All Thai'ed Up: Settled In

After my last post, something changed. Thailand went from being some exotic place that I was “experiencing” to being, simply, my home. I can’t say all the bones in my body have fully adjusted, nor do I really ever expect them to, but my initial high from being someplace new has died down, and I finally feel settled in to living my life here in Ubon.

Before I moved to Thailand, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. Whenever people asked me questions about what living in Thailand was going to be like, the only response I could give was, “I don’t know. I haven’t been there yet.” I suppose I thought that Thailand would somehow be this exotic place, far from home and from anything I knew. Just the name Thailand brought connotations of tropical weather, exotic culture, and adventure.

While there are all of these things and more, I have come to realize (perhaps naively) that life here is just that—life. Everyone is just living their life, trying to get by and have some fun while they’re at it. Sure there are some pretty big differences in culture and in the way things get done, but ultimately life marches on day by day, just like it does everywhere else in the world.

And I’m getting used to life as it exists here. Going to the market is no longer an adventure; neither is picking up food from a street vendor or riding around Ubon on the back of a motorbike (ok, well, sometimes it still is ^^). It’s just my life now. I’ve settled in, and it feels good. I know I will continue to run across things that leave me wide-eyed, amazed, and let’s be honest, downright confused, but for the time being, that feeling of total awe is no longer part of my daily life.

On one hand, I’m a little sad that I don’t get that jolt of excitement every time I go someplace new or try something new. On the other hand, it feels really good to be settled into where I’m living and what I’m doing. I can sit back and take a breath now that I have an established routine and know (at least to some degree) what to expect from each day. Ultimately, it feels like I’ve begun a new chapter. If my life in Thailand were its own book, I’ve gotten past the intriguing prologue, and have started Chapter 1. The ohmygodiminthailand feeling has subsided, but now I can really get into the meaty stuff and begin the story.

And this is where my story begins every day: my apartment, or "mansion," as they're called here. Unlike mansions in the US, mansions here are a one-room apartments with a bed, a wardrobe, a fridge, and a few other small pieces of furniture. It also has bathroom off the back. I'll spare you pictures of the interior, as it's a bit messy.