EYES WIDE SHUT

[shygye]

Did you walk across the Golden Gate Bridge?

[drogon]

Neither....I couldn't due to my accute vertigo

 

(same reason I never saw Paris from the Eiffel tower although I travel to Paris every month more or less)

[Gadfly]

BUT

.....I think it was the "isolation" factor....the cacoon (sp?) they live in that caught me a little off guard

 

The fact that she did not know where "The River" was ....sorta really threw me

 

This is an excellent example of an often overlooked aspect of Thailand. Yes, Farangs can live in San Francisco for decades and not visit Alcatraz, but this is very different.

 

When you pause and think about it, this level of isolation is jaw dropping amazing.

 

TH has a good point about about the socio-economic aspect of this, but I see some amazing gaps even in some of the middle class Thais I work with, particularly those who have not spent significant time outside of Thailand.

[USVirgin]

I've lived in LA all my life and never been to Catalina or Universal Studios. I could show you some bars though.

 

Back to the girls, I can see how a shy dek serve (especially if she sleeps upstairs from the bar) in Soi Cowboy would live an insular life indeed.

 

On the other hand, I had some 33 girls show me the Grand Palace and the lb whom I barfined as a tour guide proved to be quite knowledgeable. Of course, she could have been making up stories as she went along and I'd have been none the wiser!

[Mr. Peabody]

As noted, not an uncommon occurence. Why, I myself spent several years at Alcatraz without ever visiting San Francisco!

 

I actually had a similar conversation withn a BG. She was reviling a customer for not taking her to the Grand Palace as promised as she'd always wanted to see Wat Phra Kaew. I pointed out that she could easily do this herself and she replied that she was in Bangkok to work, not go sightseeing.

[iuytrede]

when I was living in Taiwan I realized that I had never seen what Chinese (and I guess Japanese and Americans just as well) consider the main tourist attractions of the 2 places where I had grown up and lived all my life (castle of Heidelberg, Hofbraeuhaus).

Neither had I ever eaten what Chinese consider our national dish (in Chinese deguo zhujiao, sorry, I dont know the English word).

 

I went to see those places to understand the Chinese better, and took my Chinese gf with me.

 

The first time I ate our supposed national dish was in a restaurant in Taipei. The Chinese told me what it is. I later ate it one more time back home, it was quite different (I liked it better at home, it wasn't bad).

[CTO]

I loved people visiting me in Sydney - gave me a chance to see just how beautiful it was for a visitor, and after how ugly if you lived there

[Old Hippie]

BUT

.....I think it was the "isolation" factor....the cacoon (sp?) they live in that caught me a little off guard

 

The fact that she did not know where "The River" was ....sorta really threw me

 

This is an excellent example of an often overlooked aspect of Thailand. Yes, Farangs can live in San Francisco for decades and not visit Alcatraz, but this is very different.

 

When you pause and think about it, this level of isolation is jaw dropping amazing.

 

TH has a good point about about the socio-economic aspect of this, but I see some amazing gaps even in some of the middle class Thais I work with, particularly those who have not spent significant time outside of Thailand.

 

 

Odd thing, I notice most of the Chinese people around here never stray too far from home, other than a trip back to China, they stay mostly in the neighborhood, and don't go look around too much...Same with the Italians I knew in South Philadelphia...most were born lived and spent their lives in their own neighborhoods...

[Faustian]

I lived in a forest once, but I couldn't see the wood for the trees.

[Bangkoktraveler]

A Paradox:

 

Some people in Arizona have never left the State of Arizona but have visited the London Bridge.

 

According to Wikipedia:

"London Bridge, currently located in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, USA, was originally constructed in London, in 1831."

 

I think the bridge looks better in Arizona then in London, what do you think?