A Visit From My Parents

I recently received a visit from my parents. Before coming to visit they had spent 2 weeks helping my little sister, Ruth, and her husband and 3 kids (the youngest less than a month old) move from South Korea to China where my brother-in-law is enrolled in a Master's program. By the time they arrived in Bangkok their desire for adventure had fizzled. You see, my parents aren't as young as they used to be. My father is now 72 and my mom is 68 (plus or minus a year or 2). On top of that my father was recently diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, and on top of that both are cancer survivors and they raised a family of 14 children and are still active in the lives of over 60 grandchildren! I decided that the best approach would be not to plan out our time together but to present them with options and let them decide what they were up for.

Thursday evening after work I took the sky train to the airport to greet them. After about an hour of waiting I began to wonder if they had gotten lost or if, a more likely alternative, I was waiting in the wrong place, although I had asked and it was very clearly stated on the arrivals board that they would come from exit C. My phone rang and my mother's voice was on the other end, "Elissa?" Indeed, they had exited out exit B. What fun to see my parents! We took a taxi to my apartment and I introduced them to my home. I don't think it was what they had expected. After seeing my sister's place in Korea (and maybe China although I haven't seen it but it is, as my 4 year old nephew states, "more big") my apartment is quite spacious (the benefits of not having to pay for my living quarters).

We sat down and discussed what the options for our next few days together were and we made a general plan which included resting around mid day. We chatted together that evening as they updated me on their adventures with Ruth and other updates and then we made our way to bed.

DAY 1 we had planned to go to the ancient city park and cruise around in a golf cart but the sky looked like it would rain at any moment so we decided to start with a tour of the Jim Thompson home/museum. With 3 of us running around together it was cost effective to take taxis most of where we went and not hassle with using the sky train, thus saving my parents from numerous stair ascents and descents. The museum was very enjoyable, I hadn't been there since my first trip to Thailand 4 years ago. After a guided tour and then taking time to poke around a bit we opted for the sky train to take us to my office. By now it was about 1:30. The sidewalks were fairly empty in front of my office but after climbing down the stairs from the sky train there was a man who insisted on crowding my father. Dad stopped to let the man walk by but he then quickly turned and walked the other direction. It was then that we realized that this man was a pickpocket and making an attempt on my father who had his cell phone clasped to his belt with a latch making it difficult to remove.

We went into the office where I introduced my parents to various staff and showed them the work I am engaged in. This visit took longer than I had anticipated and we didn't leave until nearly 4 pm. As we left the office we, again, opted for the sky train as it would be the quickest way home. On our way up the escalators I was telling my parents something and I turned around and saw a man, again, crowding my father although there were only 2 other women around. Then I noticed this man had his hand on my father's cell phone and was trying to undo the latch on the case. I'm afraid instinct took over and I yelled at the guy and got in his face in a very un-Thai way telling him to get away. He just looked at me as if to ask why I was so mad and what had he done wrong. That made me more angry and I pushed him and told him to go. He finally went the other direction but the woman and baby with him continued up the stairs with us. I looked for a police officer or security guard but none was there. I also apologized to the women around us as my behavior was not appropriate in Thai culture. I realized that by yelling at the man in public I was causing us both to loose face...I was ok with that. The experience had left me a bit shaken though the pickpocket had gotten nothing it made me angry that he would prey on my sweet father who had once been pick pocketed in Italy and then taught us all a lesson by praying for the children who had stolen his wallet.

We finally made it home, took a nice rest, ate dinner, visited and retired to bed.

DAY 2 was Saturday. We took a taxi to the National Museum for a tour guided by a friend of mine. The tour was insightful and delighted my parents as well as wearing us all out. My father was feeling dizzy and so after the 2 hour tour we just sat for a while until our stomachs urged us to find our way out of the maze that was the museum. Outside the museum there were vendors selling some fried snacks and fruit. We got a few items and as it started raining we found a bench partially sheltered from the rain by a large tree where we sat huddled under mom's umbrella and ate. Feeling refreshed we made our way to the Jim Thompson outlet store where my mother enjoyed looking at the 3 floors of fabrics. I think in her younger years she would have made a nice purchase and looked forward to new sewing projects. On this occasion we just browsed and then enjoyed mango smoothies after a hard afternoon of browsing.

Leaving the outlet store we happened on a little market which we walked through before heading back home. The plan for the evening was to attend a puppet show. We didn't have tickets and I couldn't get through to the ticket office but we decided to show up and see what happened. What happened was that we found out the puppet theater no longer exists! Luckily there was a night market nearby so we wandered through giving my parents to pick up a few gifts for folks back home. It turned out to be a long night and after eating dinner at the food court in the market where I introduced my parents to Thai noodles and green papaya salad we fell into the taxi and were glad to find our way to bed.

DAY 3 we attended church in the morning and then headed out for the 2.5 hour drive to the pier where we took a speed boat to a beautiful island. I get my love for the ocean from my mother who could spend several days just sitting and watching the waves, which is just what we did Sunday night. We found a nice hotel on a quiet beach who gave us a great discount on a room. The woman at the front desk (a Thai woman in her late 40s) told me that she would take care of my and my aged parents :-). She gave us a room for about 1/3 of the normal price. I suspect that it also helped that the hotel was almost completely empty and they were just happy to have customers. We spent the evening sitting by the waters edge, collecting shells and enjoying the peacefulness of the surroundings until after the sun had set. Then we fell asleep to the sound of waves washing onto the shore.

DAY 4 ended too quickly. By the time dad and I rolled out of bed mom was already on the beach. We joined her and had a beautiful start to the day. When stomachs began to rumble we decided it was time for a breakfast of fish, veggies and rice washed down with fruit juice. We then headed to the room to change into swim suits but by the time we got our suits on the rain had begun to fall. Luckily I only lasted about 30 minutes and we then headed to the water. We took snorkels and masks out with us to see what was happening beneath the surface. Over near the rocks there were various fish of different shapes, colors and sizes. I called dad over to take a look. This was my fathers first real snorkeling experience. The problem was that he was trying to walk around the rocks and found it difficult to keep his balance so he scraped his legs on the rocks and came out of the water with scratches all over his legs, some even bleeding. After our snorkeling experience mom and I rested on the lounge chairs trying to stay out of the sun and dad went for a swim. Too soon it was time to shower and pack and head back to Bangkok. We left grateful for the beauties of the earth.

DAY 5 was the final day with my parents. With dad's sunburned feet we decided it would be a good day to explore the ancient city park by golf cart. Dad was feeling dizzy today so we just drove around the park admiring the replicas of significant ruins, temples and buildings around Thailand. The day was warm. After 3 hours at the park we refreshed ourselves with water and ice cream and headed back home to rest before our dinner cruise on the river. My parents celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary this month, a dinner cruise with their daughter seemed like a proper celebration! Sadly, it was raining by the time the cruise began. Happily, the rain was not enough to cancel the cruise. We enjoyed traditional music and dance, a large, delicious buffet dinner and then dancing afterwards. All this as we cruised up and down the river admiring points of interest lit up, highlighting their significance. It was a delightful evening and a good way to end our time together. We returned home, packed our bags (mom and dad packed in preparation for an early flight back to the US and I packed for a trip to Vietnam) set our alarm clocks for pre-dawn hours and crashed into bed.

In the morning I said goodbye to my parents, helped them into a taxi and sent them back to the airport grateful for their visit and grateful for such wonderful parents. I then returned to my bed for a few more hours, finished my preparations for my trip and headed to the airport en route to Vietnam...my first international adventure trip on my own...but more about that later!

Thanks mom and dad for coming to visit me in my new home.