I'm A Masseuse

Yesterday I passed my General Thai Message Course! In some ways I was more excited to receive it than I was to receive my university documentation. Perhaps it is due to the new friends I’ve made, the new community I was apart of and the sense of accomplishment I felt after looking around the class and being the only non-Thai person in the room, well there was that non-English speaking Russian guy, but he didn’t pass.

I’ve been traveling to Wat Po, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, for the past four weekends. It’s the most glorious temple in Bangkok built with curvy, spiked, mirrored mosaics. The classes were all day Saturday and Sunday and spent working through communication frustrations, or should I say lack of communication frustrations. It felt really great during my exam as I looked down at the professor, who was obviously thrououghly relaxed, I found myself smiling thinking Yeah I know this and I’m the only white person hear, aside from the non-English speaking Russian but he didn’t pass.

I coolest thing about experiences like these are the moments when you realize that you are successfully communicating with those around you even though fluency in a common verbal language is lacking.

Happy Thanksgiving It Is The Time Of Year When My Thoughts Are Commonly On My Loved Ones Back Home……………I Miss Snow.

By the way Loas was incredible, I cried on the bus trip up North. We drove around a bend in the road stretched out in front and on both sides a foggy lake surrounded by strokes of deep green. I listened to Patty Griffin and lowered my sunglasses to hide the tears.

The Hmong are as beautiful, kind, and interesting as the Mekong.