March 18, 2008

Faith

For months my best friend, here in Thailand’s life was occupied by overseeing the construction of her new home. She often involved me in the process. She knew that I had a degree in interior design and it was a fun way for me to be a part of the activity presently consuming her life. Sitting on the floor of her T.V. room, we spent evenings looking through books, selecting bits and pieces of different floor plans that we’d eventually incorporate into the vision for the completed structure. We would sit at her kitchen table paging through decorating magazines, admiring spec-houses and dream homes. We would measure out square meters on the site of her future home, which was to be built on the same lot as the old, making sure there was plenty of room for the sufficiency-economy garden that she planned to plant and tend. 

Once construction began, we continued looking through publications. As she came across inspired ideas, she merely told her workers that she’d had a change of heart and that now, for instance, instead of the attached enclosed garage that they’d already poured the concrete slab for, she wanted it detached from the house sans cumbersome door. “No problem!” she and the workmen would say.

We took countless trips, in her D-Max truck, down to HomePlace in Nakonsawan to select, buy and bring back floor tiles, shingles, paints and fixtures. Each item was a separate 120 KM round trip excursion. Sometimes she would call me in the middle of the day, tell me she was leaving school where she teaches, to go pick up, let’s say…a sink, and, did I want to come?

“Now? What about the students? What are they going to do?”

She’d tell me it was important, that the workers needed the sink

and as for the kids, “No problem!” If it was convenient for me, I’d go with her, if not she went alone.    

“What do you think of this? Is it beautiful? Should my house have this?” She would ask, pointing at glossy photos, color swatches or showroom-floor displays.

“Yes, beautiful,” I’d reply. If I thought something was in particularly poor taste, and surmised that she thought so too, I’d occasionally answer, “Not beautiful.”

Looking for more input than a thumbs up or down, she would reference my (I use these adjectives loosely) credentials and expertise by saying, “You interior! You interior!” 

Yes, I had worked for several years as an interior designer but in that capacity, I was a

I wanted to reply, “Me designer! Me designer!”

Perhaps it’s a matter of semantics or translation, but the “You interior!” bit always struck me as funny because taken together, the title Interior Designer implies an aspect of design, or forethought, or context, or cohesion, or unity, and/or conceptual organization. “Form follows function” and all that.

Instead, she would lay out 1001 tile samples on the patinaed, plank wood floor of her bedroom and want me to pick the “most beautiful” one, regardless of how it fit into the scheme as a whole.

If I pointed out that the one she’d selected as most beautiful among them was a floor tile and she was selecting tiles for the wall behind the kitchen sink, “no problem!” she’d reply. It would work just fine.

In the end, her new home turned out beautifully. And in the same way I feel about most of my work here over the past two years, my “expert” advice was rarely followed, but I had a great time being part of the process. We bonded while appraising paint chips in different lights throughout the day.

Several times during the construction process, I’d asked her what she was going to do with the old house that now stood adjacent to the new one. Amongst other options, she’d considered keeping it and renting it out and keeping it empty for me to live in when I come back to live here someday. (She can be quite a wishful thinker and a sweet talker!) I told her that wasn’t necessary because I had no idea if or when that day would come, and she told me, "You stay in that house when you come back for your honeymoon, then.” Again, I advised her not to hold her breath. In the end, she sold the house for 60,000 THB to a company that would come, tear it down and take it away.

I happened to be going to her house for dinner the same night the company arrived with workers and trucks and I watched as they finished the “demolition.” It wasn’t what I expected. There were no wrecking balls or backhoes. Instead, the workers dismantled the house board by board. Very few nails had been used in its construction. Most of the wood planks fit together with tongue and groove joints. Essentially, the house was constructed to be deconstructed. The planks were stacked in the truck beds and the whole big house fit into the back of two trucks.   

My friend told me that the house was being moved to Ayutthaya. The company would refurbish worn out boards, repair termite damage and chemically treat it to prevent reinfestation. They would restain the wood and rebuild the entire structure a few hundred kilometers away. Brilliant, I thought.

As I watched the final pieces of her house get loaded onto the trucks and the two trucks pull away, I felt nostalgic and sad. It seemed so unceremonious. I watched my friend casually watch her home of 16 years drive away and, as if it were any other day, and before the trucks were fully out of site, she cheerfully urged me into the new kitchen where we’d make pumpkin curry and start the rice.    

Watching the trucks disappear, I thought about all nights we made pumpkin curry and shared dinner in that flattened house. I had only been here 16 months and she had lived there 16 years. I began to cry when I watched the place where I had felt the most understood, the most accepted, and the most loved during these disorientating past 16 months disappear down the road. I thought of all the crazy misunderstandings and fun times we’d shared there. It was difficult saying goodbye to my one place of refuge, where I knew I would I always feel safe, sane, included, sought to be understood and would be met with patience and non-judgment, and where everything was “no problem!”

My friend noticed that I was crying and sympathetically laughed at my sentimentality. “Mai pen rai. Mai pen rai”

“Aren’t you sad? Just a little?” I asked her.

“Yes, a tiney, tiney bit. Not really sad, though, I’ll be with it again in my next life!”*

The trucks drove out of site and she took me by the shoulder and we walked together into the new kitchen. She handed me a tissue to wipe my eyes, tofu, a cutting board and a knife.

We had dinner to make in this life.

*Sia Jai niiet dioayng. Dah, mai pen rai, ja die jur mai chat naa!

February 15, 2008

PC Thailand wiki

We've been working on creating a PC Thailand wiki over the past year or so. Check it out!

http://pcthailand.wetpaint.com

Only a month plus left in my service.

February 02, 2008

New pictures in the photo albums

Check 'em out!

Almost done with PC service. 59 days and counting.

Peace, y'all!

June 05, 2007

link to my house's listing

just in case you or someone you know wants to buy a cute little house in O-town.

http://www.bethannebaer.com/

More phi tha khon links, if you're interested

Tessabon Dan Sai, the government office that I was working with:

http://tessabandansai.com/

http://www.thailand.com/travel/festival/festivals_phitakhon.htm

Phi Ta Khon photos in june album

Here is a little history on Phi Ta Khon- it corresponds to the photos in June album. I will write more about my involvement soon. -JC

Phi Ta Khon is a type of masked procession celebrated on the first day of a three-day Buddhist merit-making holiday known in Thai as "Boon Pra Wate". The annual festival takes place in *May, June or July at a small town of Dan Sai in the northeastern province of Loei.

Participants of the festival dress up like ghosts and monsters wearing huge masks made carved coconut-tree trunks, topped with a wicker-work sticky-rice steamer. The procession is marked by a lot of music and dancing.

The precise origin of the Phi Ta Khon is unclear. However, it can be traced back to a traditional Buddhist folklore. In the Buddha's next to last life, he was the beloved Prince Vessandorn. The prince was said to go on a long trip for such a long time that his subjects forgot him and even thought that he was already dead. When he suddenly returned, his people were overjoyed. They welcomed him back with a celebration so loud that it even awoke the dead who then joined in all the fun.

From that time onward the faithful came to commemorate the event with ceremonies, celebrations and the donning of ghostly spirit masks. The reasons behind all the events is probably due to the fact that it was held to evoke the annual rains from the heavens by farmers and to bless crops.

On the second day, the villagers dance their way to the temple and fire off the usual bamboo rockets to signal the end of the procession. The festival organisers also hold contests for the best masks, costumes and dancers, and brass plaques are awarded to the winners in each age group. The most popular is the dancing contest.

Then comes the last day of the event, the villagers then gather at the local temple, Wat Ponchai, to listen to the message of the thirteen sermons of the Lord Buddha recited by the local monks.

Then it is time for the revellers to put away their ghostly masks and costumes for another year. From now on, they must again return to the paddy fields to eke out their living through as their forefathers did.

With permission from : Thanapol Chadchaidee. (1994). Essays on Thailand. Bangkok : Thaichareunkanpem.

May 21, 2007

My little sister Becky is my hero!

As my mom wrote in a recent email to me:

She painted all walls (not just touch-up), fixed a torn off drapery rod,
cleaned and cleaned, scrubbed and grout cleaned and scrubbed and scrubbed.
Cleaned up dead rat slime under the fridge, worked in a smelly house for
days. Hauled a fridge, computer, closet doors, and mattress to the curb.
Toted a rat-smelly dolly in her car, traipsed around with a lawn mower in
the car, made many trips to the hardware store, installed and sprayed
deodorizers, went to Gargios and got gift certs for Shaw and Jenn. She is
our heroine!!!

I also want to thank everyone else who helped me get the house set to sell in my absence- Shaw, Jenn, and most of all my wonderful mom! For all the rest who offered and whose help I am forgetting to mention, thanks to you also!

Words can never express the gratitude in my heart! Love, love, love ....

May 20, 2007

New pictures posted

I have had very little Internet access lately, (my computer is on the fritz) so its been difficult to post, but I plan to do so soon.

In the meantime, I have new photos up in the April and May photo albums.

Big news in my world: my house is officially on the market.

more to come soon...

-JC

April 26, 2007

VAST project

Things are coming along in terms of "work" here. It looks like I will be working on two or three big projects in the coming 11 months. The first is the TYT theater festival that I wrote about a while back. Thailand PCVs host an annual theater festival for students at which the kids have an opportunity to attend theater workshops about everything from acting to stage make-up as well as perform English language plays that they have prepared, while working with PCV's and teachers, for the festival. I may or may not have a TYT group of my own, but I will be planning and coordinating (in conjunction with others) the actual festival- scheduled for January '08.

The other project is an HIV/AIDS camp for around 80 students in my province. This project will be funded by a Volunteer Assistance (VAST)grant, hence the name VAST project. For both projects, I will be collaborating with my friend and fellow gloy-kye'er (Thai for egg banana, which is our Province's claim to fame- we are the gloy kye capitol of Thailand- maybe even the world! but I digress).  Yesterday we had our first planning meeting with the educational nurse at Kampang Phet regional hospital. It looks like the camp will take place in November and will include students, educators, health workers, and local government officials. The goal of the camp will be to train 10  students from 8 different schools, to be student leaders and peer educators. Armed with the information gained from the camp, they will then return to their respective schools and, with the help of a nurse, in turn educate their peers in the area of HIV/AIDS  and life-skills.

Another project that seems to be emerging is related to the authentic home-stay program that I began working on nearly a year ago. While I have not worked with my community much in this area since or initial trip/training, things have come full circle and it looks as if I will be involved in this work again. For one, there is a group of folks form a fellow PCV's village who are coming to visit my home-stay group on the 11th of next month. They will have the opportunity to see the home-stay program and learn from my community's process, in an effort that they can replicate it back home. I will also be returning to Korat next month to meet  with Dan (who's community mine visited) and a 119 volunteer who's community is in the initial stages of setting up a home-stay program. The three of us will be planning a seminar for PSV's who are interested in working w ith home-stay groups in their communities.

It is nice to finally be working on tangible projects. I am a bit disappointed that none of them are here in my community, where I had always imagined my work would be centered. However, my community will receive benefits from all three projects. Ideally, I'd be working on community-initiated things, but unfortunately nothing has arisen so far.

I am off traveling for the next month- mostly work, but some play. I will update as often as possible, but accessing computers on the road is a little more  difficult. Sorry in advance if I am late in returning emails- I'll do my best to stay in touch. 

Peace from the Kingdom! :) 

House

The tenant, who is renting my Orlando house, is moving out on May 1st. I am exploring all options at this point- renting it out again (to the chagrin of my poor mom, who has to deal with all of this), hiring a property manager, maybe selling it. I wanted to "put it out there." If anyone has any leads for me in terms of someone looking to rent, or buy my little house, please let me know. I'm not posting any specifics about the house here, but will be happy to provide any info via email. Mostly this post is intended for my friends and neighbors in O-town who might know "just the right person" for "just the right house."

I've posted a picture of the house in April 2007 album.

April 18, 2007

Photos posted in April 2007 album

For my "other" Matt, thanks to you too for the comment. Yes, it is New Year here in Thailand! Songkrang, as we call, it just ended.

You may recall from last year that this is the "BIG" Thai holiday, characterized by playing with water. Last year I stayed in my village and participated in the local celebrations. This year I accepted an invitation from my friend, Ajan, to go with her and her family up to Chang Mai, where her extended family lives.

let me just say, before I tell about this year's celebration, that Ajan is my very dearest friend here in Maelaad. I honestly have no idea what I would do without her friendship. She is the one "true" friend that I have here, meaning that when I am with her I am very relaxed and able to be myself. She understand me, even though our cultures are so different. One day I will write more about her, but I wanted to take a moment here to share how dear a friend she and her family have been to me over the past year. 

We arrived at Ajan's family's house in Chang Mai and I was told that it was "free-style" meaning that I should help myself and fend for myself. I loved it- very "un-Thai" but it made me feel like one of the family. The house that we stayed at was amazing- very Western and comfortable. I was with Ajan's entire extended family- three sisters and one brother and their kids.

We went to a festival/parade and went into the city to "Len Nam" or translated, play water, for two days. I was also able to see some PCV friends who were also in town for the celebrations. with them, I had dinner and a night of dancing.

Being in Chang Mai for Songkrang was an amazing experience. I never could have imagined the scale of the festivities or how much fun could be had dumping water on people and getting dumped on! It was one of those occasions where I wanted very badly to share it with everyone back home. If you could have only seen! 

Check out the 45th anniversary celebration pictures

http://www.pcthailandgigs.org/45/index.html

April 17, 2007

youtube banned- no more milk and cereal :(

Thanks, Matt M. for the your comment and link to the Youtube article. Get me restarted in my updating again with an easy one (read sarcastically -hehe). I was thinking more along the lines of, "so now that you have been there a year, how many hot peppers can you successfully eat with a single meal?" or, "How do you stay cool when the temperature is over 100 degrees everyday?" By the subject of the article, you no doubt understand that I must answer this delicately. I will respond here, but before I even begin writing I can assure you that it will be heavily self-edited and many thoughts will remain unwritten.

For thoes of you who have not read the article, it is about the Royal Thai Government's recent move to block Youtube here in Thailand because it contained a video in which a woman places her feet above the image of the King's head. A little cultural background: the feet are considered the lowest part of the body here, and the head the most sacred. Amongst other things, it is culturally inappropriate to use the feet to point and improper to touch someone's head. The King is beloved by the Thai people and deeply revered. To insult the King is against the law a Swiss man was convicted last week to 10 years in prison because he spray pained over a picture of the King (However, the King pardoned him).link to cnn article

As a PCV here, I have used Youtube in the following ways: my mom as well as several of my friend's have posted videos that I have streamed and watched. It is a wonderful way to keep in touch and help me feel closer to them. I have also been forwarded links to youtube by friend's who think I would find a particular clip amusing and have browsed videos for entertainment and have several "inside jokes" with a few friends that relate back to things we watched together on Youtube- (yes, we are hard up for entertainment and find silly things to amuse ourselves). Lastly, as a member of PC Thailand's information and technology global initiative group (ICT GIG), we used Youtube as a promotional tool in encouraging new volunteers to use the resources on our website. We also did a brief training with the volunteers on using this technology in their projects. We suggested that volunteers could make short training videos or compile clips from camps and seminars that they put on, giving other PCV's and their counterparts a visual image of, for example, what an HIV/AIDS camp looks like. We were envisioning volunteers using youtube as a development tool and believe that it has many potential applications in our work. That said, on a personal and professional level, I am sad to see youtube banned.   

In case any of y'all thought I was exaggerating the love that Thai people have for their King, I can assure you that I have given you only a glimpse. It is stronger and deeper than anything and I would guess that 99.99% of the Thai people would consider banning youtube a good decision. They definitely love the King more than freedom of speech, if that freedom includes speaking disparagingly of him. He is a demi-god. I have asked my Thai friends who will ascend the throne when the King dies (he is 80, afterall) and, my typically reticent friends, begin to cry. They can't even imagine the day. One does not acquire this level of adoration without a carefully crafted and tightly managed public image

My personal feeling is that the junta government banned youtube for political reasons. First, they have an interest in protecting the King's HIGHLY controlled image because the people love the King, the King is understood to have supported the coups, and potentially any loss of "face" for the King would  result in less support for the military leaders. Mostly, though, I think that it was populist move; a demonstration of the government's love and protection of the People's King. I would imagine that they saw it as a symbolic measure that most Thais would support.

I assure you, I have many more and much more cynical thoughts on the issue, but I would hate to have the RTG blackout my blog.

Speaking of video, check out the special 45 anniv, video on the PC  Thailand website: video 

Julia Chinnock

Peace Corps Thailand

April 03, 2007

April heat

it is hot. every day, the temperature is over 100 degrees. It is hot.

i noticed that last month I didn't post very much. I think I need some help getting inspired. What do you want to know about? What questions for you have? Please help spark my output by giving me some idea about what might be of interest.

Without your help, you may end up just getting daily temerature updates.

Peace!!

March 27, 2007

New pictures posted

in the march 2007 album.

Sorry for not having posted in awhile. Have been busy traveling and away from computers.

I will update soon.

XXOO

February 28, 2007

Orlando article

http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0703/feature4/index.html

I loved this National Geographic article about Orlando. (thanks, Matt, for forwarding) It probably won't be of much interest to all my non-Orlandian friends, but those of us who lived (live) and have property there its a great read.

I especially loved the Walt Disney vs. Jack Kerouac insight.

February 27, 2007

Breaking news from Thailand

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2007/02/12/thai_cops_on_alert_for_underage_kissing/

February 25, 2007

Photos posted in February 2007

Check em out...

The other day I helped my friend, who is a teacher, and her student write a speech for a speech contest entitled, "The King's 80th anniversary." The King is 80 years old this year and celebrated his 60th anniversary on the throne. I tried to explain that it is not the 80th anniversary, but it was of no matter, since that was the title of  the national competition. we had to work with what we had. Anyway, the student took first place at the district level and now get to compete next month at the Provincial level. Just for fun, I thought you'd like to read the speech we wrote:

Hello. Good Morning. My name is Patipat. I am in Pratom 5 class 3 at Chumchonpracha Samukkee School Education Service Area Office Khampang Phet 2. My principal’s name is Adison Rompol. My teacher’s name is Kasara Naktong. Today I will speak about the anniversary of the King.

This year the King is 80 years old. Thailand and the Thai people celebrate this anniversary. We love the King because he loves everyone. He loves children, old people and everyone. Students honor the king by studying hard and practicing good citizenship.

We study English so that we can tell everyone in the world about the King of Thailand. He works hard for all Thai people and students. He helps all Thai people and gives them happiness.

Thai people must love one another and unite because it will make the Royal family happy. Long Live the King! Thank you!

Next weekend I am traveling with my friend Paulo to here: http://www.thaiforestbooking.com/np_home.asp?lg=2&npid=50 We are going to go hiking/biking and sleep in a cabin in th woods. Yippie!

I have been keeping myself busy lately- last week I had a few meeting and did a little training for the new group of volunteers in Bangkok. I came back to site with 2 trainees and showed them around my village. The rest of the week was hanging out doing village "stuff" here. I have a little cold now and have been in bed for a few days- I think its passing now, though.

I have also taken on a new project. My friend Becky and I will be planning and organizing the 2008 Thai Youth Theater Festival. PCVs all over the country work with groups of students to put on a play, in English, that incorporates lighting, make-up, and costuming. Once a year the groups get together for a theater festival, at which they attend workshops and perform their plays. Becky and I will be in charge of securing a location, finding funding, communicating with attendees and generally running the event. We have taken on a big job, but I am looking forward to working on a large, tangible project here. TYT has a website: http://www.pcthailandgigs.org/tyt/ if you are interested. It hasn't been updated in a while (I'll get to that soon, I hope) but it'll give you an idea of what its all about.

Okay...more soon.

-JC

February 07, 2007

Shout out!

Congrats to Scott and Stacia who delivered little William Lake Axe on January 30th. Love all three of you! -Auntie Julia

February 06, 2007

New photos up

Check out the February 2007 album.

This photo-essay is dedicated to all the wonderful Geartys' in my life. I LOVE YOU ALL!!