ghosts of bangkok past & present

do you ever get the feeling that things are more than just coincidence?

this past easter weekend has brought many reminders of the past (wow, that sentence makes me feel really old). the first time i came to bangkok was in 2002 with intervarsity's global urban trek learning about the sex trade industry. anyway, what it looked like practically was doing language/culture exchange with thai university students during the day and going to bars at night, talking and ministering to men and women there.

so, the chain of events goes:
thursday - i met up with my brother's wife's brother who was in bangkok (what do you call a relative like that? "second-brother-in-law-once-removed"?) and we walked by Soi Cowboy, one of the big bar areas we used to visit, replete with live elephant. it was a little bit of a shock since i had no idea where it was and brought back a wave of memories.
sunday - i finally got to get together with a couple of the university students, mai and ying, for lunch. they look exactly the same, but are even a little bit cuter (though i had no idea it was possible), and are just as sweet. reminiscing with them made memories more fresh: they remembered i LOVE schweppes lime soda (i even contacted coca-cola to try to get it brought to the US), mai learned how to pronounce the word "israeli", making a fruit and sticky rice party. the most surprising fact is that mai lives and works 2 blocks from my house. in this city of 6 million, it's kind of amazing that we both live so close, especially since it's considered "the boondocks".
monday - while sabbathing and on the lookout for a place to sit and pray, i found Soi Nana, the bar area where we spent the most time. i remembered all the prayers i had for that place. i remembered all the women i cared about.

i sincerely believe God is still working here and will bring healing here. i feel God pulling me into more prayer and pulling my heart to be with the thais.
we studied Hosea that summer and i looked over it again:
"I will show my love to the one I called 'not my loved one.' I will say to those called 'not my people,' 'you are my people'; and they will say, 'You are my God.'" (hos 2:23)


me, with short hair, carrying mai. ying is on the right of us.

soi nana at night, 6 years ago

soi nana in the daytime, today

rearry? unbeliebable!

we recently started teaching our friend and co-worker, fai, a little more english. she already has studied it but doesn't often have the chance to speak in english (or doesn't feel brave enough to).

the great thing is that she's very good-natured about it and we like teaching her phrases that make conversation more juicy. here's her in action with our new favorites "really?" and "unbelievable!" or, when she says them, "rearrry?" and "unbeliebable!"

in the spirit of st. patrick (or his holiday, rather), several farangs scour bangkok for a worthy celebration. and garner not corned beef and cabbage.

(disclaimer: gratuitous use of parentheses to follow)

after a brief google search for "st. patrick's day" and "bangkok restaurant," the only establishment found serving corned beef and cabbage on the holiday turned out to be a gay bar. and since corned beef and cabbage is tradition for only one of us (lexie) and "gay bar" doesn't happen to be a tradition for any of us, the search continued. (besides, what exactly is the process to make beef "corned"?). i can't say i was sad about it.

actually, the only traditions i've ever had for st. patrick's day are 1) making myself remember to wear green (to avoid being complained at) and 2) consuming green stuff (milkshakes, cookies, donuts, anything that dye can hold to). too bad the main green consumables here in bangkok are vegetables (and somehow high fiber content makes it feel less celebratory).

so maybe a wee limerick (for fun):
there once was a girl from ann arbor,
who first moved to baltimore harbor
then next to LA, and again to bangkok,
where there is certainly no chance to starve her.

and then i found this: st. patrick had a vision in his early 20s in which a mass of irish people called to him, "we appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come walk among us."
appropriate, no? i'm really liking st. patrick's day.

i really miss bagels. even green ones make me drool a little. they're on the top of my list of things to eat when i get back to the US (isn't it sad that i'm planning meals that far in advance?).

(by the way, we were going to celebrate it at bangkok's best irish pub, "the dubliner", until my teammate, dave, got dengue. instead, i found a bagel at au bon pain and spent the day praying and reflecting at a coffee shop. i couldn't have asked for a better day.)

it takes a village to punish a child

to spank or not to spank? that is the question...in the US.
in the US, there's quite a wide debate on spanking children. in thailand, not so much. physically punishing children is the standard for discipline.

"dtee" can be translated as "hit" or "punish" or "spank". whatever you like. (i'll use "spank" for ease)
my teacher loves physical discipline. when we discussed it before, she told me that she's told all of her children's teachers (even until high school) to please spank her children when they act up. she also tries to spank all her students, including me, though it's hardly intimidating or painful (it's a light hand pat, done with a smile).

Fee (short for Toffee, which is, in fact, the name of a boy), is about 4 years old and everybody in Samaki says he naughty, which he is. last week, Fee was hanging out in our house and was trying to help us clean and cook; in general, being sweet. but then i stepped out for a minute and came back to mayhem. while lexie was carrying some dishes and had her hands full, Fee pants-ed her. then lexie pulled her pants up while trying to hold stuff and tell him to stop, when he then pants-ed her again. Fee pants-ed lexie until i got back.
later, i told Fee's mom what happened just to tell her about it as something funny. she laughed and then said in total seriousness, "just spank him!"

Fee, on the right, being his normal impish self.

nice dress, mister.

it's pretty obvious that people dress differently here in bangkok than they do in the US.

oh, but the men!
i.e. is that man wearing women's clothing? men here, either 1) can't differentiate between men and women's apparel; 2) don't care for the traditional masculine/feminine differentiation or 3) kind of like the look and feel of women's clothes.

case studies:
P. Neung (a repeat offender): the first time i noticed him wearing women's clothing, it was at our bible study...which he was teaching. he was sporting a fitted, 3/4 sleeve blouse. with darts and a wide collar. another bible study, he wore a brightly colored, fitted (he likes the fitted) shirt that spelled out (in english, which he understands) "don't hate me because i'm beautiful" in rhinestones.

P. Bo: we met him at a friend's house over dinner. and i instantly noticed his silky, satin nightshirt with pastel pink/yellow/blue brushstroke pattern. accessorized with a cool, gangsta beanie.
i'm learning to not be surprised by anything in bangkok anymore.

that man in the tiara with the fluffy puppy is the community president of Permsup. respect that!

so you should just do it

so, after talking to my dad and telling him i had dengue, i received this email and it was too funny not to post. (by the way, i'm all better now and back in action).

Dear Michelle:

About the mosquito bites, Mom insisting on you buying a mosquito net for your bed to prevent future bites. It’s about life saving so you should just do it. Don’t let it happen again.

Love, Dad


also, i just wanted to let people know the upsides to dengue:
1. it's a comedic gold mine. fever!!
2. automatic community & missionary cred. tropical diseases sound hard core.
3. it's a great scapegoat and you can blame everything on it. "i'm too tired because of dengue." "i look like a big swollen cherry because of dengue." "i'm going to watch another movie because of dengue."
4. there's a great up and coming band named "dengue fever." it makes having a virus named after a cool band a cool disease.
5. it's a great weight-loss program. "i lost 5 pounds on dengue craig" beat that, subway jared!

what they didn't tell you was that this guy had dengue for 9 of those 10 months.

i'll do it for you, suf!

knowing that i have a personal message from sufjan wishing a speedy recovery makes me want to get better just for him. ok, sufjan. i'll try to get better. thanks to megan for delivering sufjan's very personal message. shh. keep the dream alive.

schooled by dengue

things i've learned from my good friend, dengue.

1. i never want to get old. i've had a taste of rheumatoid arthritic-type joint pain and i want to stay very very far away. i also feel really tired - like "i could sleep aaaaaaallll day" tired.
2. i never want to get fat. my hands and feet swelled up and my hog maw appendages grossed me out - plus it made walking nad picking up things uncomfortable.
3. i never want to have another sunburn. dengue made my skin look and feel like a bad sunburn: brittle, fire engine red, and really sensitive.
4. i feel a great deal of pity for people who don't like food. for the first time in my life, food wasn't appealing (even a little!). even when i had my wisdom teeth all pulled out, i ate a piece of chicken like 3 hours later. what? i was hungry! but the last week and a half, food tastes kinda gross and i don't want to eat at all. so, all you people out there who don't like food - i now understand your pain.
5. i'm so thirsty.
6. i really have been missing home. did some evil mastermind somewhere develop dengue to break peoples' spirits?

look at my maws! look at them!! they're hideous!