shocking!

I'm already bracing myself for the severe reverse culture shock I expect to experience when I go home to my tiny, northeast Texas hometown in a couple of months. I actually get a sort of panicked feeling in my chest when I think about it.

In a nutshell, and at the risk of sounding like a cosmopolitan snob, I'm worried that Greenville won't be nearly stimulating enough. You can find anything and everything you want here in Bangkok.

Amazing international cuisine? Check.
Movies, bowling alleys, and bookshops? Check.
Coffee shops, symphony concerts, public parks, cultural events, festivals, sky bars, ice skating rinks, amusement parks, shopping, historical sites, easy access to beaches, bars with nightly live music...

And I mustn't leave out the incessant confusion, the thrill of being able to read a Thai word written in the few characters I know, the stares, and the adventures in navigating various modes of transportation including, but not limited to, the skytrain, taxis, public buses, tuk-tuks, and canal boats.

Will someone please remind me why I'm leaving?

In the meantime, I'm trying to drum up a bout of homesickness with -- what else? -- a country music binge.

Questo il beccio di Tosca!

Some of the girls went out tonight for a dose of high culture at the opera. I'd never been to an opera before. I tried to put preconceived notions out of my mind, but part of me kept hoping a fat lady in a viking hat would show up.

We saw Puccini's Tosca. It was tragic, but good. I wish I were so vocally gifted.

There were English and Thai subtitles projected onto screens on either side of the stage, but I enjoyed trying to figure out as many words as possible based on my Spanish.

It wasn't until I got to Thailand that I realized how much I like foreign languages. I feel like a spy trying to crack the code. Every street sign or poster I pass is a secret message, waiting to be deciphered.

As of right now, I can read about seven Thai consonants and two vowels... out of 44 and 28, respectively. Baby steps, people, baby steps. Did I mention that Thai is hard?

I know some quasi-useful words and phrases, though.

Hello, goodbye, yes, no, thank you, left, right, the color blue, the color purple, beautiful, ginger chicken with rice, chicken, pork, the numbers through 100, "Look at this/that.", "How much is it?"

Hm. I guess that's about it. Now that I can see my Thai vocabulary enumerated, I'm pretty unimpressed with myself.

a school play

As so often happens at our school, the kids had a random morning assembly. I knew something exciting was happening when I saw several students walking around in costumes.

When I walked into the office, Pikay (the second grade English teacher) was telling the American teachers that the kids were putting on a play, and that we could go downstairs and watch it. So we did.

Unfortunately, plays don't come with English subtitles, so we had no clue what was going on. There were no spoken parts. An adult was singing a song - I presume he told what was happening - and the kids pantomimed.

After the second act, I decided that the play didn't make any sense. I turned to the teacher next to me and said, "So... what's going on?"

Apparently, it wasn't a play with a plot, but more of a series of lessons on manners and propriety from the olden days. The first act was about hygiene. Girls should fix their hair nice and neat, and boys should scrub their faces.

The second was about walking like a proper lady. The third taught that one should never walk and talk at the same time; always wait until you get inside your house. The fourth was a kind of fashion show with seven little couples. They were dressed in the colors of the day. If you wear red on Sunday, you'll have luck.

The fifth part was my personal favorite. One should never use the river as a toilet. The sixth was about respecting the sun, the sky, and monks. The seventh was about saying your prayers every night.