Today was my younger sister's birthday.
We went to the market again today! We got home around two in the afternoon. As we were about to sit and watch TV with everyone else in the room; a young man appeared at the door and said some Thai friends was coming to pick up someone here. He also said the Thai girl was searching and didn't know where we were, so someone helped them, and told them to come to this house.
My heart jumped, I knew instantly it was Cat. She was so quick to come. Today was only my third day in the camp. I got up and started gathering my things, and when I looked up, I saw Cat, her mom, and Uncle Q with the person I assumed they met and guided them to the house. Cat came to me and helped me packed my bags. My friend that was with me, walked with me to their car which was parked a few hundred feet from the house. We said bye to my friend.
On the way back to Cat's house in Bangkok, I felt nervous as I sat in the backseat alone with her. I was going to be by myself with all Thai people in a house, and a different environment than I know. My parents had advised me to stay with my friends all the time. They told me stories about when they lived in Thailand and how some Thais mistreated the Hmong people. I think I know Cat well enough to trust her at this moment. There's good and bad people out there, and Cat's mom was very kind to us when we stayed in Bangkok. She is a mom and I’m sure she is concern for my safety as well.
Cat fell asleep in the car half way back or maybe she was just pretending, so she could put her head on my leg. Whatever it was, it felt good to be loved.
Hmong Refugee Camp
Thursday, March 22, 2001
Right now we are in the Hmong refugee camp in Wat Thamkrabok. I am staying with one of my friend in her sister's home. I went to visit my uncle in his home last night.
Last night it rained a lot, so today was muddy and dirty! The houses are made of bamboo and has either a hay or metal roof. If you are one of the wealthy people, you might be able to afford something made of cement. There are no pavements, just dirt paths, lots of forest, and mountains that surround the camp.
Today I walked to the market with my friends and their cousins. I was excited and wanted to try some of the Hmong food from the vendors. So I tried two bowls of noodles from different vendors and it tasted plain. I remembered it used to taste so good back when I was a child and we lived in Thailand. But I think it's my taste that changed over the years with the abundant and variety of food we have in the U.S.
I also called Cat from the pay phone and asked if she could come get me. I told her I was more than ready to leave. She said she will talk to her mom.
There are no flushable toilets or proper bathing and shower systems. Each family or two shares a small toilet hut right around the corner. It is a squat toilet. You need to bring toilet paper and a bucket of water to pour it down. As far as bathing goes, they have two to three huge clay jars right outside the door filled with water. When bathing, women wear a Thai style tube skirt and tugged it tightly at the chest, then scoop water from the jar over themselves. The men would bathe in their shorts or underwear.
Last night, when two of my friends and I bathed outside, a group of young boys came to court us. This practice is actually normal in Thailand and Laos. They kept on asking us annoying questions even when we didn't want to answer. I kept silent and ignored them. We tried to finish as quickly as we could and went back inside.
Guess what...approximately two hours later, when we were watching TV, and I don't know if it was the same group or not, but they came back! We were inside and they were talking to us through the walls from the outside. They tried to shine a flashlight at us through a crack in the wall. It was still too dark, they couldn't see, so for the next hour, they asked us repeatedly to go meet them outside the door. We never went outside.
"Wat Thamkrabok, meaning Temple of the Bamboo Cave is a Buddhist temple located in the Phrab Phutthabat district of Saraburi province. After the Vietnam War, many Hmong people fled to Thailand from Laos by feared of persecution from the communist government that ruled since 1975. Wat Thamkrabok is a refugee camp where many Hmong people fled to; to avoid repatriation to Laos after several other camps in Thailand were closed due to lack of financial support in the early 1990s. The population in the temple grew to about 16,000."
www.wikipedia.org
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| Woman walking in the rain |
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| After the rain |
I also called Cat from the pay phone and asked if she could come get me. I told her I was more than ready to leave. She said she will talk to her mom.
Bathroom and bathing situation
There are no flushable toilets or proper bathing and shower systems. Each family or two shares a small toilet hut right around the corner. It is a squat toilet. You need to bring toilet paper and a bucket of water to pour it down. As far as bathing goes, they have two to three huge clay jars right outside the door filled with water. When bathing, women wear a Thai style tube skirt and tugged it tightly at the chest, then scoop water from the jar over themselves. The men would bathe in their shorts or underwear.
Last night, when two of my friends and I bathed outside, a group of young boys came to court us. This practice is actually normal in Thailand and Laos. They kept on asking us annoying questions even when we didn't want to answer. I kept silent and ignored them. We tried to finish as quickly as we could and went back inside.
Guess what...approximately two hours later, when we were watching TV, and I don't know if it was the same group or not, but they came back! We were inside and they were talking to us through the walls from the outside. They tried to shine a flashlight at us through a crack in the wall. It was still too dark, they couldn't see, so for the next hour, they asked us repeatedly to go meet them outside the door. We never went outside.
Bangkok to Saraburi
Wednesday, March 21, 2001
"Saraburi, a province in the upper central region of Thailand, is rich in tourist attractions including natural sites, cultural festivals, majestic temples, and historical venues. Located 108 kilometers north of Bangkok, Saraburi city is just 65 kilometers from Ayutthaya and the two can be combined to make a diverse day trip. The most important Buddhist temple in Saraburi, Wat Phra Phutthabat was built in the 17th century and features a “Buddha footprint” that has made it one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in central Thailand."
www.tourismthailand.org
A flashback
The last three days, we slept at Cat's aunt's house. Her mom's house is being remodel at the present moment. Her mom owes the second duplex which she rented to others. She wants to combine the duplexes into a three story home with five bedrooms and two bathrooms. Her aunt's house is in Bang Na, which is about 20 minutes from Bangkok. Unlike her mother's house and many other houses in Bangkok which consisted of one-or two-story wooden structures built closely together; it is a two-story standalone house with a metal front gate. I like her aunt's house because they have flushable toilets and a shower system.
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| Neighborhood where we stayed |
Saraburi, here we come!
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| Sunflower Field in Saraburi |
Cat and her aunt helped us carried our humongous and heavy suitcases into the van. We thanked her aunt for letting us stayed in her house. My friends and I agreed that we would each give 500 Baht to compensate her aunt. But when we handed Cat the money in an envelope to give her aunt before we closed the door of the van, she refused to accept it, and so did her aunt.
They watched and waved to us as the van pulled away from the driveway into the small road. I took one last look at Cat from within and waved to them both. I could never thank her enough for what she has given me in the last few days. She will always be someone close to my heart.
I should mention that Cat didn't want me to leave with my friends. We had a moment together where she asked and made me promised to go back to Bangkok and stay an extra month. While we talked, I saw tears in the corner of her eyes, but she did really good and held it in. I took off my necklace that I had and put it on her neck. I told her to keep it as a memory, and as something I would go back for. I miss her a lot right now.
We arrived in Saraburi earlier this afternoon.
Went to the temples with my friends
Tuesday, March 20, 2001
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| Wat Arun - Temple of the Dawn |
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| Wat Phra Kaew - Temple of Emerald Buddha |
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| My friends and her mom |
Her mom is very religious. We had the opportunity to wai with her at one of the shrines there. Wai is the Thai way of greeting and showing respect, indicated by pressing your palms together near your chest and bowing. It was the first time that I went to a Budhist temple. It was very special because Cat was right there beside me. I prayed silently that during my time here, our physical bond would be as strong as can be. Later in the day, Cat told me that she prayed for us to stay together for a very long time.
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| Wat Po - Temple of the Reclining Buddha |
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| Maboonkrong Center Bangkok Shopping Guide |
Cat's mom and Uncle Q went home in the early afternoon. The five of us squeezed into Cat's Honda Civic Type Z, and went to meet my friend Kho's Thai pen pal. They took us to MBK Center, Maboonkrong Center, located at Phayathai Road, Pathumwan.
MBK Center is a huge shopping mall with eight floors packed with 2,000 shops that sell everything from clothing, fashion accessories, handbags, leather products and luggage to furniture, mobile phones, electric appliances, cameras, stationery and DVD's, and many more.
We spend about three hours browsing most of the shops but nobody bought anything. One of my friend was hoping to run into a Thai superstar but we didn't meet any.
Birthday
Monday, March 19, 2001
Today was Cat's 20th birthday!
This morning she had a final exam at school. She is majoring in law at Ramkhamhaeng University. Her exam was from two to four in the afternoon. But before going to school, she dropped me and my friends off at Major Cineplex, a movie theater. The theater was right across the street from her school. She had asked her two good friends Maew and Num to watch Mae Bia (The Snake Lady) with us.
Before Cat left to school, she whispered something to me about the movie which I didn’t hear clearly. I heard something like, "this movie has a lot of lesbian scenes." With that in mind, I thought it was going to be a lesbian movie but throughout the whole movie, I didn't see any lesbians and it had me thinking.
The movie seem boring to me because it was in Thai and had no English subtitles. I didn't understand a word they were saying. I knew one of my friends didn't enjoy it either because she didn't understand Thai too. But one friend did cried during some scenes.
When we came out of the theater, I didn't know if Cat was done with her exam or not. But she was waiting for us downstairs. Just seeing her makes me happy every time. She asked if I liked the movie. I told her I didn't see any lesbian scenes. She laughed and told me that she meant the movie has a lot of sex scenes.
We took sticker pictures in the photo booth they had there. Then we walked to Big C shopping center which was only a few blocks away. We went down to the lowest level where the food court was and got dinner. But we didn't really know what to order. I just ordered a beef noodle soup. The name and picture looks and sounds good but when it came, it had very little noodles with a condensed soup and blood cake. Cat said I didn't have to eat it if I didn't like it.
It rained really hard around five o'clock but Cat's aunt still insisted we go to Tesco Lotus. We celebrated Cat's birthday at MK Restaurants with her siblings. MK features Thai-style suki that is a hot pot of fresh meats and vegetables. This was the first time my friends and I ever had hot pot so we didn't like it. Her younger siblings must thought we were weird because we didn't talk with them and didn't eat much.
This morning she had a final exam at school. She is majoring in law at Ramkhamhaeng University. Her exam was from two to four in the afternoon. But before going to school, she dropped me and my friends off at Major Cineplex, a movie theater. The theater was right across the street from her school. She had asked her two good friends Maew and Num to watch Mae Bia (The Snake Lady) with us.
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| Major Cineplex Ramkhamhaeng Find Target Reference |
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| Mae Bia Wikipedia |
"Mae Bia is about a man named Chanachol who has spent several years overseas, and after returning to Thailand again, he signs up for a tour to familiarize himself with his homeland again. He meets his guide, Mekhala whom is instantly attracted to, and so is she to him. They begin to have an affair but kept secrets from each other. Chanachol is married and has a son at home while Mekhala has her own secret relationship with a jealous snake."
The movie seem boring to me because it was in Thai and had no English subtitles. I didn't understand a word they were saying. I knew one of my friends didn't enjoy it either because she didn't understand Thai too. But one friend did cried during some scenes.
When we came out of the theater, I didn't know if Cat was done with her exam or not. But she was waiting for us downstairs. Just seeing her makes me happy every time. She asked if I liked the movie. I told her I didn't see any lesbian scenes. She laughed and told me that she meant the movie has a lot of sex scenes.
We took sticker pictures in the photo booth they had there. Then we walked to Big C shopping center which was only a few blocks away. We went down to the lowest level where the food court was and got dinner. But we didn't really know what to order. I just ordered a beef noodle soup. The name and picture looks and sounds good but when it came, it had very little noodles with a condensed soup and blood cake. Cat said I didn't have to eat it if I didn't like it.
Birthday Dinner
It rained really hard around five o'clock but Cat's aunt still insisted we go to Tesco Lotus. We celebrated Cat's birthday at MK Restaurants with her siblings. MK features Thai-style suki that is a hot pot of fresh meats and vegetables. This was the first time my friends and I ever had hot pot so we didn't like it. Her younger siblings must thought we were weird because we didn't talk with them and didn't eat much.
Arrived in Bangkok
Sunday, March 18, 2001
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| Waiting at Minneapolis airport |
After going through customs and baggage claim, it was already past midnight. I was very nervous when we walked out to the meeting area. I was afraid at the same time that I might lose Cat after she sees me. But then again, at least we got to meet each other in person.
Cat saw me first as I walked toward the crowds gathered in the meeting area. When I saw her waved at me, I froze! My heart was beating so fast, I had to catch my breath. Standing next to her was her younger sister, her mom, and mom's boyfriend (I will refer to him as Uncle Q). When I was finally standing face to face with Cat, I could see how beautiful her complexion was. She was one hundred times more pretty and different than the pictures she sent me. In those pictures, she always had on shorts and looked like a tomboy. I prefer a more feminine girl. Like they say, never judge a book by it's cover. Seeing her with her shoulder length black silky hair and smooth baby face; it melt my heart. She wore her driving glasses, a blue polo shirt, blue jeans, navy colored sandals, and was holding her cell phone in one hand. Her eyes were on me the whole time. I was very shy to look her in the eyes.
We loaded our luggage in her trunk. After closing the trunk, she came from behind me, as I was about to get in the car, and slightly brushed her right arm against my left arm. I felt something, something wonderful that I've never felt before. A feeling of being close to someone you care deeply about. She insisted I sit with her in the front but I didn't have the guts to, so I let her sister sit with her. I sat in the backseat with two of my friends.
Our first night together
When we arrived at her aunt's house, it was very hot. Her mom bought food for us because she worried we were hungry. We sat surrounding the food on the floor. Cat sat next to me, she rolled her sleeves up to her shoulders. I was still nervous. We tried to eat but I didn't have an appetite.
Her aunt has a spare bedroom upstairs with a queen size bed for us. We showered and I was the last one. When I came back into the room, everyone looked tired, and two of my friends that could speak Thai was talking to Cat. They sat on the floor. I sat with them, and one of my friend folded a 20 dollar bill into a heart and gave it to her. I took out a 100 dollar bill and folded it into a heart and also gave it to her.
All four of my friends squeezed into the small queen bed. Cat laid a pad on the floor for me and her to sleep. What happened after everyone fell asleep was something I will never forget. The one thing that I've wanted the most in the last two years had finally arrived. We were in each others arms, and it felt so good to have her warm body next to mine. We hugged each other until we fell asleep.
It rained really hard until the morning!
How I got to go to Thailand
Saturday, March 17, 2001
It has been over two years since Cat and I've known each other. Throughout this whole crazy cycle, we've also created many sad and happy memories together. We didn't think we would ever get to meet in person.
Love is a strange thing, we don't know how it starts and how it will end. But what is in between is the best and most wonderful of anything in life. The countless hours we spent on our emails, letters, and phone calls to each other were the most important things in our lives. Through everything, we've built trust and knew in our hearts that if not today, one day, however long it may be, we will meet somehow. We just need to believe in our love even if unreachable.
My friends and I started talking about visiting Thailand in April 2000. I submitted the application for a passport around that time as well but didn't receive it until about November, I think. After we got our passports, the four of us took a hour and a half drive east of where we live to purchase our airline tickets from a travel agent.
I told my parents about Thailand early from the beginning but they never believed I was serious. I guess it was because I was too young to travel to a country where I didn't know anyone or speak its language. My mom is a free spirited person, she is an easy person to talk to, and will most likely let me do what I like. My dad is different. Throughout my life, for as long as I can remember, he has always been someone I avoided. There are many reasons I can't explain, but I could never have a conversation lasting more than five minutes with him. He is short with words and very direct with things. When he talks, his tone is loud like he's yelling, and that's what makes us stay away from him. I can say for a fact that growing up, life was unbearable, and many times I wished I didn't exist. After I know Cat, life felt more worthwhile.
Long story short, I did my passport and purchased the airline ticket along with my friends without telling my parents. After everything was completed, I told them I was really going to Thailand. They couldn't say anything but to let me go.
Love is a strange thing, we don't know how it starts and how it will end. But what is in between is the best and most wonderful of anything in life. The countless hours we spent on our emails, letters, and phone calls to each other were the most important things in our lives. Through everything, we've built trust and knew in our hearts that if not today, one day, however long it may be, we will meet somehow. We just need to believe in our love even if unreachable.
My friends and I started talking about visiting Thailand in April 2000. I submitted the application for a passport around that time as well but didn't receive it until about November, I think. After we got our passports, the four of us took a hour and a half drive east of where we live to purchase our airline tickets from a travel agent.
I told my parents about Thailand early from the beginning but they never believed I was serious. I guess it was because I was too young to travel to a country where I didn't know anyone or speak its language. My mom is a free spirited person, she is an easy person to talk to, and will most likely let me do what I like. My dad is different. Throughout my life, for as long as I can remember, he has always been someone I avoided. There are many reasons I can't explain, but I could never have a conversation lasting more than five minutes with him. He is short with words and very direct with things. When he talks, his tone is loud like he's yelling, and that's what makes us stay away from him. I can say for a fact that growing up, life was unbearable, and many times I wished I didn't exist. After I know Cat, life felt more worthwhile.
Long story short, I did my passport and purchased the airline ticket along with my friends without telling my parents. After everything was completed, I told them I was really going to Thailand. They couldn't say anything but to let me go.
The way we met
Thursday, March 1, 2001
It was near fall season, sometime at the end of August 1999 that Cat and I met online. She was 18 years old and lived in Bangkok, Thailand. I was a year older than her.
I knew a lot of friends from the internet that I talked to everyday, but I've never thought I would meet someone across the other side of the earth like her. She taught me many things and one of them was to love unconditionally with my heart. She was someone I couldn't live my life without, someone I would sacrifice everything for, and someone I would do it all over again with if I could.
It was very late one night when I went into Yahoo chat. Back then, the internet was a new thing, and everyone you meet online was friendly. Cat was already in the chat room and she was asking people how to spell the word "Beautiful." I clicked on her name because it was different from the usual names always there. I typed "Hi," and she typed "Hi" back to me.
I don't remembered what else we talked about in the chat room besides introducing ourselves. But I did know it was boring talking to her because she didn't understand most of what I was typing to her, due to her limited English skills. To be honest, I was not interested in her. I could also feel she was too excited about other people in the room that she didn’t really care either.
After this unexpected meeting, I went on living my usual life and totally forgot about her. It was about one week later when I received an email from her. I don't remember giving her my email address but I think she must have written down my Yahoo user name from the chat room. The user name in chat is the same as the email account for Yahoo.
This is how we know each other and how our six year long distance relationship started. We emailed, sent letters through the mail, and sometimes talked on the phone.
I knew a lot of friends from the internet that I talked to everyday, but I've never thought I would meet someone across the other side of the earth like her. She taught me many things and one of them was to love unconditionally with my heart. She was someone I couldn't live my life without, someone I would sacrifice everything for, and someone I would do it all over again with if I could.
It was very late one night when I went into Yahoo chat. Back then, the internet was a new thing, and everyone you meet online was friendly. Cat was already in the chat room and she was asking people how to spell the word "Beautiful." I clicked on her name because it was different from the usual names always there. I typed "Hi," and she typed "Hi" back to me.
I don't remembered what else we talked about in the chat room besides introducing ourselves. But I did know it was boring talking to her because she didn't understand most of what I was typing to her, due to her limited English skills. To be honest, I was not interested in her. I could also feel she was too excited about other people in the room that she didn’t really care either.
After this unexpected meeting, I went on living my usual life and totally forgot about her. It was about one week later when I received an email from her. I don't remember giving her my email address but I think she must have written down my Yahoo user name from the chat room. The user name in chat is the same as the email account for Yahoo.
This is how we know each other and how our six year long distance relationship started. We emailed, sent letters through the mail, and sometimes talked on the phone.