Faster than a speeding bullet

The first time I saw one of these trains swoosh past a few feet from where I was standing, I couldn't breathe. I stood frozen on the steps of the train platform as one of these trains sped by on its way to another city. These trains are airplane fast. I love 'em.

The Plane Ride

Been traveling in Thailand....

I’m getting dirty looks but it’s not my fault.

There are two empty seats on the plane, and they are between the window and me. Everyone else is crammed in like sardines. I am no fool; I stretch out across three seats to take a nap. I pull the blanket over my head hoping it will deflect the glares of fellow passengers (who are probably wishing about now that they had prayed about this plane trip as much as I did).

A Chinese lady up ahead is throwing up. So many Chinese get motion sickness, as do I. I take her husband some Dramamine and quietly explain in Chinese what it is. He is so trusting – and desperate – that he takes this foreign medicine from me. The lady takes the medicine and sleeps like a baby for the rest of the trip. (In case you are wondering, they don’t want my seats because they have bulkhead seats where they can stretch their legs out.)

Now the other passengers, some Caucasians, glare at me because I spoke Chinese fairly fluently. Now they really hate me. You know, you get criticized if you don’t learn a language, but then you learn one and people think you are trying to show off.

Well, think what they may, I just couldn’t let that lady throw up the entire trip. I know what it feels like to suffer. I was sick on a 13-hour bus one time and no one should have to suffer through that misery if a cure is handy.

I’ve been to Thailand. Again. I was there in September too. No, not the beach. I sat within the same four walls of the same meeting room for three full weeks of the last seven. I am meetinged out. Being in Thailand only makes me like China more.

When I get back to China Mimi will go berserk and act like she can’t live without me.

This is my life as of late.

Saturday Afternoon in Bamboo Forest

In the span of two days we went from sweat to sweaters. Fall made an abrupt but welcome arrival in Bamboo Forest.

I tutored my little neighbor yesterday in English. He is so quick to learn, and he is able to practically apply his knowledge immediately. For example, I said the word "nose," and he quickly pointed to his nose. And since he was there, he decided to pick his nose! What a smarty.

In the afternoon I rode my e-bike to a tea house, and along the way I saw a young man doing a market survey with a middle-age woman. This is only odd because they were standing in the middle of the road to do the survey. I had to swerve to dodge them.

I also had to swerve to dodge a lady talking on her cell phone. At least in this country it is regarded as a nuisance and is against the law.

But I got to the tea house, sat outside, drank the best latte I've ever had in this country that wasn't made by Starbucks (yes, Chinese tea houses now also serve coffee), and read a John Grisham book for a couple of hours. I seldom have time to do this, so it was a welcome respite, a lovely day in the Middle Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Thailand

I'm in Thailand for two weeks. Here are a few random shots from Bangkok.

Most properties have a little "god" booth like this one in the corner of the land, supposedly to protect the property.

This guy is burning incense and praying at an altar set up at the hospital. This hospital is super posh. Inside it has two Starbucks, two Au Bon Pair bakeries, McDonalds, several fancy Thai restaurants, hotel rooms, interiors that look like a 5-star hotel, and cheap, world-class medical care.

I was in Bangkok for a few days, but now I am in northern Thailand. Not vacation.

Boy oh boy

This boy is my two-year-old across-the-hall neighbor and the girl is his two-year-old friend ... at the boy's house. The girl is sweet and quiet. The boy has ants in his pants.

Somehow against my will I got roped into teaching English to this boy once a week, on Saturday mornings, for 30 minutes each time. While I am trying to teach him words like nose, dog, blue, foot, this is what he is doing:

riding his police car around the house. For the entire 30 minutes the only time he looked at me was when I took his picture. The rest of the time he zoomed down the hall, colored pictures, and acted like a monkey. I was pretty excited about his inattention, because it surely meant the teaching experiment was a total failure, and after a few weeks I would be relieved on my teaching duties.

That doggone kid. At the end of the half-hour session, he knew exactly how to say nose, dog, blue, foot, and all the other words I tried to teach him.

Don't you hate it when that happens?

Do I need one?

Do you have a life verse? Do you need one? What are they? (Don't fret if you don't know.) I read a humorous article about them...it's about culture and religion and fitting in among other believers. Click here to read it.

One Hot Tamale

The heat is killing me. I melt faster than a popsicle the second I step outside. The transportation options are un-air-conditioned buses, bikes, and taxis (you have to walk to the street and wait in the sun to flag one down). It makes me want to go NO WHERE.

All winter long I waited for warmer weather so I could get out more, and now it's so hot I loathe going out the door. But when I do I see how other people beat the heat. Here's how one guy does it.

It looks so quaint, yeah? But in my experience the sweat slides from my forehead into my eyes, burning them so badly I can't read what is on the pages of the book.

My favorite activity these days is checking out the 15-day online weather forecast to see if 15 days from now it is going to be any cooler. Today is the first day that I've noticed cooler temperatures. Just 15 more days until it arrives! Yea!

Too bad for me, I'm going to the tropics 13 days from now.

The Big City

I grew up in a small town. Everyone knew everyone else. That was fun.

Now I live in a big city. Nobody knows everyone else. This is also fun.

I like waking up in the morning knowing I can do whatever I want to do. (I can't milk a cow, but I did say I can do whatever I want to do. I don't want to milk a cow.)

In this city, I can go shopping, drink coffee, buy what I need, walk through a bamboo forest undisturbed by others, climb a mountain, ride a boat, eat Chinese food, eat Mexican food, and even go to Burger King or Dunkin' Donuts if I want (but I don't).

Life in the big city suits me.

Scorcher

June was moderate.

July was hot, sometimes rainy.

August is unbearably hot. One day the heat/humidity index was 129*F. I feel like I am inhaling steam when I breathe. It has been this way for a few weeks, and the 15-day forecast shows at least 15 more days like this.

The doctor told me to stay indoors with my air-conditioner to off-set my heat rashes. A friend said, "Yeah, but you've got to live." So, I'm trying to strike a balance.

The last time I recall feeling this hot was about 1980 in west Texas. The real temperature then got up to at least 114*F.

Many Chinese people I know can't afford an air-conditioner, or if they have one they can't afford to run it very often. Electricity bills can run pretty high. I run my A/C quite a lot, doctor's orders, but my sympathies go out to the people running around in their neighborhoods in their thin pajamas with wet towels over their heads. They are just trying to survive.

Water Town

Near China's east coast lie a variety water towns. Some parts of these towns are built along canals. My favorite activity is to ride a boat down these canals, looking at the slower pace of life that is slowing disappearing from modern China.

Canal Clothesline

Be glad, be very glad you have a store-bought washing machine.

This is the canal I'm on today.

Home on the canal....

"Put your shoes by the door when you come in."

Multi-level condo on the canal?

Watch your step!

Decorating the entryway...

I hope you find the canals as charming as I do. :-)