On the Movies(Mostly) 7/21/09 Tuesday

Yesterday, Monday July 20th, we ventured to the cinema to see Harry Potter! MaReam and I drove home from school at lightening speed. MaReam is a wild driver on these pot-hole ridden dirt roads. When there is a hole, she accelerates. But that’s not all…whether it’s a tiny motorcyclist, a cowherd, or a rice farmer with his tractor; she honks and continues to barrel through the mud. Thank goodness for seatbelts in the truck!

After a delicious coconut-chunk yogurt, MaReam and Aunt O and I strolled to the bus stop, conveniently located adjacent to our not-so-humble-by-Thai-standards house. The bus was FAST, air-conditioned, and full of coughing people who kept pointing at me.
Granted, I WAS wearing a shirt I bought with Maream last week. In Thai script, it reads “No boyfriend”. MaReam thought it was hilarious and I kind of liked it too, so I bought it. I’m already sticking out enough, right?

We arrived in Phitsanulok, the nearest city about 50 minutes later. Descending back into the 5 pm heat, we met PaChub leaving his bank job as well as my host sisters Fun and Film coming from high school. In the truck on the way to the cinema, Fun briefed me on the normal procedures. I was handed hand sanitizer, an air mask, and instructed not to use the armrests, eat popcorn, or breathe in the movie theatre.

Just kidding about that last item…but really, swine flu is serious business here. A girl in Film’s class has H1N1 and thus Film doesn’t have school Tuesday-Monday. I see more and more kids missing from my classes as well as more mask-wearing students. The worst part is that I too have a cough….going to the doctor on Wednesday to be accessed.

To continue, we bought tickets for the 6:20 showing of HP, in Thai without English subtitles. Regardless the language barrier, I was still excited to get out of the house and see some Daniel Radcliffe up-close. In Thailand, you can go to a movie for 60 B as a student, which is roughly $1.75 for a side seat. We however, bought pricier tickets at 100 B because we were exactly center of the bottom row of the slanted section. Basically the most desirable seats in the house…

Before the movie (at a mall-movie-bowling alley-complex) we noshed on delicious food court dinner. “Delicious food court dinner” is often an oxymoron in the States, but in Thailand the food court is clean, uses glassware, and has fresh, incredible food. I had an awesome dumpling soup and a great iced coffee. We browsed in a bookstore and I enjoyed the cookbook photos, self-help-book covers, and entertaining “English Idiom” books.

Then we (Fun, Film, and I) headed back to the cinema while PaChub, Aunt O, and MaReam hung around to shop. I couldn’t understand why Fun said we couldn’t have popcorn but could have candy during the movie, but I was NOT going to complain about chocolate, even if it was only Hershey’s.

At 6:20, we slouched in the MOST comfortable movie chairs ever and watched hilarious Thai commercials for shrimp-chili-lime chips, diapers, and “Learn Speak English” classes (they are marketed to city kids with more money than the farming families).

At 6:40, I was startled to my feet to stand for a 5-minute video montage of the King. The whole theater stood for respect. The images floated by (with cliché inspirational music) of a group of people pushing a broken truck to the side of the road—oh hey, a picture of the King in the background!. A camera zoomed to the sweaty brow of rice famers who happen to work with a portrait of the King next to them. Cut to schoolchildren coloring headshots of the King and smiling. Next (SERIOUSLY) were nurses in uniform who appeared to be working in a warzone repairing bleeding soldiers with photos and paintings of the King all over the walls. A soldier reaches up his half broken finger and gently strokes the King’s face from his stretcher. The devotion video ended with “Long Live our Loved King” and triumphant music. WOW.

Soon after we sat down, Harry Potter began. I was impressed with the voiceover quality because every time the English-speaking actors spoke, the Thai speech took over with little overlap or awkwardness. I understood snippets of things, but relied more on visuals to understand the plot. I totally forgot that Dumbledore died (and that SNAPE killed him) until the scene in the movie! It was also LONG→3 hours with commercials and King promo. I didn’t get into bed Monday night until 11 pm which is VERY different from my usual 9:15pm. Getting up at 5:15am was tough Tuesday morning!

I’m trying to catch up on rest before my 5-class Thursday (usually 4) and a family trip North to Chang Lai this weekend. Only 3 weeks left in Thailand!