A Thai lady in my TESOL class recently pointed out that it’s winter here. Sure enough, it is slightly less hot (low, instead of high 90’s). Then, later that day, I was shocked to notice something I’ve never experienced in Bangkok: a warm breeze. Winter is truly upon us. Now, while the Thais are all bundled up in their scarves and mittens, I can stay outside for periods of up to 20 minutes without becoming totally covered in sweat. It really is a relatively nice time to be in Bangkok.

I find that I don’t miss snow, and don’t particularly look forward to seeing copious amounts of it in the next two months. Maybe this is because I saw plenty of it last April in Nepal. What I do miss are rainy days. The hour long downpours followed by clear skies during the rainy season just didn’t do it for me. Now, I take the clear, blue skies every day for granted. If there were an overcast, rainy day now and then, I think I would appreciate the beautiful weather more.

I went to Khao San Road and bought a round-trip ticket home. I found a place that was significantly cheaper, and excitedly paid. When I checked the itinerary, there was no connection from LA to Indianapolis. The travel agent didn’t understand why this was disastrous, so I showed her the two cities on a map. Even then, I don’t think she understands that, unlike in Thailand, you can’t just hop on a bus to go anywhere you want. Without your own car, you can’t get very far in America.

At least I won’t have to worry about visas for a couple months. I had to go to immigration again to extend my Thai visa. I only needed 9 days, but they could only sell me a 15 day extension for 1900 baht. Yipes, that’s $50! Strangely, the official pointed out I could pay an overstay fee of 200 baht per day at the airport, saving me 100 baht. But I’ve heard stories of people who overstayed by one day, but had a train ticket out of the country for later that day. This didn’t stop Immigration from paying them a visit, and throwing them in jail. You should always be legal in Thailand.

In America, I should be able to get a one-year visa. This will make life easier when I comes time to apply for a work permit. Work permits cannot be issued with tourist visas, but you can’t get a one-year visa in Thailand. So they make you go to Malaysia, which is incredibly far from Bangkok. The Thai consulate in Penang will only issue a one-year visa with evidence of employment, which, of course, can only be obtained by working illegally for a few months. There’s no way to avoid this catch-22, but I’ve never heard of anyone getting in trouble for it.