once again i find myself back in bangkok. amidst the heat, the smell, the noise and the madness of khao san road. at least this time i took jenn's advice and stayed at a quaint clean guesthouse off the main strip.
yesterday, following a short one hour long bus ride from ayutthaya, i took a motorbike taxi to the farang strip and headed off to find the 'at home guesthouse'. after getting a room and dropping my bags, i had a quick cold shower in the shared shower/toilet cubicle and headed to starbucks for a much needed dose fo caffeine. the staff, who've come to recognize me after countless vists over numerous stays in bangkok, asked about where i'd been for the past two months. i filled them in, using the sparse bit of thai i'd learned where i could fit it in.
"you speak thai very well" a smiling face being overly flattering.
"no, no. nitnoy. a little" me being honest with my ability. thai is a difficult language to master owing to its use of tones as in the dialects of the chinese.
as i'm handed my dark moccha frappucino (which they easily coaxed me into splurging on), a short dimpled thai in a smart military style hat and short jean shorts places her own order. in thai.
"wow" i feign astonishment to the girl behind the counter. "now her thai is really good."
the girl in the hat looks surprised. "but i am thai."
i laugh and apologetically admit i was joking. she smiles.
while sitting in a snug leather chair in air conditioned comfort in a snug little corner, the girl steps in the doorway and nods to me.
"you speak thai? do you live here?"
i fill her in on the brief version of my stay here and she mentions that she's supposed to be sitting with a friend outside. i encourage her to not keep him waiting. she says she'll stop back.
i sit and read while sipping my frapp, waiting patiently for my cellphone and ipod to charge. not too long into "tai-pan", she reappears in the doorway. i offer her a seat and we start chatting about thailand, travelling, work and teaching english. it turns out her friend (who's remains waiting outside) is also an esl teacher who's lived and worked in korea and who also happens to be canadian. after a bit of a chat she heads back outside and offers me to come join them. after a few more chapters i do. john, a clean cut, jovial torontonian is an easy conversationalist and we chat for some time about korea and the trails and tribulations of being an english teacher in asia. he was most recently teaching privates in korea on a tourist visa and upon trying to head back after a trip to phuket, was denied entry. faced with no other work option, he applied for and got a university position here in bangkok for low work hours and a fairly low wage (at least by korean earning standards). he seemed happy to roll with the punches and seemed very content at the prospect of spending a year in thailand.
the dimpled girl, whose name is tukta (took-ta) is a 27 year old librarian who works for an international school and speaks great english. she is cute, talkative and always sporting a lovely thai smile. after a few singhas and a couple games of pool, tukta and i head to the shamrock pub for some live music and dancing. the band, a group of thai musicians, rock out on western covers of everything from the killers to guns n' roses to a headbanging encore of niravana's "breed".
a breather followed by some street vendor's pad thai was the perfect night cap to a fun filled evening. tukta and i made plans to meet up this evening for dinner and a movie. i'm thinking indian jones?...
