Caramelizing the future

Three years ago, we were about where we are right now, in terms of leaving.  Flights and days were known, we had a plan, we had a little family vacation/staycation planned, and life was about to get turned upside down.

Boy oh boy, did it.

Some of the transition was tough.  Some of it was fun.  Some of it was… well, interesting is a good way to put it.  I mean, the Quarantini was invented for a reason.  Also, if I ever find the brand of juice in The States, I will hand squeeze that box of juice to make anyone asking a perfect Quatantini.  Yes!  Hand squeezed.

We’ve made a home here.  We’ve made friends.  We’ve become part of a community.  I’ve been telling to market vendors or cafe people that we know and that see us daily and weekly that we will be leaving on the 29th of this month and that we are moving to China and across the board I am told that this is sad and we have to promise to come back and I’m offered hugs and handshakes and all the rest.

We came into this knowing nothing, or about as close to nothing as we could.  That wasn’t intentional, that was life and Covid and how it was going into this.  We are in a similar situation with China.  Not that we aren’t searching and looking and trying to learn what we can, but we’ve done this.  We know this.  Somethings are best seen in person.  You can learn all you want about something (a place, a language, a concept, whatever) but sometimes the only real way to learn is to see and do.  

My best example is caramelizing onions.  Look up how to caramelize onions.  It’s pretty easy.  Slice onions (yellow or a sweet white recommended) to desired thickness trying to keep them uniform.  Add butter or oil (or a mix) to a pan on medium heat.  Add onions and salt to taste.  Cook 5 min until softened.  Reduce heat by half.  Stir pan every 3-5 minutes until all onions are uniform brown and caramelized.  Simple, right?

Now… Go do that.  I can wait.  It’ll take you an hour.  You will have caramelized onions and those are good on most things.  However, about half of your onions will be wrong.  Undercooked or burnt a bit.  Now, make then again and again and again, week after week after week.  In a month (4 tries) you will have them 99% of the way there.  A few more cooks and perfection.  A year from now, you will be caramelizing onions in your sleep.  

We could have learned everything we could on BKK and still been surprised and caught off guard by a number of things.  We can and have spoken to everyone we can about life in China, as a few members of the staff this year have a few years experience in China.  It will only ever make us 1% ready.  That’s not a very good return on investment.

So, instead, we ready ourselves.  We prepare for the strange and frustrating.  The language barriers that will take time to overcome.  The cultural barriers.  A new city that we will have to learn to navigate.  New social norms.  A new language.  We would never be able to learn and take that all in before we leave.  Not even close.  So, we don’t bother.  We learn what we can, pick up some little tricks, the hello, thank you, please, bathroom, yes, no, and words that we will need to be polite and helpful at passport control and in the airport.  After that, we will figure it out.  

Bangkok, however, will always be first.  It will hold that place for us.  It will be that place.  We will leave.  Maybe we will never be back.  Maybe we will come back often.  We don’t know that yet.  We’ve not been gone yet.  

Kiddo has cried.  J has cried.  I will cry.  I don’t know when or why, but I’m sure I will.  There is a lot to miss here.  There is a lot that is home to us.  There is a lot here for us.  Kiddo has friends here.  She had a routine.  She has a connection.  We’ve been working on that also.  Talking with those parents to connect with them on Facebook, Instagram, and other social medias to keep those friends in Kiddo’s life.  To give her that touchstone to those that she is connected with.  

We are doing the same.  J is seeing those friends she’s made a last time, having a last night out, having a last climb, a last massage, a last coffee, a last everything.  I am doing the same, in my own ways.

In a month, we will be talking about California and how nice it was to see the people we see there.  Kiddo will have those adventures on her lips.  We will be looking forward to the Brewers game and then, a week after that, Mexico and taco research.  A month ago, I was blogging about my crown that exploded.  A month from now, I’ll be blogging about our CA adventures or the Brewer game adventure.  Time has become both fast and slow.  My crown adventure seems like it was months ago, but it was just a month ago.  A month from now will seem like a day ago, but getting there and looking back, it will be filled with so so much.  

Three years ago feels like yesterday and yet, it was a lifetime ago.  Kiddo hardly remembers it.  Three years ago we had no idea what this would be like, how we would react to it, what it would be like.  Now, we will miss parts of it.  Big parts of it.  

We point our eyes forward, though.  We keep our focus on the goal, not the starting line.  Yes, we are sad to leave.  Yes, we will miss Bangkok.  The people.  Our friends.  Our routines.  Thailand itself.  We will miss calling it home.  

Let’s go, Kiddo… It is almost time.  We are as anxious as you are, but we also remember this all a bit better.  Don’t worry about it, Kiddo, Mumma and I will be right next to you the whole time.  Besides, the day we go to the airport, you get to wear jammies and fly in jammies.  When we finally land, we will be back in America and you can speak all the English you want.  We have a few surprises for you, but mostly, we have ourselves and our love for you… and your love for us.  At the end of the day, we really don’t need more than that.