well, once again thai husband has quit job- jai ron ron maak maak!!! it was a good job near home, but he had let them know he was leaving in a month to new different job (one he had originally want him back) so they wanted his recipes for sauces for noodles adn such. he refused to give them the recipes so the manager went ballistic and anon who cant deal with authority figures, walked out. i thought he could have given them any old recipe after all there are millions on the net, but he stands on his principles... so no pay check (forfeits by walking out w/o notice)...

and new job doesnt start for four or five months due to beurocratic difficultuies.

and we just bought a car which was a nightmare : i had a male friend of ours do it for us since i know next to nothing about cars and used cars in israel... but he was also naive, gave the money in cash before getting the names transferred, the guy refuses to to the name transfer cause its actually on the name of an arab worker of seller guy- in hebrew we say 'combina' that is-- pulling a stunt-- fortunatley a police friend of our friend was witness so now in police hands although normally, i was told, neither police nor vehicle affairs office can do anything about this and it happens all the time.... wonder if this happens in britain or the states? anyway, worse then that, is the car obviously stopped running so had to replace lots of stuff... now waiting for name transfer AND STILL have to do repairs. so rapidly dwindling funds.

and anon was p.o'd cause i bought the car although he had been bugging me for months....

not to mention we have to start paying car insurance or we cant drive it. and anon doesnt have a liscense to drive, neither thai nor international.

so......... we decided that he would go home for two months R&R-- take care of chanots from mom, scout out land, get back loan we gave sis (yea right! although this sister is actually very sweet and good with the funds) do his teeth, and do drivers liscense.

and, i want to join him for three weeks cause i may start studying (again) in october, and i cant go to thailand in september as son goes in to army and the first months are critical that parents are around for moral support (and doing laundry and sending food) and anon will be starting work then and they wont give more then week vacation.

he is going thru super culture shock (doesn like rules/regulations/beuracrocay-- basically, is used to farming in issaan where no rules apply -- u can get up do what u want when u want-- also, he complains that israelis are liars about when they do things - they string u along with false promises, (true unfortunately) , lie about things (middle east style) , change their minds often (middle east style) yell too much (yep), want individual big thinkers but team players (not a thai style of work-- buat hua is what he says about work this way) ) ) fortunately we have some cash from his washing machine repair mini business--

anyway, so he will go soon after passover (i want him here for the holiday ) and come home 40-60 days later; i will join him for 15-21 days. i will have zero money. i'll have to live on issaan eels dried fish and eggs along with his parents since we will have no spending money...... this all means i wont get that new computer i thought of getting; definately if the tv dies we will have to make do with second hand tv again.....

we also hae an entry visa for him already; and he has to go in and come back before november for his interview again....

so back to zero in bank account. fortunately will not starve to death on kibbutz, but will be back in debt, again!!.

so i am aiming at some time in may.

and we still have one catfish (plaa deuk) in a plastic tub in the salon waiting to become dinner...

so if there is anyone at all that will be with in hour of soeng saeng korat area, we can meet up. if not, it may be bangkok on the day before my flight back or something like that. defiantely have no funds for travelling anywhere at all.

just an update, and also, for those with thai husbands that are newish .... this can also be your scenario... hope the two month visit will get the homesickness and 'thai' vx. israeli life style back in perspective.

bina

israel

It never rains but it pours, eh bina?

I wish I were going to be here in May to see you but am headed back to see the family at the end of April.

Bina

all the best, hope things work out for the better. Its hard now, but it will get better. I truly believe that

still struggling with a few things myself...but after a series of bad luck, I had some very minor minor good luck, but it made me feel really really good

(won 75 SMS on my phone recharge, although they were only valid for 7 days ) prior to that: my laptop broke, the camera broke. and a couple of other big things...but lets not get into that now

unfortunately, i wont be in bkk nor korat around that time. enjoy your time, and hope anon gets his fill of thai ways and ready to tackle the israeli ways again

thanx, and got pm from someone offerring to help me in bangkok which i will most definately take her up on... i need one nights sleep (normal) after flying before i can travel thai issaan style (back of pickup) to korat... i suffer from headaches and ear things after flying. will most probably be flying air uzbakistan!!! scary but has israeli security ok, so will do it. anon will be flying out also thru uzbakistan, hopefully he will manage to make his flight exchange. anyone know if thais need a interval visa when going thu uzbakistan to connecting flight?? israelis dont, but he has thai passport and israeli id card. its just the cheapest flight . he wanted songkran but the prices fell on passover also so were in the 1000$ dollar range!!!! so moved him to after the holidays... i will go out to him in the middle of his time there, come back before him, since it starts our tourist season in june...

mig, u dont say 5555 same same: digital camera 7 yrs old, the cards died and cant get new ones for that model... video cam is dying, computer on last legs (also ancient, so if u dont see me on board here, know that the computer gasped its last... due to thailand, will not be buying new computer til after summer and anon starts working again...

) argg!!

oh well, could definately be worse... would have liked to meet up with some of u, but i foresee time scheduling problems, knowing that issaan time goes three times slower to do anything... will just hang out and sleep and whatever...

tell me again what the weather is in may, korat? ... since i dont have to do anything official, i can literally bring almost nothing with me (just summer clothes) as am sending the gifts stuff with anon... travel lite...

bina

israel

bina, I always enjoy reading your postings, but I must admit a p;icture is forming in my mind and I am not flaming you. It does appear as if your hubby is not the most stable or helpful man in the world. All the pressures seem to fall on your shoulders and thats not right

sadly we dont plan on being over till End of November & wont be in Khon Kaen till end of the first week in December so will miss you by a few weeks.

wont discuss the details, former hubby was stable as can be but wouldnt trade back to that style ever... prefer jai ron and slightly problematic for the plus sides (i am the jai yen stable side so we balance ying/yang)... no kids so problmes are dealable with... and culture shock for sure (remembering how i was when i first came to israel, i must of made my then husband miserable the first few years.... for anon to go to thailand , come back, it will place things in perspective-- hard for issaan no education farmer to get used to kibbutz style living-- even israeli dont all take to it, the majority dont , and israelis are not an easy people to deal with at the best of times: hard headed, rough, loud, aggressive, looking for the combina (finagleing), large hearted but very ethnocentric and exenophobic... plus language problems etc...

if u read all the expat complaints about thailand, essentially that is anon, reversed... all the same sort of complaints and problems some due to culture some to lack of language, some to personality, and /or circumstances that occurred in the past... furtunately we dont have small children, we have good friends here, and things will improve-- its a learning curve

bina

israel

All the pressures seem to fall on your shoulders and thats not right

*sings* "sometimes it'd hard to be a woman"

))

anybody want to clue me in on weather and what to expect in may in a muu baan in korat?? and i am talking real, falling apart wooden shack in a tree type living situation since we are on the lack of funds scheme--so no hotels and no 'renting' the house of the cousin with the french falang husband living overseas-- we did that last time but had to buy gas, water, etc adn frankly, other then that, the mattress was covered in thick plastic and crunched everytime i turned over and im used to sleeping on a futon on the floor, ....

ok, no internet, hong naam out in the far yard, wooden slatted floor with a buffalo skull and a monkey skull on the wall of what is /was more or less anon's sleeping area... mosquito nets we have; but need to know sort of in terms of weather wise since his 'house' is more outdoor then indoor... im a happy camper and have no problem with bugs etal, just dont like to be cold/ will obviously be hot and humid but with or w/o rain?

what i noticed was a sort of problem was that clothes didnt dry out fast enough after washing... the air being more humid... and ill have to go back to wearing a bra again (instead of wearing a speghetti string undershirt like many of us do here even if we wear bras)... and my shampoos for hard water dont work in thailand....

adn i will of course have to bring my own nescafe powdered coffee-- thank god two of our good friends are back in thailand but lived in israel for five years and are used to my israeli quirks-- one of them being at least four cups a day of nescafe with milk although i can make do with coffeemate; and the occasional cakes/cookies for snacks. guess ill bring my own petite buerre cookies and my own peanutbutter for taming the craving. other then that, we will eat what anon's father hunts and fishes (or doesnt, in which case we will have to be the providers)

this will be a real vacation with lots of sleeping and laying around doing nothing since no money for very much traveling and sightseeing. maybe we will choose one place to go and see and that will be it... but knowing me, im not very good at laying around and sleeping so dont know what i will do... sure that anon will go fishing, this will be different than last time when we were running around being tourists and getting married...

bina

israel

You might try posting in the isaan forum bina, but down here at least, May is hot hot hot. and more hot.

bina i wonder why you don't just stay in israel and work and just let anon come back for his visit by himself? sounds like not much fun for you!

Well Bina, May in our part of Isaan is really, really stinking hot and sweaty. Bleaugh. The yucky kind of hot where I just don't want to go there. No rain normally, but this year seems weird, these last couple of weeks we have already had a couple of random days with rain here in Bangkok.

Hubby is about to go up north for 3 weeks for temple festival (new roof, any excuse to party and eat free food) and will stay on his Dad's farm. It's pretty much as you describe, a rundown country shack, no electric but one solar panel (thank you Mr Thaksin) which runs a light and a radio and maybe a fan (if you turn off the light and radio first) and little coal burner for boiling the kettle. Other than that it's a few cows, fishing, tending the fruit trees and riding the ancient creaking bicycle to Mum's house in the village for major meals. Or boiling the kettle and cooking instant noodles and instant coffee and whatever can be picked or caught on the farm.

For me it takes at least 2 days to slow down into the Isaan groove. Even then I'm not very good at it. Neighbours think I'm hilarious, often ambling aimlessly along country roads "just looking". Hubby tolerates my walking habit and occasionally shuffles along too. Along with my sun hat and mosquito repellent I always take a ton of novels and Suduko puzzles printed from the net. Oh and a few hidden tubes of Pringles to be consumed when hubby is not around. When he goes off to do 'boy stuff' tramping through the bushes and doesn't need me around, I retire to the hammock. it might be hot and sticky but I always come away well refreshed.

girlx, actually it sounds great... i could spend hours watching cattle graze and chewing their cuds or tending chickens so no probs, also no prob with the outdoor indoor parts . but it does take me time to wind down i m so used to working physical work that i feel aimless if i do not do anything all day... and i do move more slowly in the heat... but the no coffee thing is a problem ... as well as munching on cakes and stuff although when very hot i dont eat. i prefer fruits. im used to dry heat not humid and also our winter for some bizarre reason has only now really kicked in super late, usually this month is already practically summer... we are in a terrible drought here/ real lack of water/lack of animal fodder etc...

i think it is good to see a different season (been twice now in the m ore or less 'cool' season each time), and different purpose too. i suppose - although i know its not really 'allowed' - i could mosy on over to the school and sit and 'converse' in english with the school kids a few times, and tell them about israel (i speak thai enough to do that sort of thing).. sort of show and tell, as i always bring dvds with pics/slides/video of stuff around the kibbutz/my kids/my work... it will probably be expected of me by the principal of the school as we met last visit (he was anons teacher).

pringles sounds good/ plus also anon's friends that returned recently to thailand are married so i will probably be foisted upon their wives to hang out with, meaniing shelling maakaam or whatever. i'm definately farm girl material so have no probs with that... books- i eat books so not worth bringing one, ill jst finish it in a day; no internet (well, cell phone has although its super expensive, it can be done, but might just shut the thing off after all, i no longer have to keep it on even on vacation since no goats or livestock with problems. as a cook, we are four of us that all interchange eachother so no emergency problems with quiches or lasagnes. 555

i dont do seduko or crosswords so i suppose ill just watch the animals chew their hay. at least this time round i will feel ok just ambling around and being less shy-- or spend large amounts of time laying in a hammock doing nothing at all . havent done that in a long long time.

now i have to start thinking of the organizational part here: the 15 yr old goes to fathers house but will still come home to deal with dogs and make a mess here ... and still need second dog sitter as back up... and chicken feeder (have two layers); well, already thinking about travelling... getting excited.

bina

israel

wont discuss the details, former hubby was stable as can be but wouldnt trade back to that style ever... prefer jai ron and slightly problematic for the plus sides (i am the jai yen stable side so we balance ying/yang)... no kids so problmes are dealable with... and culture shock for sure (remembering how i was when i first came to israel,

I'm not being nosy Bina (well I am ) but where did you live before you moved to Israel?

im american jewish from maryland- went to quaker friends high school, studied at hampshire college amherst studied anthropology/sociology/cross cultural studies; came to israel in '83-4 (first lebanon war); married israeli kibbutznik, had three kids, divorced, still on kibbutz married to thai foreign worker; with some interesting intervals in between ))

worked in kibbutz factory on production line as well as quality control/safety hygiene manager at different times; kibbutz dining room/kitchen cook; manager of petting zoo; vet assistant for a year off the kibbutz-money goes to the kibbutz; now dairy cook in our hotel i was studying this year to be medical secretary but the school owner closed all branches and ran off with the money so back to 0 again... therefor using time now to take vacation, next year will try to study again...

there you got my useless resume - well, useless for working off kibbutz, no one here cares about life experience. if u dont have certs, and u are over 40 and a woman with kids, forget it. no real jobs. so stayed on kibbutz, at least my friends are here, i have a large (too large now) apartment, free health, education/welfare for my kids-- but no liquid assets i.e. no money. i wont starve to death as of now, but if the kibbutz falls apart like so many others, that may become the case, in which case i will start cleaning houses or something. we still cant work for money here; i am required to work 46 weekly hours (the required amount for a woman my age and child status) or 60+ hours (in high season for instance) and i get the same money, depending on the age of my kids. therefore: 1 soldier, i get no money for her; now for the soon to be in army boy, small allowance; for the 15 yr old a slightly larger allowance. but the amount we get is not in real time amounts, like in the real world, even though we still shop and eat and buy in the real world which means that many of us are in debt to the kibbutz. at the moment that isnt a problem but could be in the future. there are also parasitic types that dont really work/pull their weight, not do to illness or other problem but cause they are just parasites and they get the same terms i get.

well, thats real kibbutz life in a very small nutshell...

bina

israel

edit: number problems

Isn't Hampshire College also a Friends college? Interesting choice for a nice Jewish girl from Maryland

My best friend in jr high school was (and still is) a Friend, got me politically aware and active at a very early age. Great group of people

Hate to say this, Bine but it is going to be hot as hel_l. And yes, a humid heat.

Lots of baths, prickly heat powder (?name? St Lukes or something liek that -- the metholated one!). If it really gets to you, buy a block of ice, stick it in front of the nearest fan and yourself right behind it.

Thanks for the CV Bina. Sounds like you've had a very interesting life.

We used to live next door to a Quaker family. The bloke and his wife were really nice but their teenage son was a bit of a monster. The old man picked him up and threw him through the front room window one Christmas Eve

Thanks for the CV Bina. Sounds like you've had a very interesting life.

We used to live next door to a Quaker family. The bloke and his wife were really nice but their teenage son was a bit of a monster. The old man picked him up and threw him through the front room window one Christmas Eve

That doesn't sound very pacifist! But then, teenagers can be irksome!

erlam or something like that is the quaker friends college;

i hate fans but might grow to like them with humid heat; i hate a/c, i hate things blowing on me actually... and here, i almost never sweat, but actually did sweat in thailand... and i drink enough; just i have little body fat and not a good internal thermostat for heat/cold regulation.. rather like a snake; so will actually enjoy the splash showers....

iv'e got permission to go for three weeks as its in between seasons for the hotel; variuos and sundry students that are part time will do extra shifts as they get paid for it... so will actually have to start preparing now (find clothes since i rarely use real summer stuff i always went covered rather like the religious women, but with pants -- sunrays and keeping hot dry winds from dehydrating me)... and collecting stuff for gifts , that sort of thing...

still actually wondering if i should get a rabies shot since i always end up handling animals; or do it in thailand cause here it costs (even when i was working at the vets i couldnt get it except privately)... will investigate.

other then that-- am prepared for hanging around some major lake in korat near anon's house, while the guys fish...

)

bina

israel

My grandma is a quaker. Friends rock!