A more literal “Charlie”

Today is Tuesday, November 1st, 2005. It is now, officially, the “cool season.” Most interestingly, it seems to be slightly cooler– I swear that, when I walked out of the internet cafe around 1:00 this morning, it was noticeably cooler than when I went in, as though someone in marketing said “all right! sweater season! turn off the furnace!” Of course, by cooler, I mean that it was so cold that I was able to walk all the way back to my apartment without breaking a sweat. Probably 75 degrees or so. Freaking freezing, I tell ya what.

On this particular Tuesday, Willy Wonka seems to have brought his magic to Thailand– his ice cream, at the very least. I’ve mentioned before that I often buy ice cream from the street vendor outside of the Thammasat gate area, but I’ve failed to discuss its mystical quality that 1) keeps it cold and 2) prevents it from melting. Thailand is hot, yeah (even though, supposedly, the cool season is … here?), but somehow I can buy ice cream and eat it at a leisurely pace without having it melt. Even more amazing is that I typically buy the ice cream late in the afternoon, after the street vendor has been scooping it four hours out of her cooler-on-wheels. It’s not refrigerated– at least in a mechanical manner. And yet… Mmm. It still manages to be cold and oh-so-tasty.

Here’s a picture of the ice cream in the “Thai” style– a more literal sort of ice cream sandwich, with sticky rice (which is god’s gift to asia!).

The Thais also have quite an … interesting array of toppings (which are put on the bottom, UNDER the ice cream… not really TOPPINGS, then, are they?) such as something that looks like soggy popcorn kernels, various fruits, sweet potato…

Today is Tuesday, November 1st, 2005. And everyone’s topic of conversation has, as if by some memo that I failed to receive, become going home. There’s always “that” conversation topic– “how were mid-terms,” “how ’bout them white-sox…” the sort of disinterested conversation starter that everyone uses with every other international student. It’s not that we care. It’s that we… what? Want to speak English? Want to feel some connection with that other white person who is riding the ferry, who shares a common language, heritage, cultural background? I don’t know. All I know is that the semester ends in four weeks, and a topic that, until today, had yet to be mentioned, managed to bring itself up in every conversation I had with an American today.

Of course, it’s heavy in our minds. Finals are coming up. Then home. In two of my three classes today, my profs gave an overview of what we’ll be covering from now until the end of the course. In my third class, that overview was last week. It’s suddenly become that thought in the back of everyone’s mind. That looming specter. That easy topic of conversation. Going home. –and that amazing past tense. How can the words “has been” be so turbulent, unsettling?

Which I guess makes a good time to make an announcement: I will be returning home in April. I will be taking the spring semester off. I’m currently in the process of trying to figure out how, as an American, I apply for a visa to Pakistan, but that, after India in December, is where I believe I’ll be heading.