Things I miss...thoughts on spoiled rotten people

Just finished scrawling some characters in my Chinese notebook so now I'm sitting here thinking about My Past Life in the states and what I miss. (Yes, I probably wrote about this before).

With the exception of my family and my few close friends, I miss nothing.  Aside from the occasional longing for a great slice of deep dish pizza.  Or a burrito.

I also miss (can I even remember what it feels like?) waking up next to someone I love.  Strong arms around me.  Somehow though, I think that was all a dream. An illusion.  Because as of yet I don't believe I've had  real love in the romantic sense.  And even though I miss something I've never really had, the truth is I'm ok without it.  Faith sustains me. 

I never got around to writing much about Thailand. 

When I was at the airport in Bangkok waiting for my plane to Chiang Mai, I did a little writing.  Here is an excerpt from what I wrote.

Musings from Bangkok

Day number three in Thailand.  Leaving Bangkok and heading for Chiang Mai.  Excited, but nervous.  Have had a wonderful time so far, wish my family could be here.  The shopping is wonderful and overwhelming.  The weekend marketplace was overflowing with vendors as far as the eyes could see.

One thing I wasn't expecting--the mass amount of foreigners here.  I knew Thailand was a tourist destination but I am shocked by how many bronzed bleached-blondes I am seeing.

While the deals here are amazing and prices can be haggled even lower, some things seem so wrong.  Take the Thai massage I had for 45 minutes.  It cost around 5 US dollars.  The girl worked so hard and it seemed unfair to charge such a low price.

Another thing I've noticed- the appalling sense of entitlement I'm seeing among the foreigners.  This also happens in Taiwan but I've really noticed it here.  At this airport, for example, there are many foreigners wearing touristy clothes and sunburns standing around looking impatient. Some of them drag along obnoxious children.  These children squawk around while the ignorant parents do nothing to stop them.  At my hotel in Bangkok there was a French couple who had demons for children.  Early in the morning the kids were running around the hotel shrieking and causing chaos in the lobby while mom and dad smiled and other relatives coddled them.

I can't help but wonder what the Thai's really think about foreigners.  When I visited Khao Sahn Road, the number of loud, drunken foreigners I ecountered was staggering.  I understand why people want to visit Thailand but I wonder how many of them view it as a blessing to be able to visit such a place, msyelf included.

Instead of being demanding and taking advantage of the country, we should be grateful we have the monetary means to visit such a breathaking place.  I wonder how many Thai's have had the opportunity to explore other countries.  I'm not sure many of them ever do, given the generally low wages here.

I'm going to try to keep reminding myself how lucky I am to be doing this right now.