May something!

I have no idea what day it is. It's Saturday. I know that. Saturday Mid-May.

Interesting things.

1) English show!!! Last night I watched an English lesson show called Chris Delivery. http://www.chrisdelivery.com/ Little skits with people speaking English (but repeating themselves in English and Thai several times, along with English and Thai phrases on the bottom of the screen) along with Amelia Bedelia Thai characters who just never understand.

Some highlights from a skit about preparing for a housewarming party -
She asks for the remote so she can turn off the air conditioning because it's a "house warming" party.
She walks out the door when he says, "Make yourself at home."
She starts doing cheerleading cheers when he says "Cheers."
She asks why they would serve "Korean Rice" if it's supposed to be a Thai dinner party because he actually suggested "Curry and Rice."

And when she goes to the store to get food she comes back with all the wrong ingredients!

coconut milk - chocolate (cocoa), peanuts (nut) and milk
lemon grass - a bag of lemons and a handfull of grass
flour - a bouquet of flowers
some dessert - a bag of sand from the desert

This show was great. It's pretty heavy on the advertising, but I don't mind. Like what you say when you have to take your Yamaha Scooter to get gas, or how to "Write it Right" with your new Pental pen, learn a new vocab word with your "Talking Dict Phone", or, like in the party/food skit from before, how to order from McDonalds when your misunderstanding friend gets the wrong ingredients.

It made me so happy. I just realized they have episodes online. You should watch them. This guy also has some books that I found just after writing that post about English/Thai and it had a bunch of the same things I wrote about. In the book (and in the show) he talks about the things that Thai people think they know, which are actually kind of off. Or a lot off.

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RAMBO 4!!!!

This is the most excited I've ever been for a Sylvester Stalone movie. Rambo 4 was shot in Thailand, right outside Thailand. I met a bunch of Thai stunt guys and a couple of Thai wardrobe guys too. So cool!

I saw a bunch of pictures from the shooting and cast/crew parties and it was kind of weird in that the pictures from the set look like every Thai village I've been to, but then you see the party pictures and you're reminded that they're all Bangkok actors who are just in costume.

Kind of strange. I got to see pictures of Sly's stunt double.

One of the Thai guys, Dipper, told me that Thai people think I'm very beautiful because my skin is white. I said that sounded a little silly to me, but thanks, and added, "But they also think I'm really really fat." His response in English was, "Nevermind! I don't like slim girls."

Thanks, Dipper! Again, English in all it's greatness. "Skinny" has the ability to sound unattractive. "Slim" on the other hand, doesn't really have that ability.


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Thai noses.

Something I've just started noticing are Thais and noses. My friend Yong said he liked my nose. I like my nose too. He said that he didn't have a nose. He definitely does. I might even call it a big nose, it's definitely a wide nose, but what he meant by nose was a bridge. Some Thais don't really have bridges. It's flat between their eyes. It's strange to notice now. But, the weirdest part, is that some girls (maybe guys too?) get nose implants to give themselves a bridge. And I guess the most attractive nose is like a big Jewish/Greek nose. Strange.

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My first earthquake

There was an earthquake in Laos that I kind of felt last week. It was my first earthquake. But it wasn't actually that exciting because I didn't know it was an earthquake. I thought I was dehydrated and dizzy. I was standing in the teacher's room planning a lesson, started looking at the ground, thought it looked like it was rolling, but figured it was me. I also felt like I couldn't keep my balance, so I sat down and kind of looked at the floor more, trying to get my eyes to stop acting so weird. I was in a room with 10 other people and no one said anything.

Then about 5 minutes later boss John came in and said, "You guys feel that 'quake?" And everyone said, "Oh an earthquake! That makes so much more sense. I thought I was just dizzy."

Here's an article - Laos hit by powerful earthquake

Apparently, there was also an earthquake in December, but I was a concert and didn't feel/notice/know. Earthquakes are interesting.

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My gym

I'm not mad at California WOW anymore. They open at 8 so I can go in the morning and be productive all day. The mall opens at 11, so I get to go in and out through the loading dock which gets me all kind of funny looks. The facilities are nice, the locker rooms are beautiful, the TVs have 2 music video channels. I have a membership card now and it says "Beth Charpenties". I almost thought this made sense, because the letter for the "r" sound in Thai looks like an English "S", but then I remembered that I definitely wrote my name in English and an English "R" doesn't really look like an English "S" at all. I wasn't sure if they might care that my name is spelled wrong, but when I showed her, the girl said, "If you no serious, then it ok."
I decided "I no serious, so it ok."

Thais have a weird concept of the word "serious."

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May

It's hot, but it's started raining again which is nice. I've got a couple of more weeks and then I'm going home for 2 weeks. (New York people I'll be having a belated birthday party. There will be ice cream.) And when I get back I get to meet Alki at the airport, and then go to Elephant Nature Park for a week. This is great. We're not sure what we're doing after, but it'll be good! I know it!

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