Its been a long time... I guess I'm just not a dedicated blogger like the rest of the world. I've been here rather a long time I guess, but it has all flown by really. Thailand began to feel like home some months ago but I'm still not local as I have consistently failed to learn Thai... mainly as my girlfriend took on the role of interpretor at an early stage leaving me with no requirement to learn the undulating ins and outs of a complex tonal language. Sadly we are no longer together thus I am suddenly thrust into a world where the majority have as rudimentry English as I have their own language.
With a new job starting soon, hopefully with more reasonable hours, I will be in a position to take lessons and expand on my current repertoire of yes, no, thank you, a little, delicious, 1-10, sorry and 'Thai whisky please'.
So hoping to hear in the next couple of days about the new job... a bit exciting as the company in question are near the top of the pile for SE Asia, actually, I am advised that they are the top, and expanding rapidly.
We are in the rainy season right now but its not the sort of crazed weather I had expected... I haven't looked into it much but I reckon the major monsoon has passed us by and China is getting our share, given the tragic evnts unfolding there. We had a whole mass of early rains a couple of months ago but now it has settled down into an almost daily downpour in the afternoon, with the occassional really spectacular rains starting in the evening. I love watching it out of my apartment, seeing the road flood in less than 15 minutes, with rain so loud you can't hear the stereo or tv.
Mid April saw the most amazing thing ever... Songkran. The water festival where inundation of all is the name of the game. I couldn't quite believe the scene when I walked out my door 10 yards and had a screaming 5 year old come straight up to me and blast me with his water gun... got to the top of the road and there were just hundreds of people in trucks or by the side of the road just hurling buckets of water at eachother, many of which were filled with ice! I was intending to go the the local Food Market, at the bottom of my street so got on a motrobike taxi and got maybe 15 yards before I was soaked through from head to toe. The book I had brought to peruse while I ate was sodden and my phone was buggered (took 2 days in front of the fan to fix it). But it was immensely fun, needless to say I went down to my favorite bar to find a scene of utter watery abandon, promptly bought the biggest water gun I could find and joined in. It has to be experienced to be truly understood... I honestly felt that I hadn't had such fun since I was 10 years old!
Life here has become more challenging recently given the romantic complications and pain, made the harder for not being busied by work since I am between roles, but my love of Thailand continues, its big contradictions, it's extraordinary play of characters. Nowhere else can you meet the sort of people I meet here... criminals, writers, Marines on R&R from Iraq, Intelligence officers from the UK, every type of businessman, holidaymaker, traveller, teacher, saint and sinner... all bathed in the intense trolical Sunshine. Splendid.
