20070729

070728 Thaikarl - about the ants again, its only working

friends,

don't be freeking out on me now.  i have ants in my toothbrush because i take shower outside using the water jars.  if you use the bathroom, there are no ants. well not usually.  besides, there's a frog who lives in there behind the brush basket who eats anything that moves in there.  he must, cause otherwise, how would he survive?  Its not the same frog that used to live in there.  different species. emerges from the drain in the floor.  what a life.

we're getting things done.  moving dirt in the sun is exhausting.  i crashed in the hammock during a break today and missed the burning ceremony for a friend of Toks. We went to the death ceremony thing at their house last night.  a pickup truck full of monks came, they chanted for a while, a short eulogy or two, and food was served.  then they gamble.  cards, and this game played with three dice and a bowl.  you place bets on a roll up plastic sheet, trying to match the outcome of the three shaken dice under the bowl.  i didn't have any money to lose.  so i didn't.  told Tok i lost 500 baht.  she was perturbed to say the least.  then i added "in my imagination"    555555!

i hope it stays warm in seattle.  i'm not looking forward to being cold.

Gorgous the life!
nu
--
I am in southeast asia April 19 - July 20 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/

20070726

070726 Thaikarl Gorgeous the life

friends,

Buncha new pix in the picassa gallery (new pix are always at the bottom)

News of the weird

on a pillow at the monday market, emblazoned with a large orange flower on a pale green background, where the words:

Bright-colored in gay colors, gorgeous the life.  Very satisfactory result.

"Gorgeous the life" i like that. Very satisfactory result indeed.  All your base are belong to us.

And, not to be outrageous or anything, but the last paragraph in a story in the Pattaya Mail (english language newspaper) reads:

"...Saowaluk ran from the scene of the crime and police are now searching for a dangerous one-armed jealous shoe polisher who's attracted to lesbian prostitutes' girlfriends." The headline for the story read:  "One-armed man slit lesbian's throat in a fit of jealousy"

You can fill in the details from there.

Some sanook (fun) from thailand.  else, we're getting things done.  in fits and spurts as they say.  i spent a good part of the day 'tera-forming' the ground under the Lucky Moon House.  after construction, the dry ground under the house was all lumpy and had wood pieces and cement chunks all mixed in.  worse than that, when it rains the flood of water would run under the middle of  the area and turn it into a sea of mud.  i dug out a shallow ditch to divert the water across the front of  the house, and along the side behind the water fountain.  one thing i learned building the water fountain - water goes where IT needs to go, which is not necessarily where you think it will go.  i also had the big idea that if i turned on the pump and poured liters of well water over the whole area, i could reform the hard lumps by turning the whole thing back into mud, which i could rake and scrape around to make a somewhat level surface.  Tok thought i was nuts.  I'm always coming up with crazy "non-thai" ideas.  so i did just that- flooded the whole area under the house with water, and raked, and raked and raked, and scraped.  somewhat successful.  it's hard to make dirt that turns to clay mud move around.  we'll see what its like when it drys out some.

They are planting rice in the fields out back.  what a job!  a few weeks ago a conventional tractor came round and plowed under the remains of the tobacco crop.  Then, since we haven't had any big rains, they turned on the pumps and filled the fields with water from the wells. chunka-chunka-chunka sound 24 hours a day.  then a man plowed and scraped the fields using a motorized buffalo, which is a kubota industrial motor that drives two big metal wheels, with long handles running back to the operator.  they first seeded rice seed in a couple of the smaller fields, which has been growing like grass.  the last week, they have been gathering the seedlings.  12 or so people bent over, snatching the seedlings from the mud, gathering them in the other hand.  they smack the bunch against their foot to remove the excess mud, straighten the bundle and tie it with a strip of bamboo.  Then they put 15 or so bundles on a bamboo pole and distribute them across the fields.  the last couple of days they have been replanting the seedlings.  grab a couple of seedlings (which kind of look like scallion onions) and push it in the water down into the mud.  do this over and over and over.  all day.  bent over.  i go out to take pictures and they always laugh and try to get me to try it.  i decline.  after all, it IS forbidden for foreigners to engage in agricultural work.

as tok and i were walking along the dams out to see the workers, i asked her "where do the snakes go when the fields are full of water?"  i'm always asking dumb questions like that.  Tok fired back: "I don't know, i forgot to ask them!" with a big smile.  Once i asked her where will the frogs live when they destroy the pond making the big road.  she said "they can go live in the fields!"  i a bit soft when it comes to the creatures.  if a frog comes hopping into the house, or on the porch, i'll ketch it and take it out to the pond.  The other day i found a land crab under the 55 gal drum.  he was a bit harder to catch (ouch!) but out to the fields he went.  they would have  probably kept it to put in the papaya salad.  any time big flying insects get in the house, i try to gently guide them out the roof.  they will just ignore them.  or smack them if they are annoying.  I lie to watch the chickens, but they can get annoying.  If i make a pile of raked up debris and dirt, then go have lunch, when i come back the pile will be scattered all over.  the chickens do this funny scratch-scratch then a quick hop backwards and head-dive to look for exposed things to eat.  they get all over the yard.  Tok doesn't like them and throws things to get them to go away.  but then, she's been living with the neighbors chickens for years.  i haven't.

we came into town today to transfer a land telephone line over to Toks name.  One of the neighboors needs money to fix their broken well pump, so he's selling his land line to us.  you can't just get a land line.  there are a limited number of lines to the village.  the only way to get one is to wait until somebody wants to sell theirs.  but everybody has a mobile phone, so....  amazing thailand.

have to go back to my earth-moving and yard work.

onward!  Gorgeous the life!

Nu and Tok

--
I am in southeast asia April 19 - July 20 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/

20070723

070723 check your toothbush for ants

friends,

getting things done around the household.  spend the day digging up good dirt, to put under the house, and transplanting a chille bush and some other weird tree.  tired, but it feels good to get done.

mama uses a huckleberry finn ploy.  yesterday she started rebuilding the tin house that covers and protects the well pump and motor.  she's out there dragging around wood, banging nails, sawing peices, gathering corregated tin. of course, Tok had to come help her, and then i got dragged into it because they were going to use the best wood - because it was handy.  there is plenty of crappy wood with a zillion nails in it, but still strong as iron, but you have to go find it and drag it around.  after a while, mama went and sat down under the house, then went inside and took a nap.  meanwhile, Tok and I were committed to building this thing, then it was just me.  but it got done.

they are starting to plant rice in the fields.  i've never seen this, as the other times i've been here when the tobacco is growing.  so i't quite interesting.  except for the pumps running 24 hours a day to fill the fields with water.  there hasn't been any big rain to fill the fields, so they are pumping it from the wells.  the pump sounds like a sewing machine - but louder, and constant.  photos to follow.

there are some new photos in the picassa gallery.

oh yeah, the ants.  since i take my showers outside from the rain water jars, i leave my toothbrush on the lid of one of the jars.  the ants seem to like the residual sweetness of the toothpaste, so i have to check my toothbrush for ants before using it.  the red ants aren't a bother, rather tasty in fact, but the black ants bite.

Onward!

Nu and Tok

--
I am in southeast asia April 19 - July 20 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/

20070721

070721 Thaikarl - the visa story in depth

friends,

here's the story on trying to get a tourist visa.  my short flaming spew i sent before was confusing, i know.

the setting:
Tok and I are getting married.  we could apply for a fiancee visa, which allows a foreigner to come to the united states for up to 90 days, during which time you must get married - or not.  no matter what, she/he must leave the country.  if you marry, you can then  apply  for immigrant status, with green card and all that.   the fiancee visa costs several hundred dollars and more importantly, takes 4 to 6 months to complete.  not fast enough, since we are to marry next spring.

so the next logical choice would be to get her a tourist visa.  just enough time to visit the united states, meet family and friends and have a little look around.  the immigration website states clearly that they consider anyone who wants to come to the US to be an immigrant- meaning you want to come to the USA to live and work.  (of course, if you are from a developed countries like Europe or japan, you are going to be just a tourist, you get a visa by just showing up.)  they state that you must prove to them that you have sufficient ties to your home country to ensure that you will go back.  we figured that we had all that covered: Tok is caring for a young daughter and an aged mother. she has property and employment.   we had documents and photos and everything to support this.  we thought that her having a fiancee in the USA would be a help- it would show that she has support there, a place to go and someone to look after her. i also thought that they would consider it favorable because we wouldn't want to screw up the tourist visa because it would make it unlikely that she could ever get an immigrant visa after we are married. 

sounds good yeah?  legitimate, honest and open. 

wrong.

in their eyes, having a fiancee in the united states means that you want to go to the us to live with them, and are applying for a tourist visa just to get into the country, with no intention of going back.  the girl at the consulate counter even said that:  "i cannot issue a tourist visa to you because i believe you want to go to america to live with your fiancee"  and that was that.  that is why i said in the earlier email that as soon as i said i was her fiancee, i could tell the answer was NO.  for Tok to apply for a tourist visa under those circumstances would be truthful, but not the whole story - as she would like to visit the america.

I did talk with a local immigration lawyer a while back.  when i emailed him of our failed result he replied:

Dear Mr. Karl

 

For any consolation it may be, the officer really doesn't have any choice in the matter with an admission of a principal personal relationship with a US Citizen residing in the US. Under those circumstances it is virtually impossible for the applicant to overcome the statutory presumption of immigrant intent under INA section 214(b). I would wager that the denial sheet they gave you gave section 214(b) as the basis for denial, often expressed as "the applicant failed to demonstrate sufficiently strong ties to the home country.


so it wasn't the interviewers fault really, she was just following the rules.  yeah.

It would have been much better if Tok applied for a tourist visa all on her own.  no mention of a fiancee at all.  and i shouldn't have been with her.  if she went there and said she just wanted to visit america, see a few sights and come back, they would have looked at her property,  employment and band statement and determined (by whatever formula they have back there) if she had sufficient cause to return to thailand before the visa ran out.  while we were waiting, we watched and listened as many people went to the windows for their interviews.  the ones who walked away smiling and holding a green paper got their visa's.  there were all kinds of people, going for all sorts of reasons- visiting relatives, holiday, student trips etc.  most of them were seemingly successful. tho we did hear a few cases where they wanted more documentation of employment etc.

so, whatever.  it's not like its a whole lot easier to stay in thailand.  except that, anyone from a developed- meaning RICH country can just show up  at the airport and get an automatic 30 day stamp in their passport.  and as i've mentioned,  you could extend that for up to 5 months stay in total before you have to exit the country for 90 days.  used to be you could do a visa run every thirty days and stay in  thailand indefinitely.  but they got tired of that a few months ago and changed the rules.

oh well.

onward!
Nu and Tok

--
I am in southeast asia April 19 - July 20 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/

20070718

070718 Thaikarl crafty day and bus time again

friends

there is a nice video that gives a flavor of bangkok at:

http://video.mthai.com/player.php?id=11M1184809786M0

they are having a kind of crafts demonstration/hands on under a tend outside the department store near the hotel.  Tok went there yesterday and made a few things. she's over there now while i am in the internet cafe.  they have tables and instructors set up, each doing a different crafty thing.  you can learn how and make your own painted bracelet, painted glass, display board, painted nails, flower baskets etc.  all free.  Tok was really excited, she wanted to learn everything!  each of the tables gives you their card, and if later you want to buy paints or materials to do your own, you can contact them.  pretty cool.

lots and lots of commerce occurs on the sidewalks and beside the road in thailand.  food, cloths, jewelry, glasswear, souvenirs, CD's/DVD's/VCD's - just about anything/everything.  people will rent a space if it's in front of a commercial property, or just set up and sell.  everything from an old women with a few bananas to elaborate crafts fair type booths with signs, displays and music.  and it will all be folded up, packed up and gone every night.  unless it's the night vendors - they take the places the day vendors leave open.  there was a guy who set up a tv tray sized table outside 7-eleven the other night.  he had a few bottle of whisky, some coca cola, a bucket of ice and glasses.  instant street bar.  some places, like on the fly-overs and sky-train walkways are barred from vendors.  or at least so says the sign.  doesn't stop people from opening up a suitcase, laying out a cloth, and selling cute jeweled fobs they put on their phones, or hair bands, or combs.  someone will lookout, and if a cop starts to wander in their direction, flip/flop/flash, all the merchandise is back in the case and the vendors walk off.

amazing thailand

onward!
Nu and Tok
--
I am in southeast asia April 19 - July 20 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/

070718 thaikarl - to cambodia and back in one day

friends,

i made the visa run to cambodia today.  it was rather painless really.  took the skytrain to the On Nut station, went to the food court in the Tesco Lotus (department store) and found the tour man and the rest of the people going on the run.  some 16 of us got into two of the large passenger vans they use here and 4 hours later we arrived at a new border crossing.  exited thailand, handed over passports and photos to they kid at the table and went to the casino for a buffet lunch.  after lunch, the tour man came with our passports all ready to go, walked back to thailand, got another 30 days stamped in, got back in the vans and 4 hours later back in bangkok.  DVD movies along the way, one rest-stop for snacks and toilet midway.  only 1900 baht ( 63.00 USD) for the whole thing, including the visa for cambodia that we used for all of 1 hour.  never really went into cambodia actually.  there's a buffer zone between each countries gate - which is why there is a casino there.  tens of scruffy, ragged kids begging for handouts hanging on the fence.  on the thai side, the road is paved. across the gates on the cambodian side, it's dirt.  such is the difference.  we are staying in bangkok at the hotel again, then busing back to Lomsak tomorrow.

my brother deposited some money he owed me for a little work (and kicked in a little extra, thanks!) in the bank in the US, so we have a week or so living expense covered.  back to work on the house.  lots of dirt to move, debris to clean up, touching up after the 'painters' - no lack of things to do.  and the water fountain i built has a few "issues" to fix - like an internal leek that i will have to fix somehow.  and the weather is still warm, and the food is still delicious, and Tok is still a sweetheart.

onward!
Nu and Tok

--
I am in southeast asia April 19 - august 8 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/

20070716

070716 Thaikarl - Visa? what a waste of time and money!

friends,

Tok and i went to the US consulate today for her tourist visa "interview".  when we finally walked up to the window, the first thing the girl asked was I her fiance.  it was obvious that the answer was NO! from that second on.  she didn't look at the papers, didn't even ask Tok any questions.  $100.00 for the visa fee, transport and hotel in bangkok, and all these papers filled out, copies made, pictures taken etc.  i am so completely annoyed with our goverment, and the people behind them that have supported our "immigration system" bah! i don't even want to talk about it anymore.  maybe later.

i booked a flight from Bangkok to Vancouver B.C. for early august.  i would feel really bad leaving the family behind with all this work to do and the uncertainty about Mama's health.  put the ticket on credit card.   costly, but whatever.  scraping around trying to borrow a few hundred here and there for living expenses for us for my extension...  it appears i will have plenty of work when i return, so things will smooth out nicely within a short time.

meanwhile, we are in Bangkok, which is always a thrill for me.  since the visa thing tanked, we're going to relax a day, then wednesday i have to take a special "visa-run" bus to cambodia, leave thailand and turn right around and come back in to get another 30 days in the country.  bus leaves at 5:30am and returns that night.  lots of bus-riding time in the nexe couple of days, as it's another 6 hours back to the country home.

6:00pm. they are playing the thai national anthem on TV. time to stand up.  8:00am and 6:00pm.  the anthem is quite short.  the joke is, "how could you win a battle against thai soldiers?" answer:  "play the national anthem.  they will all stand up and stand still.  bang-bang-bang. we win"

onward!

nukhun and Tok

--
I am in southeast asia April 19 - July 20 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/

20070714

070714 Thaikarl - bad time to leave

friends,

haven't said much to yall lately.  everyday is pretty much the same drill: get up, drink coffee and work on the house.  goto town, buy food, go back and work on the house.

i'm scheduled to depart thailand july 18th.  my ticket expires that day, and i can't extend the date.  a one way ticket is pretty expensive.  it's a bad time to be leaving.  Mama is coughing up blood.  Tok took her to the hospital this morning.  They need several days of samples before they know what is going on.  but it can't be anything but serious.  coupled with that, there is still a ton of work to do around the house just cleaning up after all the construction.  i hate to leave it all for Tok to do, and worry about mama at the same time.   i'm trying to conjure up a way to stay for a few more weeks.  i can put the plane ticket on a credit card, but cash for living is, um, well, a mystery.  i'll let yah know...

the new house is as finished as the budget will allow.  they built us some stairs to get up there, using any old leftover laying around wood.  it works, but it's like the staircases they have in holland.  very steep, more like a ladder than a stairs.  but it will have to do.  and the stain and varnish of the the wood will have to wait also.  etc.

we leave for bangkok tommorrow.  Toks tourist visa appointment at the embassy is monday morning.  wish us luck.  it's a long shot, be we'll give it a try.

onward!

Nukhun and Tok

--
I am in southeast asia April 19 - July 20 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/

20070712

070712 Thaikarl - Tok and I are getting married

friends,

i know some of yall are busy and don't get around to reading the travelogues.  my subject lines are sometimes obtuse, so in case you didn't read the "lucky like the moon" story of how Tok and I became engaged, you can read it at:
http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/2007/07/070706-thaikarl-lucky-like-moon.html

but the short version is this:

last year i asked Tok to marry me. she accepted.  we will be getting married in thailand april or may of next year - 2008.  everyone is invited.  we set the date far enough ahead to allow people who would like to come, and also holiday in thailand, time enough to plan, save and make arrangements.

we are applying for Tok to get a tourist visa to the USA.  if successful, she will be coming over for a few weeks (when i get the money together for her) and those of you on this list who would llike to meet her will have opportunity.  IF we get the visa.  they make it very difficult for thais to visit the  states.  Homeland Insecurity and all that. 

onward!
Nu and Tok
--
I am in southeast asia April 19 - July 20 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/

20070706

070706 Thaikarl - Lucky like the Moon

Friends,

There is an important story I left out of my travelogues from 2006.  Some of you might have guessed, some of you know.

April in Thailand is the month of the Songkran Holiday.  It's a Thai new year, based on the lunar calendar, and very big holiday.  Many festivities are in order.  The most famous, and inescapable, is throwing water.  In the old days, the custom was to merely sprinkle a few drops of water on passers-by, but it has devolved to groups of people with everything from cups to water cannons thoroughly soaking anyone who comes near.  There are parades, music, beauty contests, music, honoring the old people, and general good fun.

I had a special plan for this day.  Songkran day will have a full moon that night.  I'm quite enthralled by full moons.  When I was a kid, I had a bedroom window that was only a few inches above the level of the bed.  I could lay there at night and watch the moonrise, and I would stay awake late, until it had risen so high that the moonlight crossed my bed and was replaced by shadow.  Perhaps the rays of the moonlight got deep into by psyche, but I have ever felt changed and charged by that time.  So full moons especially are notable for me, as it is in much of the world.  I feel like there is an additional energy in the air - if I choose to notice it, and it is a good time for me to do things I consider special.

My plan for this full moon was formed in purpose, but lacking in details.  I worked it out as the day went on.  The first thing I decided I must do is to get a string of words translated into Thai language...  I couldn't ask Tok of course, as the words were for her.  We had met a Thai women how now lives in Texas at Jamlongs beauty shop the day before.  I asked Tok if we might find this woman.  She had said she would be at one of the temples in the morning, and I asked Tok to take me there, ostensibly to see the goings on.  When we arrived, I didn't see the women, so I had to gently ask Tok to find her.  The women was busy somewhere, so I had to stall around till she came back.  Then I had to converse with her in private somehow, which was not easy.  I asked the women to translate and write in Thai the words I had in mind.  She did, but when I looked at the paper, it was (to me) illegible.  I can recognize Thai characters, and I have copied them numerous times, but the softened abbreviated handwritten characters I couldn't make out.  Tok was getting a little suspicious of why I was trying to do business with this woman, so I had to let it go and hope I had another chance later.

In the afternoon, we followed the parade to the civic grounds in the town of Lomsak.  There is big field out front of the police station and civic buildings.  The parade cars and trucks formed up there for showing the floats, and there was a big stage for music, announcements and beauty contests.  Tok and I tend to stick pretty close together when we are out, so I took a while for me to entertain an excuse to wander off on my own.  Tok was doing some of the makeup for the beauty contestants, and while she was busy doing that, I went of to "shoot video" of the floats and the Isan bands.

I was trying to find someone who could translate the words form me, and write them down in legible characters.  When I showed the paper the women wrote, there were some big smiles and laughs, and I had to explain that the words were for someone else.  My explaining didn't always come across.  When I asked some boys who were part of an Isan music band, one of them seemed to understand what I was asking for.  He copied the illegible handwriting into clear Thai script that I could read.  So far so good.

When we returned to the house later in the day, I had to sneak away quietly and carefully copy the words in my own hand.  I wrote on a piece of nice paper I used for drawing.  I had a plan to carry out next. 

I drink a lot of Kraeting Deang, which is "Red Bull" in Thai.  It's somewhat of a 'signature' drink for me.  We save the bottles, either to recycle, or for me to make something of them.  I took one of the empty bottles, rolled the note up and put it inside and put the cap on.  I had saved a few rings of jasmine flowers from the parade during the day. I put all this in a bag, and went looking for a digging tool.  Mama uses a short shovel thing to tend the plants.  It is a wooden handle about a foot long with a piece of steel on the end to dig with.  I quietly put all these things out back of the house and answered the call for dinner.

After dinner, I kind of wandered off into the night, retrieving my bag and digging tool.  I went between the houses out to the fields.  I walked along the earthen dams between the fields.  Old tobacco plants were still standing in rows, looking ghostly and limp.  The moon was full and bathed everything in a glorious light.  In between Toks two fields there is an earth dam that separates them.  I turned right and found a good spot where the earth was wide enough, and there weren't weeds growing.  I started digging with my tool.  It was tough chopping a hole in the hard clay soil.  I was flinging the loose dirt off to the side.  Once I flung the tool up to rid the hole of a little dirt and the tool suddenly felt lighter.  The metal end had come loose and flown off into the tobacco stalks.  Great.  I had a little blue LED light with me, but trying to see anything with it was difficult.  I was on my hands and knees, rummaging around the roots in the moonlight with a tiny blue light trying to find the metal end of the digging tool. Every bug in the field came over to see what was going on, and was delighted to find me. I almost gave up and was thinking of going back to the house for a proper flashlight, but I didn't want to reappear at the house and raise any questions.  Going back into the weeds for one last look, I finally found the metal scoop.  Did my best to pound it tightly to the wooden handle and continued my digging - being a little more careful when I went flinging dirt around this time.  Finally I had a hole big enough and deep enough to put in the red bull bottle.  I sprinkled a few leaves over the hole, and displayed the jasmine flower rings around the opening of the hole.  I didn't want it to be too obvious, but then I didn't want it to be easy to pass over, and it had to look just un-natural enough to attract attention.  This part of the plan was accomplished.

I went back to the house and innocently hung around for a while.  When Tok had a free moment, I asked her if she would go for a walk with me in the moonlight.  We took hands and walked out back to the fields.  As we were walking along the earth dam, I asked Tok if she ever felt her father's presence in the fields.  He died about twelve years ago. Tok inherited these fields from him.  She said that she did occasionally sense him.  I asked if he would approve of us. She said that he would.  The moon had risen a little since I was last in the field, and it was easy to walk in only the moonlight.  I lead the way right at the crossing earth dam and approached the spot I had prepared.  When I stopped suddenly and turned around, it took Tok only a second to look down and see the ring of flowers.  What is this? She asked me.  It is for you I told her.  She bent down to look closer.  The blue top of the red bull bottle was glinting in the night light.  Now she knew for sure something was up. I told her to take out the bottle.  I was so nervous and excited I could hardly breathe.  Tok took the bottle out of the ground and looked at it.  There is a paper inside she said.  Open it I said.  She opened the bottle and shook out the paper.  Unrolling it, she peered at the writing in the moonlight.  She giggled softly.  I asked her to read the note, which she did- in Thai.  No, read it in english, she read it again, but silently.  Out loud please, in english I asked her.  She read the note, it said:

"Will you marry me sir?"

I answered "YES!" 

And that is how I 'tricked' Tok into asking ME to marry her.

Of course, after some laughing and joking about it, I turned things around, and formally asked Tok to marry me.  She said "yes" warm hugs and kisses in the moonlight followed...

So, as you may or may not have known, Tok and I are getting married.  In a way we are already, as common-law marriage is valid in Thailand.  We certainly live and love together as spouses.  But of course, we would like to have a fun gathering, a Buddhist ceremony and a celebration.  The date will be in April or May of next year - 2008.  The custom here is to consult with the monks or the shamans or somebody for a proper date and time, and Tok tells me they can't do that until it is next year.  We could easily get married much sooner, but I have to work and save up the money for the wedding (food, drink, decorations, music).  a few of my family members and friends have indicated that they would like to come to Thailand for the wedding, so we set the time far enough ahead that people can plan, save and arrange time off.  Plane tickets to Thailand are $1000 - $1500 return (we'll see about that next year though).  In early April is the Songkran New Year festival, which is the Thai New Year.  And in the middle of May is Bang Fai, which is the rocket festival.  Anyone who comes to the wedding might consider the timing to be here for one or the other.  But of course, this is amazing Thailand, and there are wonderful places to visit, food to eat, and people to meet.  There were be several choices of accommodation depending in your style- there's a resort up the road, some can sleep at the house, and there's a basic and a classy hotel in Lomsak.

Keep in mind also, that you can get dental work done in Thailand for 20 percent of the cost in the states.  Many western trained dentists that speak English and use modern techniques.  If you need bridges, crowns, filings, laser whitening, overlays, dentures etc, you can get it done here, and probably pay for the whole trip on the money you save over having it done in the states.  Plastic surgery is low cost also.  Not that any one needs lipo and such.

It is still common in Thailand for the groom to pay a bride-price to the brides' family.  It's much more relaxed nowadays, if the couple doesn't have much, the brides' family can still give blessing.  In keeping with the custom, I had Tok ask her mother if my plan to buy or build a house was enough for me to marry her daughter.  Mama kind of snorted, mumbled a few words and walked away.  I asked Tok what mama said.  She said mama said "okay, but he has to take care of me too" very practical.

Billions of words have been written trying to describe how two people meet, love and care for each other.  I can only say that I am a lucky man.  I've found a woman who is nothing short of honest, loyal and true, and loves me as I am.  She asks for very little.  Gives very much.  There are many beautiful flowers in a garden.  I've found one who is simple and un-adorned, but a flower none-the-less.  Meeting Tok has been a gateway to a whole new life for me, in a place I love.  I sure didn't see it coming.  And now I can't see it going either.

When Tok and I were first talking to each other on messenger, our conversations were friendly but not romantic.  We talked about the chances of either of us getting married again, but we were not thinking of US marrying each other.  I said something to the effect that "I'd have to be lucky like the moon to get married again" she didn't know what that mean's, I didn't either, it just came into my head.  But "lucky like the moon" became a euphemism for "getting married".  When we would pass by a wedding party on the motorbike, I would say "they are lucky like the moon" and she would laugh.   This is why it was important to me to ask Tok to marry me (or get her to ask me) on the night of a full moon.  And that is why, on the end crown of the roof on the new house, I had the name of our new house painted above a white disc.  The new house is named "Lucky Moon House"

Onward!
Nu and Tok

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I am in southeast asia April 19 - July 20 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/

20070704

070704 Thaikarl - let go and let Thai

friends,

my new mantra - "lt go and let Thai"  the paint crew is driving my inner painter nuts - slapping wall putty in the cracks in the wood, mildly sanding it and staining over it, so the whitish putty still shows, dripping paint everywhere etc etc.  deep breath - "let go and let thai" - the stain they are using covers over the grain of the wood, looks more like paint than wood stain.  i had to realize that what i consider "beautiful expensive tropical hardwood that would cost a zillion dollars in the USA" is just "wood" to the thai's.  much like we consider pine and cedar.  so "let go and..."  but when they get round to the new house, i'm going to be a little more definitive about what i want and DON'T want.  if i can get them to understand of course.  the crew that Noi was using the last week stayed out drinking until 4am and weren't in any shape to work yesterday, so she fired all of them and brought a whole passel of people today. and away they went.

my time here is short.  i hate that.

onward!  "let go and let..."
Nu and Tok

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I am in southeast asia April 19 - July 20 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/

20070701

070801 Thaikarl - it ain't over till, there's no more yellow papers

friends,

beside the road there are a couple of stands that sell whole roast chicken.  the chickens revolve constantly on spits over a propane burner, like a rotisserie.  know what the thai's call these chickens?

not a lot of time to be interneting these last days.  the painters are painting the house.  they use oil-based enamel paint, directly on the concrete stucco.  none of this primer stuff. no sir.  just paint it.  driving me nuts because as a painter myself, i'm a bit of a perfectionist - i've painted on "high-end" jobs where drips, brush slips, streaks, rough edges and overlaps are just not tolerable.  but this is not the way they do things here.  at least, not at the prices i'm paying. so the old house is now orange, with dark brown, maroonish trim, and the inside is green, er, it's green now, but after seeing the color on the walls, we didn't like it so much, so they are going to overcoat it with a lighter green -= a llittle more blueish.

we're going to have to leave a lot of things un-done.  bank account hitting bottom.  stairs to the new house, railings for the porch, staining and varnish for the new house etc etc etc, will all have to wait.

but, we did spend the first night in the new house!  not exactly because it was ready for us - but the strong smell of the enamel paint inside the house drove all of us out.  we swept aside the tools, sawdust and planks, laid down a few blankets and use the collapsible mosquito netting.  i was cold and kept snuggling up to tok.  she woke me up to tell me i had pushed her of the mat and she was on the wood floor.  oops.  it was significant, because there was a full moon that night.  and the new house is named "Lucky Moon House" - says so right up at the top (film at 11)

thais call the rotating roast chickens "Circle Chicken"  tee hee...

onward,

Nu and Tok
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I am in southeast asia April 19 - July 20 2007 ::: http://thaikarl.blogspot.com/