Trials in language development:

Success story:

I was trying to figure out how to take the bus back from the printer to my studio yesterday. The printer is inside of this giant mall at the nexus of several highways, and I had to cross over the highway on a footbridge to get to the bus "station." This waiting area is totally chaotic, with dozens of taxis and buses going who knows where. Although I could easily take a taxi, it is much cheaper to ride the bus. However, this involves throwing myself into oncoming traffic and waving my arms in order to flag down one of the speeding buses. There are also multiple points along a short length of street where people are waiting for various buses. I positioned myself along the route, trying to decipher where my bus (#510) was most likely to stop. After 4 #510 buses sped by without stopping, I moved to a different section of the street. During this time, I also have multiple taxi drivers trying to give me a ride, saying "tex-sii, tex-sii." (White girls don't wait for buses, right?) Finally, I notice a girl wearing the uniform of Bangkok University, so I approach her and say in my best thai cave-woman, "Kun bpai Grung-teep Ma-haa-witta-yaa-lai" or "You go Bangkok University?" The girl nods, and I follow her onto a bus moments later. Success.

Not so successful:

I went to a hardware store to ask how much a tarp cost that I wanted to buy. No problem. "Tao-rai ka." "How much?" The man said, "yii-sip haa baat." Okay, I understand, 25 baht. The store was about to close, so I wanted to tell him that I would come back tomorrow. I thought I remembered the word for tomorrow, so I said, "mua-wanni, mua-wanni." The man gave me a funny look. Later, I realized that I had said "yesterday, yesterday." What must he have thought? Crazy white girl.

This street is one of my newest finds--Chula Soi 5. Along this street are many car shops selling tires and rims and engines. There are two dozen or so shops like this one with piles of engines and parts flowing into the street. These heaps are extraordinary, and the energy along this dense soi is part of what makes the experience of Bangkok so unique.

This is a buddhist shrine right next to an enormous mall. People bring flower garlands here all day long, every day, it seems. There is a shrine like this on every block in Bangkok, in front of many buildings and banks, and buddhists will usually take a moment to bow or kneel before it as they pass, or make a flower offering.

Empty billboards. They are everywhere-- hundreds, if not thousands of them. These enormous skeletons have been some of the most striking imagery for me here, a means of communication that is not communicating anything. They are a symbol of an economy that cannot support these frames, but also cannot pay to have them removed. They are urban, contemporary ruins, and their existence tells a story.

I have no story behind this photo, I just love it. It was taken on a soi near my apartment, on a street I walk every day.

This is a shop in the Thieves Market area, which evidently is a misnomer these days--most of the shops are legitimate. I love how all of merchandise is practically flowing onto the street, and the shop owner is just sitting among it all.

What a pile of fruit! I took this picture at 9am, so what time do you think that this woman woke up to pile this rambutan? The photo was taken at Khlong Thoey Market, where many of the vendors in Bangkok pick up their meat and vegetables and fruits. I only stayed at this market for a few minutes, though, because it was a very...visceral...experience. If only more people got this up close and personal with their meat, I think many more would turn vegetarian. The smell was, of course, quite pungent, but walking through the rivers of animal blood in my flip flops was, perhaps, the reason I left so quickly. The blood was oozing from the food stalls and being swept into the street, but also a trash truck was excreting the liquid as well.

How can I describe the experience of food in Thailand? I'm beginning to understand why a country whose weather hovers around 90 degrees would develop food that is blazingly spicy and soups and curries that are boiling hot. There is nothing more glorious than the burning feeling that lingers in my mouth after I have eaten Som Tum, a sweet/spicy papaya salad with lime, tomato, peanuts, green beans, and chilis. A stiflingly hot night seems practically brisk after a plate of Som Tum--it acts to cool your body, I think. That, or the air seems cooler when your internal temperature is elevated. Likewise, after I sweat through a bowl of Tom Yam (or Yum), a lemongrass and coconut milk soup with mushrooms and glass noodles, I emerge into the night feeling refreshed and cool. Last night, a quick monsoon rain, lasting only the duration of my meal, helped to suppress the evening heat as well. I would have to say that Som Tum is the best food I've ever eaten, or at least the best experience of food, but it must be had "pet" or spicy for full effect. And it goes best with sticky rice to dip in the juices. This "salad" surpases my deep love of cake and ice cream certainly. And I read recently that Som Tum was voted favorite food by thai women as well. Both of the dishes I described can be ordered at any of a thousand or more little stands throughout Bangkok and Thailand.

A word about thai bathrooms. Many bathrooms do not provide toilet paper, and even in those that do, you are asked not to put the toilet paper into the toilet, but instead place it in a trash can beside the toilet. Thai bathrooms are incredibly wet places. In lieu of toilet paper, thais use a hose, which is beside every toilet. My question is, once you have sprayed yourself down with a hose and are thoroughly soaked, then what? You just pull up your pants over your wet body? Thais seem to think that this spray-down gets them really clean. I think that americans do not equate a wet bathroom with a sanitary place.

This is the view from the top of Wat Arun. To get to this peak, I climbed an incredibly steep stairwell, gripping onto a steel railing, hoping that the railing was securely attached to this ancient structure.

On Sunday, I took my first river boat ride, stopping at Wat Arun. Although the river boats are a huge tourist attraction, they are also one of the cheapest and most efficient modes of transportation to certain areas of Bangkok.

This picture is of a typical street market in an alley. I was able to take this picture from a foot bridge above them. I admit to having a photographer's ethical hesitation in Thailand. I do not want to exploit this country or their poverty. I also do not want to make every cultural difference an inspiration for a photograph. Yesterday, I saw tourists posing with monks for a photograph, as if the monks were a character at Disneyland. What would I think if tourists in america wanted to pose for pictures with me because I am white, or because I drive a car or buy my groceries in a supermarket or do whatever I normally do?

It can be frustrating to be a tourist in Bangkok--I am a constant target for swindling. Particularly, the taxi drivers here can be rather difficult to deal with. When they see a white girl get into their cab, they quote an exorbitant price rather than turn on their meter. When I threaten to get out of the cab, they acquiesce and put on the meter. The metered price is, of course, far less than the original quoted price. However, upon reaching my destination, they then claim to have no change. To spite them, I dig through my wallet to find every last baht to pay them the exact fare. I have only ridden in a cab once or twice in the US, but I've never encountered this swindler spirit. Perhaps it is because I am not a foreigner in america, and therefore do not have a target drawn on my forehead. Thailand is a country that will rarely take your money by force, but if they can squeeze a few extra baht out of you through coersion, they will.

I am evidently the only white person in Bangkok who walks anywhere. In fact, most of the thai people don't walk much either. I know this because all of the women seem to be teatering around in cheap little heels. In Bangkok, tourists get shuttled via taxi or tuk tuk from one wat to the next, and from mall to mall, never allowed to wander off of the designated path. A few days ago as I was leaving the MBK, a giant frenetic mall specializing in cheap goods, and a parking guard starting calling to me, "Hey, where are you going? There's nothing to see down there!", refering to an enormous thoroughfare street where I was walking. He immediately assumed that because I was not walking toward a temple or another mall, that I must be lost. I, indeed, knew where I was headed. Off of the tourist path in Bangkok it is not seedy or unsafe, it is just less air-conditioned and their are fewer english pubs and Starbucks.

These are photos of my studio and of the art building here on campus at Bangkok U. The students love me, even though we can't speak to each other. The young guys tell me "I love you" when they see me, but I don't think they realize quite what it means. They listen to American pop music in the studios and play ping pong. I've been practicing the word for "play" so that I can ask them if I can try ping pong as well.

If I haven't mentioned it already, the thai language is very difficult for english speakers. Although thais don't conjugate their verbs, the language is based on five tones, which means that one word can have five different meanings depending on how you say it. The word "mai" can mean mile, new, no, right?, and skin depending on the tone mark.

Observations from Bangkok:

1. Old white men with young thai women.

2. There are no napkins here, just toilet paper used as napkins.

Alright, I said that Chatachuk market can not be captured in a photo--and it can't--but I'll give you a photo anyway. This is one of the narrow isles that extends infinitely.

On Sunday, I took the airtrain to Chatachuk market, which really blew my mind. No photograph could capture the scale of this place. It is a partially-covered, enormous weekend market that sells new clothes, used clothes, minature plastic food, animals, flowers, ceramics, fish, food, crafts, art, textiles, bird cages, and on and on and on. It is bigger than you can fathom, and I'm sure that I only saw a fraction of it. I walked down narrow isles that never seemed to end, passing hundreds and hundreds of stalls. The market included the largest selection of used plaid button-down shirts that I have ever seen. And thousands of used Converse shoes (probably stolen). I was most intrigued by the minature plastic food; for example, a tiny platter that could sit on your finger with all of the ingredients for a thai stir fry.

On Saturday, I went in search of art materials, which is a much more difficult task than I had anticipated. Of course, nearly everything can be bought on the streets of Bangkok--shoes, watches, brooms, baskets, rope, etc. And each item has it's own tiny storefront or stall. There are small hardware stores which stock house paints and some building materials. To find some normal drawing paper and pencils, however, is more of an adventure. There is an art university, Silpakorn, right across from the Grand Palace, and I was told that they sell art supplies on the campus. In order to get there, I had to wade through blocks of tourist hawkers, tuk tuk drivers, and swindlers of all sorts who are stationed in front of the Grand Palace. Once on the campus, it took me about forty minutes to find the supply store because even though I knew how to say "I'm looking for..." in thai, I don't know how to say "art materials." I should learn that. The store turned out to be the size of a small cubicle, with about 6 workers piled into the space as well.

I ended up buying my materials from one of the only other art stores in town, which is, oddly enough, located on the top floor of a ritzy mall.

The photo that I have included is of Sampeng Ln., which is a long narrow street in Chinatown which sells (wholesale, mainly) everything imaginable.

The college students wear a uniform, but this does not seem to stop the girls from altering their clothes to make them shorter and tighter than is standard. I am certainly the most conservatively dressed woman on the campus. Most skirts are as short or shorter than the ones in this photograph, and the girls really know how to work it, too. The campus is their catwalk.

On Friday, I took the shuttle to the Rangsit campus of Bangkok U, where I have my studio, and where I will have my show. The shuttle is like something out of a Bollywood movie--it has two levels, pink and purple decor, and tassled curtains. The gallery is enormous, and I will have it all to myself. This photo only shows half of the gallery. It is a very daunting thought that I need to fill this space. I imagine that the show will be fairly minimal.

The Rangsit campus is quite beautiful, with small lakes and lots of trees (photo included). I share a large open studio space with one of the professors. He makes paintings of naked women. The contemporary art that I have seen here thus far has been provocative, but there are two subjects which are off limits--buddhism and the king.

On my second full day in Bangkok, fearing to tackle the public transport system yet, I decided to walk across the city to Wat Pho, which is home to the enormous reclining buddha. I think that it is easier to get fully lost when I get on a bus or subway, whereas walking allows me to keep my directional bearings, as well as learn what is inbetween my home and where I want to go. It has been a nice surprise that I have not found the city to be thronged with tourists. In fact, I can go hours without seeing another pasty face, and when I do, they are often european tourists, and not americans. And more often, the tourists are from China. I have seen many buses full of chinese school children in front of the wats. My blonde hair is cause for much open-mouthed staring here--it is as if I have two heads instead of one.

On this same day, I made my way to the loathed Khao San Rd., which is the young tourist/backpackers ghetto. I came to this area specifically to search out some vegetarian restaurants. In a small alley, there are a cluster of vegetarian/thai open air restaurants. It's quite far from my hotel, so I won't be going often, but I found some great food for only a couple dollars. Mostly, Khao San Rd. has stall after stall of cheap clothing, sort of like in the fashion district in LA.

July 4, 2008


I will skip the tedious details of my extremely long flight to Bangkok. I will just mention that it was a 24 hour ordeal, in which I arrived at my hotel in Bangkok at 10am Los Angeles time. I am still suffering from some degree of jet lag, falling asleep at 8:30pm and waking up around 4am. I'm on the 19th floor of my hotel, with views that look out over all of Bangkok. There is air conditioning, a frig, and a pool. During my first full day here, after a quick introduction to the closest campus of Bangkok University, I made my way to the Tesco which is near my hotel. Tesco is a british import supermarket, sort of like a Walmart. It was very comforting to be able to buy yogurt and peanut butter and bread, I must say. There's even an Au Bon Pain in this Tesco center. However, the problem is, even if I recognize a chain store that is familiar, that doesn't mean that anyone who works there speaks a word of english, which means that I can't easily order the bagel that is within arm's reach. Hand gestures become invaluable in times like these. I sound so terribly American saying this, I know. I'm learning a few new words every day, though.

After my trip to Tesco, I headed out in search of a bookstore. I brought along my list of vegetarian restaurants, hoping to eventually try them all. Fairly close to my hotel is the upper class neighborhood of Sukhumvit, which has several enormous malls, as well as restaurants that cater to english-speaking tourists. Here, I found the Emporium, which could rival any mall in the US. There are two english language bookstores in the Emporium, including Kinokuniya, where I found paperbacks between four and eight dollars. On my way home, I tried a vegetarian indian restaurant, Taj, that serves cat-sized masala dosa for $2.50.