Ramble 1

Well today I woke up at 7:30, 8, 8:30, 9 and 10.
I then spent about an hour laying in my bed watching youtube videos and checking my email.
Then I got hungry.
So I emerged from the comforts of my room for the sole purpose to take a shower and eat.
So I took a warm shower, even if it was around 88 degrees, I still enjoy warm showers.
Fixed myself breakfast. Sticky rice, pork and an apple.
My host parents went out for the day to buy a water heater for their condo.
They didn't invite me to join them but I don't think I would have liked sitting for hours listening in Thai about water heaters. That's just my personal opinion.
So I spent the day sifting through my photos I have taken so far to post on facebook.
Usually it takes about five minutes to post photos right? Not in Thailand. And also I'm a little slow because I'm not used to using Windows.
After uploaded all my pictures, around 4pm, I decided that I should get off my butt and do something.
So I decided to go on a walk to the closest 711, which is about a 10 minutes walk and only involves climbing one flight of stairs. The reason I chose to walk there is because I needed to refill my phone with minutes.
The process of refilling my phone is pretty simple.
1. Walk up to the counter, preferably with money in hand.
2. Say "dtac" (the name of the phone company).
3. Hand the cashier the money.
4. Punch my phone number into the keypad thingy.
5. Get a receipt and a text confirmation.

It's that simple. In and out.
It was not simple today.

So I walked up to the counter with 20 baht in hand and said "dtac". The lady at the counter was like "60 baht". I have run into this problem before, the employees think I want to buy a sim card, not refill one. So I said "online", implying that I have a sim card online already. And she said
"60 baht".
And I said
"20 baht".
Then she went and tried to talk to the other cashiers at the 711, to see if they could talk to me in English. The funny thing is that every single place in Thailand is over-employed. For instance this 711 had 5 people working there when I walked in. And it's not like it's a big 711, it's about the same size as the average 711.
Another lady then said
"60 baht".
I. Was. Annoyed.
But, instead of acting all "I JUST WANT TO REFILL IT WITH 20 BAHT BECAUSE THAT IS ALL I NEED AND I'VE DONE THIS BEFORE AND BY THE WAY I DO KNOW MY NUMBERS IN THAI!"
I just politely said "Ok, tomorrow" and left the 711, with of course a polite smile.
I checked my Thai bank account at the ATM outside the 711 and almost did a happy dance. I had just received my allowance from Rotary. Finally, yay!
Although, I didn't want to just head back home defeated and so I decided to walk until I found another convinient store. This was only about 5 minutes and one flight of stairs away.
This convinient store was called "Family Mart". Which I didn't really get because they still had alcohol and cigarettes displayed for sale behind the check out. I find the name "Family Mart" just as pointless as the "Family Friendly" check- out line at the grocery store. Instead of having gum and candy on the side of the isle they have tabloids. That makes sense? "Lets take the candy away from the isle so kids won't want it and instead but tabloids that teaches them to care about the weight of celebrities and to tell lies about people." Who comes up with this stuff?
So I took a look around The anti-family mart and luckily found some things that I needed. I found safety pins for 17 baht which I needed for my rotary blazer, air-mail envelopes (which say "Par Avion" on them, even though we are in Thailand...), chocolate milk and a chocolate ice cream bar.
Altogether it costed me 75 baht, around $2.50.
Yeah, so I don't want to spend money on phone minutes but apparently I'm fine with spending it on chocolate and office supplies.
Then I started walking home, eating my ice cream as I went.
My ice cream tasted like cheap chocolate and hypocrisy but I ate it anyway.
On my way home I people kept on staring at me. For a second I couldn't figure out why, but then I realized that I'm the only white person for like miles. Even so though, I wonder what they think about me.
Do they think I moved here? Do they think I'm lost? So they think I'm a tourist?
Exchange student is sort of at the bottom of the list of possibilities.
And especially when I'm in Bangkok and what do the tourists think of me.
Do they think I'm just waiting for my parents? Do they think I've grown up here?

Or maybe they were just staring at me failing to eat my ice cream, as it appeared to me when I got home that I had quite a bit of chocolate ice cream left on my face.

I finished my day by packing for my trip with 27 other exchange students tomorrow to Nakhonsawan Province for a week. And discovering some new wizard rock and time lord rock music.And one of the lyrics keeps on getting stuck in my head.

"I'm not running from things, I'm running towards things, before they fade away."

Which reminds me of what I am doing in Thailand. Figuratively and literally. Because apparently Bangkok will be underwater in 50 years.
So next time I take a walk, I might want to walk a little faster and for a little bit longer.

Book: Page 46 of TCV, and page 60 something in THYOMWCOTWARA or the book about the old guy I'm reading.
Thai: yee-sip....................twenty