This Is My Happy Place

I have to say, it’s not always balls, events, and beach paradise here. My love of Thailand comes and goes in waves, and sometimes comes totally crashing down (just briefly) now and then. I get sick of the traffic, the smell, or the humidity. Sometimes I get tired of being nice about everything, despite things not turning out the way I want.

You really have to get used to receiving a “reasonable facsimile” of things. The food, the clothes, the groceries... That’s why you hear of a lot of people getting deliveries from Target, Walmart, or Amazon every week. I don’t, because I try to enjoy what Bangkok has to offer.

Most of the time I can enjoy “neerios” or having my hair dyed blond-ish, or wearing shoes that looked nice but fell apart in just a few weeks. Sometimes I can’t.

Last weekend I got sick and tired of “same-same.” When it happened I wanted to have a toddler-style tantrum. There was the danger of tears. And it was about soup. Just soup. But the soup I got for lunch was not the soup I ordered, nor the soup in the photo, and that was the last straw. No more same-same, I wanted to go HOME.

It being close to the birthday of the U.S.M.C., there are a lot of unhappy faces walking around the Embassy due to same-same issues as well. Last year I was right there with them, so I totally sympathize. A year later, however, you get used to the fact that the dress you requested from the tailor and the dress you dreamed of in your head are going to be some degree different from the dress you finally get. It’s better to find what you like about your formal dress and focus on that, but when you’re new to this culture it can be a huge disappointment. And you’re not supposed to show displeasure or anger here publicly. It’s a big No-NO.

My advice, however, is to be happy! And if it makes you happy to part with cultural norms and voice your displeasure, decide you don’t want the dress, or send the soup back-do it! Because it’s better to let your feelings out rather than simmer with the frustration of same-same! Grrrrr.

On a more cheerful note, before I was given the soup, we rambled down Sukhumvit Soi 49 so I could find my happy place: the Big Knit Café.

This place is heaven-it’s different from the yarn shops I’m used to, but it’s also cheerier. It invites you to actually sit and stay awhile! You could actually stay a very long while, because they serve coffee, western food, thai food, and pastries. So there you have it. When I get close to another same-same meltdown, just drop me off here for a few hours and problem solved.