Is this village life for me?

I never intended to live this village life, sometimes feeling like I’m on a deserted island although surrounded by thousands of people. I’m the only white face in a sea of lovely Thai faces. The only white female in a cast of half a million. I’ve had to reform certain aspects of my character (I'll call it the speak whatever’s on my mind gene) in favour of acute listening skills to try and rapidly assimilate into my new environment. Trying to learn a new language that isn’t Latin based is quite the challenge that's for sure!

I like to think that I’ve fit in quite well but to say I stick out like a sore thumb is just slightly an understatement. Gone are the days that I’d like to slug someone for staring at me. Now I endure the endless streams of whoever sees me having a good gawk for seemingly endless minutes! In my first 6 months here, countless people, no doubt the entire population of my village and those surrounding, stopped in at our house just to have a look at the new phenomenon in town. Lots of squeezing and rubbing of my arms and face, followed by amazement that indeed, I do feel the same as them! I find it very amusing how older people take me. Most of them have never seen a Caucasian female in the flesh before (only on T.V.) and it’s like a need for them to touch me to see if I’m real and if my skin feels the same. Really young kids are very funny too, most think I’m a ghost (very serious business in Thailand!) and hide behind their mothers or the polar opposite of climbing all over me to get a closer look! Perhaps I should be grateful that I’m a such thing of wonder that deserves such undivided attention by the masses...hmm perhaps not!

So, is this village life for me? Absolutely, without doubt, yes it is. Not a day goes by that I don't have a good laugh about something. Life is so completely different from the predictable drudgery and stress of my previous life in Oz. There are many times I feel lonely or sad about not having friends or family close by, but on the balance of existence, the scales always tip in favour of life in Thailand (can you tell I'm a Libran??). There are many reasons for writing my thoughts about my life here... mostly because there are no other people for me to speak English to, so I may as well have a good yak to the computer! Also, there are so few foreign women that settle down in Thailand compared to the thousands of men who do, that it might give some insight into how one comes to live here.

Laugh for today - my uncle-in-law's name is.....Uncle Fat! I love Thai translation...goes along with the many people called Chicken, Frog, Pig and Love, although Uncle Fat has to be my favourite (especially coz he's so thin!!)