upgrading myself

when my family came to visit me, (or came to visit thailand at my expense, depends on my own perspective, hehehe) i asked them to buy me ten of the most important physical therapy textbooks i used in college. i could've asked them to buy 15 books, but hey, that would be really heavy (you know how it is with medical textboks), and very expensive. plus, i wouldnt have enough time to read all of them. so i chosed the more important ones. i also checked buyers' reviews and comments at amazon.com which proved really helpful to me in making a decision on which books to prioritize.

i dont know how these books would benefit me in the future. (i am a physical therapist stuck in a teaching profession which i love to to hate but have to do it anyway because the money is ok. kind of...). it's just that right now i am trying to upgrade myself in my phyciscal therapy profession and i am enjoying reading some of the latest editions of my textbooks in college. some days i go to a dunkin donut shop or mc donald and just read. (they have nice dining table and chairs set which are almost designed to attract costumers to buy their product and sit for hours).

i am at the moment reading two books : "thermal agents in rehabilitation" (which focuses on the use of heat and cold in treatment of various soft tissue injuries) and "kinesiology" (which just means the science of body movement). kinesiology is like a continuation of my gross anatomy (nor grey's anatomy). it invloves studies of different muscles and forces acting on a joint (or joints).

normally, i would read a psychological triller novel by either jonathan kellerman or ian rankin on a lazy summer. but now im reading books in physical medicine and rehabilitation with emphasis on physical therapy. boy, im such a geek!

but hey... what a way to spend the hot, cruel summer... try reading. it's good for the brain...

becoming bi-cultural

after two weeks of staying with me, my father and niece have gone back to our country. my nephew on the other hand is still here, hoping to get a teaching job.

their stay has opened my mind on how much of my culture have changed. on how much of this country's culture have i adopted. while we were together, i find some of their "behaviors" to be a little strange or peculiar. or simply funny or "unacceptable" (in a cultural way). i took notice of their manner of walking, and talking and sitting, and among other things. i made fun of my niece's high speed walking when i used to be a fast walker myself. and i commented on my nephew's oversized shirt and pants in contrast to the fit or semi fit shirt that most thai men wear. i would even remind them to lower their vioices when they talk loudly. people from my other culture tend to talk fast and loud-ly.

i have indeed become very bi-cultural. i still maintain many of aspects of my own culture. but im finding that i have been constantly adopting a lot of the thai culture. truth is, i have a background in cross-cultural anthropology and so i already knew, in theory, that a person who moves to another culture will eventually adopt his host's culture, consciously or subconsciously. and i have made an extensive study on thai culture and have made great effort to immerse myself into the thai comunity. i have made a lot of thai friends as well.

then again, i am actually more of a multi-cultural person. i am very asian and proud to be one. but like may other people from around the globe, i also grew up very much enganged in the american pop culture, have worked with a lot of western people, and have had a lot of western (or westernized) friends.

i have always been fascinated with different people and different cultures. and that's one reason why i came to thailand.

joyride

my friend and i went on bus joyride today to a nearby city. it's a city by the beach, 2 to 2 and half hours by bus...

i was already in the univesity, making photocopy of the activities i prepared for my 9 o'clock class, when my friend (my closest among my thai friends) called up asking for a few information on how to get to the city. (i dont understand these thai friends of mine. a lot of them ask me information on how to get to a certain place in their own country! how weird is that?) he needed to make a short day trip to survey a place for a possible business venture. i was then busy, and feeling hot, and soaking in sweat, and feeling really uncomfortable in the photocpy center with so many people hovering around. so without thinking i just said that if he could wait until my class is over at 12 noon, then we could just go together. and without thinking as well, he said "great!"

so there we went. i was wearing long sleeved shirt, casual chocolate brown pants and casual black leather shoes. and i was going to a city by the beach! what was i thinking? upon arrival we learned that tonight is the last night of a 3-day music festival in the city. people were wearing t-shirts and shorts and flip flops. i felt weird and awkward. dressed inappropriately. but i ignored the feeling of being out of place and just enjoyed the sight, the sound and the food. the main avenue being lined up with all sort of shops and a few stages for live concert and dj party zones.

traveling gives me a high. it is one of my boosters when im feeling low and drained. i get recharged when i travel even for a short distance. and it was a good time to be with my friend because we have both been so busy for a time.

it was a fun, spontaneuos, unplanned trip. and it was refreshing... got back to bangkok at around 9 pm. like i said, it was just a bus joyride.

eighties new wave resurrection

in case you dont notice, there is a resurgence of the new wave alternative of the eighties in today's modern rock. (well if you are not familiar with the 80's new wave rock then you wouldnt indeed notice).

keane has traded their melancholic, piano rock driven musical style with bright, synth rock in their album perfect symmetry. of course, keane sound still resounds all over the album and yet you can readily notice the big change. the killers have always been one of the pioneers of the resurgence and their day and age album is just as super and as new wave-ish as their previous releases. then there's franz ferdinand whose second outing is even funkier than the first and with more electronic sounds thrown in.

whether dark (like the new coldplay cd) or bright (like the new keane album), the beat and melodies can awaken your senses with this resurgence of new wave influenced modern rock...

my next guess... maroon 5. their two previous albums sound very similar and it's about time they semi-reinvent themselves. but then again, their music is already, in fact, very funky an danceable. just lacking the real new wave attitude.

my 24/7 headache

so im back from chiang mai. didnt get to take many pictures because well, i went around by myself most of the time. my friends were at work and we only had the chance to meet in the evenings. except for one friend who took me to a mexican restaurant and a massage. but that was all. in short nobody can take my pictures for me. but that doesnt matter. chiang mai is a frequent destination for me.

im back to bangkok now. and im also back to my 24/7 headache. the heat, man. too much heat. too bright sunlight is giving me constant headache. it must be coming from my eyes too. my eyes are photosensitive. much like a chlorophyl. they cant stand blinding brightness of the sun. i always carry with me sunglassess whic helps somehow. you wouldnt believe this but i sometimes wear shades when working in front of my computer. the computer radiation gives me headaches too.

but being exposed to too much heat ouside then enter an airconditioned place like a convenience store or a mall or a supermarket gives me headaches faster than the speed of light, due to abrupt changes in extreme temperatures.

but i have always been like this and i am kinda used to living with it. and i have discovered some remedies to lessen its intensity. but headache is headache. it's freaking uncomfortable.

so yeah, talk about cruel summer...

chiang mai

im in chiang mai right now. it's the main city of the northern part of thailand.

i stayed here for a year some years ago. i studied my thai language here. this is really my first home in thailand. i love this place. it's a small city. very cultural. very colorful due to the arts and crafts of the northern hilltribes. very oriental.

school summer break has just started and there's no better way to start it than hop on a train and go upnorth.

i love the train. although budget airlines have sprouted like mushrooms, and can get to any place in thailand (or southeast asia for that matter) at a cheaper price, i still preer the train when going around thailand or going to malaysia. the sleeper type. the seats facing each other can turn into two-decker beds. with curtains for privacy. i took the lower berth, although a bit more expensive than the upper berth. i made a little mistake though. i forgot to bring a sweater or a long-sleeved shirt. so i was freezing the whole time. there's always a blanket provided but the airconditioner would still require you to wear something taht could keep you warmer.

i like the long train trips. it affords me to think, make plans, read a good book, write a blog, or just sit and look at the scenery.

my first day here is almost over. i have already been to few familiar places. cool. really cool.

one amazing thing is that i dont sweat here at all. as long as you avoid direct exposure to sunlight, the atmosphere outside doesnt feel hot yet. in bangkok by now, i sweat even if i dont move. here, ive been walking around and i dont sweat at all. pretty amazing huh? (of course it gets hotter in april, but for now, it's still ok to move around).

so yeah, ive been having a good time already...