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.