New Tack

Jip has been mostly upbeat since I’ve been back from China. During previous trips, she has sometimes stored up complaints, only to dump them all at once during the first day or two after my return.

This time, she hasn’t had a laundry list. The only negatives on her mind have been reminders for our new caregiver (have I mentioned that we found a third person to add to the team?) about particular ways Jip likes things to be done.

Even these concerns have been muted, free of rant. She said to me this week with a set jaw and a grim expression, “John, we have to have a family meeting about this new caregiver.”

Whoa! Deferred criticism! This is really something.

Announcing Hipbelt

I took a short holiday to Beijing last week. My timing was good for lots of reasons. Two of my aunties were passing through, the weather was perfect, and the country is going out of its way to welcome visitors as it prepares for next year’s Olympics.

Jip handled my being gone pretty well. I checked in often via skype. The only time she seemed upset was was when one of the caregivers had shown up for a shift two hours early. Apparently this change in the routine was enough to upset her sense of balance.

Starting to write about the trip reminded me that for about a year now I’ve kept a separate journal about my travels. Mostly it’s a way to help me remember where I’ve been in Asia (at my advanced age, sometimes I can’t come up with the title of the novel I finished the day before). Writing also helps freeze some images in my mind, because I don’t travel with a camera other than the little one on my phone (I find they get in the way of really seeing a place).

Recently I put this travel journal online, at a separate blog address. Journey over to http://hipbelt.blogspot.com if you’re interested. (I’ve also put a link in the sidebar on the right side of this page). The most recent entry is about Beijing. I also wrote about short trips I took with friends or family to Laos, Suphanburi, Nakhonchaisri, Samut Songkhram, Khao Prah Viharn, Angkor Wat, Lopburi, and Ko Si Chang.

I’ll keep adding to hipbelt as I keep wandering around Southeast Asia.

Lunchtime Entertainment

We’re lucky where I work to be able to choose between several outdoor cafeterias within walking distance, all serving pretty decent grub for about fifty cents a plate. Each of the various departments at the Ministry of Public Health has its own variation on the theme, meaning I could eat at a different spot every day of the week and never leave the campus.

But now and then the April heat, or the need for a change of scene, drives us to seek enclosed dining options. Last week some of us jumped in a car for a trip to a nearby noodle house. On the way we discovered several mosquitoes were sharing the ride with us.

The American reaction would have been to start slapping. Here in Buddhist Thailand, following several wisecracks about the driver’s “pets,” my seatmates in the back began herding the little insects toward the windows. When one would get close enough, the window was quickly cracked open, and the passenger allowed to escape.

So are we models of compassion? Or just easily amused? Either way, we passed a very enjoyable lunch hour.

Cruelest Month

At least there’s a breeze.

Temperatures here have been at their sultriest. The papers claim it’s been in the high nineties, but they also publish a “feels like” number, which is even more depressing.

And people get colds! Sometimes they’ll describe their sniffling as “sun fever,” which is one of those “had to be there” terms that don’t make sense unless they’ve happened to you.

That description is as good as any to explain why I’ve been hacking and spluttering this past week. Although my symptoms could just as easily have come from switching back and forth between the humid air outdoors and the refrigerated air indoors.

Begging the question: should we turn on the air conditioner at bedtime? Rely on a fan alone? Or perhaps count on the breeze to last all night?

I know, I know. Lots of people on this planet would love to have choices as complicated as ours.