For nine-and-a-half years I made Thailand my home. For over six years this site has offered hand-made hill-tribe silver for sale. After this brief hiatus from the real world, I have returned to the U. S. A. The site received some good feedback I even got a few orders, some even sent money, some sent counterfeit cashier's checks, one guy wanted an intro to a tradesman he could apprentice to. Isaan Imports was not a money maker. The silver is all gone. I am no longer in Thailand. The domain has been my home email for years. Think I'll keep it. What's in a name anyway?
 
I expected a wave of reverse culture shock on my return. I was disappointed it was as great deal as I expected. There was a feeling of disorientation when in a group setting, but driving on the right side of the road and being able to buy comfort foods conveniently came back naturally. Food. I love Thai food. After nine plus years it gets boring. You begin to yearn for stupid/silly things like Cheetos© or your favorite brand of potato chip, even if you ate them infrequently. I gained 15 pounds the first two weeks I was back. It doesn't help that my best friend is a foodie and took as much joy in watching me eat things like Osso Bucco with nearly as much relish as he displayed when eating a serving himself.
 
Portions here are huge! I blew up like a beached whale in the sun. It's taken the last 7 weeks to get back to my (not so) svelte 95 kilos. We don;t measure things in kilos or meters here do we? I'm getting used to that as well. Then there's the people. Friends, friends of friends of friends, parties and get-togethers, barbeques and potlucks, all these people speaking English!
 
I speak, read and write Thai, I can understand Brit-speak, Aussie-speak and on a good day I can even understand the Kiwis, but the sounds are easily tuned out - just become background noise when I don't pay attention. Not so with American English. The cacophony of voices all speaking at once was disorienting for the first few weeks. I think this was my biggest problem. After a couple hours with more than five people in one room I was physically drained. I wanted nothing more than to go to my room and lie down for a while.

As I walked down the street for hte first time i heard the distinctive rumble of an American Cross-plane V8. The baritone rumble was, is and always will be, music to my ears. I kept walking and a small group of Harley Davidson motorcycles rumbled by. More music, a symphony of automotive sounds not heard for nearly a decade. Mustangs, Corvettes rumble by with that throaty muscle car sound, Pickup trucks as tall as some Thai homes, jacked up for ground clearance no Safeway parking lot will ever need, burble by. Twin cam Harley Davidsons; Softails, Dynas and Road kings, Road Glides and street glides it's hard to keep count! Since selling my Road King in October I have missed riding. Not so sure I could handle he cold just yet though. Still, used and new Harleys are half the price they are in Thailand! I was glad to be home.
 
Man! Things have changed. American cars are much cooler than they used to be, there are more motorcycles on the road. Gas prices have gone through the roof. Surprisingly, food prices are not so much more expensive that Thailand. More expensive to be sure, but the difference is not as great as I expected. Some favorite western food items are even cheaper! But, the Variety of food stuffs! The US has Thailand beat, hands down. There are specialty stores in Thailand that offer some farang (western)food stuffs at inflated prices and generally of limited selection.
 
I have missed my favorite chili paste for so many years, "Sambal Oelek." There it is, right on the shelf marked as "Vietnamese chili paste" Sambal Oelek sounds Indonesian or Malay to me, I'm not saying the folks selling it recognize its origins, but there it is, right on the shelf next to the hoisin and black bean sauces. These things are of Asian origin yet almost impossible to find in Thailand.
 
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. We are home to natives of Thailand, Vietnam, China, The Philippines, Mexico & Latin America, South America, Puerto Rico, Cuba, countries all over the world. We have a rich culture derived from descendants of Italian, Portuguese, German, Irish, English, Dutch, Danish, Swiss, Swedish, Persian and so on immigrants. If you can't find the ingredients to make any international dish you may desire, You just ain't lookin. The local discount grocery chains offer up these items right next to Cambell's soup and Dinty Moore Beef Stew cans. The prices are competitive with local food stuffs. Why not? We live in the United States of America, our country stretches from Atlantic to Pacific from the tropics to the Arctic Circle. If it grows from the earth, swims in the sea or roams the shore, there's someone, somewhere in the US raising it, catching it or harvesting it. And I can buy it right now, right here, at competitive prices! It's good to be home.