blogger in bangkok

it's not that i don't have anything better to do in thailand than tell you all about it... OK maybe it is... or maybe internet access is just so cheap and easy to come by that i can't help but rub it in a little. here goes: ha ha! i'm in thailand.

the stories started compiling before i even left chicago.

not everyone manages to wear their elite frequent flier status gracefully. in line at the security checkpoint at 5AM on sunday i watched the struggles of what was obviously some kind of retired, "now we drive our RV around the country" couple nearly get mauled by popular rebellion. they apparently mistook the employee line for the delta platinum line and just weren't willing to accept the fact they were going to have to slum it with the masses if they wanted to get to their gate. after going a couple of unsuccessful rounds with the increasingly impatient TSA lady they finally decided that the next best strategy to avoid waiting in line was to simply shove their way in between people at the front of the queue. go figure the non-platinum regular folk weren't having it, and no amount of insistence, "but we're platinum" made any difference. it wasn't a total loss - as the loud, indignant couple angrily worked their way to the back of the line the rest of us had a really good time laughing about it. anything to take the edge of a 6AM departure...

also, anything to take the edge off a 14 hour flight from atlanta to seoul. like the unbelievably nice and helpful flight attendants who helpfully provided printed instructions on how to assemble and eat bibimbop and actually wandered up and down the aisle over and over again with their little trays just in case anyone should need anything. i also made taking back the arm rest from the unpleasant little man sitting next to me a sport - especially after he had decided that the best way to optimize his movie viewing was to put the headphones around his neck and turn the volume way up.

so now i'm in bangkok. it's amazingly easy to get acclimated here, especially if you're not picky. it seems if you just walk up to the soup lady on the street and nod she sits you down in front of spicy delicious soup. another nod gets you a little bottle of mixed fruit juice, and a third brings the news that this cost of this feast is about a buck twenty five. i'm a little worried that negotiating the river taxi tomorrow will be a little more complex, but so far the lonely planet is batting 1000 and i'm going to continue to blindy do what it tells me to do.

i think the moral of the story so far is that when you're traveling alone in southeast asia anything you don't royally screw up is a triumph. score one for me and stomach of steel.