Open House

When Thai people buy a new house or move, they normally have some type of open house. Like in most cultures, when anything like this is thrown it normally ends up being a big deal. One of the ladies in our office, Jiab, helps both Jacob and I out a lot. She is the one that goes to the printer with me and helps me get projects printed. She also helps Jacob and me with keeping our visas and work permit up to date. One time she even talked to a repairman that was at the house for me over the phone and then came over to look at the problem so she could better help me. Another time, Socks and I were having personal problems with our neighbor (he was throwing rocks at the house) and Jiab came with Jacob to talk to him and the lady across the street who is in charge of our neighborhood (like the head of a home owners association). Jiab's mom was Jacob's house helper when he was a journeyman and is now our house helper. Jiab bought a new house and a couple weeks ago had the WHOLE office over for lunch. It was a lot of fun. However, I was still having issues with certain foods. When I saw people with iced tea, it looked so good. I was aware that it probably would have lemon in it but didn't realize quite how strong it would be. Also, note I wasn't in line with Jacob because he had gone to meet someone on the street because it was hard to find the house. So, I get my tea and then I'm careful with what I put on my plate. I sit down and take a big swig of tea and oh my goodness!! Jacob sits down and I was like I need you to share your water. He was like yeah I didn't get tea for a reason, but suddenly he had my tea. We ended up both drinking Jacob's water! Then since Jiab's mom is our helper, she felt it her duty to make sure we tried everything. So I purposely skipped the soup because it looked like the base was coconut milk. Well, then she comes and brings Jacob and me some. Let's just say Jacob had 2 bowls of soup. Cultural experiences aren't for 1st trimester squeamish tummies!!