Children of the 'Korn

A year and a half ago, Ryan and I decided to make the plunge from downtown to the 'burbs. The primary reason being that it would cut our commuting time in half, from at least 1.5 hours per day to about 40 minutes. Well, to say that “we decided” implies that both of us happily agreed to this change. The conversation went a little like this:

Ryan: Let’s move to Summakorn.

Rachel: No. What about all the restaurants, bars, and clubs near us?

Ryan: You don’t go to clubs.

Rachel: But I like that people around me do.

After several months of this conversation, it was clear that my reasons weren’t holding up and I relented. So we left. We left the variety of restaurants, bars, and clubs that we never went to. We left the traffic, the smell of the klong, hotter temperatures, and our friends the cockroaches. We left waking up at 5:15 every morning to get to work, the headaches from the pollution, and running our air conditioner all night long.

And we arrived in Mooban Summakorn (Mooban means “neighborhood” and Summakorn means…badass, or something like that). Thanks to Ryan’s schmoozing, we are renting the most beautiful little house, right along the main road and in close proximity to markets and street food (because in Thailand, food is everything). This neighborhood is full of little treasures, and even though I came kicking and screaming, I now love it. Many of our friends live here, but there are not so many foreigners that you feel as though you’re not in Thailand anymore. The people are friendly and relaxed, and, just like most in Thailand, are quick with a smile. Here are some of the highlights:

1) Street vendors. Right across the street from our house there are about 10 different food stalls. Our favorites are khao pad gai (fried rice with chicken) and crack chicken (chicken so good, we think they make it with crack). To the left of our house is a noodle stand. To the right there is barbecued pork and chicken. Those are just a few of the places we can get fresh food, all within 30 meters of our house. Did I mention that food is everything?

2) 7-11s. There are 2 within 30 meters of our house. Here are some of the things you can do at 7-11:

· Buy water with a plastic seal in a plastic bag with a plastic straw.

· Buy hot dogs, hamburgers, and Asian sticky buns.

· Buy movies.

· Buy beer, but not before 11am and not between the hours of 2pm to 5pm. Why, you ask? Because T-I-T. This is Thailand.

· Buy minutes for your cell phone.

· Pay your bills. A friend who’s lived in Thailand for many years now says that before the rise of the ubiquitous 7-11, you would have to go to the utilities offices and stand in line for many hours to get your bills paid. So praise the lord for 7-11!

3) The fresh produce market. It’s a 20 meter walk from our house, and I get fresh fruits and vegetables there almost every day. They’re half the price of supermarkets, taste better, and come with no packaging. But they will put it all in a plastic bag for you. I think I’m known there as “The Girl Who Refuses a Plastic Bag.”

4) The CP Fresh Mart. Where, ironically enough, everything is frozen. T-I-T.

5) The lakes. There are several restaurants around them, and watching the sunset on the lakes is so relaxing. And if you’re lucky, you’ll see the monitor lizards come out of it and walk the streets every once in a while. Sometimes they eat small dogs and cats.

6) Beauty parlors. There are about 20 in our neighborhood. There are even 2 that are right next door to each other!

There are many other positives, such as the egg stand and the cell phone mechanic, conveniently located right next to us. And the hardware store, where we purchased one of our most prized possessions, the electric mosquito racquet.

So we’re here to stay for the next year and a half. We are officially ‘Korn-ites, or, as our friend Katie likes to call us, Children of the ‘Korn. I don’t even miss the clubs I never went to.