two Thailand weeks

Hello!

I've been in Thailand for two weeks, and am currently writing from a coffee shop in
the airport in Bangkok, where bustling activity hides any clue that mayhem prevails
in some parts of this city, which I've not yet explored.

My two weeks in Thailand have been primarily in Chiang Mai, primarily at Sunshine
Massage School (9am to 4pm) and Imm Eco (evening to 8am).

== Sunshine Massage School ==

Sunshine Massage School seems to be the best customer service and value for money
for Thai massage taught in English.  The actual building greets students with clean
white walls and solid wood (teak?) floors and stairs.  The place just feels solid
and well grounded, physically and energetically.

During school hours, Max (founder/owner/manager) can usually be found in the front
office/reception, ready to answer any questions, accept new registrations or
whatever else he does.

Our teacher for the past two weeks was Ohm, with teacher-in-training Air there for
the first week.  I thought the teachers' names (Ohm, Air, Dot) were all nicknames
they took while working at the school, but as I understand now, all Thai children
are given such nicknames by their parents!  When Air went to the village to
complete her training, we were supported by Dah and Mint.

Our class started with 6 students, and will end tomorrow with 4, though I don't
think dropouts are particularly common.  We six, me, Christine, Cyrille, Sylvia,
Anne Gaelle, and Shara, all went from kinda quiet before starting on the first day
to almost having dinner together last night (more on that in a second).

Christine and I shared some similarities: both from the US, both lived in adjacent
rooms in Imm Eco, both found the school to be perfect ("all that I expected, and I
had high expectations,"), *and* both were raised UU!!  (http://www.uua.org for
FAQ.)  She's been living/schooling in New York State at the Omega School, which
sounds realllly cool.  I may research that a bit more at some point.

Shara and I hung out quite a lot, though we have not-so-much in common 'cept that
we're both enjoying a nice vacationy type time in Thailand.  She likes shopping,
partying and convenience.  I appreciate that she laughs and smiles a lot, and
enjoys living in the Now.  She's my favorite massage partner, partly because of
nice physical proportions, and partially because she's got a lump on her lower
spine from an injury from when she was 12.  I like being able to switch to reiki
mode in the middle of our sessions.

Cyrille, Silvia, and Anne Gaelle are all from Europe, and often speak French
together, and English with others in the class.  Anne Gaelle is tall and elegant. 
Silvia is shorter, cool, and well-tattooed.  Cyrille is strong, intelligent and
peaceful, though likes to play-fight with Ohm.  Ohm covers a solid tiger core with
a lovely smile and gentle personality.

Today (now yesterday as I send this from Hong Kong) I took the "test" for my first
two week beginner course in Thai massage.  The test was really just a practice, but
without referring to any person, book or notes.

== Imm Eco ==

Originally built as a solid homestead 70 years ago (which survived WW2 unlike most
other structures in the area), Imm Eco boasts an on-site restaurant, lovely pool,
and maybe more secrets I've not yet seen, all set in a lovely garden of a great
variety of trees, all labeled in English, Thai and their scientific names.  Paying
guests get to use the pool, slurp free wifi access, and chow breakfast buffet each
morning.

My room, for only 300 baht per night (900 yen ($9 (http://xe.com))), features an
air conditioner I don't use (it's only been 41 degrees max), two beds (one for me
and one for my shtuffs), direct view of the front door of its building, and an
auspicious room number: 1111.  (Christine was in 1110 until last night (more on
that in a second).)

The Imm Eco staff has been great.  Just last night I got a ride on the back of one
of the security motorcycles with Dom (?) driving.  I got water for both him and his
security guard partner (Sbas?)  for their friendly service.  Tik is the woman at
the front desk who has been most helpful to me, including telling me I could get a
30% discount (from 500 baht per night to 300 baht per night) for paying a month in
advance, calling the taxi driver to return U-Cow when I lost him, and currently
holding my keys plus 16,500 Thai baht that I didn't think I'd need in Hong Kong.

== Protests ==

My summary, not knowing much: The Red Shirts (terrorists / revolutionaries / poor
masses) have orchestrated protests against the Yellow Shirts (thieves /
fraudulently "elected" / wealthy elite).  Certainly one can get more details, but
which news sources can one trust?

The current conditions are probably on world news, at least a little bit: tires /
banks / government buildings aflame, unarmed/slightly armed protesters facing
well-armed soldiers, and other stuff.

Christine chose to leave Chiang Mai after getting a request from the US embassy
that all Americans leave Chiang Mai.  She attended 6 of 10 days of class.

We remaining class members planned to go to dinner last night, but a curfew was
enacted at 8pm, with some of the aforementioned tires burned near where we were
planning to meet.  Cyrille and Ohm chose not to come at all.  Shara and I, unaware,
came anyway (but were 15 minutes late and found no one at the restaurant (which was
closed anyway due to the curfew)).  Silvia and Anne Gaelle, unaware, came anyway
(but were 30 minutes late and found no one at the restaurant (which was closed
anyway), because Shara and I went down the street a bit to get some yummy Thai food
from a street vendor.

After dinner, I went back to Imm Eco, bought Gatorade for myself and water for the
security guys, then was chatting with the front desk staff (Tik and someone else)
about the current state of bridge closures and such when Christine came up, "HI!"
She hadn't been in class for three days, but had been organizing visas and tickets
to stay in Thailand but leave Chiang Mai.  She left this morning for Koh Samui.

== Honkers ==

Right *now* (yesterday as I send this from HK) I'm in Bangkok airport, spending the
night here before flying to Hong Kong in the morning (instead of attending class on
the actual test day).  Soness, my housemate in Japan, bought me a VIP ticket to
Chris Howard's "Breakthrough to Success" weekend training!  This will be a totally
new experience for me, so I'm not sure really what to expect.

Hopefully supa fun and positively transformational!

   Love and Light
    - Rob!