A Charming Dawn

As Christopher Stevens strolled through Don Muang's brightly lit international terminal, he wondered what the year 2003 would bring. Despite the fading paint and dull colors, the international terminal had a charm to it. Chris found travel terminals in pre-dawn hours inspiring. Previously, he had only traveled domestically in the continental United States , mostly on Greyhound buses and Amtrak trains—in 20 years, this was his first time stepping off of an international flight. He was vulnerable to the Southeast Asian spells that lie ahead. The sweet smell of Jasmine stimulated his nostrils.

Blindly following the crowd of passengers, he caught the eye of a cute petite Asian girl in a purple hostess uniform holding a sign pointing the direction towards customs and immigration. Passengers anxiously herded down the terminal. There were announcements in several languages overhead but Chris didn't stop to listen or ask anyone. He just followed the herd, which seemed to know the right direction.

The lines at the immigration counters were packed. With all the sounds and livelihood, it seemed out of place for 3.37 am . Chris's sense of time was already twisted backwards from the 24 hour trip from Phoenix via Los Angeles and Seoul .

All the immigration officers looked serious and overworked. Surveying the scene with a glance, Chris set his medium sized carry-on backpack down and yawned. As more passengers begin to fill the lines at several counters, he quickly moved into the least threatening queue. A middle aged Thai woman migrating tourists at a swift rate didn't look up from her counter---stamping away like a programmed robot. 7 or 8 people were ahead in line.

Directly ahead of Chris were two casually dressed forty-something Japanese men. Chris wondered what they were doing in Thailand . Was it one of those sex tours so publicized on the internet? ---perhaps they were regulars. Or maybe they were here on business. Probably both, Chris thought. He edged in a little closer to them tuning into their conversation. Though he couldn't make out every detail, a few key words and their body language said it all: About 20 meters along their vision path was an Asian woman in a stewardess uniform bent over grabbing something from her bag.

Though, he wasn't fluent in Japanese, Chris had picked up some basic dialogues and vocabulary hanging around his late mother's Japanese restaurant as a young boy. During his elementary school days, he'd hang out at the restaurant after school listening in on conversations among the cooks, servers, and dishwashers---particularly when they analyzed the figures of the student waitresses. His collection of Japanimation and J-erotica also had its lingual benefits. However, English was the language used at home by both his parents. Chris's patriotic father wouldn't have it any other way---that is before he skipped town. His mother was always at the restaurant working long hours and never had time for her family. All that dedication to hard work only led to a broken family, if not her poor health and ultimate demise. After his father left, Chris learned to fend for himself at the age of eight.

Gradually it become time for Chris to present his passport and flight stub, exhausted yet excited at the same time. He was slightly nervous expecting the immigration officer to ask for proof of a return flight, something that he wouldn't be able to provide. The woman in her late 40s with bags under her eyes stamped his passport and immigration form, jotted something on his three month tourist visa, and handed it back. He was quite relieved to be stamped through without hassle. It was a small burden that had been on his mind since he took the chance to buy a one way ticket at a travel agent in South Phoenix . His guidebook that he picked up in a used book store stated that proof of onward or return transition is required, but luckily that policy wasn't enforced.

His check in load consisted of an over-limit 85 pound luggage piece fully packed with books, clothes, CDs, camping gear, and a 20 pound American junk food stash, along with a black guitar case protecting his precious year old white Fender Tele-coustic.

Struggling to move such a load towards the welcome lobby, Chris wished he hadn't packed so much. Just to his luck, he came across a stray luggage cart. He relieved his weight burden with a sigh before proceeding towards claims. ‘I wish all airports had these—at least for free,' he thought. Just when everything seemed to be in place, his unzipped backpack which was half heartedly stacked on top of his main luggage rolled off spilling out some chocolate candies and cereal, along with his guidebook, some documents, a Bangkok University brochure, and a few cds. Everyone around him stared and passed on by smirking and chuckling.

“Shit, how embarrassing!” he mumbled to himself.

“Here, let me help you.” A kind gesture by a girl with strawberry blonde hair kneeled helping Chris to gather his things. Their eyes locked for a brief moment.

“Thanks a lot, I just got too much baggage---in more ways than this, believe it or not.” Chris half-smiled

“Mai pen rai. Chung mun !” She responded in an impressive Thai accent. Chris stared back at her in confusion.

“Oh sorry, you're not Thai are you? You look Thai. You know, it's hard to tell.”

“Well no, I'm American but I'm half Japanese. Well, my mom is Japanese but she was born in the states. I'm from Phoenix . Name's Christopher Stevens, or just Chris, how about yourself?” he extended his hand

Jenny handed Chris his documents shaking his hand. “I'm Jenny. I'm originally from Santa Barbara but live here now. I just went back home for Christmas.” She liked what she saw and continued, “This brochure of yours, Bangkok University International College ? Are you planning to study here?”

“Yea, I've been accepted already and am going to register next week. Why, you know anything about it?” Chris's curiosity was aroused.

“Well, yea, I've been studying there for two years now. I'm a Communication Arts major. What about you, what will you study?”

He gave her his full attention now. “Marketing I guess,” Chris stood up securing his bag back on the luggage cart. “I just hope they can transfer all my credits. So, what about this chocolate and cereal mess?”

“Don't worry about it. People get paid here to worry about these messes.” Just as Jenny said that, an older dark skinned woman wearing a blue custodial uniform came over with a broom and dust pan. The moment and timing were as if Jenny had staged and scripted it.

Chris scratched is head, “Alrighty then.”

He took the lead proceeding towards the customs sign, Jenny pacing with him. “It's an ok school. I mean it's not necessarily challenging as far as academics, but socially, it's great. There is a large international population. I got friends from all over the world that study there. You'd be the first half Japanese, though there are other Japanese students, just never really talked to them much.”

It was something about Jenny's words that irritated Chris. On top of the exhaustion from the long flight and long delays, Jenny's remarks triggered some deep resentment in Chris---from Primary school when he was picked on by the white boys because of his Asian features.

He snapped. “I've never even been to Japan , other than Narita airport on transit to here, ok?! I don't know about Santa Cruz, but in Phoenix not every American necessarily has blonde hair, blue eyes.”

“Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. It's Santa Barbara , by the way.”

“ Santa Monica , Santa Claus, whatever…it's not the point..”

“It's been a long flight I can tell.” Jenny gave an empathetic puppy-dog look before skillfully changing the subject. “You have anything to claim?”

“I don't think so.” Chris gathered himself suppressing his emotions back into his gut.

“Me neither. Don't bother reading all that,” Jenny pointed to the immigration form. “They're not likely to hassle you. Just check the ‘nothing to claim' box.”

This girl is a veteran, thought Chris feeling slightly embarrassed for loosing his cool.

Customs was even swifter than immigration. In and out. Chris wasn't sure what to expect next, but certainly not what awaited him in the welcome lobby.

“You, you! I take you hotel. You want lady massage? Where you go?” It was a question but the taxi scout didn't wait for an answer. “I take you. You go with me” He was shouting from the other side of the exit tape. There were dozens of them competing, some holding airport-pickup signs for travelers with reservations. Many of the scouts were clearly lacking any formal appointment, preying on their targets—first time holiday tourists. “Come on, I know good place for you. You go taxi wit me, ok?” the dark man with a rough face reached for Chris's luggage, determined.

“Well, a, I'm a..” Chris hesitated

“He's with me, mai pen rai, kao yuu gup chun laew ka, mee krai ma rup yuu laew ka, korp khun kaa .” Jenny cut in from behind. And like magic, the scout lost interest in Chris turning his attention on some other tourists.

“You can speak Thai huh? What did you tell him?” Chris was slightly impressed.

“ I just told him that someone's already coming to pick us up. You should be careful about those scouts. They'll rip you off in a flash. If you want to take a taxi, you should get one from the taxi queue right outside here. My friend is really coming to pick me up though. You are welcome to come with us. Where are you staying by the way?”

“I'm not sure yet. I was gonna go to this Kao San road I was reading in my guidebook. I hope they'll be a room still.” As the two exited the airport doors, the unconditioned Bangkok air made its first impact on Chris. The smell and humidity assured him that he was on a new continent. Prepared for Bangkok 's heat he was for back home in Phoenix , the sun is second to none. It was the humidity that caught him by surprise. In the desert, this hour of the night would have been cool. Chris was sure that his guidebook had said this time was the height of Thailand 's cool season but as a drop of sweat emerged from his temple, Chris accepted his first lesson in Southeast Asia : Expect the unexpected.

Lingual Footnotes

mai pen rai, kao yuu gup chun laew ka, mee krai ma rup yuu laew ka, korp khun kaa ไม่เป็นไรเขาอยู่กับฉันแล้วคะ มีใครมารับอยู่แล้วคะ ขอบคุณคะ : Nevermind/don't worry about it. He (She) is with me already, somebody is already coming to pick him (her/us)up, thank you.

LISTEN TO AUDIO OF BOTH THAI AND ENGLISH OF THIS DIALOGUE

If file does not play, click here to download mp3

(right click link and choose save target as)

“Mai pen rai. Chung mun !” ไม่เป็นไรช่างมัน Nevermind, forget about it.