Jumping in with Both Feet

March 24, 2011

Day one in the trenches began early. I’m super OCD when it comes to knowing where my stuff is, and I had packed it so long ago, that I had forgotten where things like toothpaste and pajamas had been stuffed, so I ended up unpacking til about 1am. Even so, I couldn’t sleep past 7am, I was so anxious to get to Taw Saeng (pronounced Tah Sang) and see everyone!

I tried to sleep til 8, but to no avail. I ended up reading for a bit, before starting to create some semblance of organization in my room and bathroom. Jaz leaves for work earlier than I needed to, so I was able to ask her a few getting around questions before she left for the day. Luckily, she knows a Tuk Tuk driver so she had arranged for him to pick me up at 10:30 to be at the Children’s Drop-In Center by 11:30am.

A bit of transport background: Thailand, or at least Chaig Mai, has a few ways to get around. Most people who live here long term own scooters (like Vespas) or motorcycles. Some more wealthy people have cars or trucks, but lots of people take public transportation. So, Tuk Tuks are motorized rickshaws, and they are all over the city, but they are more expensive than Song Thaews (pronounced song tow, but the ‘ow’ is like ‘ouch’). These are small red buses that have two long benches in the back that people sit on. Those are fitted with buzzers on the roof so you can buzz when you want out.

This system makes me so glad I have had experience getting around in cities like Beirut and Mumbai, because now I understand how the system works. Basically, Tuk Tuks and Song Thaews are like taxis, in that there is no set schedule or route. When you need one, you flag it down and ask if they are going to your area. If they are, you jump in. Sometimes the Song Thaews will tell you a price up from, but usually those cost 20 baht. This is equivalent to about 75 cents. Tuk Tuks are considerably more expensive, but still not much compared to your average NYC taxi. The Tuk Tuk from my house to Taw Saeng cost 80 baht. This is about $2.70 for a 20 minute drive.  Not bad, but it adds up if I had to do it both directions every day for the next year, especially when you consider that I am attempting to live on $500 a month including rent!

So, back to the story! Well, after a quick breakfast of toast and OJ, courtesy of my roomie, I went to sit in the back garden and read a book for a while. I met one of our neighbors whose townhouse also opens onto the garden. She’s Thai, so I didn’t really understand her name, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out soon when I see her around!

Finally, Yo, the Tuk Tuk driver, pulled up to the front gate. He was very nice and we chatted on the drive about what I was doing here, when I had been here before, etc. At first, it was a bit overwhelming driving from my part of town to Loi Kroh Road, where Taw Saeng is. (From now on, I’m just gonna call it TS so it’s easier!) But, when we got closer, I thought “Hey! I know that temple!” but then of course I thought, “Yeah, right, they all look alike.” As we drove further down that road, though I saw a few other things that I knew, and finally we arrived at the Tha Phae (Tah Pay) gate and I KNEW where we were, so I was right! I really did know that temple!

I was getting flooded with memories of my time here in November and was just so excited to get to TS and see everyone! Finally, we started down Loi Kroh road and I told Yo how far it was. We stopped in front of it, and I was so shocked! There was a whole new entrance with a door that locked and everything! When we were here in November, there was just a low gate that had wooden slats that were always getting broken from playing soccer on the patio. Now, there is plaster all the way up, big glass windows in front and around the top of the walls and a big glass door for an entrance. The interior was totally rearranged as well.

Where there used to be computers downstairs right when you walked in the door, and filing cabinets along the walls, now that stuff has moved up to the second floor so the downstairs is a big open space to play in. Right now, it’s summer break, so they are doing more of a summer camp for the kids, so they have crafts, computer classes, sewing, guitar lessons and of course, still English classes. It reminds me of our summer rec program in Prosser!

As soon as I walked through the door, I saw P’Bua (she does the cooking and keeps the place in order) just finishing up cleaning the floor. She was so excited to see me and gave me a big hug. Then I headed upstairs to find the rest of the people. On the second floor, I saw Dtom playing guitar (she’s one of the Thai teachers) so we chatted for a bit about guitar and stuff. I kept going past the 3^rd floor up to the offices, and saw Ning, (one of the first people involved with TS from 5 years ago) who was super excited to see me and Field (she does the English class curriculum) who was surprised but happy to see me too. I don’t think she realized I was coming in that day. J

We chatted for a bit and then headed downstairs where we did worship and devotionals. Rob and Judy showed up and couldn’t believe I actually made it there on the first day. I was like “I don’t believe it jet lag!” haha. I also met Inna, who is from Russia and is teaching Ahna’s middle school class.

After worship, Judy took me to lunch so I could pepper her with questions. On the way out, some of the kids were starting to arrive. One little girl we had played with a ton back in November was just getting there and when she saw me she just stopped on the steps and stared. Judy asked if she remembered me and she just looked at me like she was seeing a mirage. Finally, she smiled and just threw her arms around my legs in a big hug. So sweet!!

(This day will be continued in another post, but in the meantime, if you are planning to come to Thailand, here's a great resource with pretty pictures!)

Arrival

My final few days in Los Angeles were a flurry of activity. I picked up my glasses and orthotics, sold my car, finalized my packing and did a myriad of other things. One of the best things I got to do, though, was attend a reading by one of my favorite authors: Jodi Picoult. I first read her book My Sister's Keeper (by far superior to the movie version) while I was traveling through Italy a few years ago. That reading experienced culminated with me a sobbing mess on a train from Rome to Pisa in a car filled with nuns attempted to comfort me in Italian. What a sight!


I have been wanting to attend a reading of hers for ages, but was either out of town when she came, or I heard about it after she had already come to LA. It was very lucky that I happened to be at the Grove Barnes and Noble when they had the sign up about her coming. Her new book, Sing You Home, comes with a CD of original music, so the signing was a pretty great deal: book, cd, reading, singing, signing. She is very personable and has really interesting stories about her research and experiences with her books.

My departure date finally arrived, both too soon and not soon enough. My flight was pretty full, but luckily for me, the lady at the check-in counter was super nice and actually checked a third bag for me as a shopping bag so I got it for free! The flight had a bunch of movies I wanted to see, including The King's Speech! I ended up watching movies for most of the flight and only sleeping a couple of hours. Thankfully, it was a really smooth flight, just like last time I came. I had a short layover in Seoul, then on to Chiang Mai in a nearly empty plane. I got to lay down and sleep the entire way. This one was a bit more bumpy, so I took some Dramamine and it knocked me out.




When I arrived in Thailand, my bags were some of the first off the plane, so I tossed them all on a cart, and headed out. My limited Thai was nice to have, since it got me through security without a spot search. My roommate, Jasmine, was just on the other side of the exit, and it turned out she was dropping off some missionaries heading back to LA for a few months, so she had the use of their truck, and we were able to pile all the bags in the back no problem.

We arrived at the house in no time, which is a great townhouse, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, huge kitchen, balconies, and back garden shared with other townhouses. We also have a cat. She is very vocal but nice, except when you try to climb the stairs and she attacks your feet! :)

Farewell Tour Part 2: California Coast

My final road trip in my beloved Element (now sold to a very worthy family) was with my Mom. She flew down to LA, we jumped in the car and headed north. (Yes, she did come from the north, but sometimes ya gotta go south to go north, like going to Disneyland via the 605N to the 5S). We stopped in Thousand Oaks to see my mom’s aunt and uncle and cousin, then continued up the beautiful 101 coast route to Carmel for dinner with my awesome producers from the India movie, Chris and Denise and their darling baby Huck. We even got to watch about half the India movie! That was cool for my mom to be able to see.

After dinner and the movie, we headed north some more to Aptos, where my mom’s cousin Judy recently bought a beach house with her husband. It’s such a cute place! We spent the next day at the beach, took the new puppy (labradoodles are adorable) to run on the sand and went up to Capitola for a walk on the boardwalk. I even got a new jacket out of the deal! We ended up in San Jose, where we had dinner at Judy’s house with all her siblings. That was a really fun and funny meal.

Next day, continued the farewells by having lunch at the epicenter of Apple with my high school friend, Holly. After nearly being plowed into by a lady trying very hard to run a red light (thankfully the brakes worked, we were about 3 inches from being crunched) mom and I hopped a train into the great city of San Francisco. We spent the afternoon walking through Chinatown. I’m never really sure what to do in Chinatowns. I always think “Yeah! Let’s go to Chinatown!” but then I get there and I’m like “Ok….now what?” Plus, it was raining.

So, we walked down to Fisherman’s Wharf, by which time the rain had cleared up and it turned into a beautiful day! We walked along the waterfront, then had a decadent ice cream sundae at Ghiradelli’s and finished up with some fresh fish pasta dinner on the Wharf before finally heading back to San Jose.

But wait, there’s more! The next morning was the tsunami. So, since my mom’s aunt and uncle were on a cruise ship on their way back from Hawaii that day, of course the phone started ringing at about 2am to tell us about the tsunami. When we got up in the morning, we watched boats being smashed to bits in the SF harbor and worried about the people in Japan and how many lives had been lost. Such a tragedy. We had planned to go to Hearst Castle on the way home, and decided to go ahead with the visit despite the west coast tsunami warnings. We get there fine, no road closures and were even there about 2 hours before our tour booking. Luckily (well, not for Japan, obviously), the tsunami warning had kept lots of people away so we got right on a tour bus and headed up to the big castle. Pretty amazing structure, if a bit haphazardly put together. I adore the swimming pools. And the horses. Our tour guide pointed out the Hearst family on horseback and said “You want to go riding? If Mr. Hearst were here, he’d insist you go!” I was like “YEAH! Saddle me up. Let’s go!” but she just kept walking. So unfair, dangling horseback riding in the gorgeous rolling hills right in front of me and then just walking away. How does she sleep at night? ;)

When we finally got back on the road, we were starving, but we held out for Pismo Beach and ate some clam chowder and fish and chips at Splash on the beach. Finally made it home about 9 that night and crashed hard.

The next day was my Mom’s birthday, so we went to a movie (Jane Eyre), dinner (Mario’s Peruvian Grill) and dessert (Sweet Lady Jane’s). It was a nice mellow final day with my mom, before she got on a plane and then I got on a plane.

My last week was just a lot of packing, cleaning, taking care of business and trying not to freak out about moving to the other side of the world.

Farewell Tour Part 1: Goodbye to Hollywood

Hello all you loyal readers and supporters! This is going to be my account of life as a volunteer teacher in Chiang Mai, Thailand over the next year. I will try to update as often as possible, so be sure to check back frequently! I'll be posting pics, updates, and random thoughts of life in a foreign country. Enjoy!

To begin the Thailand journey, I must first talk about my “farewell tour” of the U.S. Beginning in December, it was as if I was being told that the Hollywood chapter of my life was drawing to a close and I was being given the opportunity to say goodbye to all the people who began my  (less than) illustrious Hollywood career. These were the people I started with as a lowly production assistant, and one by one, I was able to work with them in my role as a script supervisor. It was really a cool way to get to tell people about the next chapter in my life while saying goodbye to my Hollywood one.

Then, in January, I went up to Washington to say goodbye to as many people as I could in person, see some babies, and beg for money. ;) (BTW, thanks to all who decided to support me in the end!) That was a great week! I got to have just enough snow, but not so much it inhibited my ability to get anywhere, and I got to spend some quality time with people I love.

I came back from Washington and got a job straight away, meaning I had enough money to make a last minute road trip to the Sundance Film Festival, which will likely be the last one I have any movies in. This year I had two short films and two feature films. Even better, I got my friend Tricia to come with me, thus having someone to hang out with on the road and someone to help split gas costs! Plus, my friend Sarah and her roomie Malina were gracious enough to let us crash on their new pull-out couch. We did not watch Saturday Night Live, however.

We drove all day Wednesday, hung out around Park City with my friend Julia on Thursday, and planned to try for tickets on Friday. This was the first year I’ve been to Sundance without working, so I had no idea how to actually go about getting tickets.

Well, in keeping with the roll I was on, we actually got tickets to both premiere screenings of my feature films, coming soon to a theater (probably not near you) this summer. On Friday night, we got to see The Future, starring and directed by Miranda July. I got one extra ticket from the producers, and a lady out front had extra tickets, so Sarah and Tricia got in too. After the show, we went to the opening night dinner (yay for free food) and got to go to the premiere night party as well! There, I ran into some friends from my other movie playing at the festival, Circumstance.  After a fun (but sober) evening, we drove back to Salt Lake City in a snowstorm. Fun times! Going about 25 miles an hour and not able to see the lines on the road reminded me of Washington winters.

The following day, Saturday, we got up at the crack of dawn to try to make it into Circumstance. Some of you may remember me doing a movie in Beirut, Lebanon about a year and a half ago, and this is it. I was really excited to see it because the cast and crew are scattered across the globe, so I will most likely not see them ever again. We were nervous about this one because it was in competition and was in a smaller venue, so it was going to be much harder to get in via the wait list line.

Well, we got our tickets, and headed up to a coffee shop on Main Street. Who should we run into but the director, Maryam Keshavarz, the DP and some of the actors! I told Maryam about our predicament and she said she could definitely get me in at least. Then, as we waited in the wait list line, Tricia overheard someone saying the likelihood of us getting in was slim, so I tried to call Maryam, but no luck. Suddenly, I saw her heading out the door, and just yelled to her. She was like “Oh, no! You don’t have a ticket yet?” and then ran over to someone she had just given a ticket to and got it back, saying “my script supervisor has to see the movie. Sorry!” and gave it to me. Now, here’s the best part. I get to the door, and because it was from the director’s pool of tickets, there’s a special sticker on it. So the lady at the door says to me, “Oh, you’re with the entourage? You can sit up there.” Ha! Entourage. I said thanks, but I was planning to sit with some friends who were not in the entourage. Luckily, both Julia and Tricia made it into the screening.

After the screening, I saw another friend of mine, the director Jamie Babbit, who basically taught me everything important about being a script supervisor. She directed the first feature I ever did, and she had also seen The Future the night before, so it really meant a lot for her to say that I did a really good job on both of them. She used to be a script supervisor, so she’d be the first to catch if there were screw-ups. (And for those of you who know about the head scarf, that was not my fault.)

After the movie was done, there was a good Q&A, I got to go say goodbye to all the actors, producers, etc. Sadly, we were unable to make it to the party because we had to hit the road for Tricia to get to work the next morning and it was snowing pretty heavily already.  Got back to LA about 1am Sunday morning. Such a fun, whirlwind road trip and it all worked out perfectly.