When I was a poor Peace Corps Volunteer, I had a lot time to myself where I could sit and imagine all the places in the world I would rather be than stuck in Podunk, Chaiyaphum - one of those places was a crowded party, filled with lovely Thai Air flight attendants.
Well, a couple weeks ago, this adolescent fantasy came true.
Nuch started working as a flight attendant (or Air Hostess, as they're known here) in 1997, so this year her class decided to celebrate their 11th anniversary of working for Thai Air. (Originally, they had planned to celebrate their 10th anniversary, but it took a year before they could all get together at one time.)
When Nuch invited me to join, I, having waited for more than a decade for this "dream" to come true, gladly accepted. Little did she know that I had just mentally checked off one of the items on my "100 things to do before I die" list.
Excited to have only 99 more items remaining, I never even considered where we would be going or what we would be doing. I guess in the end I should have known better - what else would Thai friends or co-workers do for an 11th anniversary.
Karaoke is popular in some factions of American society, but very few Americans could ever imagine the amount of leisure time it consumes in Asia. How many people do you know with Karaoke sound systems in their bedroom or in their car?
How can something that most people are inherently bad at become so popular? For the most part, Americans just don't get it. An expat friend of mine once described the experience like this - "karaoke is about as entertaining as watching paint dry."
So, like the man whose wish to live forever was happily granted by the genie, who neglected to mention that the man would still continue to age (forever), I had my Thai Air flight attendant "dream" party at a Karaoke Lounge.
Actually, as much as I enjoy complaining about Karaoke, there's a hidden side of me that secretly relishes the temporary super star status that Karaoke affords, but I would never admit that.
After 10 years in Asia, I've built up a certain immunity to this social phenomena of suffering through your friend's cackling voice and graciously returning the favor. Then, doing it all over and over again until you're asked to leave by the karaoke staff and owners.
As part of my Peace Corps experience, I was forced to develop a repertoire of Vietnam war-era super hits like Hotel California, Country Roads, and Beautiful Sunday. Eventually, I learned to survive a night out crooning with locals, who quite often didn't remember the words to the song, couldn't read the lyrics fast enough and didn't even try to carry a tune.
Heineken helps. The quirky video concepts they come up with can help pass the time, as well. For some reason, for Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight" they decided to film the inside of a church - not before a wedding, which would have made sense, but before Mass.
The paint is starting to dry.
So, although it wasn't quite how I had envisioned my dream party years ago, while stranded in the rice paddies of Northeast Thailand, overall it was a good time, and I'm hoping that despite my mangling of Robbie Williams' "Better Man", I will be invited back for the 22nd anniversary.
Here are some pictures of the restaurant/ karaoke bar we were at - Waterside. It's a beautiful spot - set atop lighted ponds, filled with water fountains and palm trees. Next time, I'll have to try the food.
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