People of the Journey

I began my journey from Salt Lake City to a small town in Thailand early in the morning Thursday September 3. Everyone I talked to about the journey said I was so brave for going alone. But I was not alone, there were tons of people around me I just needed to meet them.

I first met a girl from Japan who was going home after a stay visiting her previous host family in Chicago. She was very nice and we had a good talk. I would have liked to talk more to her, unfortunately she was flying to Japan, and I still had many hours to wait before I could board my plane to Bangkok. 

The next people I met were a couple going to the Philippines. I met them in the LA airport, waiting like I was for the flight out. They were a very friendly and interesting couple. They got an opportunity to do World War II historical tours and research in the Philippines
on the same island where his father had been during WWII. You can read more about their adventures here. We ended up in China together before we parted ways. 

Also in the LA airport while I was waiting in line at Panda Express to get a bite to eat, there was a Chinese guy waiting behind me. Out of the blue he showed me something he had written and asked me, "have you heard of this university?" To my surprise it was Brigham Young University! I was like what? I was not wearing any gear or anything, so it was kind of random. I told him that I had gone to that university! He then asked if it was a good university. I actually looked again to make sure it really was what I thought, I then noticed the "Idaho" written underneath. He was actually talking about BYU-Idaho. Still cool, but not as cool. It turns out he is going to go there this coming year. So that was random, and cool.

While I was on my 12-hour stereo-typically Asian flight to China, what should happen, but I get talking to the girl in the seat in front of me and guess what? She doesn't speak English, or Chinese, however she did speak Spanish! I wish I had talked to her sooner so I could have helped her out with the flight where everything was either in Chinese or English. It must have been a difficult start to what I am sure will be a difficult trip, but major kudos to her for going to a foreign country to learn Chinese. She is from Mexico. 

Well while I had been talking to this girl in Spanish, two other older ladies I guess had overheard me, and started talking to me in Spanish. They both were from LA, but of Latino heritage, so we talked a little. who knew there were so many Spanish-speaking people flying to China?

On the way off the plane I ran into a guy I had seen in the LA airport with his whole family who were apparently sending him off. I was curious what his story was, so I asked him. Turns out he is a 17 year old kid who wanted some adventure in his life, so he decided he is going to backpack through Thailand, alone. Now that kid is ballsy, 17 and going to a foreign country alone with no set plans. He had a hostel booked for his first night in Bangkok, then after that it was all up in the air. Below is a picture of one of the coolest 17-year-old people I have ever met. 

Dunkin, the coolest 17 year old backpacker I have ever met. 

I spent my time in China with my friend Dunkin, but we had to part ways as he had a later flight to Bangkok. I get on the airplane and by the by start talking to the couple sitting next to me. And guess what? They are four-time world ballroom dance champions! His name is Bjorn. They are from Denmark. It was funny, I ask them where they are from, they say Denmark, and I am like, oh that is supposedly one of the happiest places in the world, then I ask them what they are doing in Bangkok, they say they are going to a Ballroom dance competition. I tell them I have been in a few Ballroom dance competitions, that it is a pretty big deal at the University I went to. Turns out they of course know all about BYU and its dance program, and even were good friends with a couple from Utah who had come over to Denmark for six months to be trained by them. And I am like, well if you are going to Thailand to dance, you must be pretty good. Bjorn replies, "We were fortunate enough to win the World Dance Competition, four times." Anyways, below is his picture (his partner was just waking up, so I don't think she wanted to be in the picture. And if you are curious they competed in the 10 point or something like that where it includes both standard (waltz, foxtrot, etc) as well as Latin (samba, cha cha, etc.) dances. 

The 4-time world Ballroom dance champion!

Finally I am in Bangkok, and I enjoy the day seeing the city a little (as much as you can with two suitcases). In Bangkok just before boarding I meet a lady who needs to use a phone, I don't have one. But we get to talking. She has a beautiful accent, and as it turns out is from New Zealand. I tell her how much I love Lord of the Rings and how it just must be beautiful there. She says it is. She has a small farm and it is just outside of where the "shire" is. I am like, I need to visit! She says I do as well and even gave me her contact info so I can go visit her in New Zealand. Yay! next trip. Anyways she is going to Chiang Mai to get some dental work done. I guess dentistry is cheaper and of higher quality in Thailand than it is in New Zealand. Keep that in mind. 

I fly into Chiang Mai and meet Kia, my brother's friend who is gracious enough to drive me around the next day. From there I get on a killer long bus ride to Mae Sot. There are interestingly enough no less then 4 white people on the bus. Michael, who is going to Mae Sot to work for an NGO, John, who's wife works for an NGO in Chiang Mai and he is going to visit friends, and some tourist lady. I also talked to Nehemiah who was super friendly, and I assumed was Thai or Indian. I was wrong, he is Pakistani and he studies at a University in Chiang Mai, and his parents are Christian pastors in Mae Sot. All sorts of stereo types I had came down in that conversation. He had to be one of the most friendly people I had met. 

I arrived really late in Mae Sot then got a ride on a motorcycle with all my bags to a guest house. Smile guest house, worth staying there if only for the wifi signal. However, when I arrived there was no one at the desk (as it turns out there is almost never anyone at the desk). There were some people in  one of the rooms, and I asked them, they said he would be back. I then asked if they knew where a bathroom was (I had been holding it for several hours). There were 4 young adults (20s) sitting in the room. One of them stood up, put his arm around me, and guided me to where the bathroom was. When I was done he invited me to eat dinner with the group. I was amazed. I decided Thai people were the nicest in the world. I was just some random guy in a hotel lobby. Nothing like that would ever happen in the states. 

As it turns out my view of the nicest people in the world had to be changed again, because that group of young people in the hotel it turns out were not Thai, they were Karen. And though we did not realize it then, the guy who put his arm around me, is actually a teacher at the school I was going to teach at. We realized this when we saw each other the next day in Mae La camp. "I was surprised to see you" he told me. 

I have heard it said that our true character is shown by how we treat those who are not able to do anything for us. By this standard I have met some of the most incredible people in the world here in Thailand. The next day while I was walking looking for a phone to use (I had walked for almost half an hour and had a long ways to go), a kid completely out of the blue pulled up next to me on his bike and asks if he can help. I tell him I need to call, he lets me use his phone, make connection with the guy I need to talk to and saves me hours walking. The kid then just rides off in the direction he came from, as if his only purpose was just helping me out. 

The world is filled with incredible people. You are not alone, you are surrounded by friends you just haven't met yet. Get to know them.

  

The craziest fashion show ever

Before I delve into the actual details of the story, I need to say a few things about the Karen people. They are among the most shy and modest I have ever met. They are very against PDA (public displays of affection). I think I have only seen one couple kiss in public, it was at a wedding and someone had to literally push their faces together for the most awkward wedding kiss humanity has ever witnessed. I have been to many other weddings. No kissing. I have been in their homes. No kissing. No holding hands. Husband and wife often don't even sit by each other.

Anyways, this made me very curious when I heard they were holding a fashion show at the nearby college. representatives from every college and high school (4 colleges, 3 high schools) were going and competing. Friday night the students from my school were practicing for their event. Next to the aforementioned kiss it was about the most awkward thing I have ever seen. All the students were trying to instruct the two who had been chosen on how to walk, and how to stand next to each other. They were supposed to embrace while they stood together and the guy looked like he had just been sent to a POW camp and had his life flash before him.

 The next day I went with many of the students to watch the event. There were probably 2000+ people gathered for the event. I was the only white guy. Actually I am the only white person in the 45,000 person camp. Kind of like being a black guy at Lavell Edwards Stadium.

The fashion show began with couples walking down the aisle each holding a different country's flag. I am guessing their dress was supposed to represent that country, but except for in a few cases, the dress had nothing to do with the country. Mexico, Spain, France, Germany, they were all represented with Karen people wearing Karen clothes.

Once the good looking bunch were all on the stage (probably about 25 couples), they all sang the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah, because its a fashion show and why not?

The couples singing the Hallelujah chorus. 

After that, they walked off the stage and there was a short performance by a guy singing a pop song. He had a good voice and performed well. After that the whole congregation sang a Karen song about the Karen people longing for their homeland, it was actually very beautiful.

Now for fashion! The first run was casual wear. The couple from my school probably overdid the make up. The guy looked like a singer from KISS. The other guys in the group didn't wear make up.

Anyways, remember what I said about the Karen being the most shy and modest people around? That kind of makes a fashion show just about the antithesis of what they are inclined to do. Most white people don't even feel comfortable walking the runway. Uncomfortable is exactly the word to describe every person in the fashion show. It was painfully obvious that none of them had volunteered. No one, particularly the boys seemed happy to be in the show. However, in a strange way, that made them look exactly like most fashion models I have seen walking the runway. Coincidence? Hmm, who knows.

The couples. Notice most don't touch each other. Almost all the guy's hands are at their sides.

There ended up being a series of three fashion walks, casual clothes, Karen clothes, and formal wear. In between these were sets of people singing and dancing. I have never seen the Karen do much dancing besides traditional dancing, but a group did some some incredible hip-hop dancing. The song had a very strong beat, but was up so loud it was difficult to make out the words. When I finally did, I realized it was in English. It was Amazing Grace in hip hop. The dancers all had crosses on their t-shirts. I guess this is the modern christian movement or something. The later dance group all had white masks over their faces. It was a cool dance, but I don't really know what the whole white face business was about.

Dancing to Amazin' Grace yo! Not the best picture, but if you look closely their white shirts have crosses on them (at about a 45 degree slant). 

After the final "walk" or strut or whatever you call it, it was time for questions. In American beauty pageants they always have open-ended questions like "What will you do to promote education of women around the world?" These are nice because they allow for the banal and cliche answers like "world peace" and the far more interesting responses like this and this.

The questions were incredibly difficult history trivia questions. The first one asked how much land Saw Ba Oo Gyi (a Karen revolutionary) had to give to the Burmese government? I was like, who knows this stuff? I know Karen history pretty well, but I would never have remembered something as detailed as that.

After the questions the contestants left and the entertainment continued while the judges made their decision.

Through a translator I was told we were going to witness a performance of a bible story. It began and I was trying to discern what bible story it was. I soon realized it was one of those non-biblical bible stories.

It was actually a dramatization of people dying and meeting St. Peter at the pearly gates and see if they made it into heaven. On the stage a ton of angels stood waiting for those who made it; a bunch of guys dressed in all black came in from the back to take those who failed.

The first girl who I did not really get how she died made it into heaven. The family that died in the car crash also made it. The girl who committed suicide after her boyfriend broke up with her didn't make it. The "devils" took her away in pretty traumatic fashion. Kind of a dark play. The girls who only liked to party? One made it, the other two didn't. The two girls who were killed preaching the gospel? Yeah they were in, and yelled quite joyously when they found out they made it.

This maybe gives some idea of the size of the crowd. This is just inside the building, outside was packed with people trying to look in as well. 

After this, the top three couples came out for a final round. The couple from our school made it. Each contestant was asked two questions. They were hard questions and they were given in English. The questions covered everything from Newton's laws of physics to literature and English grammar. I don't think I could have got all the questions right. Our team went 50%. The girl was right on the "future perfect progressive tense" in English, but the boy answered Sao Paulo instead of Rio De Janeiro for the location of the famous Christ statue in Brazil.

Because of this small slip of a few hundred miles we finished in third place. Neither of our team got the "best style" award either (which I guess was a separate award?!?).

I am not sure what the take away from this story is, except maybe how to make your fashion show anything but a fashion show. Who wants to sing the Hallelujah chorus with me?

a movie, a dream, a reality

I feel as if I am in a movie almost every moment. One of those movies about an ordinary guy who goes to some far off place to escape his life, and finds more than he could have imagined. I don't know whether to laugh or to cry or to sing with joy. Everyday I think both about leaving and about staying forever. I am simultaneously in a trance as I am n a hyper-attentive state. There is no end to the beauty, no end to the sadness, no end to the contradictions. The happiest people I have ever met in one of the saddest situations. The hardest working, unable to work. The smartest people with the most primitive education. The lowest quality house I have ever lived in, yet I take of my shoes every time I come in the door.

I have only been here about a day, and it feels as if I am in another world.

From the moment I jumped out of the car on the highway and was met by Dhay Poe (administrator at LMTC, the school I am teaching at) saying, "Hi Austen!" And I looked up and saw thousands of lights coming out of the jungle canopy on the mountainside. It looked like a scene from Avatar, or the hobbits arriving at Lothlorien in The Lord of The Rings, But it wasn't it was me and it was real life. But I knew this was a magical place. With the cover of night I walked down a forest path, walked through a river and on on a motorcycle ride worthy of fast and furious and into the refugee camp.

In many ways I was shocked at the low-quality of the living conditions, but I shouldn't have been, I suppose I had been spoiled by Thai hospitality. My room was open to the air, with a few foot gap between the top of the walls and the roof. He showed me the bathroom and said I was welcome to take a shower or wait until the next day. I would have taken a shower if I had realized where it was. It took me a while to realize that the "shower" did not refer to a spout that sprayed water on you when you turn a nob as I had supposed, but rather to a bucket in the bathroom with a ladle in it.

I met the principal the next morning, an old man who walks with a cane. He walked over the same eroded mountain trails I had the night before nearly fell on multiple times while trying to get to my house. He didn't once.

The mountain trails

He talked about how the revolution had affected his life from a very young age. How he was convinced by his high school teacher to be a teacher instead of a soldier up to founding this school He said how they asked him to be headmaster and he didn't think he could, but here he was.

"We are always supposed to have at least one native speaker." He told me, but it had become difficult because the Thai military had been cracking down on letting foreigners into the camp. He then told me about his belief in God and how he had prayed for me to arrive safely. He talked about the many religious at the school, there are Buddhist monks, animists, but mostly Christians. Most all the teachers are Christian, but one. "He is a communist," the principal said as if that was a religion. "He to it when he was with the Burmese during the war."

These two girls are independently learning how to play the violin. They have no teacher. 

I met the communist/atheist professor the next day. We talked about physics and how I would happy to help with anything as I had studied Mechanical Engineering. "I like to do science and physics experiments," I told him. "We can't do much here. It is a pity we do not have a nuclear lab!" he said while walking away laughing.

With the light of morning I was able to see the lay of the land for the first time.

The school is backed right up against the mountains, a huge tower cliff right behind it. Surrounding the cliff is dense jungle forest with mist rising out of it every morning. The view is fit for the center spread of National Geographic.

This cliff is right behind the college and is probably over 1000 feet high. 

I met more of the professors later that day. Maria speaks perfect English and has to be at least in her sixties, if not older. She walks on the mountain paths of mud in her perfectly clean traditional Karen clothes. She learned her impeccable English in Baptist mission schools with American teachers.

Then there is Thara Harold. He says how he wants to study overseas, but he can't. I 'm stuck here, and I'm getting old. A few grey hairs are showing up on his head, but he speaks English well and is quick as can be. "We just want freedom. This is not freedom. Peace? peace is too much to expect."

I go to class and we talk of democracy and war and freedom. Things I studied in history that were abstract concepts that described revolutions hundreds of years ago. But not here. Here it is what they live every day. It is why they can't leave.

Students play soccer on the small cement playing field. 

Revolutions, war, peace councils. These are not distant events we learn about from their air-conditioned rooms. These are the things that govern their current existence. Their relatives are part of the revolution, part of the war, they wait to hear the results of peace treaties that could change everything about their lives.

As I sit there with a dog sleeping on the cement floor while the lecture on history and literature continue, chickens running around outside, monks chanting in the distant monastery, that rises along with multiple christian crosses out of the beautifully dense mountain forest, I want to jump up and shake myself to make sure that this is all real. Can it really be happening to me?

View from the college: if you look very closely you can see the cross of a church. 

Every day I think about going home. But I can't. I just can't. This is too amazing, too incredible, too difficult to miss.

The Karen believe strongly in ghosts. From their animist background, many believe in the spirits of the trees and forest.

The name of the Karen's homeland is Kaw Thoo Lei. I have heard many translations, the most common being Land Free of Evil, but also Land of Green Ghosts.

I don't put much stock in ghosts or ghost stories, but my first night sleeping in the camp I "saw" (I am not sure if I was dreaming or in some half-awake trance) a ghost next to me. It scared me and I tried to hit it, and it was gone. It was probably just a random brain spasm, but perhaps it is because, as I often feel, this place is magical.