We passed through Thai immigration with no problem. The immigration officer seemed to think Ryan was very cute. At the end of her questioning (mostly questioning Angela, who can communicate with her), she grabbed Ryan’s hand and said her goodbye. I caught myself thinking, “the American immigration officer would never do that! Why is it that everything needs to be so ‘professional’ and ‘non-human’ in the US?”
The Bangkok airport reminds me of most major airports that I have been to. The airports are large, plain, and not very welcoming. Walkways in the airports are usually lit with florescent lights and the walls are plastic and flooring blah. The oversized conveyor belts and silver panels that wrap around baggage claim are probably the most interesting things on the arrival side of the airport. At least the kids tend to think so…
The flight arrived at 2am so claiming luggage was a piece of cake. After I changed Ryan in the restroom, Angela and Jim already had all of our 8 pieces of luggage and carry-ons. (Mostly Ryan’s stuff) As we met up with Jok (Angela’s personal taxi driver – yes, there’s such a thing) and his friend, the humidity and heat at the parking lot made me realize that this is going to be a completely different living environment and experience for Ryan. I took Ryan out of his baby-bjorn and the extra layer of clothing, then sat in the car behind the driver seat with my arms around him. If we get into an accident, Jok will be the human airbag and I will be the steadfast car seat…
The drive to Angela’s from the airport is approximately 30 minutes without traffic. Since it was 3 in the morning, the only traffic was trucks going up and down the highway. The shadows created by the orange-yellow colored light rays can be dizzying if the car is going too fast. Ryan was in my arms with his eyes wide open. I wondered what he thinks of moving from tree-lined streets in Gold River to a city woven with concrete… I grew up in a city like Bangkok but I never realized how different it could be for someone else. Not that I didn’t realize the differences between Gold River and Bangkok but it never occurred to me that the differences would be so vast, shocking or unsettling to others. I am lucky to have lived in both places and have both places represent normalcy for me. Ryan now will have the opportunity to live in a concrete jungle like Bangkok and have it be 'normal' for him.
Jok pulled over and told us that his propane converted energy efficient car won’t be able to make it. The car either needs more propane or it needs fixing (that's right, 3 am in the morning). We decided to get an “unrelated” taxi to haul us in. As we stood in the middle of nowhere hailing for a cab, everyone seems stressed out but I thought it was kind of funny and neat. I don't expect everything to work in Bangkok like how things are back home... The second cab came and we hopped in. This taxi driver was younger and he drove a lot faster. I held on to Ryan tighter than the previous ride trying to stabilize him so he doesn’t fly out of my arms when the driver hits the potholes. Our taxi sped through the streets like an arrow in the middle of the night – I felt like we were in one of those movies during a car chase scene. 15 minutes later, we got to our destination safely but both Ryan and I were sweaty, sticky, and probably stinky (for different reasons). I got out of the car satisfied because I know that Ryan will have an interesting time here in Thailand. If he doesn’t remember, we will remind him. Not from our perspective, but from his – from a perspective that’s novel.
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