Reason #18 we should go to Thailand: We know the Hmong/Mong

As we've mentioned in our biography and in a number of blogs already, Amber and I are huge fans of culture. We don't just want to experience it, we want to immerse ourselves in it. As the old cliche goes, all politics is local, the same could be said of culture, especially when considering a very old country like Thailand.

Thus my interest in unique cultural experiences is often boiled down to the local level. As an undergrad in the geography department, I once wrote a short 15 page paper on the Hmong/Mong, specifically the white Hmong (Hmong Der) and the green Mong (Mong Leng). I described their history, their culture, and their future as my final paper for a class on southeast Asian cultural geography at Ball State University. I was fascinated by this unique group of people, but frustrated by the dearth of material available to me.

When I returned to graduate school at Ball State in linguistics, imagine my delight when I discovered that my faculty adviser Dr. Elizabeth Riddle was an expert on the Hmong/Mong language. We spent several hours discussing her research on this fascinating language inside class and out.

But it wasn't until I worked as an English as as Second Language teacher that I was able to encounter Hmong/Mong culture and its people in an interpersonal way outside an academic or research based environment. I taught several Hmong/Mong refugees from Thailand and Burma in Louisville, Kentucky, (of all places!) As it turns out, Catholic Charities has its second largest immigration center in Louisville, a city of 750,000 people.

Many of my refugee students from Thailand and Burma were Hmong/Mong. I came to know these students well, and was even invited to a Hmong New Year's function by some of my students. I got to meet several members of differing clans, taste some wonderful food, and even see a game of pov pob! These students were some of the kindest and earnest I had; I felt honored to be invited into their home. Politics aside, the chance to speak with some of the estimated 140,000 Hmong/Mong living in Thailand is just too good to pass up.

I dare say no one else in the Ultimate Thailand Explorer competition would truly understand and appreciate this opportunity as well as Amber and I. To see local culture as it truly is, and not some idealized Disney-fied spoon-fed schlock is important. We need to see how people really live before we can truly understand them. Considering the way many cultures and traditions around the world are disappearing with the enormous tide of globalization, it's important to see them while we still can.

Reason #17 we should go to Thailand: We love to get lost

So I'll admit that I'm usually a girl who needs a plan. I keep a detailed schedule of my appointments and meetings for my job, and I like to have things planned out beforehand. To a certain extent, I'm also like this on vacation. I want to make sure that I get a chance to see everything I want to in the limited amount of time I have, and I do a lot of research ahead of time to plan each day of my trip around the sights I just have to see. But I also understand that part of the excitement of traveling is to throw that schedule away and just enjoy the moment and go wherever the day takes me. There is a joy in throwing away the map and getting lost.

When I studied in Seville, Spain, I often spent my afternoons purposefully getting lost. After I had lived in the city for a month, I was familiar with its layout and had a routine. I took a particular route to school each morning. I had a favorite cafe, a favorite book store, and a favorite heladeria. But I knew that there was so much more to the city that I hadn't been able to explore yet. It was time to shake things up. So a few times a week in the late afternoon, I set out. I would always start at the cathedral because the bell tower (called the La Giralda) was the tallest point in the city. Then I would set out in a different direction, wandering the narrow streets, entering stores I came across, and taking pictures of cathedrals and other historical landmarks I encountered. I knew that as long as I could see La Giralda, I wasn't really lost, and I could always find my way home before the dinner or meeting planned for that evening. It was through this method that I found some of my favorite parts of the city. I explored the old Jewish area of the city, discovered a convent that sold the best marmalade in Seville, and took pictures of sections of the old city wall and the remains of the Roman aqueduct. Because of my wandering explorations, by the time I left Seville at the end of the summer, I felt I really knew it. I had explored all the back corners and side streets that held the city's history.

While in Kyoto with Theo and my sister, we got lost a little less on purpose. The wonderfully comfortable but out of the way guest house we stayed in was a little hard to find at night in the dark, and we spent an evening wandering through Kyoto neighborhoods until we found our destination. While we were certainly happy to see our beds when we found our way back, we were never really angry about getting lost. We knew it was just part of the adventure. I also learned more about Japanese street signs that evening than I had ever considered before.

While we're in Chiang Mai, you can believe that I'll plan detailed itineraries so that we can visit all of the wonderful sights the city has to offer. But we'll build our schedule with the understanding that sometimes it's better to let the city lead the way. You never know what you might discover.

Reason #16 we should go to Thailand: We'll reach for the mountains

Not only do Amber and I love animals, (psst... we don't even eat them!), we love the mountains. Now, I know what you're saying, "Theo, didn't you grow up in the flat cornfields of Indiana?" Yes, it's true. I grew up in the American Midwest, and I love the Great Lakes region. There's nothing quite like a brisk fall day in central Michigan or northwest Ohio. A little American high school football on Friday night in the heartland; sign me up. But that's maybe why I long for the mountains now.

I've lived in a few places with peaks, and I loved every minute of it. After studying for a semester in Germany, I backpacked alone throughout Eastern and Central Europe for two weeks. Not only did I have a fantastic time, but I got to see REAL mountains. I traveled south to Austria and made my way to Innsbruck. The Tyrolean Alps were absolutely majestic, frost tipped and totally huge. It was a hot day in August as I enjoyed a beverage in the Altstadt; I was mesmerized by the view.

In Korea, I would often hike the hills near Anyang, Gyeonggi, and even tackled all 632 m of Mt. Gwanak. A few friends and I trekked up the slope and watched the sunset on a crisp October day. It made for a beautiful view, but a treacherous descent.

But to say that Amber and I are looking forward to snagging pic after pic of Doi Inathanon and the rest of the Shan Hills would be a massive understatement. We're not here to tell you we're on our way to climbing the rest of the Himilayas, but we're definitely looking forward to standing atop the highest point of Thailand and visiting the ever-magnificent Napamaytanidol Chedi. Not only that, but 14 national parks will lay before us, ripe for exploration. We cannot wait!

Reason #15 we should go to Thailand: We love animals

As you may have noted from an earlier post, Theo and I go to extreme measures for animals. And we're not just talking about the common cat or dog here. The other members of our households are a little, um, different. I currently have an iguana named Caliban, and Theo has another iguana, Dorian, a bearded dragon named Ulysses, and an Asian water monitor named Gobo. They're all pretty spoiled lizards; we love telling stories about them to our friends and family, and we often teach our friends something about them in the process.

But we're interested in more than the animals that lounge on our couches all day. We also love to see animals in their natural habitats. The first time I saw an iguana, I was in Costa Rica; we stopped along the side of the road to admire the 10 iguanas lounging in a tree. They were huge and amazing creatures, and I was immediately mesmerized. One of the best things about that trip to Costa Rica was the opportunity to see so much wildlife. Our tour guide, Jorge, was a college student majoring in wildlife biology, and he led us on hikes through the rainforest, identifying the various creatures we saw there. He identified all the bird calls for us, and we saw toucans, various kinds of monkeys, lots of iguanas, butterflies, and even a three-toed sloth. I couldn't get enough of the rainforest, especially the cloud forest in Monteverde, and I found myself on all of the optional nature walks scheduled early in the morning. It must have been amazing for a teenager to willingly wake up before 5AM, right?

I can't wait to have similar experiences in Chiang Mai, and Theo and I are excited to explore the wildlife in the surrounding area. We're generally fascinated with all kinds of animals, their habitats and their behaviors, and we can't wait to see them in their natural surroundings. We're also excited to visit the Elephant Nature Park. We love the philosophy behind the park in creating a sanctuary for elephants, and we want to see these amazing and majestic creatures up close. If we go to Chiang Mai, you can expect an attention not just to the people and the culture, but to the animals as well. We'll shoot some great pictures and share the things we learned about them to readers all over the world. We can hear the elephants already.

Reason #14 we should go to Thailand: We won't bite the hand that feeds us

As we tweeted earlier this week, we've been subscribing to Twitter feeds and reading blogs to see what other competitors are doing in preparation for the semi-finals and possible becoming the Ultimate Thai Explorers. Amber and I think we're the best representatives the Tourism Authority of Thailand could ever have, but it never hurts to scout the competition.

One couple, who will remain anonymous, wrote in a blog of one's knowledge of "the tricks of the Thais who prey on tourists to cheat them out of money." This person elaborated in writing of unscrupulous tuk-tuk drivers and raised prices for foreigners.

What a negative portrayal! This person wants to win a trip at the expense of TAT and "sell" Thailand to foreign visitors but writes something so derogatory? I can promise you, you'll never see anything negative from us. Once something is in print, it's there forever, my friends. And once you post it online, it's everywhere forever! The Ultimate Thai Explorer competition is about extending Thailand's brand awareness around the world. The brand has little equity because it lacks salience. (how's that for a marketing perspective?) We understand that not everything in Thailand will be exactly to our liking. But we will not use the blogs, tweets, status updates, and vlogs as a forum in which to air those grievances. We're never going to portray Thai people or Chiang Mai in a negative way. It's not us, and nor should it be anyone else.

When I was in Japan, I was hospitalized for a few weeks after having an appendicitis and my gall bladder removed. I later wrote a column about the experience for The Gaijin Journal, entitled "Hospital Hospitality." While I can't claim that everything about being in the hospital was a pleasant experience, I never presented any negative experiences I had as systemic or endemic of Japan or her people. Instead, I used the experience as an opportunity to discuss the differences between the American and Japanese health care systems to my readers back home.

Amber and Theo will bring you the best content and the best stories in a completely positive manner. In fact, this post will be the most negative I'll ever be! We want to represent Thailand in a positive way, and we'll promise that here, now, and forever.

Reason #13 we should go to Thailand: We're great writers (and we've been published)

As you can tell by the number of posts we've already written for this blog, Theo and I are pretty prolific writers. As we mentioned in yesterday's post, all of these blog posts just come naturally to us because we've been writing like this for most of our lives.

I was an English major as an undergraduate, specializing in creative writing. Along with all of the papers I wrote for my literature courses, I also wrote a collection of poetry for my honors thesis. When I entered grad school, I turned my attention to heavier academic writing, churning out both seminar papers for my courses and a master's thesis, which was recently published in an academic journal. But I didn't stop with my master's, and I'm currently starting my dissertation, which will be the longest single document I'll have written.

Theo's writing has been a lot more diverse than mine. While he's also written seminar papers for graduate courses, he's also done quite a bit of creative writing and journalism. We've already talked about the columns he wrote for the Decatur Daily Democrat from Korea and Japan. Theo also worked for his university newspaper, writing a weekly column, reporting on campus events, and serving as the chief reporter of the sports section. He even got to interview well known comedians Chris Rock and Carrot Top when they performed on campus. While the texts I write are, well... long, most of the writing Theo does is compelling and entertaining. He can produce a creative hook, tell a compelling story, and throw a few laughs in there as well.

Our writing experience extends to multimedia writing also. As I've learned in my graduate program, with new media technology, communicating through text alone is not enough. With a variety of different media at our disposal, effective and compelling communicators know how to use the appropriate form to communicate the right message. We know exactly how to do that. We've not only written a great deal of text, but we've also created and edited images and video, produced websites, and even published cartoons. (Theo won an Indiana Collegiate Press Association Award for Best Editorial Cartoon for his work in his university newspaper.)

Given our experience, you can be assured that our blog posts, Facebook updates, and tweets will be effective, detailed, and always entertaining. We're observant and reflective, like all good writers, and we'll know what information to present in video, when to include some great pictures, and what adventures require a write up of the whole story on our blog. We can't wait to get started.

Reason #12 we should go to Thailand: We'll be the most active

When Ambi first approached me with the idea to enter the Ultimate Thailand Explorer contest, I thought about how much fun it would be to do. Not just "Sweet, a country I haven't been to!" (although that's a pretty big reason), but that we love updating our friends and neighbors a lot anyways online. And if you haven't noticed, of all the teams entered in the competition, we've been the most active by far.

But it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone really. Amber and I were made for this contest. We both read and write prodigiously. Amber is in her beginning stages of her dissertation. I'm writing reams of material for my M.S. (I'm writing two case studies as we speak) Yet we still have managed to make time for a blog writing nearly every day since we began our blog. That's 500+ words a day, and we're still truckin'.

Not to throw too many darts, but no one else is keeping that pace, no one. Not only is no other team blogging the same amount of material as us, but no one is really even blogging about why they're the perfect couple to be chosen for their select location in Thailand. Granted, I may be jinxing myself here, but even if they started today, they would never catch up.

It's not only that we're more active, but we're by far more proactive. Nobody told us to start cranking out blogs like candy spraying out of a piñata, we did that on our own. We realize that to win the UTE contest, we had to show people why we're the best. No one is going to just give us anything simply because we had our video shown at the kickoff press conference. We have to earn your votes.

We launched a Facebook Fan page early, loaded it with content, and started talking to our friends and family. We've now picked up fans by the bucketful and combine that with number of views we have, we're just getting started.

Our Tweets aren't just about pining for the beaches and cuisine Thailand, or gloating about all the places we've already visited. We're using Twitter to update why people should be following us and voting for us to go to Chiang Mai. Why wait until the semi-finals or even after we've been selected to go? Isn't this about promoting Thailand as the beautiful and wonderful country it is to visit right now?

You bet it is, and that's we're working hard now to get people excited about visiting Thailand. We'll be the most prolific bloggers and vloggers there are because we already are. Why hope that someone will do a good job when you know Amber and Theo WILL do a great job promoting Chiang Mai. We're a sure thing to be the most active, and if we haven't proven it yet, we will.

Reason #11 we should go to Thailand: We've never been there

In an earlier post about culture shock, I recounted my feelings on my first trip overseas to Paris. While I had a wonderful time on my second vacation to the city four years later, nothing would compare to the excitement of my first visit. I did not know what to expect and was amazed with everything, even the most mundane cafe, bakery, or shop. There is something wonderful about experiencing a place in person that you've only known through pictures and stories of others. Being able to see Paris for myself and to draw my own conclusions about the city was just as amazing as finally seeing Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower in person.

Two years later, I traveled to Costa Rica with my high school Spanish club for a different set of firsts. This was my first visit to the tropics, and I enjoyed all of the remarkable scenery, as I hiked through a rainforest for the first time, swam at the base of a waterfall, toured a coffee plantation, and saw an active volcano. I saw a thousand pictures of the area before I visited, but nothing compared to the feeling of flying through the trees on a zip line, or waking in the early morning to bird calls. I even found the insects amazing, which were five times the size of the ones back home!

I expect to have the same kind of feeling when I visit Thailand for the first time. Neither of us have been to southeast Asia, and if we're chosen to visit Chiang Mai, our YouTube subscribers and Twitter followers will be able to see our first impressions of the area and the country as a whole. We think these first encounters are among the most important for other first-time visitors to Thailand or to Chiang Mai. That's who we'll be talking to in our vlogs and tweets; the people who've never been to Thailand, but watching us as first-timers will want to go.

While we're out to discover Thailand right along with our audience, some other teams act as if Thailand is nothing new. They've been there numerous times, and they hope to trade on their knowledge of all the "inside places" and "hottest secrets" for your views and votes. To be honest, I'm not sure a seasoned, yet jaded traveler can show you Chiang Mai with the same sort of pure unadulterated wonderment we will.

Since we have traveled to so many different places and lived in different countries, we know how easy it is to accept what were previously foreign customs as second nature. We might not first consider etiquette to remember when visiting someone's home in Spain or Japan, but in Thailand, we'll be hyper-aware of these important details and ready to share them with fellow travelers. We can't wait to explore Chiang Mai for the first time and to document the excitement of our first impressions.

Reason #10 we should go to Thailand: We can generate media

Now, I may not be the most photogenic chap in the world, (I know I'm more like a Klingon without the bumps), but I can get me some screen time. I've had my mug plastered on more TV screens than Mr. Nielsen would care to know.

It's not just for my insatiable desire for attention, (that is well documented among family and friends), but I have one of the personalities that isn't afraid to shine with a camera light on. You give me a "1, 2, 3... Go!" and I'll chew scenery and tape like it's a free buffet. Match that with something that I'm passionate about, and I'll find a way to get the job done.

In the spring of this year, a sub-committee in the American House of Representatives was mulling over a bill titled House Resolution 669, "The Nonnative Wildlife Invasion Prevention Act." As written, H.R. 669 would have made it illegal to breed, sell, trade, import, and export any nonnative animal, including many common in the U.S. pet trade such as ferrets, parrots and iguanas. It would have eliminated owning virtually all pet fish and even hamsters, gerbils, and guinea pigs.

The outrage was palpable and Amber and I were leading the charge. We saw H.R. 669 as a direct threat to our iggies, Dorian and Caliban. I also have two other reptiles, Ulysses and Gobo, and have parented numerous lizards and snakes since a very young age. I love reptiles and will tell anyone I know how wonderful they make as pets. I also preach responsible pet ownership, and have lectured more than my fair share of wayward teens who wanted a Burmese python because, "It looks cool," or "It'll get so big!"

Point is, Amber and I were upset, and we wanted to take action. We called the local news, and within hours, they were at her house and doing a live report! We pushed the buttons, made the call, and got results. News stations, especially on the community level, love localizing national stories, personalizing them for the viewer at home. Capitalizing on that, we got coverage for a story that people needed to be informed about.

It wasn't hype, it was our passion, so it didn't come off as cheap or sensationalistic. I didn't get a big(ger) head because of it (although Dorian strutted around as king of the castle for days after). We got the coverage because we believed in what we were doing, and we certainly believe in what the Tourism Authority of Thailand is trying to do. Sure it's a contest and we want to win because there's this awesome prize, but we also want to let people know what an amazing place Chiang Mai is and why they should go. We don't need fancy backgrounds in video production or industry insiders to help us do it. Our news story was seen by 300,000 people, and we got that by making the calls ourselves. Garnering media attention for Chiang Mai? We'll do that better than anyone.

Reason #9 we should go to Thailand: We care about food

It isn't long after someone meets Theo or I that the subject of our diet comes up. Maybe it's the great food we make or the dinner parties we host, but we're known to most of our friends as The Vegans. Yes, Theo and I are vegan. I've been vegetarian for 12 years, and I gave up animal products entirely 5 years ago. Theo has been vegetarian for 13 years, and vegan for 9 of them. We're often asked what it is that we eat if we eschew meat, dairy, and eggs. The answer is lots of things! We enjoy vegetable stir fry, fajitas, pasta dishes, potatoes, tofu and a great number of other meat substitutes, and I have to say, I make some mean vegan cupcakes.

We just generally care about the kind of food we consume, and we like to share with our friends the wonderful dishes we make. I often bring a vegan baked good into the office for my fellow grad students to share. It sounds silly, but I often consider myself a vegan ambassador, showing others the wonderful foods one can make without animal products.

We also love to try new foods when we travel. Many of the countries we've visited have taken a different attitude toward meat and other animal products than we do, but we've always found incredibly friendly and accommodating servers and chefs making sure we get the best meal we've ever had. And we've had some amazing meals, from gazpacho in Seville to zarusoba in Takayama. And even if we don't eat everything on the menu, we love talking about local specialties and cooking methods!

I also enjoy exploring local markets. The English Market in Cork, Ireland and a small fruit market in Gamagori, Japan are among my favorites. I love walking through the aisles, viewing the fresh produce on display by the local farmers, and getting a different kind of view of the country I'm visiting. Thai food is, hands down, one of Theo and my favorite cuisines. We often seek out Thai restaurants when we travel to large cities, as we're guaranteed to have a wonderfully delicious meal. We went to a Thai restaurant on our first date, and that restaurant became one of our favorites in the college town where we met.

While in Chiang Mai, we'll document not only our sightseeing adventures, but our food adventures as well. We believe that food is an important part of any culture; you can learn a lot about a people and a place from the food. We're interested in where our food comes from: how it's grown and prepared, and the history of that food within the local culture. We don't see veganism as a hindrance when traveling. If anything, we'll explore local cuisine even more to find just the right dish. We hope to have amazing meals in Chiang Mai, and we can't wait to share them all with you.

Reason #8 we should go to Thailand: We'll stick out like a sore thumb, and we're OK with that

I'm a big dude. Not just like, "Man, he's a big guy." More like, "Holy crud, Bessie! Theo is a BIG dude." And frankly, I'm comfortable not having much of a neck. It makes me less of a target for sunburns and vampires.

But as someone who's traveled extensively throughout Asia, I know that my ginormous frame makes stand out like the guy in the pink tux at prom, everybody notices 'em, and they sure ain't dancing with 'em. And despite the fact that I lift a lot of weights, I know perceptually in Asia, I'm fat... like water buffalo fat... like "move out the way, cuz' fatty needs to sit down" fat.

This is me carrying two railroad ties that are 200 lbs. (90.72 kg for my metric friends) a piece. Not only that, but my dreadlocks are a source of fascination even here in the States, and I'm positive I will draw stares and glares wherever we go in Chiang Mai. I expect that, but not with derision. Even with the large amount of Western tourists Chiang Mai sees, they have never seen someone like me. And all the while, my little Lisa Loeb look-a-like girlfriend Amber will be in tow.

So I jest about the "Stay" comparison, but Amber has been mistaken for all sorts o' movie stars across the sea. When she visited me in Japan, her red hair was a constant source of adoration. Every person I knew there had something to say about her, "You so pretty, like movie star!" "I love you hair! So nice!" Even with the color closer to her natural brown, I expect her to be photographed and approached on a daily basis.

But we're OK with that. We expect it, and I certainly expect children to run from me crying as they did in Xian, China. (Long story) And when the occasional mistaken identity happens, I guarantee you'll be the first to know.

Reason #7 we should go to Thailand: We're not afraid of culture shock, and we know how to deal with it

I first traveled overseas when I was 16, on a tour group to Paris. When I stepped off the plane into the Charles De Gaulle airport, I felt almost as if I had traveled to another planet. Until this trip, a family vacation to Orlando was the farthest I had been from my home in central Michigan, and I was blown away by the city, which was so full of life and history. I was overwhelmed, but also excited, and I fell in love with all of it: the people, the food, the art and architecture, and I wanted to spend the entire year there. I returned home determined to study abroad in college; I knew I wanted to travel as much as I possibly could. My studies in Spain and Ireland brought with them new forms of culture shock, dealing with different university standards and different educational customs, learning to live with a host family, and creating a life in a new place far away from all of my family and friends back home.

When I visited Theo in Japan, I again experienced a different kind of culture shock. Because I was not familiar with Japanese orthography, I can honestly say, that I now know what it's like to be illiterate. It's funny, because you can always remember being able to read your own language, and here I couldn't read any of the signs in train stations or on maps! I had to develop a system to figure out how to get around the city.

I know now to expect the slightly overwhelmed feeling that hits me when I'm trying to adjust to a different place, and I even enjoy it. There is no better educational experience than learning how to get around in a foreign country, to learn the local customs, and to meet new people. I now find the adjustment to life back home much more difficult than the initial culture shock of arriving in a foreign land. The things I've learned on these past trips are things I will bring with me to my travels in Chiang Mai. I will always be flexible, open to new experiences, and ready to let the adventure lead the way.

Reason #6 we should go to Thailand: phom yak rian pa sa thai!

Honestly, I want to learn Thai. (hint, that's the title for this blog…) Now, forget the fact that I speak seven languages, and forget the fact that I’ve majored in linguistics at graduate school, and even forget that I have a natural inclination for language. Just remember a basic Theo Rules for Life: you will always be treated better if you speak the language. Always.

This rule comes from experience naturally, and on countless occasions, I’ve used my linguistic knowledge to get directions, make a joke to put a group at ease, and order from restaurants both here and abroad. But there’s really two things at work.

When abroad, it’s just common decency. How rude would I be to travel to a new place expecting to bathe in all the cultural uniqueness it has to offer and I don’t even learn a few words? How rude and disgusting! When I traveled to Poland backpacking through Eastern Europe, there I was at the Mexican restaurant in Krakow, ordering my meal in Polish, as butchered as it was. To be honest, even the dogs would look at me and say, “Dang, dude. Your Polish is awful.” But it was the effort that mattered most.

Even though we’ll spend most of our time in a cosmopolitan city like Chiang Mai where countless warm and friendly Thai people will strike up a conversation in English with us, part of me hopes they don’t. Part of Amber and I’s immersion in Thailand will be hearing a language that quite frankly, we’re unfamiliar with. But isn’t that prospect so darn exciting?!

Secondly, here in the States, I’m always struck dumb with how appreciative people are with Amber or me when we speak in another language. For example, just last month, Ambi and I stopped a little Korean restaurant in Fort Wayne, Indiana. For those that don’t know, Korean, much like Thai, is not the easiest language to pick up at first blush. Word order is very different than English, and the phonology of Korean is very difficult to master with an American ear. But I learned it, and gosh darn it, I’m gonna use it! Our waitress treated us so nicely and stood and chatted with me in Korean much longer than she should have been expected to. She complimented me on my rusty Korean, and mentioned how she’d not met anyone in America who spoke her native language!

While I understand that Thai is a tonal language and the orthography is far different from anything I know, I have experience in learning languages quickly and striving to use them in as many situations as possible. Granted, I may say something like, “Are thems the thoughts of cows?” But I will do so with a smile on my face.

Reason #5 we should go to Thailand: We love technology!

We've had a long distance relationship for much of the 5 and a half years we've been dating, and during part of that time, we didn't even live on the same continent. To communicate about the things going on in our lives, we turned to the internet. Along with chatting on the phone (thanks to a great international phone plan) we spent countless hours using both the chat and voice features on Yahoo and Skype. Without these services, it would have been much harder to keep each other updated about the daily details of life in Japan and in Indiana.

Since then, we have developed research interests in both of our graduate programs that focus on technology. Amber studies new media, literacy, and identity, focusing on how individuals integrate social networking sites into their everyday lives. Theo's research focus is in sports management, and he studies the effects of social media on fan identification with sports teams. The focus of our academic work means that we have to stay up to date on the latest social media platforms. We have active accounts with half a dozen sites, frequently sharing images, video, and text with our friends and family through a number of venues. Although we study the more theoretical side of technology use, we have developed a number of skills that will be helpful in our promotion of Chiang Mai as the Ultimate Thailand Explorers. Theo is a skilled web editor, having designed sites for several departments at his previous university. Amber teaches writing courses that emphasize composing through a variety of digital media. She led a course specifically on video production and taught students how to shoot and edit short video projects.

We know how to tell compelling stories, in text, photos, and video. We know how to shoot and edit compelling photos and video and how to promote that work through a variety of social media platforms. We are always ready for the next great adventure when we travel, and we know how to document and share that experience all over the Internet. We can't wait to put our skills to work in sharing Chiang Mai with the world.

Reason # 4 we should go to Thailand: We love us some quirky!

We admit we're kind of geeky. We like weird things that appeal to our academic and odd sensibilities. Amber likes her singer-songwriters crooning of lost loves and broken dreams. Theo devours comic books and has a near-encyclopedic knowledge of movie quotes. But one thing our self-effacing nerd-dom really enjoys, is the quirky while traveling. Amber mentioned in the previous blog my fascination with the old and new dichotomy found in much of the Old World. A convenience store 10 meters from an ancient Shinto shrine? Priceless. A high speed train in China with peasant farmers transporting chickens? Golden. But I love noticing the innocuous cultural mash-up, like the Korean fascination with claw vending machines, and ... hunger.

A lobster claw vending machine? While a few of these games have appeared in American seafood parlors since, back in 2001, I had never seen such a device. And was this magic contraption in just such an establishment? No, it was on the street across from the train station in Anyang-dong, a neighborhood in Seoul. At the time, just 500₩ (a little less than $.50 then) gave you a chance to ready your claw to capture a crustacean. It wasn't just that it was completely foreign too me, but I was intrigued by the culture surrounding it. It was like a video hunting game where after baggin' whatever critter you just shot, sloomp!, out it came from the console as a reward.

I lived in Germany studying at Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf for a semester back in 2002. My friend Joel, an impeccable Swede, and I went barhopping in the Altstadt, colloquially known as "the longest bar in the world," because in only half a km², it contains more than 300Altbier, we caught a karaoke booth where a delightful group of inebriated teen girls were butchering an American bubblegum pop song. Although the lyrics were in displayed in English, I in German is read as /ee/. The result was a spectacular rendition of Britney Spears “Oops, Ee Deed Eet Ageen.”
Or when Amber and I traveled to Kyoto for the weekend with her sister. I'd been living in Japan for a while, and I wanted to show them what an awesome place Kyoto was (for much the same reasons as we chose Chiang Mai). Surrounded by history and the beautiful traditions of obon, we discovered a traditional Irish pub, The Hill of Tara, in the middle of Kyoto's Kawaramachi district. As we drank our traditional Irish ales, we couldn't help but laugh at the oddity of our position. Three Americans drinking Irish beer in Japan. Absolutely fascinating!

But it's these kind of experiences that Amber and I will seek out. We'll help our readers and viewers of our blog, vlog, and newsfeeds enjoy these kinds of experiences. It's like a "Hey, cool, look at this !" moment that we can share with the world. You want us to go to Chiang Mai because we'll bring these quirky moments and experiences to you with the wide-eyed wonderment and rascally humor they deserve. We look forward to making you smile.

Reason #3 we should go to Thailand: Chiang Mai is waiting for us

When we first looked at where of the five cities offered we wanted to go in the Ultimate Thailand Explorer contest, Chiang Mai was a no-brainer for us. We want to visit Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, and Koh Samui soon as well, but there are several reasons Chiang Mai fits us and our traveling style.

1) Our interest in culture and tradition. Every place we travel, we try to immerse ourselves in the local culture and learn local traditions. We love to participate in local pastimes and festivals, attend performances and sports games, and sample the local cuisine. Some of the unique cultural experiences and events we've attended include Chinese traditional opera in Beijing, a flamenco performance in Spain, a wedding in Japan, a céilí dance in Ireland, and a ssireum (wrestling) match in Korea. We adopt local customs and even take them back home with us. Before visiting Theo in Japan, Amber learned how to use chopsticks, and now doesn't eat Japanese food without them. Theo learned the art of bowing, and can't avoid bowing to professors and people he just met. Don't get us started on his shoe removal at everyone's homes! We can't wait to explore the rich culture of northern Thailand through the markets, museums, and restaurants of Chiang Mai.

2) Theo really loves old things and places. Don't ask why, but our resident world civilization-buff digs ancient cities and places soaked in history. Chiang Mai is chock-full of goodies for the historically-minded. We would love to visit each one of the hundreds of Buddhist temples throughout the city, but we're especially excited to visit the some of the most significant temples like Wat Chiang Man, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, and Wat Phra Singh. The architecture of these temples is awe inspiring, and we're most interested in the history surrounding them. Another top spot on our itinerary is the old city of Wiang Kum Kam and the temple ruins in this area. Amber's studies in Spain led her to explore Islamic architecture throughout the city of Seville and the surrounding area. Taking walking tours of the city to explore ruins and former mosques was one of the highlights of her trip. As we both grew up in the American Midwest, we love cities like Seville, Rome, Kyoto, and Chiang Mai, where the ancient and the modern exist side by side. Learning more about the history and architecture of Thailand, for us, begins in Chiang Mai.

3) We choose the mountains over the beach. While we love relaxing on a sandy beach as much as anyone, we prefer hikes through forests and mountains for our excursions away from the city. The area surrounding Chiang Mai has a great deal to offer in this regard, and we are excited to travel (on foot or by elephant) to visit local hill tribes like the Hmong and Karen. As a former English as a Second Language teacher, Theo taught a number of these students and has a deeply personal interest in their history and culture.

The rich history and cultural traditions of Chiang Mai appeal to our interests and past travel experiences. We can't wait to explore the city and bring some new cultural traditions back home, and to share these with the world through our promotion of Thailand as a tourist destination.

Reason #2 we should go to Thailand: Hey, I've done this before

One of the best things about traveling round this great big world is the opportunity to share those experiences with others. Whether its an old school slide show or a modern Flickr feed, most of us globetrotters love sharing pictures of our adventures.

Coming from a rural town of 10,000 people, I always dreamed of doing what I've done, and in the words of Dr. Seuss, the places you'll go. So it was something special for me to be able to share those experiences with not only family and friends back home, but readers of the local newspaper. It's not much good to be a local celebrity, if you can't share those cool experiences with others, right?

Back when I lived in Korea, I wrote a column for the Decatur Daily Democrat titled, The Seoul Survivor. I had been to Korea on a cultural exchange program but living there really opened my eyes to the deeper cultural understanding I'd been missing. I wrote the column to share all these great discoveries I had made about life in Seoul, but eventually realized I was making discoveries about myself. Once I learned that, it made The Seoul Survivor a much more interesting read, and it actually culled quite a fanbase for such a small circulation, a little over 5,000. People would stop my family at church or about town and mention how much they enjoyed my latest article. It was a blast to write.

Shortly after I moved to Japan in 2004, I emailed my old friend Bob Shraluka, the managing editor, about writing a weekly column about life in Japan, and thus, The Gaijin Journal was born. Each week for almost a year, I wrote about various topics of interest, adding my own sardonic wit and observations about life in Japan. I also included a Japanese phrase that related to the column in some way, but was also useful in everyday life. They were never too complicated nor too obtuse for the non-native speaker to pick up.

But just having my writings printed in the paper wasn't enough. I wanted people to immerse themselves in the world I painted each week in the column, and shortly after sending each week's edition to Bob, I'd slap one up on the website to share with the world. I designed the website myself, wrote all the code, upkept a message board, and answered all the fan mail I received from a special inbox I set up. Although I don't update the site anymore, you can still read my columns here. The Gaijin Journal was important for me, and serves as a great precursor to how I can help the Tourism Authority of Thailand promote Chiang Mai.

I've done this before! Not to break my own arm patting myself on the back here, but my observations and writings will promote Thailand as your next destination better than anyone. I'll make the exotic accessible, and the trivial exciting. While we ended the last column with "We can't wait to see what Thailand has to offer for us," I can honestly say, I can't wait to see what I can do for Thailand!

Reason #1 we should go to Thailand: To spend more time together

Hi, it's Amber, writing our first post about why we're the perfect team to visit Chiang Mai, Thailand. Theo and I have been dating for five and a half years; of that time, we've primarily lived in different cities, states, and even countries! I met Theo when we were both in master's programs in the same department; we hit it off right away and were dating within a week. Five weeks into our relationship, Theo left for Japan on an already planned teaching and research trip for a year and a half. We had to learn how to be away from each other quickly, and soon spent hours chatting on Yahoo Messenger and Skype.

Besides the phone calls, our time together consisted of a number of vacations. I went to visit Theo in Japan in August, 2004, five months after he moved there. We had a wonderful time, visiting Nagoya, Takayama, and Mt. Fuji, and finally spending some time together. He returned to the States in December for the holidays, and we spent time driving through Michigan and Indiana to visit our families. We even checked in with a sports talk radio show Theo contributed to on a weekly basis from Japan. I visited Japan a second time in May, 2005, this time visiting Kyoto and the World Exhibition in Aichi.

After Theo returned home, our careers continued to take us to different places. I lived in different cities in Indiana and Illinois, and Theo moved from Indiana to Florida to Kentucky. We currently live 3 hours from each other in the same state. Because we don't get to see each other very often, each visit is always an event. We've planned a number of trips together, from our time in Japan, to road trips to North Carolina and Mississippi, time in Orlando, Tampa, and Miami, and through various locations in the Midwest. We travel well together for this reason, and we're always excited for the next adventure. We can't wait to see what Thailand has to offer for us.

Video is up!

Just finished putting up the video!



You should check us out at the Ultimate Thailand Explorers website and find out why you should vote for us to be the representative explorers for Chiang Mai.

First message to masses!

Just finished setting up the Blogspot account and ready to start blogging about why you should vote for us at ultimatethailandexplorers.com!