Dear Readers ,
I woke up with a mission this morning – beat the traffic, submit my yearly income tax EARLY – as in be one of the first to submit. (2nd last day to submit)
And…my car wouldn’t start.
My battery collapsed
The battery!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This happened to me 2 weeks ago…on a tuesday too, maybe it’s a tuesday curse kinda thing. And the same nice man, who lives 4 floors below me helped me again! He is a pro because he owns some auto-tuning shop…and he found someone who was willing to help me (so nice!) to jump start my car, and when the car was running he took hammers, wrenchs and what nots and was hammering, and tightening bolts.
And the taxi cabbie who helped me jumpstart the car? I offered him money and he declined!
On days like these, I really have to acknowledge and give props to the kind nature of Thai people. Such nice wonderful people!!!
I made my way to my class at Goodwill. (1.8 hour drive….12KM!!!) And I have to say, I love my ladies!
Today, Chapter 4 was titled : Do you like Rap?
So we went through all the different music genres, they didn’t know the difference between Country and Folk, so I whipped out my iPhone and played Kenny Roger’s The Gambler, and Joni Mitchell’s Case of you to illustrate the difference. And they didn’t know the Beatles and I wanted to faint. Haha, but it turns out that in Thailand, the Beatles are known as *thai name for Beatles*, and once we established that connection, we spoke about John Lennon, how he was married to a Japanese Lady (Yoko) and how he was murdered. They knew all these random details! amazing!
And, I dont know about this Chapter 4…it was a really interesting chapter, because basically, Tom asks Jennifer…Do you like Rap? And they get to know eachother, she doesn’t like rap…thinks Enimem is a pianist…and prefers Celine Dion. And in the next class exercise we have a Dating Game show where Linda chooses between Bachelor 1, Bachelor 2, and Bachelor 3….(She chooses Tony.)
And then the final conversation was Dave asking Susan for a soccer-match-watching-date. And usually, I’ll give them some background, and share a bit of this ‘western’ type of culture. You know, as in, Okay, well for us, if a man is interested in a woman, he’ll just ask for a dinner date, or some date…directly, no need to go through this whole group date…friends-first sort of business.
And to prompt this discussion, I asked them, “so do Thai men do what Dave just did? outright ask women out on dates?”
To my surprise, all my students replied, “YES!”….”Yes they do, they usually ask for dinner, or a movie.”
………….
WHAT?
They do? Damn…why am I getting short-changed here!
And there you have it Ladies and Gents, I am just too optimistic for my own good. Instead of facing the fact that I’m not being asked out for dinner, a movie, or anything social – because simply, there’s no love. (:() I just misinterpretted this whole lack-of-initiative as shyness! No wait, correction, lack-of-INTEREST = shyness.
Shame on me. Another huge and painful wakeup call.
And when we were going through this whole dialogue, honestly speaking? It really isn’t difficult to ask someone out.
Dave: Hey, I have tickets for a soccer-match on Friday night, would you like to go?
Susan: I’d love to, Thanks, what time is the match?
Dave: 8pm
Susan: Oh, so shall we meet at 6pm for dinner? (I LOVE SUSAN, POWER TO HER!)
Dave: I’d like to, but I have to work late…
so simple yet so difficult at the same time.
…
After class, I went for lunch with some of my students, which was really nice. A quick lunch and a rush to the revenue department. Which…wasn’t a bad experience at all, everyone is all smiles and I was out of there within 30 minutes.
Tennis and Gym Encounter
I think my tennis is improving, it now takes me 20 minutes to finish rallying one basket of tennis balls. But the sun was glaring down on me, and I felt like I was going to collapse so I finished tennis 15 minutes earlier than normal. Decided to use these 15 minutes to stretch upstairs at the fitness dome….saw Sebastien…wasn’t in the mood to chat or entertain him, just smiled and went straight to this private area, at the back of the gym to do stretches….
Right into my cat pose…lo and behold…..the stunned trainer approaches me. And he BOMBARDS me with questions! Oh my goodness….so stressful!
Trainer: Oh wow great to see you here…*beaming smile*…what are you doing? oooh that’s your tennis racket right there? Great, how was your playing today? how long did you play for? do you only play tennis? Oh you have two water bottles…ahaha……
Stacy: yup… and er..–
Trainer: – So you dont teach today? what is your schedule tomorrow, do you teach tomorrow? what do you do? Oh when will be the next time you come to the gym? Do you come often? do you only play tennis? do you play weights? do you this ? do you that? do you do you do you….?????
ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I was really patient for the first 3 minutes, and trying to do my stretches as he was badgering me, but I was coming down with a headache, and I figured I needed a powernap before I drove home, and his questions just kept coming and coming and coming, I felt so overwhelmed!
Gagh! I had to apologise and ask if i could finish my stretches, and he apologised profusely and wai-ed and bowed out.
I felt bad for 2 seconds, and then I just enjoyed my peace and quiet.
I know I am such a fussy person, complain when I get no attention, and when I’m bombarded with attention I feel like crawling back into my shell and hiding.
Home is where the Heart is
I have to say that, when I got home at 6ish, I was feeling so incredibly drained and spent. But when I saw my two best friends, and they showered me with love and affection, all that angst and stress just melted away!
I am just so happy to stay here with them in this condo forever, and I think …at least tomorrow, that is EXACTLY what I’m going to do.
Thanks for listening to my rant, what a tiring day!
Stacy
P.S. Thanks for listening to my rant, what a tiring day!
My Life in Bangkok 