Unexpected Reminders of the Past

Last week, I had unexpected reminders of my past that came in the form of a television series and from a sign beside the road.

D'Angelo

Recently, we finished watching a Thai series on Netflix. Full House was a nice series because it is from the old days of television (2014), back when it was possible for people to fall in love without having sex. The show was based on a Korean TV series and was filmed partly in Thailand and partly in Korea. The lead male character was named Mike. As I was looking through the credits, I noticed that the actor who played Mike was Mike D'Angelo. I thought, "with a name like that, he could be from my home town, Wolcott, CT, where D'Angelo is a common name." There is currently even a D'Angelo on the town council there.

Mike seemed to be Thai, however, so I did some research and found out his real name is Pirat Nitipaisalkul (พิรัชต์ นิธิไพศาลกุล) and that he is from Bangkok. So much for Thai stars from my hometown. Mike has since dropped the "D" and now goes by simply Mike Angelo. He has gone on to make shows in China and Hollywood (he speaks Thai, Chinese and English).

Om Aem (Sushar Manaying) and Mike (Mike D. Angelo) in Full House
Sushar is from the Isaan region of Thailand.

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Waterbury

We were driving along a highway in Kalasin Province and as we crossed a bridge, I noticed the sign for the waterway we were crossing. It was an irrigation canal and the word for irrigation in Thai is Chonlaprathan. The first syllable of the word, Chon, is a fancy way of saying water.

An irrigation canal (khlong chonlaprathan) in Kalasin

As I was reflecting on that word, I was reminded of a province where we lived ten years ago, Chonburi, which uses the same first syllable. The "-buri" of Chonburi is an epithet of place names in Thailand with the same meaning as the English "-bury". So, if I translate Chonburi into English I get Chon+buri = water+bury. Waterbury. The name of the city where I was born.

My hometown was a bedroom community for people that worked primarily in Bristol or Waterbury. Even though we lived about 1/2 mile from Bristol, we were Waterbury people, which was about 6 miles away. My father worked in Waterbury, we went to church there and did most of our shopping there. Interestingly, my aunt and uncle and my cousins lived just around the corner, but they were Bristol people. My uncle worked in Bristol and they went to church there and seemed to have more connections there.

There are a lot of D'Angelos in Waterbury, too.

Funny how many years later I end up living in "Waterbury" (Chonburi), Thailand.

Sunset in Chonburi. A city (-buri) with lots of water (Chon-).

Though it has been many years since I have lived in Connecticut, it was fun to get these two reminders of these significant places of my past.

So if a person lives many years, let him rejoice in them all;

Ecclesiastes 11:8a ESV

Going Back

Recently, my brother posted a blog about memories of growing up in Wolcott, Connecticut.

I, too, have many memories of growing up in Wolcott, many similar to the ones he mentioned, though not all the memories are good.

But there is one good memory that stands out.

Sometimes, on the way home from church on Sundays, we would take the back way home and in so doing, we would pass a Dunkin Donuts store at the end of Lakewood Road at North Main Street in Waterbury. This was before Dunkin Donuts became famous for being a coffee place and there weren't that many around. ( I don't think that particular store is around any more--it was across from the Burger Chef (the fast food place we went to before we had McDonalds)).

Occasionally, we would even stop at Dunkin Donuts.

It was at Dunkin Donuts that I learned the term baker's dozen, which meant if you bought 12 you got one free.

Dunkin Donuts originated in the nearby state of Massachusetts, and for many years was generally a regional chain. After moving from away from the Northeast, this brand eventually faded from memory.

Until 2010.

In 2010 we visited Thailand to begin to explore the country to which we would soon be moving.  We traveled around a lot, by just about every means of transportation possible (not by choice, it was just that's how we got to the places we were going.)  One of those trips brought us to the Northern Bus Station in Bangkok.  We were looking for the vans to Lopburi, and fortunately there was someone who knew a little Thai with us, because there were almost no signs in English.

Except this one:

I was amazed to see a Dunkin Donuts in Thailand as we did not even have them in California.  We did not have much time, so I only paused long enough to take this photo.

In Thailand there are two major donut brands: Mister Donut and Dunkin Donuts.  For many years now, these brands have both been owned by the same corporation.Mister Donut is far more common in Thailand, and franchises can be found at shopping centers even in small towns like Phon Phisai, where we currently live.

For many years I hardly ate donuts, but since moving to Thailand, we will occasionally stop at a Mister Donut for a morning coffee break.

To get to a Dunkin Donuts, we have to go to the larger city of Nong Khai, where there are two outlets in two different shopping centers across the street from each other.  Last week, as I walked past one, I noticed a somewhat familiar looking sight:

This looked somewhat familiar, like the Boston Creme donuts that were my favorite as a child.  I looked at the label and sure enough, there were the words, in English, "Boston Creme."

A few days later we had to go back to Nong Khai, so I dared to get a Boston Creme donut to see if it was anything like I remember.  They say that memories can be tricky, and can even change with time.  It's probably been 40 years since I had one of these, so my comparison may be bit off.

First, the most obvious, the chocolate.  The donuts I remember from youth did not have a full covering of chocolate on top, like this one.  It was also creamier. (Eating Nutella actually brings back memories of that chocolate.) This chocolate was a bit hard, which may be a good thing, given the climate here.  Flavor is okay, but certainly something I can pass on.

The donut.  The donut is a bit chewier than the ones we had growing up.  But I actually prefer that. So that, for me, is a positive difference.

The creme.  The thing I really liked about the Boston Creme donuts as a child was the filling.  The filling in this donut was a big letdown.  Reminds me of the vanilla pudding you buy prepacked and ready to eat.

There is a saying, "you can never go back."  I don't know the context of the original saying, but for me it means that over time places and circumstances you remember have changed and you have changed, so that things or places you once thought you could never leave behind you now no longer want to go back to, or, if you could go back, it would not be the same.

Unlike my brother, who has kept in touch with many of his high school classmates, I have kept in touch with only one, and even that one I lost track of about 6 years ago.  My high school memories are generally not that wonderful.  I don't have a desire to walk those halls again. 

The one thing that sticks out to me from the end of my high school years is being rescued.  Rescued from depression.  Rescued from misery.  Rescued from the darkness I felt inside.  Rescued when I discovered that no matter how miserable I thought I was, Jesus loved me enough to give up his life so that I might have life.

Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Rome, "For while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly."  (Romans 5:6, NET)  That was me. Ungodly.  Helpless to do anything about it.  I've been rescued from that and I don't want to go back.  I'll treasure the positive memories and leave the rest behind.

As for the donuts,  I'll stick with the memories and not eat these Boston Creme donuts in Thailand any more (though maybe on my next trip back to New England, I'll give them a try).

cot cott cut

Last week we were teaching some high school students how to speak English.  The subject I briefly touched on that day was vowel pronunciation.

When one teaches such a subject, one becomes aware of just how complicated the English language is to read and write.  For as difficult as the Thai language is to write (because of the various symbols that can be used to represent the same sound), it is fairly easy to pronounce.  Vowels only have one sound.  Cononants only have one sound.  There are some exceptions to tone rules, but they are fairly few.

(For a light-hearted review of the Thai writing system, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKVtpCByEy4)

English, on the other hand...

Well, lets start with a paper brand they sell in Thailand.  This particular brand, Alcott, is used by the largest copy shop here in Wiang Kaen.



Alcott is a name that is dear to me.  It is the name of the school I attended for 8 years.  (I am one of few who did this.  When my siblings attended the school it only went to 6th grade.  After I left it became a middle school.)  The school is named after Amos Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May Alcott).  I also have some relational connections to the name. (For more on that, see my brother's blog here: http://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2015/05/genealogy-story-my-wolcott-connections.html)

The pronunciation of the vowels in Alcott follows the standard rules.  Since both syllables each have only one vowel, the vowels have a short vowel sound.

The name of the town that the school is located in, however, is a different story:

Wolcott.

Wolcott is named after the person who was governor of Connecticut at the time the town was incorporated.  He played a critical role in its becoming separated from Farmingbury to be a town in its own right.  I have no idea how HE pronounced is name.  But I do know how I grew up saying it.

If one followed the normal rules Wolcott would be pronounced something like wahl-kaht.  And maybe in some places that is how they say it--

--but not where I grew up (who knows, maybe its changed since then).

Instead it's pronounced more like what happens when a sheep goes to the barber:

wool-cut


 

Go figure!

Students of English, I feel your pain.

I summarize the difference between English and Thai this way:

In English a letter has many sounds.
In Thai, a sound has many letters.

A few weeks ago we were at a conference where there were representatives from several language and culture groups.  My favorite part is when we were all praying aloud in our own languages.  I quit praying just to listen.  I don't know what was being said, but it was beautiful.

Somehow God can figure all of that out.  For me I look forward to that day when language will no longer be a barrier to communication.  I imagine heaven to be somewhat like that time in the early days of the church when "they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language." (Acts 2:6b ESV)

(Meanwhile I will keep trying to improve my Thai language abilities.)