered craftsman at the Maurono glass factory in Venice jealous. perhaps. though instead i'll write about being approached my a man at the palace who asked me to take his picture. at this point i had been on the trip for one week and had yet to carry on a full, feature length conversation. literally, nobody here knows my name. yes, i have spoken with people who are far less ignorant than myself and know some English (tower of babble strike me dead, je parl un peptite le francais et il es tres mal) but these conversations have been limited to a few simple sentences. i have much more to say than "i am from america" and "thank you". back to the palace. so i take this mans picture and ask where he is from. "the US", "oh, what part?" "new york, Brooklyn". BINGO. now, i do not wish to come across as the western traveler (they call us Farang over here which is Thai for gringo 😉 ) who only wants to meet other western travelers but having not spoken to anyone in a week i was feigning to converse. so we become pals, continue touring the palace and eventually stumble upon a street fair where they are giving out free food. it is the king's birthday and everyone is out wearing yellow to celebrate. we seemed to be the only Farang in the crowd but everyone is hospitable and gestures for us to cut the lines so we can sample their countries cuisines quicker. its all good fun and nice to finally be able to speak my mind to someone. back to my new pal. our lives outside of this trip barely exist, new york gets brushed over in all of 30 seconds (if that) and we end up swapping travel stories. what i do learn is his name is scott, he just got to Thailand from Cario and he is a lawyer. now, in a country where 90% of all price tags are negotiable it help to be with a lawyer from New York. after the street fair scott grabs us a cab and ring side seats to a Thai kickboxing match and we are well on our way to watching super featherweights (100lbs.) kick the living crap out of each other (literally, as it is kickboxing). i've never condoned war but put me at ANY sporting event (or bar) and i love me a good fight! and so, some blood gets splattered, bones get round kicked and we flip back and forth between the events, the one happening in the ring and the one behind us in the bleachers. between rounds the crowds ERUPTS in an effort to place their bets. there are hand signals which we never quite figured out and the place becomes pure pandemonium. we end up talking to some kids from Holland who are sitting behind us (they actually caddle the Farang into a section) and the evening ends with some new Dutch friends and a beer. i am relieved, not simply because i was able to hold a conversation (about Oprah, drugs and how the Dutch got screwed when they converted to the Euro) but because i really enjoy the company of the Dutch fellows. they are traveling on a 1 year, 13 country adventure, heading next to Vietnam. (ohh, take me, take me!!! only, i am headed south to the islands, don't have a visa for Vietnam yet and know that i need to be alone to sort things out in my head, but still, take me, take me!!!) we parted ways with a promise that i would come find them the next day at their hotel. lo and behold, i make some friends (finally) and the next day i decide i want to be alone. so it goes.
i would like to share one conversation i had with my new dutch pals (Gerard, Maarten, i hope you are reading this) was about the self-imposed pressure i placed on this trip. when i started to plan for this adventure i had envisioned that this would help me "figure it all out."that i would return a full bodied adult, knowing exactly what i wanted to do with my life (both in terms of a career and future goals.) i realized long before i got on the plane to japan that this was most likely not going to happen. i am not Siddhartha, i am not the alchemist, i will not return as some golden phoenix who has figured it all out. maybe i will have some stories, cool pictures and a few email addresses of new chums i met along the way but i do not anticipate enlightenment or some massive reformation, nor should you. i've had more than one person say to me (and i quote) "this trip is going to make you a whole new person." i am putting this fallacy to rest here and now. my new goal is simply to observe. to observe the cultures, observe my environment and to observer myself. i know i am capable of at least that. many of the Buddha statues here have eyes 1/2 closed, gaze looking downward at the tip of the nose. the Buddha is looking inward reflecting and i spose i am trying to do the same, only now without the added pressure.
later today i head south to the islands, can't wait!! before i run off to catch my bus/ferry i want to say that i have gotten quite a few encouraging messages from people who are happy that i am doing this trip as it has been a goal of mine for quite a while. well, now its my turn to give you all props as pretty much everyone i know is also working towards what they want. be it a degree, promoting a documentary, creating music, writing that book, raising a family, jump starting a career, painting more frequently, empowering students, understanding the law in order to make it work better, healing, learning to let go, falling in love, moving to another country, etc. etc. etc. just pushing the boundary of the self. whatever "it is" (does this sound like an ebay commercial?) you guys are all doing it too only i'm blogging about it with pictures. kudos to you. here are some more pix 😊
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21472267@N04/
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Maarten
non-member comment
Bangkok get together - revised.
Hi Kathy, Nice blog and we too enjoyed your company and conversations last night, talking about a variety of subjects. We would take you along, but like you said, you are going in a different direction, probably by now you already have gone south. We are first going to Cambodia btw, then to Vietnam. If you grow tired of the south and feel like going west, let us know, so we can also tell you where we are. Good luck finding your own little holy grail, my best advise would be to just enjoy all of it without looking for the revelations and you will get to where ever it is you are going. Until we meet again? Gerard and Maarten, the Dutch "kids".