So I'm back in Chiang Mai, which is a bit of a relief. I've been sick
for the last couple of days. Normally I don't mind being stared at
because I'm farang. But when I've got a headache, fever and a running
nose my patience begins to wane. I was starting to find it very hard
not to tell people to bugger off.
Thankfully you've got to be something much more impressive than
merely white to get anyones attention in Chiang Mai.
The second to last night in Khon Kaen, before I caught my cold, I was
out wandering around some god-forsaken suburb at around 10 at night
trying to find an Isaan restaurant the LP guide promised was nearby.
A fellow on a scooter pulled up and asked if I spoke Thai. I answered
in Thai that I spoke a little and proceeded to have a conversation in
which I understood roughly half of what he was saying.
I told him I
was trying to find an Isaan restaurant because I wanted sticky rice.
I explained that I liked sticky rice, and that sticky rice was
delicious to which he nodded sagely (it's actually kind of scary how
much of my Thai vocabulary revolves around sticky rice). I asked him
if he knew where I could find a restaurant that served sticky rice and
he considered this a little bit before answering "mai loo" (don't
know).
Then he started speaking rather fast, seeming to want to know
where my hotel was and I told him, assuming he was probably concerned
that I was lost. He was saying a bunch of stuff and grasping my arm,
but the only word I could pick-out was sleep. I was starting to have
a gist of where this was going but I just kept saying "mai kao jai"
(don't understand), and he finally blurted out in English "I love you"
with much enthusiasm. "Ahhhh...." I said, "kao jai".
I knew how to say "I like", but I couldn't remember whether "poo-ying"
meant man or woman and figured this would be a rather critical point
to state correctly. I recall staring down the road and scratching my
head. Simultaneously pondering how to extricate myself without offense
and wondering how the hell I'd learned so many other useless words in
Thai without yet learning the word for woman.
"You like women?" he finally asked in English, much to my relief.
"Yeaahhh" I said nodding slowly and apologized.
He told me not to worry about it and drove off.
Having harassed Felipe endlessly about a similar encounter he'd had a
month earlier, I probably should have known this was coming. Karma
and all.
My 6-week Thai language course starts on Monday and I'm going
apartment hunting tomorrow. It will be nice to settle down somewhere
for a while. Though I probably won't have as much to write about
while I'm here.
Scott
