Thai/Tie Pun II: El(i)es and Wats' Wat

After a two month hiatus from blogging, I am returning with recollections--recollections of the two month hiatus from blogging. I do not feel like my vacation was a "whirlwind" or that it "flew by." Actually, eight weeks of vacation feels exactly like eight weeks of vacation when entire weeks are defined by a specific activity, reunions, and locations. This is the fourth and final entry of journal "highlights"--here is the first entry, the second entry, and the third entry (which was the first half of my time in Thailand). These are excerpts from what I wrote while I was in or around Chiang Mai and Cambodia. Hereafter, I promise my blog's contents will shift from personal journal regurgitation.

Eyes of the ele

***

01/28

I slept terribly last night; I woke repeatedly to mosquitoes biting my face. At least they weren't bed bugs.

Our cubby in our train car sleeps four passengers. Coincidentally, I bump into a fellow alum from my childhood summer camp--he sleeps two-cubbies-down.

01/29

"Good morneen," the car manager calls as she walks the aisle. "Brekfest fifteen minoots."

I slide open my lower berth's curtains. The air-con reasserts its unforgettable presence without the poor shield that was the curtain; I've been freezing for the nearly nine hours of Benadryl-clouded sleep. At some point in the night, I wake to put on my flannel; the cotton blanket does not match the pillow in comfort-level. 

While eating my rice soup with chicken, I join our cubby's roommates (a body-odor-plagued French couple) in watching the hills covered in tropical forest--not quite rainforest. We rumble past a pineapple orchard, and I wonder if I'm not stationary while everything crashes past.

Practice Mahalo

After a two month hiatus from blogging, I am returning with recollections--recollections of the two month hiatus from blogging. I do not feel like my vacation was a "whirlwind" or that it "flew by." Actually, eight weeks of vacation feels exactly like eight weeks of vacation when entire weeks are defined by a specific activity, reunions, and locations. This is the second entry of journal "highlights"--here is the first entry. These are excerpts from what I wrote while I was in Hawaii. More soon, friends and family!

Waving

01/06

I woke up about 24-hours-ago, but not a minute has moved on the clock. As the airport P.A. says, "Mahalo for your cooperation," I indulge a hot cup of $2 Starbucks and an invigorating second chance on the day. I'm excited to be surrounded by diversity and English; adrenaline and caffeine will need to power me through the remaining twelve-to-fourteen hours of the day. I took a two-hour nap on the plane, but I couldn't sleep more (despite hitting international coach jackpot with an empty row).

There are no knock-off "Beats by Dre" headphones.

Women bare skin while reading a newspaper on an outdoor bench in a garden in the middle of the airport.

Golf clubs spill onto the baggage claim belt.

*

The first drive after six months was refreshing: the azure gleam of the ocean, humpback whales spouting, sheer cliff-faces, coves, slow speed limits, and lowered windows.

Fish tacos.

Clouds billow into the West Maui crater as if they were volcano plume billowing out. Palm fronds whisper softly in the breeze.

As my eyelids start to feel heavy at just 2 pm, I check into the condo my family has rented for the week. A cleaner is there, so I leave for a quiet cup of iced coffee.

So many board shorts.

***

Confertzel: Interfaith Love and Marriage in Relation to Parents

In a recent conversation with two students I tutor, one student, John, bluntly asked: "Do you believe in--" He then paused to look-up a word on his phone's dictionary, "--God?"

This is a difficult topic to address regardless of a language barrier; to explain one's conceptions of "God" to someone who does not even know the word for "God" is a mental exercise in its own right.

John did not intend for the conversation to veer into philosophy, though. He quickly followed my simplistic answer with a story. John had recently proposed to his girlfriend: He showed me a silver band as validation and explained that modern Chinese custom is to use the engagement ring as an opportunity to exchange what Westerners might view as a "Promise Ring"--a non-diamond ring that signifies commitment but carries substantially less gravity. And given different economic standards, I am not surprised that the practice of giving a diamond ring (much less a three-months-salary-worth ring) is a rare occurence in China.

In any case, John's parents were not nearly as thrilled with his decision to propose to his girlfriend of fourteen months. According to John's mother, John "must" marry someone who believes in "God." John's girlfriend does not. (On a saddening side note, John's grandmother disapproves of John's girlfriend because she is not as pretty as John's cousin's wife. Therefore, John's grandmother and the rest of the family will "lose face" if he marries his girlfriend.)

"What can I do to change my mother's mind?"

Obviously, I advised honesty about his love. But I cautioned him that there are many details about the situation that make it so only he can truly find the "right" answer. I advised him to take into account the balance of tradition, legacy, familial love, independence, his own love, and his girlfriend's love. Then I asked him if he believed in "God": "No."

"Falletin Me Be Mice Elf"

Autumn is a difficult time for me to be away from the United States, from family, and from friends.

I often miss how autumn brings a transition of colors, flavors, and smells. Even though 南京 (Nanjing) experiences cooling temperatures more than 深圳 (Shenzhen), the leaves on most trees do not go through red, orange, or bright yellow phases. They immediately become brown with sickly yellow edges. They do, however, retain the gratifying crunch when stepped-on. Menus do not change, though, to favor pumpkins, apples, and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, or clove. Pumpkins are popular year-round, and cider is completely absent in China. And I truly miss how the thick air of summer thins and reveals that lush smell of decomposition in the autumn. (Most of China has either the smell of pollution or public defecation.)

And the holidays (from October 14th through Jewish High Holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and into "holiday season") trigger an automatic craving for contact with friends and family. Regardless of my criticisms of celebrating historical imperialism or commercial materialism, I, like most Americans, feel a twinge of longing for those connections we hold dearest.

While I was out...

I suppose I should have expected that I would not have been able to live-up to my expectations to have posted at least one entry while on my whirlwind three-and-a-half week tour of the United States. Still, I am disappointed in myself for not writing just once. I barely even wrote in my personal journal. And I find that when I procrastinate [or avoid prioritizing] my written reflections, I tend to forget the pithy phrasings and descriptive language to which I sometimes dedicate hours of internal editing.

Alas! I have forgotten some of the whimsical and some of the refined observations on America and my American interactions that all seemed strangely familiar.

Flatirons, CO

Beyond Those There Mountains

Ladies and Gents,

I have returned to Ann Arbor, Michigan. I am living with my girlfriend, Caitlin, and enjoying time with good friends--who work at places like this. I am currently writing international community health courses for International Medical Relief (the organization with which I teamed to go to Haiti and Ethiopia). Soon, I will compile briefing packets for upcoming I.M.R. missions. This is paying the bills, but I am looking for some more work to fill my hours, to pad my bank account, and to instill myself with a sense of purpose when I can so easily spend my daylight hours wasting away with Netflix instant and "Lost" marathons.

I recently returned from a week in Colorado with my parents and Caitlin (C). We were blessed with fortunately sunny and warm weather, even when we took two days in Keystone--where we received a half-off discount on lift tickets because of an executive chef we met at a sleigh-ride dinner in a valley ranch once used for gold mining and lettuce farming. Speaking of food, the week was filled with childhood classic eateries as well as recent additions to the Zwiebel Family Favorites:

-Fish tacos at Wahoo's
-Pad thai at Saigon Terrace
-Garden burger sliders, carrot-ginger-cumin soup, and chorizo omelette at Root Down
-Pad see yew at Wild Ginger
-Colorado style mountain pizza pie at Beau Joe's in Idaho Springs
-Chicken shwarma at Saj
-Chicken curry wrap and tea infused ice cream at Dushanbe Tea House
-Butterscotch fudge ripple, heath bar based, dulce de leche, espresso-based-chocolate-covered-espresso-bean, etc ice creams from Likk's
-Scallion pancakes at Jade Garden

A visit to the Denver Art Museum here, a tour of my childhood hot-spots there. Though C got a little ill towards the end of the trip--as per usual--we both had a wonderful time with my parents. No drama. Except when we played Cranium. Lots of laughter there (e.g. my dad shouting chest hair for a sensosketch of corsage or me trying to hum "Sexual Healing" to C). Good drama. Oh! And the drama of watching my 8th grade musical--in which I played Henry Higgins of "My Fair Lady." Man. I sure do maintain a painful tone deafness throughout my years.

Now that I have returned to Lady Ann, I am resettling and discovering my perceptions of the city have shifted. I am, obviously, no longer focusing on the "college town" side of the city; instead, I am taking in the city as a conduit to pursuing my passions and living a sustainable, happy lifestyle. So far, so good.

For the future, I am awaiting a reply from Princeton in Asia (my first choice) about the coming fall's fellowship prospect. I should know by Tuesday. I have been accepted to the American Jewish World Service Fellowship in India, which I am very excited about. Also, I have been accepted to teach English in Shenzhen courtesy of the Chinese Bureau of Education. There may be some tough decisions ahead, but the good news is that I will be on an enriching program abroad this fall.

Hooray!



This too.