The Stars Look Very Different Today

The stars you see in Thailand are different from those we gaze upon in Winnipeg. When you actually take the time to think about it, it's not surprising, when you cross the equator, you start looking at a completely different part of the night sky (the sun still looks the same, but unless you'd like to get really good at handling a white and red stick, I wouldn't suggest exploring this statement too closely), but it's only when you can really see that difference that it begins to settle in. Last night was the first time I could see the stars beyond a handful scattered across the sky - Bangkok is a light-polluted smog factory, Cambodia was a quick trip that its fair number of streetlights, and Chang Mai is about the same size as Winnipeg. And I don't think there's an Assiniboine Park equivalent, or if there was, it was being occupied by a children's fair - Ferris wheels, although they admittedly do get you higher off the ground, are not known for being the pinnacle in stargazing settings.

So last night, being in Krabi/Ao Nang was the first opportunity I had in which I could look up and actually see the night sky since I had been on a plane to Beijing, nearly a month ago. It was humbling and terrifying, as the realization of "I am so far from home" really took root within my synapses. I know I've been away from home for 3 weeks already, but there was something about seeing something that you can only see from the opposite side of the world that words can't quite express. Perhaps it was the disorienting effect of not seeing familiar constellations, Polaris not being there to guide my way North, or Orion's Belt gone black, obscured by the curve of the Earth. Thoughts of explorers, long dead, flooded my thoughts as I wondered how they managed to navigate the vastness of the oceans, or how they dealt with the uncertainty of not knowing, or even how they managed to develop the boldness to just say "Screw it, we're going anyway, we'll probably find something. Bring some salted pork, it's probably going to be a long trip."

All this led me to do some thinking about my travels in Thailand, and the time that has passed since getting on that plane in Winnipeg on the 29th of July. Some of that time has obviously been spent in transit (and a funny little trick of travelling across the International Date Line is that you don't get to experience an entire day, but I'm pretty sure I talked about that already), but largely it's been spent enjoying Thai/Khmer culture, drink and food. And some displaced Western culture/drink/food, but that's pretty unavoidable, that shit's e'erwhere. I've tried my best¹ to dive into the culture and people around me, but considering that my Thai is limited to counting to 5, saying hello, thank you, beautiful and I'm full, that's gotta be a pretty shallow dive.²  That said, I think I've done as good of a job as possible at this point, doing my best to learn the small bits of language to deal with vendors and service-people, and definitely done my best not to be one of those annoying foreigners stumbling down the sidewalk, dropping their beer on the street and being bitched out by an angry Thai police officer. For little guys, they seem to have a lot of pent up rage. Not completely unlike our own boys-in-blue actually, although perhaps a little more openly trolling for "tips.³" 

Admittedly, like many other people who have gone to "exotic" destinations before me, some of the "authentic" qualities that I'm seeing in Thai people are due to my own misconceptions about Thailand and Southeastern Asia in general, but as I've tried to glean through my own interpretations of how things should be, I've learned that ultimately, Thai people aren't so dissimilar from ourselves. They want a good job, they want a good family, some nice things, and to be happy. So far it seems like most of them have at least the last part locked down, tight.



¹Best is a widely ranging term, very dependant on what you happen to be doing on any particular day There are a bunch of students at Lertlah that have "Best" as their nickname. Best 1, Best 2, Best 3...So obviously best is on a bit of sliding scale.

² as in Blue Badge swimming lessons shallow dive, a rock-the-5-meter-at-the-Pan-Am-into-the-kiddie-pool -in-your-neighbors-backyard-sort-of-shallow-dive.
³ Tips - Not Only for the Service Industry Anymore!