Lazy weekend, busy days

A cold hit Kiddo on Thursday.  She was a little sneezy and stuffed on Thursday in the morning, so I gave her allergy meds and a neti in the morning and she went off to school.  Poor Monkey!  By bedtime that night, she was just stuffed and sniffly and not feeling great.  

Friday was better and that’s great.  The school had a performance that day and Kiddo had been working so hard at it.  They did something Charlie Chaplin themed.  Isn’t she cute!!!!!

She was still pretty run down on Saturday, so we had a lazy day at home and her and J started a restaurant.  A few things about that.  First, love the world cuisine menu.  Really shows the range of Kiddo.  Second, they had served two customers on the day and news came down that they had been awarded a Michelin Star.  That’s gotta be a first for the Michelin people, giving out a star after two customers.  Last, the pricing has me confused.  I asked about why krapow with egg had a $5 up charge on it.  “Because there is only one chicken in Ranza.  Clucksters.  So eggs on dishes is expensive.”  Note, however, that ramen with an egg is only $0.10 more.  Then again, what do I know… I’ve never gotten a Michelin Star, let alone after just two customers.

Sunday was another lazy day, but I was starting to feel not great.  Not bad, just like 75% is my max and I just can’t get the wind in my sails.  J had the same thing Saturday and yesterday a little.  So, it will pass and it’s a 2-3 day thing.  Just a cold.  No big deal, other than feeling a little worn out and less uuumph in the day.

Today is the Queen’s Birthday and so it’s a national holiday.  J and Kiddo left me to go to the Get Growing Farm and play a bit.  I rested and showered and just got myself to as close to human as I could.  As I said, about 75%.  Nanny Beer came for the afternoon and I’m wiring this while J has herself a climb at the gym.

Outside of all that, J has had a couple of unique and unusual situations in the last week.  Firstly, she saw a monk at the market the other morning and saw a bunch of people go to get blessed and give offerings to the monk.  It’s not the first time she’s seen it.  I’ve had a few situations that I’ve seen it.  Never, to date, have we been in a position to get some snaps of it.  

The other situation is a bit less cheery.  J had a student last year that was born with a genetic condition that would cause issues and affect health and all.  Well, the worst happened and this child lost their battle.  

J and her teaching fellow (a Thai woman that J has known for her entire time at BASIS) were shook by the news and J asked if I could handle Kiddo solo on Friday night so she could go to the service.  It was at a Buddhist temple and J was happy to have someone Thai with her to help her navigate that.  

We’ve seen and done a lot in the last three years.  Kiddo has learned Thai to the point that Nanny Beer doesn’t speak English to her any longer.  We’ve seen and celebrated Songkran, Loy Krathong, Chinese New Years, Thai birthdays and Christmas, and other Thai Celebrations.  We’ve gone on dates or just to dinner.  We’ve eaten at markets or in places that, literally, stopped when we walked in.  We’ve gone on vacations (and not to touristy spots) and traveled some.  Now, to include a funeral…. 

It’s sad, that last.  It’s something I wish I could say we didn’t get to see or experience, but it’s part of life.  It’s an experience.  It’s something J will keep with her, both in remembrance of the student and child, but also as a cultural touchpoint.  We may see a Chinese funeral, or Japanese, or Korean… who knows.  Maybe next it will be births and weddings instead of funerals.  It is one more layer of empathy, understanding, and acceptance of the culture and place we live in.  It also shows how we are connected to this life and how we live it.  We aren’t just passing observers, here to take in the sights and see what we can before moving on.  We are part of this, at least, we are part of this as much as we can be.  

It’s not fun and games.  It’s not tourism+.  It’s life!

We try to be part of the community here.  We have our market people.  The little places and shoppes we go.  The people we know.  We can’t go a week without seeing someone Thai we know or frequent their shop somewhere in public.  I see the staff of the massage place we like at the market 2-3days a week.  Or the guards from school.  Or the Shabu lady or one of her kids.  Our fruit people, I see them around at Plurn Dee sometimes, or the cafe I go to.  

We promised each other (J and I that is) when we signed our first contract that we wouldn’t be imperialistic.  We wouldn’t demand English.  We would do more than just look at it, we’d experience it.  We wouldn’t take.  That we’d haggle at the markets, but not take advantage.  That we would try what the locals eat.

We’ve done that.  We’ve experienced BKK and Thailand.  We could see and do more, but that’s not what we seek now.  We seek the new.  We seek it with the same mindset and promises.

We transition away from BKK and start looking toward Shanghai.  However, we go with the same open mind.  We’ve never gotten anything more than a American Media spin on China (ok, not quiet, but close enough for horseshoes and hand grenades) and what it’s like there.  Why not see it?  Why not experience it?  Why not live it?  The worst is that we won’t like it and move on.  However, in that, we will learn and have more understanding and empathy for the people of China (or at least Shanghai) than we would have otherwise.

Three years later and we’re just as excited for the next adventure.  The next new thing.  The next place and people and culture to wow and amaze and astound and confuse us.  We live on a little rock that flies through space around a smaller sized star and this rock just happens to be in the unique circumstance to create and sustain life.  There is something like a 1 in 100 trillion chance of that happening and here we are.  The fact that life exists is already a lotto win of a situation, so why not enjoy those winnings and see what we can.  It’s not like we can just go to Alpha Centuri and live a life there.  So far, this little rock is the only one we know with actual life on it.  So, we plan to see that life.  Live that life.  Get outside of the small pond and into the greater sea of life.

Let’s go, Kiddo… Three more weekend.  Then, it’s into the final week and getting on a flight, before another and another and another and another and another and another before finally getting to Shanghai.  We will, however, in between that, see some stuff and have some fun.  Let’s keep exploring the world and seeing some cool stuff.