City Tour and Independence Day

Our city tour was on Saturday. It was a fun time, but also a long time. We started the day around 9 and were moving until 4:30. Also: I forgot my camera because I'm a dope. So no pictures. However, others took pictures, so I'll just mooch off them.

Our first stop on the tour was the ancient part of the city which dates back over 700 years. I'm not going to get too much into the history on here because the Wikipedia article can probably explain the whole situation better than I can (You're going to want the "Lanna Kingdom"). Regardless, in 1296 the then-King of Chiang Mai moved the city from the old location to its current location because of a problem with chronic flooding.

In the ancient city we saw the Lanna version of a Buddhist Stupa, which is in a pyramid style, which is different from the later Sri Lankan style which is characterized by the fact that it looks like it could be in Sri Lanka (It's rounder). We also took a small tour truck several kilometers down the road to look at several ancient temples which had been unearthed during routine farm work. Since we don't know the actual name of the temples they have been named after the people who discovered them and who own the land that they rest on. Interesting note: a Thai temple isn't considered an actual temple unless it has 5 things. Namely: a place for the monks to sleep, a sanctuary for the monks, a place for worship for everyone, a stupa, and a Buddha image. There, you learned something in spite of yourselves today. (I'm talking to you, Becky.)

This ate up the majority of the morning, and so we climbed back into the van and drove through Chiang Mai to the Empress Hotel, where we were to have lunch at an all-you-can-eat buffet that had a number of tasty dishes from several different cuisine traditions. Incidentally, the Empress is a very nice looking hotel and the room rates seem very reasonable. We met the owner before attending the buffet and he seems to be a very happy man. For those interested in ever staying at this particular hotel, rates and lists of amenities can be found here.

After lunch we traveled the traffic-packed streets of Chiang Mai to the Chiang Mai museum. It is what most museums are, rather dry. Our guide was a very nice young Thai girl nicknamed "Mouse" (in Thai), and the Ajaan that had been showing us around both explained much of the information in the museum. It covered the history of the region from pre-history to the present. There was another floor that we didn't get to because of time constraints, but it is what it is.

While at the museum, we ran into a very famous Ajaan who is on the faculty at Chiang Mai University. He invited us to watch a ceremony at a nearby hotel. It was a ceremony of calling in a spirit, and it involved drinking liquor, dancing, and mock hunting.

After this, we returned to our guest house and spent the rest of the evening in relative quiet.

Sunday was devoted pretty much exclusively to homework and talking to family.

Which brings us to...


Today is the 4th of July, which means it's Independence Day back home in America. This is the first time I have been out of the country for this particular celebration, and it has caused me to think about how I relate to my home country.

For much of my teenage and college career, my relationship with America was a stormy one. It didn't help that our President got us into two wars, plundered our education system, and allowed corporations to run amok, eventually ruining our country's economy. During this period, I hated my country. I wanted to live anywhere else. I just wanted to get away from the crapshack our nation was becoming.

Now, however, I really do love America. Years ago, during my anti-America/Patriotism/etc. phase, I read Al Franken's book Rush Limbaugh is a Big, Fat Liar (1. it's a play on how Rush always uses ad hominem attacks and 2. he kind of is, guys). Although I'm not sure how much of it is actually true/applicable (I've since learned to take everything anyone says about this with a grain of salt) one thing did ring true. He said that, yes, patriotism and nationalism share many similarities, but the difference is patriots love their country like adults love, while nationalists love their country like children love their parents when they're very young. What does he mean? When you were a kid, could your parent do anything wrong? Ideally not. I realize in this day and age that it's not entirely a blanket statement, but bear with me, people. When I was a kid, my parents could do no wrong (except vegetables. Oh, and not enough ice cream), I wanted to be exactly like my dad and everything was sunshine and rainbows. However, adults recognize that no one is perfect. People, and countries, can have flaws, but we love them anyway. And, over time, with help from everyone, we can work to shore up and polish out those flaws. To make an overly long explanation short. America is great. Not perfect, not by any stretch. There are so many things that mar her beauty, rampant poverty while the rich have enough wealth to make Solomon blush, environmental issues that a quick fix can't solve, and I could go on and on, but I won't. Despite all these things, I still love living in America. It's a great place to raise kids (It's a damned sight better than Mars. Mars is cold as hell.)

What happened, then, to change my mind? I'm not sure. Perhaps it was a combination of growing out of adolescent rebellion and living in a foreign country that instilled this in me. Regardless, I don't know if I'll ever feel truly at home outside of the U.S. Of course, it doesn't help that I have lived in countries where I stick out like a sore thumb, but I digress.

There are those that pooh-pooh Independence Day, but I love it, now. Independence Day picnics, fireworks, all the things that are America are Independence day. Community, love, food, laughter, and happiness. At least to me. You can take whatever you want from Independence Day, that's your right. That's one of the things about Independence Day, you have the freedom to not celebrate it.

Did I have a point in there somewhere or was I just rambling? I don't know. It feels good to say that stuff, though. It feels good to say something else, too. This 4th of July, July 4, 2011, when our country is more fractured that it has been in many years, put aside politics and work to create a better country. One where babies like the one my sister is having can grow up and not have to worry, and have the freedom to live their lives. A place eventual grandchildren can be proud of.

I'm not going to sign this one with "God Bless America" as one would expect of a post all about patriotism and all that jazz because I think that 1. If there was a God, he should bless everyone, not just one country and 2. I don't think a belief in God is necessary to be an American. Who cares what you do or don't believe in? Therefore, I will use a far more ancient blessing of a people far wiser than I,

Live long and prosper.