Gentle hum of the old machines

I'm home safe from my trip to Thailand and have posted some pictures on flickr. I was planning on writing a bit about the trip but it seems like a chore that I just don't want to deal with right now. Work starts again in the morning and the countdown to O's arrival stands around 19 days depending on which side of the date line you live on.

I enjoyed Thailand but it was nothing like I had expected. I was shocked by how overrun and trampled by the foot of European tourism the place had become. Granted I wasn't hitchhiking through the backwaters, I flew to a couple spots and only had a few days in each to poke my head around. But it took a while for me to get used to the feeling that everything and everyone could be bought there. All you had to do was ask the price and anything could be yours.

The sense of cheap tourism based capitalism made me a bit sick. It was either that or the unidentifiable soup that I found on a street corner in Bangkok.

I flew in this morning and after cleaning up a bit I went for a walk along the river to look at the cherry blossoms that had bloomed while I was away. As I passed the familiar streets of Muromi I experienced the same uneasiness that I felt when I returned from Mumbai. I soon realized that the early Sunday morning streets of Fukuoka were missing the cacophony of the traffic and stench of burning pollution that choked Bangkok.

For an Asian city, this place is very clean and livable. I met some other teachers at the EARCOS conference in Bangkok who were teaching at schools around Bangkok and absolutely loved living in the city. They described the enormous variety of nightclubs and restaurants, the proximity to the southern tropical islands, and availability of western products.

That just isn't enough for me. I need to be able to breathe. I need to be able to look up and see blue sky instead of a greyish haze. Nightclubs will only get me so far.

Look, it's late and I am tired of writing. It was good to get away but it may be a few days before I can look back on the country with nostalgic fondness. Look at some of the pictures if you'd like, otherwise, keep the countdown running.