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Thailand Challenge

September 2018 - February 2019
I like Thailand enough to dedicate myself to learning Thai. I know I will be much more involved with people if I can communicate, so I am determined! Read more
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  • Speak, WorldThailand Challenge
    1

    Flight Insights: Addis Ababa Airport

    September 12, 2018 in Ethiopia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    To get from Cuiabá,Brazil to Chiang Mai, Thailand, I took six flights. Counting flying time and layovers, it was 42 hours. Horrible. In the future, I will buy round-trip tickets to-from Dulles International Airport in Washington DC. That was my first flight insight, and a very important one. Although the date of this footprint is September 12, I am actually writing it on September 19, STILL feeling the hard effects of that journey.

    What was really interesting was flying Ethiopian Airways, and experiencing a five-hour layover in Addis Ababa. Ethiopian Airways provided the most direct flights to Bangkok, so that’s why I chose it. However, I was highly apprehensive, as my illogical mind made up a story of a primitive plane that couldn’t get off the ground, that would be dirty and unsafe. Read “Thinking Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman to learn the origin of such wrong thinking. The two Airbus A320 flights, from São Paulo to Addis and Addis to Bangkok, featured new and shining planes, courteous and prompt service, and the old-fashioned addition of the most beautifully radiant flight attendants imaginable. Or maybe most Ethiopians are beautiful; so it seems. At any rate, ET, Ethiopian Airways is succeeding in being the leading airline in Africa, according to someone I overheard in the airport.

    In Addis Ababa, the airport was full of the kind of travelers I never encounter: Indian contractors going to Africa, and vice-versa; pan-African travelers—from the Congo, South Africa, Nigeria, Morocco—everywhere! And the foreign dress, hair styles, body language, spoken languages! I found it all so interesting and attractive. For the first time, I was seriously drawn to Africa. My head has always been full of my own made-up stories about the horrors of Africa, despite the body of fine literature and facts to the contrary pouring out of the continent. As I was pondering that, I met a Belgian violinist on his way back to Kenya and his Nairobi Symphony job. He told me, “Go there! They really need violin teachers!”

    When I sat at a table for six in an airport restaurant, I shared my space with a 34-year-old man from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. When my order of an Ethiopian vegetarian dish of chick peas in a red sauce and three injeras arrived, I convinced Joseph to share it with me, which he did with enthusiasm. Then we talked about his marriage until the bill was paid. In leaving, he called our meeting “an act of God.”

    On the plane, I sat next to a shrouded muslim-dressed Somalian woman, traveling with her NINE children to go live in New Zealand. We only had a few words of Arabic between us, but we communicated and helped each other throughout the flight to Bangkok. When we parted, we hugged and kissed like dear friends, which in a way, we were. I seemed to be in a different consciousness as my mind took everything in. Well, being relaxed and secure in my retirement helps, as does my never-ending curiosity about others, but still, this was important cultural learning.

    And now begins another adventure in a totally different culture, where I shall try to keep identifying my inaccurately invented stories, and replace them with as much truth as possible. Which will be very interesting and great fun.    Read more

  • Speak, WorldThailand Challenge
    121
    Day 8

    A Big Decision in Chiang Mai

    September 20, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 24 °C

    From Brazil I came back to Thailand. In April 2017 I spent three charming weeks here, so I decided to dig in and explore seriously. Now that I have been living internationally for over a year, “exploring” no longer means traveling around with a set itinerary. Instead, I am improvising my stays according to what makes me happy, excited, and intrigued.

    I have made the decision to stay here in Chiang Mai, which is the third-largest city in Thailand. FindPenguins comes with the satellite map, so you can see where I am exactly. I will be here until October 31st, and most likely will extend that until December, when I fly back to the US. I love my spacious and comfortable apartment.
    Here is a link to the Airbnb site so you can see what it looks like: https://abnb.me/PjtZrIiUrQ I love my little neighborhood (I have become a “neighborhood person”) and I find the location to be perfect: just within the ancient city walls, yet separated from the tourist bustle further south. Despite the big city congestion, I like being here for all the possibilities a big city offers.

    I have also made a much more momentous decision: I am devoting myself to learning Thai. I just can’t have the kind of experiences I have enjoyed in countries where I was fluent unless I make the same effort here. So all day long, until late afternoon, I am Pomidoro-ing my studies—twenty-five minutes study, five minutes total break, repeat. There are longer breaks to eat and do my exercises, but I still listen to Thai podcasts, and read about Thai culture and history. Also, I have two teachers (via Skype), one for teaching me all I ask to know, and the other for one hour of “this is how we talk” conversation. I am trying to memorize vocabulary as rapidly as possible with spaced repetition practice. Memorize memorize memorize—it’s my new name!

    I am at such an elementary level that I can’t really bother people on the street with much more than a short short conversation. However, in a stroke of luck I met a photographer/artist who is desperately keen to learn English, so we are teaming up for a daily language exchange. His English is slightly ahead of my Thai. We are roaring into the improvement of both our language abilities with fervor. And lo! There is a long-lived Language Exchange every Wednesday and Saturday evenings at a pub close to my apartment. The first time I went there I met Thais, Americans, Chinese, Brits, Koreans and Canadians present! I also signed up to be a member of a “foreign language challenge,” called the Add1Challenge. Here is a link for more information: https://add1challenge.com/ Why? I thought it would be fun, and a sociable way to be fanatically intent on attaining fluency in ninety days.

    My visit to Brazil the last three months taught me the value of really being able to communicate in a foreign language: to talk and listen on an emotional level, which breaks down cultural barriers. My goal is never to “become” Brazilian, or Thai, or anything else. It is to become closer.

    And to have fun as I never have before!

    ฉันเรียนเพื่อสนุกกับชีวิต. “I study for life’s enjoyment.”    Read more

  • Speak, WorldThailand Challenge
    1
    Day 25

    Monkeys, Snakes and Insects in Mae Rim

    October 7, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Mae Rim is a district starting a few miles north of Chiang Mai. It has villages and populated areas, but it feels like the countryside. September is still the rainy season, and though it hasn’t rained much, the green tropical vegetation is restful and very beautiful.

    I have given myself two Saturday excursions to Mae Rim, using a tiny three-person tour company. Wanpen is a bubbly woman in her mid-forties, and one of my conversation pals on my daily walking street. She sold me the tours. Her younger brother “A” was my driver. Wanpen’s husband works together on the admin with his wife. I loved driving up and back to Mae Rim with A, as he was so very quiet and shy that I could babble on in beginner Thai as much as I wanted. I purposefully learned the word “introvert” in Thai to describe him, which delighted his older sister—not only because it was true, but also because a foreign customer had come up with the word.

    The first trip, on September 29, 2018, we went to the “Monkey School” and the Snake Farm. They were both shameless tourist attractions, with “shows,” and animals imprisoned in soulless small cages. The Monkey School featured pig-tailed macaques, who were very intelligent, and very ill-treated. Here is a link about them:
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_pig-ta… I was happy to leave that place.

    But afterwards, the Snake Farm was much better—probably because snakes have fewer physical requirements than the macaques. Being able to hold a very young python was a delight! So strange and so beautiful. The “show” was really quite amazing, as the snake performers were deadly poisonous cobras, and the snake wranglers were undeniably skilled and brave.

    My second excursion on October 6th was especially amusing. My memorized vocabulary had increased by 130 words, and every day I’d practiced speaking quite a bit, so A and I could cover more topics. We discussed foods we loved and hated, to eat or not to eat insects (he wouldn’t, I would), the most valuable breeds of dogs in Thailand and how much they cost (his Labrador just had six puppies, to be sold for about $50 apiece), and his plans for opening a street food restaurant serving international dishes. Mind you, I was speaking in short sentences, “Dalmatians, how much?” ($1550) “I didn’t eat cicadas because they were too expensive.” Etc.

    My one “attraction” was the Siam Insect Zoo, where I spent two and a half hours! There were beautiful display cases of pinned insects to show taxonomy, simple but not dumbed-down explanations of insect behaviors and life cycles, and many many live insects in different sections: tarantulas, crickets, butterflies and stick insects were featured. The staff members all spoke English, and proved amazing abilities to charm even the youngest children. And there were many children! One young Thai mother, a graduate of Penn State who settled back in Chiang Mai, told me that she was tired of taking her very young children to play in the mall. “We’re branching out,” she said.

    Both outings ended with a trip to a marvelous vegetable market. The stand I frequented both times was run by twin sisters. The first visit, twenty pounds of vegetables cost $3.25. The second visit, it cost $10.50. It’s because I bought lots of local mushrooms! And then A and I could chat all way back to Chiang Mai—thirty minutes with the Saturday traffic. The main topics were the different places he drove to all over Northern Thailand, and how he and his wife were going to divide up the restaurant chores. Happy days!    Read more

  • Speak, WorldThailand Challenge
    12
    Day 32

    What Language Learning Looks Like

    October 14, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    I am in heaven. Language learning heaven. I find that learning Thai here in Chiang Mai is like being in a pleasure ground, solving an enormous puzzle, playing with words, memorizing words, hearing blurs of words, accumulating pages and pages of words—and enjoying words with friendly and accommodating speakers who buoy me up with kindness.

    I spend the morning hours in my comfortable apartment learning vocabulary, practicing pronunciation, listening to native speaker recordings and sappy Thai love songs, and rehearsing talking with imaginary Thai friends so they can possibly understand me. It is easy to study with discipline—anyone who has practiced a musical instrument can appreciate the transfer of practice from one area to the other. It's not the musical background which makes a successful language learner; it's the D I S C I P L I N E. The repetition, the slow practice, the never-missing-a-day, the endless listening, the reviewing, the preparation for the performance, and finally the performance itself, which is SPEAKING WITH THE NATIVES.

    So after lunch and a quick nap, I dress, do hair and make-up, and hit the streets of Chiang Mai. Rather, I do my "route,” my speaking path, with a few sentences here, and a few sentences there. Greetings to my vegetable seller, a handsome man in his seventies; then past the local food stalls where I never eat but am always greeted hopefully by the owners; hello to the seamstress and her cat Mimi, and to the line-up of thuk-thuk and songthaew drivers outside the temples, who don't seem to mind a chat instead of a fare. It's on to laughter with Wanpen, whose younger brother takes me on tours; and finally to a choice of air-conditioned oases for an icy watermelon frappé and more studying. At 6 PM I meet my friend Wisamun for thirty minutes of English and thirty of Thai. I learn the words in Thai that he wants to know in English, and vice versa: we are learning each others’ words. We are like kids with comic books. It's so much fun! Then I walk home, musing, and wishing people on my way a very formal "raatrii sawaat"—"good night to you.”

    I also was accepted in something called the “Add1Challenge,” a program that is part of the website “Fluent in Three Months.” ( https://www.fluentin3months.com/) The challenge is to go from zero knowledge to having a fifteen-minute talk in one’s target language, with a native speaker, in ninety days. To be accepted, I had to post a short public video on YouTube explaining why I wanted to participate, and what my personal goal was. ( Link: https://youtu.be/8OxP8WpAtWw) The Challenge began on October 8th, and the first task was to make another public video for “Day Zero,” showing what my competency was. Here is mine: https://youtu.be/-AM7-kvm1YU

    There are over one hundred participants, studying many languages. We are connected on the work meeting app called Slack, which is a great pleasure. Many people contribute hints, resources, and support to the group as a whole, and to two study groups to which we are assigned. We can also be in touch with individual members. I have even met with another Thai learner, who happens to be staying near me in Chiang Mai! As I push to my individual goal, attaining a B1or B2 level of proficiency, I can do so in the company of others. Here is an explanation of “B1 B2” in the CEFR System: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_European…

    Please note, everyone: I am not self-flagellating. I am not a masochist. This is FUN! Paradise! All of it! I am truly in heaven.

    Here are a few pictures.    Read more

  • Speak, WorldThailand Challenge
    1
    Day 43

    A Special Guest Post: Victoria Vorreiter

    October 25, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    I first visited my friend Victoria Vorreiter in Chiang Mai in April 2017, to celebrate the culmination of twelve years of work. It is a great honor for me that she has agreed to describe that work for you here. She also has provided a few of her exquisite photos. —Dorée

    ***

    To Dorée’s devotees, I send a warm ‘sawasdeekaa’ from northern Thailand. It is a pleasure to connect with you through this guest entry. I so appreciate Dorée’s invitation to add a new dimension to her adopted home by sharing my own journey in Southeast Asia.

    Dorée and I first met in 1980 as classical violinists and teachers in London. Over the years we have shared a deep belief in the power of music and its importance in the lives of young people. This keen awareness of the sonic environment has shifted for both of us, in different but complementary ways. Dorée has followed her passion for languages and I for documenting the ancestral music of traditional peoples living in remote corners of the world.

    My fascination with the primal role music plays in preliterate societies first began while teaching young children through the Suzuki Method, guiding them to absorb repertoire through their ears, rather than through their eyes. What I came to understand is that the “mother tongue method” is nothing more or less than oral tradition, the dynamic means used by all indigenous peoples through time and place to pass down everything they know about their world in an unbroken chain, from the first ancestors to all who follow. Historical accounts, tenets of behavior, life lessons, harvest principles, secular and ritual practices, and spiritual beliefs, all are revealed and sustained through songs and ceremonies. Isn’t this a wonder. And so began my quest. . .

    I first arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2005, with the sole intention of exploring the music, ceremonies, and cultures of the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, and China converge. This expanse of the Himalayan foothills has served over millennia as an historical and cultural crossroads of migrations, trade routes, and passages along the great rivers of Asia, which has given way to some of the world’s oldest civilizations. Here resides a rich multiplicity of more than 130 different groups and subgroups making this one of the most culturally rich places on the planet.

    Primary among this number are six distinct groups—the Akha, Lahu, Lisu, Hmong, Mien, and Karen, each with a unique history, language, physical features, customs, dress, arts, and spiritual beliefs—who continue to maintain their independence and identity to a high degree. Each of these groups is rooted in animism, the belief that everything in nature possesses a soul and the universe is organized by supernatural powers. Frequent rites, ceremonies, and festivals are performed throughout the year to maintain harmony between the realm of men and spirits.

    The medium propelling these rites is music, which appears throughout the diaspora in astounding diversity. Each ethnic group has developed a vast and varied repertoire of celebratory songs, ritual chants, and secular and sacred instrumental music that charts the arc of life, the cycles of seasons, and the wheel of generations. For the highlanders of Southeast Asia, music is ever-present and essential to their inner and outer lives.

    With my vision in mind, I have spent over a decade trekking to isolated mountain villages to document the significant thresholds of life—births, courtship rites, weddings, harvest rituals, festivals, healing ceremonies, and funerals—that are so spectacularly driven by melody and rhythm.

    Such a glorious, challenging, humbling adventure has allowed me to amass an extensive body of work—journals, films, photographs, recordings, and collections of musical instruments and textiles. This has given rise to the Songs of Memory archival projects, which include books, presentations, and multi-media exhibitions. It is hoped that these form an integrative whole that will help support and preserve the age-old culture and wisdom of the Akha, Lahu, Lisu, Hmong, Mien, and Karen peoples.

    Please enjoy the following images of the musicians, shamans, headmen, and villagers, young and old, who have graced my path. To explore further photographs, recordings, and films, to request materials, or to connect with me personally, please visit: www.TribalMusicAsia.com. It would be a joy and honor to introduce these archives to your community.

    Enormous gratitude goes to Dorée for giving me this opportunity to share the Songs of Memory project with you. And many thanks to you for your interest in the timeless cultural heritage of the Golden Triangle.
    With warmest wishes,
    Victoria    Read more

  • Speak, WorldThailand Challenge
    Day 62

    Thrilling New Developments in Chiang Mai

    November 13, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    I have to tell you all about three exciting things that have recently happened to me here in Chiang Mai.

    First of all, my Thai is improving quite rapidly. My active vocabulary (if I can remember everything) is now around 1300 words and expressions, with 208 more in the “memorization pipeline.” My goal is 2000 words, so I’m getting closer! I have two teachers. I go to a language school for an hour private lesson twice a week with Ms. Lek, and have a Skype lesson for thirty minutes DAILY with Ms. Taantawan. I hold “free conversation” with both of them, as they scramble to note all the new words and expressions that I need. These notes fill my vocabulary notebook. I meet with my language exchange partner Wisamun every day at 6 PM sharp, with our thirty minutes of English and then Thai.

    In my Add1Challenge, we are into our second month (there are three months altogether) and I get many ideas from other language learners. One of the best is the use of “Glossika,” an app which allows me to repeat many short sentences at native speed for a “session” of about twenty minutes per day. I was skeptical at first, but I’m finding that it is indeed living up to its promise of fluency: my brain is actually getting re-wired to speak with much less hesitation!

    The second thing that has happened is that I’ve had wrist surgery here. Yes! A tendon in my right wrist was too large for the sheath it had to pass through, causing me great pain. Instead of waiting until December for surgery in the States, I investigated having it here. I went for a consultation with a noted hand specialist/surgeon at the Bangkok Hospital Chiang Mai, and HAD THE SURGERY TWO HOURS LATER. The total cost for the doctor visit, the surgery, and pain pills and antibiotics was $420. I thought they forgot to add a zero to the bill! In the US, when I had the same surgery done to the other wrist six years ago, the bill was way over $7500. My insurance covered it, but please note the difference.

    And then, the third event was that I did my first “visa run.” It involved crossing the border into Myanmar, and coming back into Thailand with a new Thai visa for thirty more days. It was ten hours on the bus there and back—a bit grueling—but the journey was broken up by a couple of hours at the border, and a nice lunch of one of my very favorite dishes: lahpet thoke, fermented tea leaf salad. There is a picture of it in this entry.

    There is always much to learn, and much to experience by living in foreign countries. My immersion in Thai/Chiang Mai life has been thrilling for me. It’s the first time I’ve been so ambitious in learning a new language, the first time I’ve seriously dealt with visa issues, and the first time to ditch the US medical system for one that seems vastly superior in how treatment is delivered. Every day I wake up eager to get going on everything.    Read more

  • Speak, WorldThailand Challenge
    Day 73

    A Hike and a Festival!

    November 24, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    Of course I have been nearly totally buried in my Thai language studies, but I did take some time out for a lovely walk/hike at the base of the mountains west of Chiang Mai on November 24th. The trail started just north of the Chiang Mai Zoo, and followed a playful stream for a mile or two. It felt so wonderful to be out of the city, tramping along in the forest. The tropical mountain vegetation was full of surprises, such as a totally iridescent cup of a spider web, and beautiful striated fungi. And the air! Fresh and sweet and earthy.

    The day before was the start of the Loy Krathorn Festival. This is a nationwide festival, in which Chiang Mai excels so much that people from all over Thailand and the world come here to witness it. There are lovely lanterns sent into the night air of the full moon, and exquisite floating “baskets” sent down the rivers, full of worship of the River Gods, and heartfelt wishes of the senders. Please click on this link for much fuller information:
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loi_Krathong

    And enjoy MY photos!    Read more

  • Speak, WorldThailand Challenge
    1
    Day 105

    Sabaai Sabaai! Animals and Street Life

    December 26, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    "Sabaai” has so many meanings: well, comfortable, how are you? fine, and relaxed—for starters. Even though Chiang Mai is in the cooler north of Thailand, it is still tropical. While my Thai neighbors shiver in 67-degree evening “cold season” weather, and dress their dogs in cotton coats, I feel relief: it’s finally not so HOT!! In the midst of my nearly overwhelmingly intense Thai language studies, I certainly have not lost my joy in wandering the streets of Chiang Mai, and finding all sorts of visual treasures. Well, treasures in MY eyes!

    I also moved twice, for a total of three separate locations in the center of Chiang Mai. Because I booked my Airbnb properties for only a month, the time after my booking was immediately snatched by another person—the “cold season,” November to January, is considered The Time To Visit Thailand.

    I hope you get a little of Chiang Mai atmosphere from these photos!    Read more

  • Speak, WorldThailand Challenge
    2
    1
    Day 117

    My Chiang Mai Language Challenge Ends!

    January 7, 2019 in Thailand ⋅ 🌧 30 °C

    My Thai language challenge has officially ended in Chiang Mai itself, and is now about to start a new phase: on the road! But let me catch you up on what has happened since my entry on Day 62 on November 13th.

    Thanks to 90-days-in-a-row studying in the Add1Challenge—and I do mean studying 3-5 hours a day—I reached my goal of 2000+ words in my active vocabulary. In a 14-day “mini-challenge” around Day 70, I succeeded in speaking Thai for a total of 47 hours—about 3.5 hours a day—bringing my team to victory! I officially finished this Challenge by making a “90-day video,” the final video required, in which I have a 21-minute conversation with a native speaker. In this case, it was my iTalki teacher Chonlada Yomchinda. It might be interesting for you to compare my speaking from DayZero and Day90, even if you don’t understand Thai. So here are the links:

    Day0: https://youtu.be/-AM7-kvm1YU

    Day90: https://youtu.be/ZFdzMgso4Ww

    But the most important part of these last months is the closeness I am beginning to feel to my Thai friends and even the people on the streets. When I sat down and spoke to Khun Wisamun the artist, we poured out our stories since the last meeting, and are truly “puuean sanit,” “close friends.” Face-to-face with Khun Kit the dtuk-dtuk driver, we wept over his aged mother’s decline. On a 12:30 am video call with Khun Aan, the city bus driver, I gave him sympathy for having to drive until 2 am on an empty bus through the deserted Chiang Mai streets—an intimate view of Purgatory if there ever was one. Everyone has a lifetime of stories within, and they remain locked within—without WORDS to let them emerge as pieces of identity and soul. I do long to hear these stories, and let my friends hear mine. It is only through this sharing that I truly feel at home in any country. Otherwise, I feel I’m just passing through.    Read more

  • Speak, WorldThailand Challenge
    13
    Day 119

    Thai on the Road--begins in Laos??

    January 9, 2019 in Laos ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    I am now on the road again! My first stop, after a 12-hour night bus journey, was Vientiane, the capital of Laos. I went there specifically to visit the Thai Consulate to apply for and receive a two-MONTH tourist visa for Thailand, which will take me to the end of my stay here.

    I booked a nice Airbnb apartment far enough from the Consulate to give me opportunities to walk a great deal. After I submitted my visa application and passport (to be collected, along with the visa, the following day) I had a delicious fish soup for lunch, and then walked down to the Mekong River to have a look. If you too have lived through the Viet Nam War, “Mekong” will bring back difficult memories. But here it is a broad and lovely river, ready to create new and positive thoughts. After the long bus ride, the tension of getting my visa process started, and landing in a new country, I began to feel a bit low—“I don’t speak Lao,” I whined to myself.

    The following day, I started out afresh, and walked about two and a half miles to the Vientiane Textile Museum. During my walk I talked with many people, because I discovered that mostly everyone spoke Thai! Not only are the languages similar, but being only a few miles from the border encourages Vientiane citizens to learn. I felt ever so much better, having conversations. The Textile Museum is a family compound, and all the buildings were in the old Lao style of about 100 years ago. It is a beautiful place, showing the process of collecting the raw cotton, silk, hemp, bamboo, reeds, etc., spinning and dyeing it, and finally weaving fabrics on various hand looms. Note: the silkworms are NOT boiled alive. They are allowed to hatch and fly away as moths.

    After a long and relaxing visit, I went and collected the visa—a joyous event—and had a scrumptious Vietnamese lunch of phô, and a slow walk back to my apartment. A very pleasant stay indeed—and I shall certainly get back to Laos one day for a proper exploration.    Read more

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