East Meets West: In Thailand With Vietnam Vets
"I'll be in the third jungle, second rice paddy to the left." Bob told his ex-wife when he left Michigan for Thailand last year. "And that's pretty close to where I ended up," the Vietnam Vet tells me as we drive through northeastern Thailand in his king cab Toyota...
Bangkok Big — Last Long Time
The first thing that struck me about the city of Bangkok, besides the fact that it was hot and steamy, was its exploding skyline. In Thailand, architecture is considered the highest form of art, and it shows. I was no longer in a troubled Nepal village, but a...
The Writing Women Of Bangkok
Why do farang females gather in a dimly lit basement of the Old Dutch Pub in Soi Cowboy, an area renowned for its girly bars? And what do the women - teachers, musicians, sales reps, humanitarian aid workers, students, television producers, and business owners from...
Torn Between Two Lovers
San Francisco The gray mist rises. San Francisco's colors pop out again in the spotlight of a winter solstice sun. I slip into a crimson batik blouse and my white baggy pants from India to venture out of my Russian Hill cave for a bite to eat. Strolling across...
Let It Go And Let Bali
In the three months since I arrived in Bali, the rice shoots have grown two feet. Made's youngest child, Lode, has sprouted too - from an infant at her mother's breast to a young girl chasing through the paddies after her five year old brother, Gedde. "Roh-bean! "...
Embraced By Bali
"Prepare your seatbacks and trays for landing." I hear, and suddenly I am no longer standing inside a Gauguin painting, but seated in an Asiana plane, which is preparing to land in Bangkok. The dream, so vivid! Was it a promise of what was in store for me in Asia? It...
Falling In Love With Kathmandu
I am in the garden one morning reading the Himalayan Times surrounded by flowers and vines just outside of the crimson doors which lead into the house which has been my home for the past four months. The doors are flung open to receive another day. The flowers in our...
Passion Play In Paris
Paris, the Grand Damme of expatriate havens, has held a place at the top of my shopping list for almost three years. I began my search for a country south of the border, thinking that the ideal expat escape for me would be a remote Spanish-speaking village. Two...
Female, In Search Of A Country
In Placencia, Belize, unlike Paris, I settled in for a nap every afternoon in an audio space saturated with the melodious songs of birds. On the other hand, the sand flies in my bed kept me twitching and slapping, preventing me from napping as assuredly as the...
Paradise Found?
The Expatriate Scene In Xcalak, Mexico It's two days before Christmas, but in this thatched-roof restaurant on the southern tip of the Yucatan there are no Christmas trees, no blinking lights, no carolers. Just the sound of the low tide, the salty scent of the...
