This weekend, I set off to explore Chiang Mai, the first step of which (of course) was to get lost down small alley ways and back streets. I've made a name for myself on my own little Soi (alley) as the fruit girl, making fast friends with the best fruit lady (she's even tried selling her son to me!) and espresso lady on the street (you must have those basics covered where ever you go!). Chiang Mai is a city surrounded by pieces of an old wall and a mote that was used to protect the city from invasion. This means you can't get too lost without bumping into a gate or wall that helps re-orient you and bumps you back in the right direction. If that doesn't do the trick, then the million little temples scattered along the way and tons of helpful smiling Thai people should keep from wandering indefinitely! I successfully located the Sunday Market street, where vendors and stalls set up selling everything from clothes and jewelry to food. I wandered around chatting with vendors and learning the ropes of Thai bartering. There is just something challenging and invigorating about bartering that makes every purchase just a little more satisfying! I think I could become a bartering addict...hmmm
I also found a superb running trail in my neighborhood in a beautiful little park that makes me feel like i'm running through a mountain jungle filled with lions, tigers and bears! (more incentive to run faster) I scored my first sunburn of the season, getting rid of the last traces of the Korean winter blues! Woot!

Land of a Thousand Smiles

Hello from sunny Chiang Mai, Thailand!
The chicken has official flown the coup! The Korean coup that is. So I made it. After flying all night and weedling evil luggage weight Nazis, and slipping them a few bills under the table (rolls eyes), me and all my respectable luggage have touch down in the Land of Smiles. And it's true! These people actually DO smile back at you! It was actually an almost uncomfortable sensation at first to have someone return my goofy smile. I think I even tripped in surprise at the toothless little Thai lady who seemed to find me tromping down the Chiang Mai backstreets as exciting and smile worthy as me! I haven't had much of a chance to do anything except make up for lost Zzz's slobbering on my new Apt veranda and getting lost a couple times down random back streets (which is the best way to explore a new city if you asked me!). For my first Thai food experience I channeled my inner Inge and scored a grilled fish popsicle from a friendly street vendor. It may not sound like heave but trust me, I got weak kneed at how delicious that wee stuck fishy was! I have made close buds with the fruit lady (pineapple for under a buck?!) and espresso lady on my Soi (alley). And yes, all you who had sneaky suspicions about my travels always follow the trail of delicious coffee, Thailand DOES grow its own delicious bean and YES I'm drinking massive amounts. It's so good I haven't even gone to Starbucks once! *gasp*
Yesterday, our ARI volunteers did their weekly Young Lions Art Program workshop with the local Burmese refugee children and I was able to sneak out of the office to spend some time and take some pictures of these beautiful children. Chiang Mai is home to approximately 120,000 Burmese refugees and migrants in search of freedom from fear and oppression. What they find here in Thailand is far different from what they expect. The family members are utilized for cheap construction labor and not given rights or residency by the Thai government. As a result, they have no choice but to live in construction camp slums and their children are not allowed to attend school. Instead, you will find them wandering the streets trying to put food on the table. Yesterday morning, three beautiful Burmese girls came up to me with strings of sweet smelling jasmine flowers clasped in their grubby hands and hopeful eyes. I smiled and told them that I was not buying and to my amazement the oldest one, who had bruises circling her neck, gave me the most incredible smile and told me how beautiful I was with thumbs up. As they walked away she kept looking over her shoulder reluctantly and called out the few English words she knew. I was so touched by these children. The Young Lions Art Program is an art workshop Zoe Lambe, the managing director of Cultural Canvas Thailand, put together to reach out to these children, to give them a chance to just be kids as well as to express themselves creatively. It has been a smashing success! We are trying to raise funds to reach out to the larger community of refugee children here in Chiang Mai. Take a peak at our project and lend your support! Young Lions Art Project
If you can't tell, I am a happy girl here in Thailand! I think I was made for tropical weather, fruit galore, delicious Thai food and working with this beautiful organization: Cultural Canvas Thailand

Farewells and Happy Trails!

Last Supper

I cried all over my last samgapsal school lunch. I should have known I couldn't hold off the waterworks with my favorite little 4th grade students. I'm so glad they were my last class, ever! There was just no way to resist the,"I love you Man-do-lin.Bye-bye" I know you're not suppose to have favorites but there are two boys from the orphanage in my 4th grade class that I would like to steal away with me. One always lays his head in my lap so I can play with his hair and the other holds my hand and tells me that every time he looks at the new teacher he will think of me instead. *sniff* I bawled like a baby. In front of my principle and all the Korean teachers. Teddy, my teddy bear boy, wouldn't look at me and sat sadly in the corner as if pretending I wasn't leaving would stop it from happening. I later found him sadly wandering the empty school hallways telling the teachers who passed by how much he was going to miss me. So I took his little face in my hands and told him how much I loved him and then we rocked back and forth. The rest of the day we made hand hearts at each other every time we passed by. I can't believe how much these children pull on my heart strings!
Later, all the teachers circled around me in the break room and told me how much they enjoyed having me and would miss me, giving me farewell name brand shoes and hugs. I had to make a little speech about my time with them and all the things I had learned from each of them. And I cried again. "Happy tears," I said, as they watched me bemused.
Goodbye my darling Korea and munchkins. I will miss you stax and stax!

The Time Hack

A while back I referenced an article about slowing down our perception of time by doing something new and crazy every day. Well today I stumbled across the blog again,The Time Hack, that outlines Matt Danzico's year long project aimed at exploring whether our perception of time is influenced by our actions. The blog archives currently contain 102 documentations of his wild experiences. Even though I'm not wild about taking my noon day munch out of a waste basket or chewing a piece of ABC gum, I find the idea of challenging yourself to do something new and outside your comfortable zone daily, as a way to enrich your life and slow your perception of time, to be an inspiring way to tackle life.
Give his blog a read!