ONE SOLITARY WEEK

I've had a fairly solitary week with Tim up in Lamphun Province (south of Chiang Mai).  Aside from brief visits from Nadia (picking up something for work), Doug (dropping off some spaghetti Bolognaise purchased at the Mediterranean restaurant near Chalong pier), and Jum (checking to see if I wanted to go shopping with her) I've been on my own.  It's been rather nice but I miss my wife dearly and I'm going a bit stir crazy.

Tim has been calling me at least twice a day all week (except today — she said she would be turning off her phone once she boarded a bus back south so I assume she's on her way).  She had quite the runaround at the local amphoe (a two-hour drive each way from her parents' home):  Monday, she arrived after 9:00 in the morning and was told to return at seven the following day; on Tuesday, it took most of the morning going from one office to another to get the surname changed on her ID card.  She wasn't able to change the name on the land deed as they want to check out the land first; this was after they requested the presence of both her parents, brothers, and sisters (yes, they all got up in the wee hours of the morning in order to get to the amphoe by seven).  But I've found this is typical of any Thai bureaucracy — they make you jump through all sorts of hoops and in the end you only get half of what you wanted in the first place...

When she called this morning, Tim said she'd paid a visit to her ex-husband and was bringing me a "special gift".  Don't know what this could be (not their divorce papers as they'd had a common-law marriage; perhaps a refund of her original dowery?).

I've spent most of the week getting caught up on my reading (finishing one book and starting several others as I couldn't decide on just one) and doing a bit of work on the computer.  I also did a bit of house cleaning on Tuesday — more of a tidying-up, really, as the electricity was out most of the day (not to mention the water).  I need to walk over to 7-Eleven tomorrow as my food supplies are depleted (and the water bill is due — how ironic).

I did finally meet my next door neighbor's wife a couple of days ago.  They're from Bangalore, India.  He's head of IT for one of the local resorts and she just stays at home watching television.  Mostly, our conversation consisted of her asking me what to do when there's no water for days on end (fill buckets full when it works and obtain the jugs of drinking water from the guys on the trucks; I end up dumping some in the toilet bowl so I can flush).  She also asked me why Christians decorated trees to celebrate Christmas.  I had no idea but promised to find out (which reminds me — I need to do a Google search in a minute...).  She seems very nice but I think she's bored as she has no friends; I'll have to send my wife over there when she gets back.

At least it seems like Tim is on her way home.  She last called me around 6:30 yesterday morning complaining how cold it was in Lamphun and that she would probably be leaving there sometime that day.  There's no electricity at her parents' home and she hadn't been able to recharge her cellphone battery so she told me she'd turn it off as soon as she boarded the bus.  If she left Chiang Mai yesterday afternoon, she should be home sometime tonight if the arrival and departure in Bangkok are fairly close together.  I miss her and I can't wait until she gets back to Chalong.

UPLOADING PHOTOS (FINALLY!)

I just wanted to mention that I've been uploading a few photos to my Webshots albums tonight.  I still have a long way to go (having just created an album for my first visa run back on July 4th) but at least I'm making a bit of forward progress.  The uploading is going somewhat quicker now that I have broadband; it's the captions that slow me down (and how I wish I could write the kind of hilarious captions that my friend Doug seems to churn out in his sleep!).

MY BIRTHDAY PARTY

My first birthday celebration in Thailand was quite the affair, particularly since I'd emphasized that I didn't want a party and that a low-key dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant would be perfect.  But Tim and Nadia secretly planned to give me what turned out to be my most memorable birthday ever!

In typical Thai fashion, the birthday celebrant buys all the food and beverages for their own party (one of the reasons I didn't really want a party) but Tim has become very budget-conscious and didn't end up spending a fortune.  (It helps that we can buy alcohol at a discount right now...).  I caught wind that she and Nadia were plotting something so I discreetly gave my wife some extra cash in the weekly food allowance.  Since we'd already put up our Christmas tree (I told her it was my tradition to trim the tree just before my birthday), they didn't have to do a whole lot of extra decorating — some balloons were inflated, furniture slightly rearranged, and our small dining table before a platform for gifts.

I spent some time Saturday afternoon making four mix CD's; I told Tim that I wanted to listen to some of my favorite songs on my birthday as I knew if I didn't have "control" of the stereo system it wouldn't be long before the Thai guests hijacked it with those really awful karaoke VCD's.  Most times when those are played, I'll quickly escape into my "office" as they all have begun to sound essentially alike to me.  I couldn't exactly hide on my birthday, however.  Most of the guests were fairly late arriving so I ended up playing two full discs before anyone even showed up (Doug was the first to get here).  When our various Thai friends began arriving they all congregated on our back stoop where the cooking had commenced so Doug and I were left alone in the living room.  For quite some time, it didn't feel like most of the partygoers even noticed the birthday boy but at least Doug and I got caught up on our various recent activities and trips.

Doug and I ate our dinner on the side patio — ably served by Nadia, Tim, and Jum.  Tim had found some decent beef somewhere and grilled steaks.  After we ate, I insisted that our Thai friends eat on the patio as well (they wanted the farangs to eat first), rather than sitting on the mat on our back stoop.  Opat had to leave early but soon others began arriving.  I kept asking Tim when could I begin opening gifts and it was always, "Wait another five minutes."  Ben and Nid finally arrived after nine and Tim insisted on feeding them before presents could be opened.  Just when I thought we were ready again, Franz and Pen got there so then they had to be fed.

By this time, the stereo had been infiltrated with the Thai karaoke and my farang friends were getting restless.  Our Thai friends had once again scattered to the rear of the house so I finally gathered everyone up and told Tim it was time for the presents.  It all sounds like I was way too over-anxious about the gifts but I felt that I was getting lost in the shuffle and I knew that the farangs at least didn't want to stick around until midnight just to watch someone open a bunch of boxes.  I was in a jovial mood throughout but some of the Thais, in particular, were getting a bit worse for the wear from the drink (not being known for moderation).

Anyway, a cake was brought out decorated with candles (which surprised me immensely as birthday cakes are not exactly a tradition in Thailand and very difficult to find) as a precursor to the gift opening.  The lights were off, the candles were lit, and just as I was about to blow out the candles my cell phone rang.  I answered it to discover my nephew, Spencer, singing "Happy Birthday" which was the definite highlight of the evening for me.  Unfortunately, I couldn't hear him very well at all and an attempt at conversation went nowhere.  Brief greetings with my sister and brother-in-law weren't much better and my guests were becoming restless again so I had to make the call shorter than I wanted.  Lek relit the candles so I could have a "take two" at blowing them out and then odd-shaped slices were passed around.  It was a very strange-tasting cake; Doug joked that it was probably "spicy prawn" as we've seen both potato chips and ice cream in this flavor.

Finally, the gifts...  What can I say?  I received some very nice and thoughtful things.  I knew my guests would be bored watching me open presents from friends/relatives in America that they didn't know so I glossed over those and concentrated on the ones given my attendees.  It was nice to see the thought they all put into getting me something I might enjoy when none of them have known me for very long.  And in most cases, they really "hit the nail on the head."  For example, Ben brought me a pizza (we'd been talking about how difficult it is to get a good pizza here on Phuket).  Jum gave me a tin of butter cookies (she'd gone shopping with Tim and I months ago when I'd mentioned how much I liked those type of cookies).  My neighbor Franz bought me a Morris Mini shirt (it's well known among my friends that these are my favorite cars — I'm always pointing them out when I spot them here).  Other gifts included various teacher resource books (which will come in very handy!) and a few novels, even some Western music DVD's (including some Eric Clapton to help me "educate" Tim before his Bangkok concert next month).

After the gifts were opened, I pretty much turned over the floor to my wife and the ladies happily spent the next couple of hours singing karaoke while the men retired to the side patio so we could continue talking (with the glass doors closed, of course!).

All in all, it was very nice party.  I don't recall the last time I actually had a "real" birthday party (probably back when I was ten or something) and it was a nice chance of pace from my usual "tradition" of lounging on a sofa watching television and having a pizza delivered.  It was a bit strange at times (I felt it was more a party for Tim rather than for myself — but I'm definitely okay with that) but "this is Thailand" as everyone says when something doesn't seem quite "right."  Next up:  Nadia's birthday and we'll probably host something for Christmas as well (New Year's will be on a beach somewhere, I hope)...

The Photos:

Lek lurks behind me as I pose next to the gift table.

The birthday boy and his lovely wife.

(L to R:) Tim, Nadia, Jum, and Opat enjoy their dinner on our side patio.

Enjoying a calm moment on my birthday.

My first Thai birthday cake.  Spicy prawn flavor...Yum!

My nephew back in Kansas is singing me "Happy Birthday" via my cell phone as my guests wait for me to blow the candles out on the cake (for the second time!).

A second try and blowing out candles.  Good thing I'm full of hot air!

(L to R:) Pen, Franz, Ben, and Doug enjoying the very interesting taste of the cake.

Tim did a great job of passing me each gift in turn.

Tim and I trying to figure out what the heck it was that Nadia gave me.  (Still can't figure it out, nor describe it — it is unusual, however...)

Morris Mini shirt from my Dutch neighbor.

The highlight of the party for Nid, Pen, and Tim was being able to sing Thai karaoke without any grumbling from your's truly.

BOWLING WITH TIM

Heeding an invitation from Doug, Nid, and Ben last night I took Tim bowling for the first time at Big C.  I hadn't been bowling myself for at least ten years (probably during the last family reunion I attended — for my grandpa's 90th birthday in July 1996); I was a bit rusty but did okay.  We had a blast and I was surprised at how quickly Tim got the hang of it.  In all, I played four games with my wife (scores of 43/81, 61/82, 48/115, and 92/107) plus two on my own (95 and 101).  My final game was with Doug (who had won games against Ben and Nid) but we were both tired by then and neither of us broke 100 (I think Ben was around a 97 and I bowled an 85).