Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Crazy Farang in the Coffee Shop

crazy farang in the coffee shop (#144)


Farang is the general all purpose Thai phrase for "white person." To which, with my extremely pale skin, I definitely fit the bill. It also definitely draws stares from time to time. Especially when I'm furiously pedaling down Talad Mai on a hand me down pedal bike. These days, Brian is working again, entrapped at school from 7:30 to 4:30, this leaves me with most of the day to do as I see fit. Since he has no Internet at home, there's only so long I can go before my obsessive need to stare at my laptop gets the better of me. This is sort of like my need to mix butter, sugar and flour and bake but stronger and more intense. To which for several hours a day, I go by my nickname - crazy farang in the coffee shop. Still the coffee shops aren't busy, and I order a steady litany of drinks and foods. So hopefully I'm ingratiating myself. And hopefully I'm mumbling "thank you" in Thai correctly.

Something I've learned, if you find yourself at a coffee shop in Surat Thani and they don't respond to a smile, pointing at your laptop and saying "password", try some combination of 1122334455, it's very popular. Also much can be achieved through glancing at things, like fans in an un-air-conditioned coffee shop and smiling. When in doubt, nod at

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