homemade applesauce

I made a huge pot of applesauce this evening with farmers market sourced apples.  Thanks for the inspiration mom. Yum!!!

vlog

why am I a sports fan?

I don’t know if I could give you a good answer if you asked me why I am a fan of professional sports.  More often than not the athletes are uninteresting at best and downright horrible people at worst (see M. Cabrera this past weekend).  They make millions of dollars to run, kick, throw, skate, or whatever else.  I’m not faulting them for making a killing through the successful sale of their trade in a capitalist market that obviously is willing to pay good money for it. What I’m just not sure about is why I invest myself in all of it. Why do I spend hours on blogs reading about the tigers. Why do I know the ERA and swing tendencies of everyone in the American League Central?

These questions swirl through my mind as I recover from watching a nearly five hour baseball game between the Tigers and Twins that decided the division winner and the right to start the playoffs in New York tomorrow. Am I sad because I invested hundreds of hours this year in a team that plays baseball?  I think about how I could have spent those same hours volunteering, or writing grant proposals, or doing any number of more worthy things. I often try to hide from people how big a sports fan I am.  I don’t want people to think less of me because I get so wrapped into something that really is only a game.

I’m just not sure what to say.  I like to think I could (or maybe should) just step away from it all but doubt that I ever will be able to.  Every morning I woke up in Bangkok this past summer the very first thing I did was check how my Tigers were doing.  Why? That is all for now.

hope

A great song from a band I’ve been obsessing over the past several months:

bottle shot

Came across this great photo from one of my favorite thai themed bloggers who posts amazing food and photo stuff here. The food blog is particularly fun to read.

fullbright

I’ve been going back and forth on it but I’ve decided it would be crazy for me not to apply for the Fullbright to further my research for 10 months in Thailand next year.  I’m well qualified and have a coherent research question.  Plus, it would allow me to potentially put off the dreaded job search for one more year!

random bits

Quick thoughts and random observations as I’m down to my last couple days:

-There are many overgrown vacant lots in my neighborhood that serve as prime frog habitat.  When it rains, as it has been doing a lot the last week, the frogs sing and rejoice in the moisture.  Unfortunately, while walking to to the pier every morning, there are inevitably many many frogs who ventured onto the concrete and were flattened by the passing car or motorbike.

-As mentioned above, the rainy season seems to have finally arrived, about three months behind schedule.  The last week has featured numerous tropical downpours.

-I’ve decided that in general the quality of food in Chiang Mai is better that of Bangkok. Certainly there is more variety available here, particularly of different international cuisines, but for pure Thai goodness CM wins.

-Thai people LOVE ghost movies.  I’d say that 90% of the previews at films I’ve been to this summer have been for Thai ghost films.

-Not Thailand related, but I found out belatedly yesterday that Dathan Ritzenhein (a Michigan native) broke the 13 year old american record for the 5k run at a meet in Zurich.  His time was a stunning 12:56.  This averages out at about 62 seconds per lap for 12.5 laps.  The performances ranks as third fastest all time for someone not from an African nation. It makes me want to get back into training, even if my pr is almost 4 minutes slower.

transition

Is it possible to experience reverse-culture shock before you even arrive back home?  I don’t think that is exactly what I’m experiencing here but my mind can’t stop racing between my last week here and the life that awaits me back home. I had long conversations with both my mom and dad tonight and I know it will be great to see them, other family members, and close friends.  I miss all of them and they are an important part of what makes me the person I am.

But jumping back into a culture so different from the home I’ve made for myself here is the hard part.  It’s not like I haven’t done it before, in fact, by now I am a seasoned veteran at re-entry into my native culture.  However, I think I’m learning that this is one of those things that doesn’t become easier even after much time and experience. You just accept the difficult transition, make what you can of it, and know that eventually adjustment and cultural conditioning will take over.  Still, I can’t stop contemplating my life and the transitional point it feels like I am entering.

Citizen Juling

This evening I’m headed to Bangkok’s “first boutique cinema” for a nearly four hour documentary about the ongoing violence in three southern Thai provinces near the Malaysian border.  Most thought the film had no chance of making it through the Thai censors but miraculously it did and I’m thrilled to see it.  I’ve read snippets of news articles about the conflict for years now but am eager to get a more in-depth look at a crisis that continues to claim innocent lives.  Sitting through four hours in icy air conditioning might be a challenge but I’m up for it.

mind warp

Nothing much to report here.  I’m finalizing the details on my survey data collection which is down to the last minute but will be completed.  My mind already feels like it is entering some type of strange time warp between my present reality here and my soon to be reality back in Ann Arbor.