Wednesday, May 26

First, an update on the Immigration stuff: it seems for the moment like everything is going to be ok.

On Tuesday morning, I went to Immigration with an HR person from my school (who I only know as Ms. Rundon) and applied for the Covid extension. They didn’t even ask for the TM30 form that I don't have—and that Ms. Rundon had thought would be a requirement (a situation which had contributed to my stress and the passive aggressive texts from our current landlord, please see Monday's post—or, you know, don't bother reading through that anxiety rant). 

I didn’t actually get the visa extension yet, though. I paid the 1900 baht and I got a stamp in my passport saying my extension is under consideration—I have to return to Immigration June 4 to get the stamp. I’m not really sure why, and Ms. Rundon couldn’t really explain—maybe it’s because it’s too early for me to get the extension? I don’t know—it’s almost easier to not question the convoluted nature of the Immigration process. And Ms. Rundon will accompany me...so, I can look forward to another trip to Immigration!

It's always such an ordeal. On Tuesday, I left the house at 6:45am, arrived at my school at 8:00am, arrived at Immigration at 9:00am (it's located outside of central Bangkok), got done with my visa stuff by 10:00am, and then had to wait around until 12:00pm until all the other teachers were done and ready to leave. By the time I got back to the school, it was nearly 1:00pm and I was starving. Thankfully, they sent me to the canteen to get one of the last available boxed lunches. Still, it could've gone much worse—like, you know, if they'd asked for that seemingly-important form.

Roman and I also ran into Evan, our current landlord, on the street. The first thing he said was, This was your fault. He said it in a joking way, but still—he's taking care to deflect any possible blame. The thing is, the fact that neither Evan nor Roman & I filed the TM30 form isn’t causing us any trouble (or, you know, huge fines) at the moment, so it’s not that big of a deal. I find it annoying that Evan refuses to take any responsibility in the miscommunication between us, but that doesn’t really matter, in the end. In four days we’ll move and we won’t ever have to deal with him again. I guess it's just a little disappointing because I always liked Evan?

But I'm continuing to trudge through the steps required to get a work visa. I opened a Thai bank account, and I'll go to the police station this week to get a background check. Plair will file the TM30 on Sunday and we'll get copies, and once I've been to the US Embassy to get my affidavit, I can go to the doctor, who will do a check up (maybe?) and sign a form confirming I am in reasonably good health. Whew.

On Wednesday morning, I went to the MBK mall with Kathryn, the American woman in her 60s who has MS. I'd been to MBK once before and thought of it as a kind of terrible place—it's like six stories high with a confusing layout, and is full of small inexpensive shops with workers pushing hard to try and get you to come inside. And I don't usually find shopping missions to be very fun. But...I wanted to be be open to where different experiences may take me, and I enjoy hanging out with Kathryn, and I also know that it's easier for her to go out if she has someone with her, so I also considered it partly a way of being of service.

And it wasn't bad! Kathryn knew what she wanted (some phone chargers, a couple USB ports, and a few gifts for her grandchildren) and was very decisive with her purchases. She also generously overpaid the taxi drivers and everyone at the shops, which was cool to see—all these businesses have of course been hit hard by the pandemic. It's just kind of interesting riding along with someone else and seeing how they do things. And Kathryn said it was a big help to her to have me there, so overall I was glad to do it.

Also, Kathryn's apartment always smells lovely—there's a warm floral scent that isn't at all fakey—and today she gave me an extra candle-powered essential oil burner and I am thrilled.

Let's look at some photos!

Roman gazing at me over our duck soup.

Street cat gazing at me from beneath our duck soup.

Wing bean salad for dinner—the carts off Suan Phlu reopened in time for us to visit before leaving the neighborhood.

Lunch time at Roman's school, and some of his various lunches.

And, hmmm, should we talk about my lunch on Wednesday? Kathryn and I parted ways around 1pm and I was excited to just have whatever I felt like for lunch...which I decided to pick up at 7-Eleven. Which I know sounds garbagey, but they actually have some decent...well, you'll see.

They often sell out of the little vacuum-sealed packets of cooked Japanese sweet potatoes, but I snagged the last one. I also picked up a little bag of fermented rice—I've been eying this product for like a week now. I couldn't find much about Thai fermented rice online, but I like fermented foods and it's good for your health and all that, right?

I made myself a little plate.

And then I decided to try the fermented rice before I sat down at the table...I put a spoonful in my mouth and spat it back into the bowl. It was sweet and tasted distinctly rotten to my palate. I instantly threw it all away. I don't know how that product is usually consumed, but that would take some getting used to.

I also filled out a bunch of forms for the Police background check, and just look at these awkward questions (and my awkward answers).

They want to know race (which I wrote in as white, since I thought Native American/White would just confuse things) and they have a question for "skin," to which I wrote "light" because that's where I fall in makeup categories? They also ask for "shape," which I felt particularly flummoxed by. I was going to write "slender" but I was afraid the guy at Immigration might look at me and be like, Well, actually (I've heard stories, OK!?). And I know writing my own body type as "normal" is ableist and fatphobic and probably some other things too.

Finally, after asking about tattoos, scars, and deformities, they ask for "character to notice" which I think means, like, other distinctive characteristics, but I like the ambiguity of character to notice. Please keep an eye on my neighbor down the street, he's a character to notice.

Maybe I shouldn't have shared this? Maybe my answers prove me a coward? A light-skinned, "normal" bodied, white coward with black tattoos and no character to notice at all.

More soon!