1. The first few days.

I've made a reservation for my first night near the airport in Bangkok. It's at the Phoenix Hotel, which is moderately priced and provides a free airport shuttle that I don't need to call. Then I expect to move to Granny Bike.Bed hostel downtown. I scheduled an appointment at the Thai Travel Clinic for 2 days after my arrival. I hope to get the Japanese Encephalitis immunization there (which I couldn't get at home), and perhaps a rabies booster. I had a series of prophylactic rabies shots during my Peace Corps days, and there was an annual booster at the time. That was 20 years ago, but I've been told that now I don't need a booster. I'm sort of nervous about dogs, so I'll ask about the rabies booster in person. I'll spend a couple of days adjusting to the time change and seeing some sights, and hope to get some advice as to whether there is a safe route to ride out of Bangkok or whether I should catch a train out of the city.

2. Meditation

I registered for a 10 day meditation retreat in Thailand. It's at Dhamma Simanta which is a center near Lamphun, just south of Chiang Mai. The retreat is scheduled for November 9 - 20, and adds a bit of a schedule constraint near the beginning of my trip, which otherwise is just anchored at each end by my airplane reservations.

Why am I doing this? Well, it's an opportunity and a new experience. I've read about the benefits of meditation in the past, but I've never successfully managed to sit still and clear my head. With this 10 day silent retreat, I'm likely to go completely stir crazy. But I'm really hoping to achieve some degree of success in quieting (at least during meditation) what Buddhists call the "monkey mind". That is, focus on the moment and not let my mind jump between things that are done and in the past, and forward to what is coming in the future. This sort of mindfulness meditation is supposed to create compassion as well as awareness. I'll let you know how it goes!

In anticipation of the retreat, I've been practicing sitting. Yes, I'm concerned about my ability to sit still for the long meditation sessions. I've been working on some hip stretches, and also used a couple of intro-to-mindfulness-meditation apps. The first one is Headspace, which I found to be pleasant to listen to and maybe nudged me a little bit into actually meditating. The second is 10% Happier. That's also the name of a book by Dan Harris, an ABC news anchor. The book is an autobiographical story of Dan's journey into meditation, and also provides some insight into the TV news business. It was recommended to me by my friend Leigh when I told her I was attending the retreat. I borrowed it from the library, and found it to be a good read. Dan spent some time reporting on religion and on self-help gurus. Following their lead, he has his own self-help site named for his book, 10% Happier. The teacher on his site is Joseph Goldstein. I found his New York accent a little grating, especially in contrast with the sexy British accent of Andy on the Headspace app, but found the interviews that Dan has filmed with Joseph to be interesting.

Note that mindfulness meditation is entering the mainstream. There was just an article published in the NY Times.

And just a warning (especially for you, Mom), during the retreat I will not have any access to internet. They even take away the participants' phones. That means I'll be out of touch, and will not be updating this journal. Don't worry when you don't hear from me.

3. Language

I decided that I should try to pick up at least a few words of Thai before the trip. I've been listening to Thai language lessons on various apps and youtube videos. It isn't working too well. I can't really hear the differences between the up tones and the down tones, and even between the various consonants that all sound like "b".

I downloaded a free half hour lesson from Pimsleur. After about a half a dozen tries, I've gotten about half way through it. Then I found Learn Thai from a White Guy. I thought this might work with my American English-biased hearing and pronunciation. He takes a systematic approach, actually starting with the Thai characters. Maybe I have some sort of a mind block, but I still had trouble distinguishing the sound of some of the consonants. And his approach is really intended to learn the language, not just a few tourist phrases. Back to the Youtube videos. I hope I can get past Sawatdee-kha.

Update: I have found Learn Thai from Mod. Mod goes through the consonant sounds in sequence, which helps me to distinguish them, and also through the five tones. I'm not sure that I can make these sounds yet, but I'm getting closer!