Thai Bye

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Like all great things, War and Peace, The Godfather triology, and Pee Wee's Playhouse, they must come to an end. So to is our trip to the east east coast. I do not say vacation because a vacation is a place you go to recharge your batteries. A trip is a mind-altering experience. Much like the druggies who take shrooms or acid to go on a different kind of trip. Danielle and I merely had to eat a hell of a lot of rice to go on this trip. It has been incredible and we have never even felt any side effects like the munchies or anything.

*In Thailand, they have pictures of the king and queen of Thailand in various poses all over the country. At certain times, people stand up and the Thai anthem plays. Eerily enough, in the pictures, they never look at the camera. They look off in the distance, or above the camera and like Cambodian karaoke, they're in various locales. Maybe seated in a park or in their throne. Imagine if you saw a George Bush picture in your supermarket and had to stand at attention in front of him at certain times of the day. It would probably rot the food.

*The Buddhist religion impresses me greatly. Don't worry, I'm not going to wear robes, gain 300 pounds and shave my head. Okay, I won't wear robes and gain 300 pounds. But Buddhism is a such a wonderful religion. Think about it, you never hear about any Buddhists in the past trying to convert or kill some country to their religion like Catholocism or Christianity did. It's very similar to the Jewish religion historically in the aspect that Buddhists don't think you will go to hell if you aren't "saved". It's even better than the Jewish religion because we have that whole killing Jesus thing to deal with. As far as I know, Buddhists never killed the son of god before. However I must say that Jews and Christians make up for it because we have much better musicals than the Buddhists (Jesus Christ Superstar & Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat) so I think it evens out

*I have mastered the Thai massage! I've actually gotten quite good so if you ever want a semi-authentic Thai massage, i would be happy to comply. However, Danielle says that for every massage I give to one of you, I have to give one to her. Remember, I have Palmolive hands so don't be greedy.

*We went riverrafting in Chang Mai and had a great great time. Our raft flipped, but luckily all we have are some bruises and very wet clothes. Our guide, Chem, was a great guy who didn't save my life, but when we went over he grabbed me and helped me get to shore. It's funny because I am a pretty big guy compared to most Thai people and was blushing when he said that it was difficult to get me to shore because I was too big. I have never been called too big in my entire life. I'm bringing Chem home with me to further my self-confidence issues.
*The Euro cup (European Soccer championship) is going on and it's pathetic how into it I am. I love soccer and I'm not afraid to admit it. Jay and I were at a pub watching England and France go at it and I was way into it. I also had a skewer of chicken hearts. Yes, from soccer to chicken hearts, Eric has changed.

*The Thai language is very difficult because they have many words to our one. For example, Thanks is 4 words long and different for men and women. So we're talking 8 words!!!! Also, every sentence sounds like in ends in KA. So when I say thank you to someone, I bow as they do here, and mumble something before KA so they know I'm trying to thank them.

What I will miss least about Asia: The poverty, the dirt, the heat, and squat toilet

What I will miss most about Asia: The people, the food, the people, the food, the prices, and of course, the electric toilet

Take care of yourselves and count to 180 for me when you have 3 minutes to spare.

Eric-San

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Comments

[ROCK LUBIN]

ERUDITE AND GREAT PEEK INTO ASIA
I AM THE UNCLE OF DANIELLE AND JUST READ THE ACCT OF THEIR TRIP-- IT WAS VERY WELL WRITTEN AND IT KEPT ME TOTALLY INVOLVED IN THE CONTENTS--THE SMALL IMPRESSIONS WERE PRICELESS AND ERIC HAD MY LAUGHING THRUOUT. THE "ERIC JOURNALS" ARE A DELIGHT TO BEHOLD.......

[ranjit sandhu]

soul
hi, i am from delhi, india, now living in the usa for over 15 years and i will say that you really get a country, you really feel it's soul, when you remember both the good and the bad. i definitely miss the heat of my native land, the cows and stray dogs, the poor people living in shacks by the side of the road, the guy selling catfish spread out on newspapers on the pavement and ofcourse squatting by the roadside to smoke a bidi or two (believe me squatting is yoga) .....it's the bad along with the good which makes the soul. when i was there i disdained such things, but now i see they were a part of me.