Finally I am in Laos. Getting here was quite the adventure but actually pretty fun because I got to meet loads of people. Saturday spent five hours on a bus. And Sunday and Monday about 8 hours each day on a “slow boat” putting along the Mekong River. Interestingly, though, on the over-crowded boat, I didn’t meet one American. There were at least 10 Canadians out of the about 100 people on board, yet not one Yank.
You haven’t had breakfast yet, you’re not finished packing, and your bus arrives in a half-hour. What do you do? Run across the street to 7-Eleven and grab some Oreos, of course.
FYI: They make a great lunch, too (just not in the same day).
“Americans are very nice. They like to volunteer and help people. Why?”
When I needed to contact a local orphanage so I could volunteer there, I had the man at the front desk of my Chiang Mai guesthouse help me make the call. After I finished, he just kept saying that I was so nice to want to volunteer. I laughed and disagreed. Then, he remembered that the two American girls who’d checked in the night before were working with NGOs in the area and said I should speak to them. That’s when he made the above comment.
I personally choose to volunteer because I believe I can make a difference. I believe that everyone in life deserves a fair go, but that the equality of getting it is rarely there. And, I guess at the deepest root of it all, I believe the meaning of life is to make others’ lives better. But he didn’t ask why I volunteered. He asked why Americans do.
So I thought for a while and tried to piece together what influenced me and what might be in our culture that makes us want to say “I’ll help!” Trying as best as I could to answer his question, I said that it might be partially due to the strong history of missionary work in the US. Even if a lot of American volunteers nowadays weren’t Christian or religious, missionaries paved the way for our society’s belief in helping others. He nodded and mentioned that there are a lot of American missionaries here, too, and had been in the past as well.
Later that night, I tried to think of other things that may influence the number of American volunteers he sees; I know that some westerners also knowingly or unknowingly prescribe to the idea of “white man’s burden,” which can influence how/where people choose to volunteer. And then there’s the whole impact of 9/11…which, if NGO application numbers (like those of Teach For America) are any indication, definitely influenced a generation to help others. And, of course, there’s always the desire to travel to far-off places, and volunteering along the way is a way to dissuade any guilt or comments from others (or get a long-term visa).
But that’s about where my train of thought has ended. Although I know there are actually hundreds of possible reasons. Do you have your own theory? Any sociological thoughts you’d like to volunteer are definitely welcome.
At a temple last week, I was walking toward BB when three novice monks (ones who are studying at the monk university) asked me where I was from. I talked with them a bit but felt a bit awkward. I couldn’t help but feel they were definitely flirting when they kept trying to convince me I should help them with their English the next day. Why did I feel awkward? They were 17. Seventeen! Oh yeah…and they’re monks!
But, talking with them, I did realize that them thinking about girls/women isn’t as far-fetched for them as I thought; they weren’t all planning on being monks for life (but they are still 17). They’re there to learn about the religion, and as one of them said, “to make my parents happy,” and like quite a few other novice monks, they’re also there because this is one of the few ways they could get higher education.
The monk I met a few days ago [above] told me, “You’re lucky you’re American.” He then went on to talk about how great it is that we have such broad access to higher education in the States. After working with Teach For America for two years where we were constantly reminded how access to education isn’t equal in the US, his off-the-cuff comment was a reminder that although our education system has some problems, others may still envy it.
PS: I also asked him about bargaining. Monks sometimes do it too. Whew!
Chiang Mai is full of men with pick-up lines. It can be “Do you need a taxi?” or “Where are you going?” or sometimes it’s just a slow down with a little honk. Indeed, they’re all trying to get me in their little red trucks and take me to my next destination.
These trucks are how people travel in Chiang Mai. Songtaews, or red taxis, are the main mode of transportation. It’s a bit different, these vehicles. After flagging down one (if you haven’t already had one offered), you tell the driver your destination. If he’s already going somewhat in that direction, he’ll nod you in to the back of the truck. If not, with a shake of his head, he’ll send you back to the curb to flag down the next guy. Routes obviously vary depending on what places he needs to get to, so you’ll likely not take a direct route. And the price can be negotiated before or after. In the city, they’re rarely packed. But take one to another town, and expect the driver to only leave with a full load o’ passengers…and more will be flagged in along the route. Imagine being in the back of a pick-up with fourteen other riders (and a few bags), and four guys hanging off the back.
Riding in them actually reminds me a bit of my childhood and riding in the back of my dad’s pick-up (I’m from a small town). Sidebenches aside, the main difference, though, is my dad’s truck was a Ford. Oddly, though, none of the red taxis are Ford…or Chevy…or even GMC. They’re mostly Isuzu, but there are also a few Toyotas, Nissans, Mitsubishis, and Mazdas. I’ve seen some Fords and Chevrolets on the street, but none are in use for the taxi men (yeah, I’ve only seen male drivers). I noticed this mainly because American pick-up drivers are some of the few Yanks who usually believe American vehicles are the best-made. As a past American pick-up driver myself (I’m from a small town, remember?), I agreed with that. Obviously, though, the songtaew men, don’t.
Not fully digging the songtaews, I spent the last week riding around a neon green motorbike that I affectionately named BB. I’d been riding on the back of my friends’ bikes here, and after a week of that, I figured I could handle one, too. My friend Mike said, “It’s like riding a bicycle.” After paying my 150-baht-a-day (about $5) rental fee, I hopped on and started it up. Mike was right. It is kind of like a bicycle, but I think it’s a bit closer to a riding lawnmower (it’s that small-town thing, again). Every day when I’d ride BB, I couldn’t help but feel like I’d be cutting the front yard.
But once again, motorbikes in Chiang Mai are also definitely on the Asian side…Yamaha and Honda are the big brands here. BB was a Yamaha. I’ll sure miss him! One of the coolest parts of having BB around was every time a taxi man gave me his pick-up line, I could mime riding a motorbike, and he’d just smile and drive on.
I forgot to post the photo [click it to enlarge] of this sign I took at one of the temples (Wat Phrathat) in Chiang Mai. It’s a Do and Don’t list in Thai and English with some awesome illustrations. I’m wondering how many foreigners (probably a few Americans at some point) didn’t follow the good-manners list and created the need for it.
I have to say I was pretty disappointed when I saw it. I mean I was really hoping to wear my “hot pants” next time I went to a temple.
It’s been forbidden in the Forbidden City. OK maybe not forbidden, but Starbucks’ Forbidden City (in Beijing) location is closed as of last week. According to BusinessWeek Online’s story, one CCTV anchor “ignited a firestorm after taking up the issue on his popular blog last year. ‘Starbucks has good quality stuff, but it is still a symbol of America’s low-class food culture,’ wrote Rui Chenggang on Jan. 12, 2007. ‘It’s maybe O.K. to have a Starbucks around the Forbidden City. But having one inside the City is inappropriate. This is not globalization, but an erosion of Chinese culture.’ ” (the blog is in Chinese, so I’ll have to accept BusinessWeek Online’s translation). Others apparently agreed, and so Starbucks’ American image was shown the door (or maybe the gates; the Forbidden City is a former palace, after all).
As I travel, I’ve begun to feel like Starbucks is the McDonald’s of the 80s and 90s. Like the burger chain wiggled its way into foreign lands in the past decades, Starbucks is doing that now and is just as much a symbol of Americans’ consumerism as the golden arches. But if the closure in the Forbidden City is any indication, our wacky fast-food (and beverage) habits aren’t welcome everywhere.
Oddly, though, the big green circle has been in pretty much every city I’ve visited, and I have to say I’m a bit perplexed by it. Paying nearly $5 for a caffeine buzz is ridiculous to even some Americans…but in countries where a meal and drink in a mid-class sit-down restaurant can be less than $3 and the daily wages are about $25, the proliferation of Starbucks abroad is quite startling. Sure they’re there often for the tourists, but I can’t help but wonder what the Thai guy (who probably makes less than the $25/day average) thinks as he’s whipping up a $4.77 drink for the farang tourists.
If he’s like the quoted anchor who called Starbucks part of “America’s low-class food culture,” he probably thinks its hogwash that anyone would spend that much on a cup of Joe that’s not even served at a fine-dining establishment. Yet, that’s what Americans (and plenty of others) do.
Needing a quiet place to do some work Saturday, I did it too. But for a gal who doesn’t drink caffeine, that $4.77 chocolate chip cream drink after lunch was pretty much the devil. It kept me up until 6:20 the next morning. I might have to show Starbucks the gate for a while, too.
I’ve updated the sidebar, and it now includes some reviews of the books I’ve read on the trip. The sidebar has a few other changes, too, but I’ll probably be fiddling with it a bit more…
I’ll admit upfront that I’ve never gotten into the Harry Potter hype. I read the first one just to see what all the excitement was about. Haven’t read one since. But, I know there are many, many people out there who are dedicated JK Rowling readers. I understand that the release of the final book was also a big deal…I’d been hearing about it for months and months. And in the last few days I’d been reading the articles about the growing international excitement (and “spoilers”).
So I wondered what the release time in Thailand (6:01 a.m.) would be like. I’d heard about a few parties in Bangkok, and I’d read that one of the bookstores here in Chiang Mai would open at 6 a.m. I figured with all the hype I’d heard that the book would be flying off the shelves like one of the series’ magical little things. Imagine my surprise, then, when yesterday afternoon I stopped by a bookstore and saw a display outside with copies of both Bloomsbury (the UK publisher) editions.
When I was inside buying some magazines, an English-and-Thai-speaking family came in asking “Do you have the Scholastic edition of Harry Potter?” This question surprised me (and the clerk, too, who offered both Bloomsbury editions from boxes in the store). I didn’t think there was any difference in the editions. And if I’d been a Harry Potter fan, I would’ve just been excited to find any copy that late in the day.
As they carried on their bilingual conversation, I started to think maybe it was because they’d bought the Scholastic (the US publisher) editions of the previous installments and wanted their library to look cohesive (I’m anal, I could understand that). But no; the grandmother then asked, “Is the Scholastic one different?” The clerk shook his head, but still the family must have been unconvinced. They left without the book.
So now I’m curious as to why readers might want the US edition versus one of the British ones. Are there illustrations? An extended ending? A foreword by some person more amazing than Harry? I looked online, and the only difference I’ve found is the page length (608 in the Bloomsbury editions and 784 in the Scholastic one), and that is apparently due only to layout elements like spacing. That leads me to believe that the family’s search might simply be due to the US company’s international marketing (I did notice that the Scholastic Harry Potter cover images have him growing up looking more and more like Harry’s movie image, and the book and movie have the same title font; whereas the Bloomsbury editions look much different from the movie-marketing campaigns).
And so now my curiosity leads me to ask any of you dear readers who are also Harry Potter fans to explain why the US edition might be a better buy or if it’s just that Scholastic has somehow managed to make its name synonomous with the series.
With about 300 steps to the top, Doi Suthep’s Wat Phrathat is apparently the must-do thing in Chiang Mai. Not only is it a big, beautiful Buddhist temple, but it also boasts some of the best views of the city.
Riding up to the base of the steps on a minibus, I got to know a Thai girl who was visiting Chiang Mai for work. Talking with her about where I was staying and how much I’d paid for my room and other things around Chiang Mai, I realized that I am way too paranoid about being taken advantage of or being seen as a moneybags tourist. The prices she was told or was paying was sometimes more or the same as I’d been paying. Then I felt like a poophead and realized I’d probably been seen as a cheapskate or cheating tourist. I’m pretty sure that’s worse.
I think when I go back to Wat Phrathat I should ask one of the monks how they feel about money, profits, and bargaining.
