Day 1 (August 11) - Mai kautai, Immigration, Karaoke, and a sudden downpour
"Pomm mai kautai" (my language book says you can spell things however you want if you're transliterating to Latin alphabet) means "I don't understand." I have been saying it a lot, because while I would actually feel semi-comfortable going to a restaurant and ordering food (provided the options were spoken to me since I am illiterate), Pimsleur has in no way made me able to carry on with smalltalk. My mother does speak a fair amount of English, so although I would rather be speaking and learning Thai, until I wake up enough to really start retaining the words she teaches me, that will probably be the language she uses whenever I need to get anything done.
I thought I had gone through customs yesterday, but my mother (khun mää) took me to the Chon Buri immigration office in the morning. I did go through customs, but we actually had to go to immigration for my family to announce that they were hosting me. With that cleared up, we went out to lunch.
Lunch was at essentially a street vendor's kitchen, but with an entire lot of covered seating, for a sit-down restaurant experience. I'm still getting used to all the flavors, which isn't to say that the food wasn't good, but the real standout was a sort of miniature pineapple that was served cut into wedges with the core left on as a handle. I forgot the Thai word that my mother told me it was. As I said, I haven't been able to concentrate enough to retain much.
After lunch, I was introduced to what should be the Thai national pasttime, if it isn't already: karaoke. My grandma sings perfectly on pitch - not a single mistake. Me, not so much, but she still made me repeat "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash because she liked it. That was one of the few English songs on the machine alongside full catalogues of the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Queen, Madonna, and Oasis, and for some reason, a Linkin Park song.
It is apparently the rainy season, which, other than being overcast all the time didn't really seem to be an accurate description. Then, this afternoon, I was standing outside, and it started drizzling so my host grandma told me to go inside. We did, and that was when it started raining as hard as it ever does in Minnesota. 15 minutes later it was done.
That was another late night and I don't even remember why.
I thought I had gone through customs yesterday, but my mother (khun mää) took me to the Chon Buri immigration office in the morning. I did go through customs, but we actually had to go to immigration for my family to announce that they were hosting me. With that cleared up, we went out to lunch.
Lunch was at essentially a street vendor's kitchen, but with an entire lot of covered seating, for a sit-down restaurant experience. I'm still getting used to all the flavors, which isn't to say that the food wasn't good, but the real standout was a sort of miniature pineapple that was served cut into wedges with the core left on as a handle. I forgot the Thai word that my mother told me it was. As I said, I haven't been able to concentrate enough to retain much.
After lunch, I was introduced to what should be the Thai national pasttime, if it isn't already: karaoke. My grandma sings perfectly on pitch - not a single mistake. Me, not so much, but she still made me repeat "I Walk the Line" by Johnny Cash because she liked it. That was one of the few English songs on the machine alongside full catalogues of the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, Queen, Madonna, and Oasis, and for some reason, a Linkin Park song.
That was another late night and I don't even remember why.
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