dec. 13, 05

Hi Friend Aaron,

Yeah, I never liked the Snowflake Festival very much; It baffles me why I went to so many.

I'm sorry to hear about Valerie's father. I guess you can thank him for a little warmer scenery though.

Let me tell you a little about Thailand. It is a jungle region and even though the landscape has been changed by human hands, there still remains that harshness and abundance of animal and plant life. For instance, insects(and the geckos that eat them) are everywhere. The other day, I looked over a fence at a field of weeds and naturally looked away, uninterested. But something made me look back and everywhere wandering around this field were butterflies of happy yellow, rich brown, mountain-peak purple, etc.

As far as culture goes, Thailand appears to me to be a nation at a crossroads. On the one hand, commercialism has had a major influence, particularly on the young. It's taken an even uglier form here than in America; For instance, television is even more mind-rotting and the advertising even more shameless. And this is not a privilleged capitalism, as in America; Poverty is very common here.

On the other hand, the traditional culture of Thailand is alive and kicking in Phetchaburi, where I live. This means that there is a social hierarchy and courtesies that are strongly enforced. An upside of this is that the service you get even at an average restaurant is superior to that at a posh American restaurant. The waiters have no psychological block to seeing themselves as servants.

But this isn't really the thing I wanted to share with you. You see, there's a kindness, a hopefulness, and a humanity in Thai culture that it would do your heart good to see. The minds of the people are largely free from the deceptive constructs that imprison our society. At any rate, many people have treated me with true human fraternity.

But this isn't so different from in the states. I've been blessed to know many men, women, and children in who the great life force shines. In my life, you've stood prominently among these.

take care,

blue falang