An American in Asia: His Quest for Cosmic Truth (or at least a Decent Espresso)

 

Drifting Around in a Great Meandering Circle

It's nice to be back in the US. Despite the cold weather and at the risk of sounding corny, it's nice to be back in a country where equality is a guaranteed right.

When I walk around with my wife, no one mutters comments (just within hearing) questioning the match between a white foreigner and the daughter of a Thai farmer. They may well want to ask, here in the US, but most have the ability and common sense to mind their own business.

My wife has been looking through the job listings in the paper and this morning she asked me, "Why don't any of the ads or applications ask about my age?" In Thailand, it's normal to see ads seeking, "Executive assistant, Thai female, age 18-25," even from American firms.

Sure, there's loads of racism, sexism, ageism and classism in the US, but the difference is that everyone knows we're not supposed to act on any of these primitive xenophobic urges.

Citizen Immigrant

We've been back for more than a month now. It's been a busy, busy month.

After nearly a decade of meandering in Asia, I'm pretty much starting from scratch. I'm basically as much of an immigrant as my wife is. My family's been a great help of course and, moving back to my old hometown means that I can catch up with long-lost friends.

Though it is a bit weird after all my travels to find myself living within a brick's throw of my old high school. I'm trying to avoid thinking about the giant circular path my life has taken, and the echoing words of Peter Weller in the movie, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension....

"No matter where you go, there you are."

The setup of a basic life structure has been comparatively easy. That is, compared to the same process in a Third-world Asian country. We got a two-bedroom apartment full of furniture and groceries both American and Thai, a new car, and my wife's even on the verge of getting a job.

The apartment is on a little hill near my old high school. We've furnished it with a bed, sofa, chairs and tables primarily from a futon place that is the only local supplier of the Balinese-tropical style we were going for. With dark wood and colorful fabrics against the standard white walls of a modern apartment, we have a little piece of an island resort in which to weather a grey Northwest winter.

And it is grey. Grey sky, grey concrete, pasty grey faces and grey leafless trees. To my wife though, this is all new. The world doesn't go suddenly grey in Thailand. It's green all the time, except when some farmer decides to burn the trees off a hillside.

So despite the cold, we have been going on walks in the woods so she can enjoy marvelous things like icicles, snow and the clammy feeling of damp socks. We've got a great park system here and ten minutes from our door we can walk across a bridge in front of a roaring waterfall in the midst of a forest.

On these walks, my wife sees a different forest than I do. Where I see pretty flowers and leaves, she sees food and medicine. So, faced with a whole new forest of unfamiliar plants, she's been running around with the camera snapping pictures of things that might be edible - or poisonous. She's especially into mushrooms.

These nature walks have also been a marvelous change of pace for both of us. Though Thailand is covered with jungle, hills, rivers and of course beaches, one doesn't go for a walk in the woods unless it is on a guided trek on established tourist routes. On top of the risk of cobras, kraits, pythons, scorpions, spiders, wild pigs, wild dogs, and wild elephants, there is a very real threat from wild humans. Humans wild on methamphetamines, glue or mind-destroying Thai whiskey, who just naturally assume that whatever a foreigner has must be wonderful and therefore taken by force.

When we return from the cold we light a fire in the hearth, which is another source of amusement for my wife. They don't light fires inside homes in Thailand unless they're really mad at someone. She has also finally understood why I always use hot water for showers, and why I always slurp on tea before it's really cool enough to drink.

So far settling into our new life in America has been a pleasure, and even sort of a new adventure. After years fending off ants, centipedes and poisonous reptiles in the tropics, a clean little apartment with plain white walls and non-descript shag carpeting seems new and exotic.

The one difficult point in all this has been credit. Banks and credit card agencies have proven unwilling to front me credit due to "a lack of credit history". I've actually got scads of credit history but it's all in Asia, which is a place that doesn't exist for American banks. So while my Thai Visa card has a $2,500 limit, the US banks will only give me a $500 limit on the condition that I leave half a grand in my account.

The same goes for a car loan. In Thailand I drove away in a Honda Jazz with 90% financing on the day I first walked into the shop. Over here it took two weeks, and I had to leave the full amount of the cost of a Honda Fit (same car different name) in the bank as collateral for the loan. It would actually have been cheaper just to buy the car in cash but the loan advisor said it would be wiser to take a savings-secured loan, "to establish credit" - so I could get more loans in the future. Does anyone see a pattern here? I guess it's not a scam if banks do it.

In all, and despite the lack of snorkelling opportunities in the fridgid Winter waters of Puget Sound, we are both glad to be here. A new and wonderful adventure has begun and we have no idea where it will lead. No idea at all. Which reminds me I ought to be working on my résume instead of typing on a website.