As hard as it may be to believe, yesterday marked my second anniversary here in Khrungthep.  Sure enough, on the evening of October 31st, 2005 I arrived on the THAI Airways nonstop from New York to begin the next stage of my life with Tawn.

What’s transpired since then?

I’ve had the opportunity to learn to read, write and speak Thai and, I’ll say with a mix of modesty and satisfaction, I’ve had some success availing myself of that opportunity.  Many days it is a struggle and there’s plenty of times when I still don’t know what the heck people are talking about, but my confidence and skill is pretty high and – the best measure – I don’t hesitate to use the Thai I know.

I’ve had the opportunity to volunteer for a year as a once-a-week English teacher in Samut Songkhram province.  While I’m very sorry the opportunity has come to an end, the experience has shaped me and the lessons learned will stay for a lifetime.  I also hope that the influence I’ve had on the children has been positive and that the lessons they’ve learned will shape them, too.  Also, I’m very thankful that I could share this experience with so many other people including Kobfa, Ken, and Markus as well as numerous visitors including Pat, Aaron and my family.

I’ve built the beginnings of a wide network of good friends.  While they are predominately gay men – admittedly, there is still room for some more diversity – they come from a variety of backgrounds, countries, cultures and walks of life.  In the first half year here, Tawn and I didn’t have much to do most evenings.  Nowadays there is something going on most every night, to the extent that we have to excuse ourselves from participating in many of them.

I’ve started getting to know some areas of the city from on-the-pedal experience, gaining the confidence to navigate on two wheels and to explore stretches of the city and the surrounding countryside that you cannot fully appreciate from inside a car.  I’m convinced that this is one of the best ways to see the real Thailand.

Finally, and most importantly, I’ve started to gain an understanding of Thailand, Thais, Thai culture, and “Thai-ness” in general.  I say this with utmost awareness that the minute I say it, I’ll wind up getting bitten in the ass, and I say it with the awareness that I have taken but a single step on a journey that I cannot complete in just one lifetime.  But from time to time, I can look at things here and “get it”.  Those are fleeting moments, to be sure, but are a rich reward for the time and effort spent learning to “be” here these past two years.

Here’s to another year in this extraordinary adventure.

Below: For about five minutes yesterday afternoon at 5:50, the entire sky in all directions was bathed in an ethereal pink light.