One Year Later

I have been in Thailand 1 year and 4 days. 

I look forward to many more days and years in my beautiful host country.

The day after I arrived last year I had my introduction to the nursing dorm in a fun and interesting ceremony. You can see the pictures on, I'm pretty sure, my first post for this blog.

A year has passed and we just had the same ceremony. This Thai festival originates in the idea that each person has many souls, or spirits, and when you move you have to invite your spirits to your new house. We use it as a welcome party and a time for the teachers to bless the new students. It starts with the students doing a giant 'London Bridge' style game with their schoolmates and teachers. Then there is a traditional Thai family style meal then plays and dances by the students. They were still partying hard when I left at about 11 PM.

I love these moments of spending time with all of my wonderful new friends.

The Dean of Nursing and other teachers.

Kanchanaburi and the Death Railway

I spent last weekend in Kanchanaburi, a little town 3 hours west of Bangkok and well known for the infamous Death Railroad. Remember the old movie, Bridge Over The River Kwai? Although the movie is mostly fiction (a British officer would never have endorsed or helped the building and engineering of the railroad, and in fact the POWs did everything in their power to sabotage the railroad, like plant termites in the wood, etc.), the building of the Death Railway is a sad fact.

In 1942, after the successful conquest of Singapore (which was invaded on bicycles, no less!), Japan set their sights on Burma. For this purpose they used Allied POWs (largely from Singapore) and 'hired' workers from Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia, and other nearby countries. The conditions for both the POWs and these 'hired' worker were pretty horrendous. Actually the area around the Kwai Bridge was one of the better sights because of fresh water, but many of the camps were overcrowded, without proper water, food, or hygiene, and death tolls were very high. POWs were often guarded by Korean soldiers who were treated poorly by their Japanese superiors, and likewise handed that cruelty down to the workers. The construction (258 miles through mountains) was originally estimated to take several years, but because of deadlines was completed in a little over a year. This monumental task was accomplished by backbreaking work and long hours by undernourished and sick men.

After the war the Allies moved all the POW graves to a few central graveyards. There is a lot of information about the POWs due to record keeping both of the Japanese and the POWs themselves. Not so with the Asian workers. Estimates are that 90,000 Asian workers died during the construction, but there aren't identifiable graves for these men, and so they are spread out across the jungles of Thailand and Burma.

Even in the midst of reading heart wrenching stories of depravity and cruelty, there were also stories of the greatest hope, courage and compassion imaginable, not only amongst the POWs but from the Thai villagers nearby, Thai businessmen from Bangkok who went to great personal risk to alleviate the suffering of workers, and Japanese officers who tried, in little ways, to aide the men.

The River Kwai

The Bridge (Allied forces destroyed the middle section in 1944, but this bit is original)

On our way to Kanchanaburi we spent the day in Bangkok and hung out at this awesome temple with a great view of the river and city.

In the Village

It's always a great treat to get out of town and enjoy the countryside. In Thailand that means muddy paths, pigs everywhere, squatty potties, and lots of food (fish or pork on rice. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner).

I have two dear friends who live in a rural village. They speak almost no English, and I speak even less Karen, so we settle on Thai, which is comfortable for them (being the language of public schools and official work) but is still quite laborious for me. Nonetheless, it is delightful and relaxing to spend a few days in a quieter life.

Chen, the husband, told me this trip that he is worried that the village isn't as comfortable as the USA or as Chiang Mai, and he wants to be a good host. I assured him that, although the village doesn't have internet, cell phone access, or cable TV, I find those things a distraction from the meaningful relationships that we have time to cultivate when we are away from those 'luxuries.' I would much prefer to spend my evening sitting around the cooking fire with my friends and all their neighbors and relatives who've come by to visit. And the lack of indoor pluming or hot water? The thick layer of mud on shoes and pant cuffs? Well, you just have to get used to that.

This is an old style Thai house. The family lives in a newer house next door, but all the cooking and hanging out happens in this house.

Pi Pi (Grandma) and my friend's daughter.

Cooking house/living room. Would you like some lung cancer with your fish and rice?

Chen in the family cabbage garden.