Luk-Kreung (Half Child)

I recently had a dream in which I reached into my head and pulled out my brain, stared at it in my hand (amazed that I was still able to think) and then decided to put it back in. Not only was this one of the most shocking and graphic dreams I've ever had, but it has really made me think about how living in another culture forces you to change your thought patterns, your lifestyle and everything you take for granted as "normal." Kelly suggested that this dream was about learning to think like Thais, starting to see the world from a different perspective. It's true that this is the longest I've ever lived in another country and I can sense some really big changes happening. Actually, I don't generally notice them but Becky and Shawn have really helped me see how adjusted I've become here. While they are still new to Thai culture, they often comment on how "Thai" Hilary and I have become. For example, the first time they followed me on a motorcycle they said, "You're driving like the Thais now!" as I drove in an opposite direction down a one-way street, did an illegal U-turn and crossed the road. Becky said, "You never would have done that a year ago" and she was right. I used to be terrified of Thai traffic but now I just go with the flow. And it's not so scary once you know the rules, once you understand how things work here.

I feel like I've become a "luk kreung," a child that is half-foreign, half-Thai. I'm learning to reconcile the cultural differences while still trying to hold onto some values and beliefs of my own culture. And the things that used to bother me about Thai culture still do, but not so often. Although I'm still a bit of a stickler about time, I'm learning to accept "Thai time" which is always at least half an hour behind. I think just being able to anticipate how things are going to be makes life here much easier. Of course, being able to discuss these differences with Otto has really helped me. When Hilary and I moved into our new house, Otto suggested that we give some offerings to the spirits of the house. Under a tree, we placed some flowers, burned candles and incense while asking the house spirits to welcome us. It was actually a very lovely ceremony and it made me feel like the new house was "official." We also had a housewarming party to throw in a bit of our own culture. I love this blending of cultures, being able to share these different beliefs and evaluating the actions we take for granted.

Chiang Dao Pics!

In Chiang Dao cave I felt that there was an overwhelming sense of sadness. I couldn't exactly put my finger on it, but when we got to this cave formation, the guide explained that this was a "yak" or giant that had been so sad that she just laid down and died inside the cave. I was quite taken in by this sculpture...it was beautiful and sad at the same time.


here is a picture from the "ancient forest" or swamp. it was a pretty magical place!


Otto and I having our new year's eve dinner at Chiang Dao Nest:


on new year's day we climbed up the mountain and went to this temple. it was heavenly!

Holiday Pics!

Okay so we'll start with the Christmas show at the International School in town. I don't teach there but many of my frineds do and we know many of the parents and studnets so I was invited to their show. Karen's kindergarten students performed a skit about different animals so they all dressed up in different animal costumes. they were adorable as you can see!
Here's cute little Cara as a reindeer:


and some of the other kiddies:


an adorable little lion boy:


becky and I getting ready to watch the show:


Hilary and I had a party before everyone left town for the holidays. here are the christmas roomies:


and we didn't have a christmas tree so we used an office chair as a place to keep our presents:


Christmas eve was a party at Karen, Becky and Shawn's place. here are some of the lovely ladies: Chan, Parn, Noi and Tan (who is VERY ready to have her baby!)


the crazy roomies got everyone's attention by shouting in this traffic cone.


I had a lot of fun singing "Rudolph" with the kids and teaching them a little dance. Otto always says that i'm a "magnet for children and animals."


on the porch lounge with becky.

Chiang Dao

For New Years, Otto and I decided to get out of Chiang Mai which is particularly full of tourists, traffic jams and pollution at this time of year. Just an hour north up into the mountains is a quaint little town called Chiang Dao or the "City of Stars." We found this place when we went to the orphanage there for christmas and decided it would be a perfect spot to go for relaxation. The scenery is breathtaking and there is a huge striking mountain called Doi Luang or Doi Chiang Dao which is the 3rd highest mountain in all of Thailand! the first night we stayed in a guesthouse right near the mountain and watched the sunset from atop a little hill. Our bedroom was purple (which has some significance from my childhood) and the workers at the hotel even built a little fire just for otto and i in the firepit. the stars shone so bright and we sat around the fire enjoying the *for once* cold northern weather. it was so nice to be able to wear a scarf and jacket and feel chilly!

we rented a motorbike from these nice people who owned a guesthouse. their names were Mon and Kurt and they ended up being a great resource of information about Chiang Dao. they recommended some bike loops for us to take and some sights to see. the first day, we went to chiang dao cave which was full of limestone formations. there was a beautiful altar just inside the cave and outside the cave was a lovely lagoon as well as some ancient temple ruins. i could definitely feel that this was a place people had lived and prayed at for many centuries. we stayed at a cute little guesthouse owned by an italian man and his thai wife. there were only 2 rooms there and we had an exquisite meal of home-made pastas and tiramisu!

on new year's eve we drove a loop far north and just enjoyed the scenery. there weren't many villages along there. we stopped at a place called the "1,000 year old ancient forest" which proved to be more like the swamp that luke skywalker trains at in Star Wars. it was very peaceful and there was a little bamboo walkway through the forest that ended at a lovely cool lagoon. we also tried to visit another cave but i chickened out because it involved sliding under rocks and walking a mile back. there was only one guide with a tiny light and the route seemed very treacherous so i opted out of it. we stopped in a little village and had a coke with some of the villagers who taught us about their local cigarettes which involved tobacco and tamarind shells.

next we made our way to the hotspring. Kurt (the guesthouse owner) had told us that it was a very quiet, peaceful place with little private rooms for rent. unfortunately as it was new years eve, there happened to be a crazy festival going on there. two different platforms were broadcasting different music at very loud decibals. people were sitting around drinking on the hillsides and a voice on a microphone announced, "today, a foreigner has come to visit us! thank you for joining our party!" i was feeling a bit intimidated by everything and just wanted to find the private rooms as i didn't want to be gawked at while enjoying the hotspring. however, the workers were quite wasted already and couldn't even explain the whole system to otto. we just waited and finally got our own little room with a tiled tub which the worker "washed" out with his feet. okay it wasn't the ideal situation but we still made the best of it and planned to go to another hotspring the next day.

we had reserved dinner at this place called "Nest" and it turned out to be quite a delicious buffet with live entertainment. there were all sort of hilltribe performances as well as traditional thai dancing and northern music. they even had performers from myanmar which was exciting. after dinner we went back over to Mon and Kurt's guesthouse where they were having a private little party for their friends and staff. we danced and had a countdown. otto tried his first champagne which was "sour" according to him. we had rented a little house from Mon and Kurt. it was a traditional style off in one of the villages around Chiang Dao and the upstairs was made of teak wood. the neighbors woke up quite early as did the many roosters that seemed to surround our house.

new years day, we had breakfast at a place called Malees which is a guesthouse that we would really like to return to. then we walked up the road to a nearby temple to tam boon for the new year. we walked up 500 steps to get to the cave and chedi at the top. along the way were many signs with buddhist principals which otto explained to me. then we drove north and almost reached the thai/myanmar border. we stopped in a village where everyone spoke chinese rather than thai. and finally we stopped at yet another hot spring. this was a public one and of course there were many families relaxing. it was a nice way to spend the late afternoon. on the 2nd we said goodbye to mon and kurt and drove back to chiang mai. i'm sad that the holiday is over but it's nice to know that there is a peaceful little place to escape to if chiang mai gets to be too crazy. i'm sure we will be visiting chiang dao again very soon!