Monthly Archives: September 2012

Getting Crafty in Bangkok

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Since I haven’t found a “craft store” I like to think it adds to my creativity but in reality it only adds to my efforts to procrastinate crafts. Bwahaha!

I have finally run out of excuses though. I have found the necessary supplies to hang our world map tapestry and the urge to nest has overruled any ounce of procrastination left.

I found the thread, pins and needle at a mom and pop shop on our soi one evening while walking around with Jay. I literally said, “Ah-Ha!” when I found them. I pricked my fingers numerous times with the ultra-flexible needle (needles do not need to be THAT flexible) but I survived. Our tapestry survived as well and the pictures below catalogue the tapestries journey from throw blanket to wall mountable glory.

Our journey began with measurements, division and marking.

Luckily, I brought some fabric from home. It’s 50 states fabric so I felt cutting a strip of it to make fabric hooks for the back of the tapestry was appropriate. Got to keep with the geography theme.

I am pinning and it’s not just on Pinterest! Little Thai Ru was there for moral support as the real Ru would have of course laid on any work I was doing on the floor as well. The joy of having a cat :]

These are the “fancy pins” that I bought from the mom and pop shop on our soi. They are “Woman Brand” which I thought would be hard to manage but they were pretty docile.

Once pinning was done at the appropriate measurements it was time to sew. Sewing by hand is a lot less glamorous than the period films would have you think. Another way life is not like the movies.

3M hooks have become my best friends since we have concrete walls. I pressed each of these little suckers as close as I could to the wall for 30 seconds because I follow packaging instructions like a good little nerd.

BEFORE the wall was clothed. So naked (pronounced “neck-ed” in the Texan dialect).

AFTER with Angels singing. Wall you got some nice swag!

Running off the fumes of the tapestry project I took on making our desk area more presentable and less dorm-room-esque. I do not want to invest in any kinds of frames as we plan to make our teaching abroad a career. Frames = glass which glass = breakable so, I had a small challenge in looking into alternative ways to “frame” pictures.

The wall above our work station is half glass and half magnetic board. It was good thinking by the contractor and thus I felt it was a good idea to take advantage of the pro’s of our desk space. Project Drawn on Frames Initiate!

“Wyteboard Marker.” I would have bought this brand even if it wasn’t the best brand all for the grandeur of it’s spelling.

BEFORE the “wyteboard” marker met the “whiteboard.”

AFTER the “wyteboard” marker drew frames around the photos.

Up close and personal look at the squiggly lines. I very obviously did not use a ruler but I quite prefer the imperfection.

 

After such a crafting streak I can now officially proclaim the start of a craft drawer!

Bum bum buuuuuuum! T’is a start to something magical! I even stowed away my clippings of sewing machines :] Got to keep the dream alive!

Since taking the show on the road I have learned that you can not assumed you can find anything just anywhere in Bangkok. I have managed to find basic crafting supplies but it will take time to accumulate. I can’t rush around looking because I have no idea where to begin. It will be a search that will ride shotgun as Jay and I wonder around different parts of Bangkok. Hopefully, I will have many more “Ah-Ha!” moments as I stumble across better needles, a better selection of thread and *fingers crossed* fabric.

 

**UPDATE**In the major department stores I have found sewing machines (Ah-Ha!) and large selections of yarn (aww, poo). Knitting is the thing to do in Thailand but it is kind of like making flip flops in Siberia in my mind. I don’t knit so I shouldn’t criticize but really….knitting in this humidity and heat?! THERE IS NO WINTER IN BANGKOK!

 

^_^

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Asian Beth…not…but really.

Hello, my name is Beth Carlin and I have an Asian infatuation.This infatuation consists of an enduring love that focuses on Far East Asia but is not limited to it as Bollywood is Broadway made better by the “wicked” rhythm and dance moves.

Get it girls!

When I married my amazing husband and we planned to move abroad to Thailand I felt like I was getting the better end of the deal. We had both been planning to move abroad to teach but I was the one who had focused on Asia while his love of Brazilian music called him down South. So, we put Brazil on hold and set off for the East.

Going the Thai way.

My love of Asian culture was awakened when I discovered the channel AZN in 8th grade. AZN provided Asian news, soaps and entertainment shows with English subtitles and inevitably provided me with an earthly heaven. I watched my first Korean soap opera, “Phoenix”,  with dedicated viewing pleasure every Wednesday afternoon following track practice. I then continued to consume more Asian dramas once I found online streaming videos.

My love for Asian culture was thus born with a wink and simultaneous peace sign. As my free time was consumed by perpetual viewing of dramas and movies.

The peace sign is apparent but the wink is M.I.A.

This love is re-born at least once a year with some new Asian obsession. My current obsession involves PSY’s “Gangnam Style” and about this time last year it was T-ara’s (pronounced “tiara”) “Bo-Peep”. It may appear to be seasonal but it always comes back fierce with a series of repeated plays and research sessions of the most popular trends in Asia. I am a strange Amurrican.

Word.

One may ask why I have this strange love when there is plenty of American pop culture to go around. Well, to be honest I didn’t understand it myself at first. The dramas can be very cheesy, include very predictable plots that incorporate some strange love triangle, a hospital visit and then a fairy tale ending. The Japanese movies always have someone dying or cured of cancer but hiding it to save face. While, the Taiwanese dramas tend to be absurdly long. They don’t sound appealing when stripped bare like that and the roughly translated lyrics from the Asian pop songs don’t strengthen my argument.

This drama is called “Wonderful Life.” It contains a love triangle, a contract marriage and of course cancer. Cheese fest and I have only read reviews of this one as too much cheese is bad for you just like anything in excess.

BUT…Asian dramas are max 26 episodes long not 10 years like some American TV series (Silly FRIENDS. How long did the infinite Seinfeld run for again?). So, they act more like extended movies. (Hi, my name is Beth Carlin and I also am a cinema fanatic.) If you’re lucky a second season may be born out of the popularity of the first set of episodes. These are rare occasions and should be cherished.  The rare moments mean that the drama was worth watching. This was not true for many Taiwanese dramas I watched. There is also the chance that another Far East Asian country may make a cover. For example:

A Japanese manga (graphic novel) told the tale of four wealthy pretty boys called F4 who ruled their high school. A plain looking girl caught the leaders eye and a chain of events ensues that tests their love and love triangle (I bet you didn’t see that coming!).

Manga.

The Taiwanese (C-drama) were first to turn this manga into a live action drama called, “Meteor Garden”. This series had two seasons and was absurdly long. It was not bad but took some major self-discipline to complete.

Taiwan. Two seasons that could have equalled four. It was too much of a good thing.

The Japanese (J-drama) were next and produced “Hana Yori Dango” which received rave reviews. Many girls went swooning after the Japanese members of F4. They were ranked as heartthrobs beyond heartthrob measure. The acting provided by the leads was believable and the chemistry was great.

Japan. Two seasons and a final movie.

The Koreans gave it a go next but in my humble opinion “Boys Over Flowers” (which means “pretty boys”) couldn’t meet the level that Hana Yori Dango had set acting and chemistry wise. This is hard for me to admit, as I am usually the strongest supporter of Korean dramas (a.k.a. K-dramas). Yes, I thought the boys were better looking but looks don’t override acting skills, sorry!

Korea. Two seasons.

The cherry on top of all the Asian movies and dramas is their tendency to be part of the Romantic-Comedy genre. I am a huge fan of a good Rom-Com. So, my Asian fascination continues on strong with my love of comedic, well, love.

The popular Asian songs also tend to be happy pop mixes that you can’t help but dance around to in a giddy way (view links above located in 4th paragraph.)

I know that if these were American actors or pop stars I would be repulsed but the Asian factor gets me every time. I LOVE ASIAN CULTURE! Some how the sweet swagger of the stars, the language barrier and the dance moves make it all better. I can look past all the silliness because I love the cultures that they are derived from. I learn some of the basic greetings, manners, history and cultural trends from the movies and dramas. I develop a slight better rhythm with each play of a trendy Asian song and learn a bit more about the language as I translate the lyrics. Yeah, some of my first Korean words may have been curses but I learned something. Which is more than I can say for the show FRIENDS. All I learned from that show was the song “Smelly Cat,” that they are yelling at you by spelling out FRIENDS in all caps and that Joey’s character is stupid, poor Joey.

Learn some quick Korean.

So, when I say jokingly that I got the better deal when Jay and I moved to Thailand I am not exaggerating. I really did get the better deal. He loves it here but his heart is devoted to Brazilian culture. I guess when it’s time to move to Brazil I will have to re-awaken my South American culture craze phase. Yes, I did have one of those phases too.    ^_^

[To set the record straight, people do NOT speak Spanish in Brazil. People in Brazil speak Portuguese. I thought I should get that out there before the assumption was made that I plan on using the intermediate level of Spanish I know in Brazil. New language learning here I come!]

 

Potty Drama

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This past weekend Jay and I went to the beautiful island of Koh Samet off the eastern coast of Thailand. My rough draft of this blog consisted of me listing each detail of our weekend. I found this quite boring and it lacked luster until I got to the part about toilets. I began to write avidly about the toilets we met along the roadway to and from Koh Samet so, I kept that bit and flushed the rest. (GET IT?!? Oh, how I love potty humour.)

When I think of a toilet I think of this:

He is so happy that he is giving you the thumbs up. Aggies do that when they are happy, too.

I always took the porcelain throne for granted but I no longer do.

At our first of many roadway pit stops I nonchalantly walked towards the restrooms. The gas station was a newly constructed western style looking gas station that would of course have western style restroom facilities, of course. Silly farang thoughts.

I was instead met with this sign:

A bit of foreshadowing with signs demonstrating proper toilet usage.

“Whatever did they mean not to stand on regular toilets?” I thought innocently.

A longer line was forming at one set of stalls so I took the shorter line (because why would you not in the ladies restroom?!?). I looked around for a minute at the other ladies I was in line with wondering if they took note of the strange sign. No one seemed phased so, I waited with my personal package of toilet paper (many rest stops along Thai motorways did not provide you with any). I was thinking ahead with my personal toilet tissues and I was proud of myself.

Finally, a stall was made available and I ventured in. I was met with this:

Of course I took a photo. No need to use your foot to flush girls! Instead use the little bucket to the left to scoop up water and manually flush. Now, imagine how many other hands touch that little scoops handle. BWAHAHAHAHAHA etc. etc. etc!

I laughed and looked around my stall for another way. I had prepared for bringing my own toilet paper but I wasn’t prepared for this. WHY?!? Silly farang thoughts again.

I was left with two choices: exit stall, wait in the long line for what I can only assume now are “regular” toilets or just go for it.

So, I went for it and I was oddly proud of myself.

I left my stall cursing Eve and using all my hand sanitizer since soap is also not provided at rest stops along Thai motorways. My clean freak self was quietly having a melt down and wishing for even more hand sanitizer to shower in.

I could not have said it better myself.

Looking back, I feel like I broke down a small barrier between westerner and Thai culture. It’s not the language barrier but at least it’s something we all do.

Now, I also have a rad conversation starter when I want to illustrate how utterly worldly I am.

Example of said conversation starter by backpacker Beth:

“Dude, in Thailand there are toilets that are built into the ground with grooves on each side of the hole for your feet. When you get down to business you have to pray the entire time that you don’t accidently hit your shoes. HA! Isn’t that rad? It’s super interesting and I felt really Thai, yeah man, super Thai. I mean, like, I was using the restroom Thai style. You even have to bring your own tissues and soap. Yeah, man it’s super earthy. I felt like I was one with the earth.”

….not really but you see how it could be an interesting conversation from there on out. Squatting is also supposedly better for you.

Almost too much information. What is that pink rubberband thing?!?

I guess I am for the “chokes the rectum” position.

The potty drama made the trip to and from Koh Samet that much more educational and interesting. I can’t wait to bring any visitors we have down to the beautiful island and allow you to experience first hand the call of nature Thai style along the way. Well, except for men.

Curse you Eve.

I couldn’t have said it better myself, Eve. BUY THIS SHIRT: http://www.randomshirts.com/products/my-bad-eve