Interesting Encounters
Today was the day I had nothing scheduled in. I slept a little bit later, read, watched my fish:), and finally around 1:00 took off for Bangkok. On my way to the bus stop, I chatted with 3 of the motorcycle taxi guys on my street. They asked me, as Thais do, where I am going. Then one of them also asked me what my job is here.
I told them I've started teaching English a few places, and they wanted to know if I charge. Of course, I said no, I am a volunteer. Then they asked if I would teach them. Sure, when should I start? They laughed and told me I could teach them every day, once a day....:) It probably won't happen, but I think it would be fun to try if they are serious about it.
Off I went to Bangkok to hunt for a bookstore with teaching English supplies. By the way, Tom, your directions were almost exactly right, except that the bookstore is located on a little inbetween soi just before you get to Soi 2.:) I spent quite a bit of time browsing at the bookstore and then made my way over to a little coffee shop near the language school I had attended.
There I found my friend Pon; she jumped up, surprised to see me. She thought I had already returned to the US because it had been so long since I had come. Unfortunately, now that I no longer attend Union Language School, I almost never get to that area of town. We had a nice time catching up, and then I went on my merry way to my next destination.
Pantip Plaza is a huge mall, several stories high, filled with all kinds of electronics. I was in the market for a basic printer. To be perfectly honest, I am almost completely technologically illiterate, and I was not so sure it was a good idea for me to venture out and find a printer on my own, but oh well, I was in the area, so why not?
I wandered through the maze of booths and eventually ended up at a little store that was more out of the way and quieter. As I looked at the various printer models, a friendly lady asked if I needed help. I thought she worked there, but as it turned out, she works at the Grand Palace, and her older brother runs this shop. He was not there, however, so she had stopped by to find out how things were going.
To make a long story short, I picked out a printer, and then "THE WAIT" began. I figured all they would do was take my money and hand me the box containing the printer. But no, this kind lady (Peggy) had them remove it from the box and put the ink cartridges in place for me. She had me sit down while the employees followed her instructions.
It turns out that she also had told them to configure the printer, or whatever else needs to be done, and they were having problems getting it to work there with their computers.:O) So while I was waiting, I had a nice conversation with an American man and his Thai wife who stopped by to browse.
But mostly I spent my time talking with Peggy, the nice lady who initially opened conversation. During my long wait (I'm guessing an hour), she gave me 4 free tickets to a teak palace in Bangkok...
...and a large picture magnet of the King and Queen of Thailand, which is now firmly in place on the door of my little refrigerator. OH, I mustn't forget the mini massage she insisted on giving me as well!
As it all turned out, I came home without the printer because the poor employees were working so hard to make this thing work, all to no avail, and my evening was quickly slipping away. The guy on the left is the one who tried so diligently to get it working.
Now I have the phone number of the shop and am to call in tomorrow to see if they got it working. Oh, and Peggy gave me her phone number as well.:)