116. | The first feelings

A strange thought occurred to me when I thought I was writing about my first feelings. How contradictory it is that they are first feelings, because I have actually felt so many things in my life that what I think is my first is probably not my first for a long time.

The reason for this post is that today I went to the nearby shopping-party-entertainment district. I went during the day, despite the fact that every forum apparently recommends visiting in the evening. I still went during the day because I was primarily curious about the place and not about the many people. I sat down on a street bench next to a café and for half an hour just listened to what feelings and thoughts were swirling inside me. In the meantime, I naturally looked at the people too. The plants. The ocean, the ships and the clouds rolling in the background.

Budapest

The new feelings probably started there. My younger brother picked me up for the early departure. That was a new feeling in itself. This was my fourth time going to Liszt Ferenc Airport this year, but the first time I didn’t go in my own car. My brother knows my thoughts about saying goodbye, we didn’t make a big deal about it, but it was noticeable that we both had some kind of feeling about leaving. He finally put it simply as “I’m going to miss your stupid head!” And I think that was what was supposed to be in it. He also said that it was good that I lived with them for the past 9 months. I think that apart from the fact that it was really good, I am very grateful to them that it was possible. We hugged each other, and the first strange feeling came over me when we parted ways with a honk and a final wave. From then on, there have been no familiar faces. Because although – to the constant amazement of some of my friends – people who are my acquaintances are popping up everywhere, this hasn’t happened for 4 days. And unless there are some very big coincidences, it won’t happen for a while.

Istanbul

The flight to Istanbul was like any other flight I had ever taken. After all, I hadn’t left Europe yet. I was on the European side of the Bosphorus and hadn’t even set foot outside the airport.

There were a lot of people at the airport, especially around passport control. I didn’t feel the way I wanted to feel here at all. People here still lacked kindness. I’ve experienced this occasionally, but not to the extent that I’ve encountered this feeling in other countries.

Sometimes, when I see trash, I bend over and take it to the trash can. Here, too, I saw trash and, because I wanted to pick it up, I got my reward. It was a 5 Lira bill. (5 TRY = 40 HUF.) That made me feel good.

I wrote at length about how “My first long flight” almost failed, so despite all the annoyance, I was still very happy to have made it to the plane.

It occurred to me at this point that I might feel lost, but no matter how hard I looked for signs of this, I couldn’t find any. Overall, I left Europe feeling light and liberated.

Bangkok

When it turned out that I had to do something official (Thailand Digital Arrival Card), I felt a little uneasy. I had already filled out this form – to no avail. The plane was about to take off. And I was only able to fill out the application “form” with the help of a kind official. I will actually write the story of this later, the point is that in those minutes I was worried about what would happen if they simply refused to let me into the country. That is, since I was already there, it would be even worse if they sent me back to where I came from.

Fortunately, this was only a momentary bad feeling, because somehow I felt that my plan could not fail here. A lousy document could not stand in my way. This country must also feel that it would be good for it if I were here. I trusted in the creative force and in the fact that I usually resolve such situations successfully.

After the stamp was put in my passport, peace came over me. The scanning of my luggage didn’t make me feel any better. Since I had a travel medicine cabinet ready, I brought a ton of medicine with me. According to a video, they don’t like this. Neither did the power bank. And the nail clippers. I didn’t get caught with this in any of the three scans. As well as the fact that my backpack might not be heavy, but its physical dimensions were larger than allowed.

So my feelings about Bangkok gathered around a feeling of luck.

This was then crowned by the fact that on the bus that took me to the plane, I found a Bathos coin. (1 THB = 11 HUF.)

An interesting digression in this regard:

In Thailand, the king is very strictly respected, and since the money (banknotes, coins) has the king’s portrait on it, it is considered disrespectful to desecrate the money – for example, if you step on it, crumple it, or even deliberately throw it on the ground.

This can also be legally problematic:

• Section 112 of the Thai Penal Code (the famous “lèse-majesté” law) states that insulting the king can result in a prison sentence.
• Although tourists are not usually sent to prison for an accidental insult, you can get into serious trouble if you do it publicly or intentionally.
• Locals are also very sensitive to this, so if you happen to drop a coin, for example, never stop it with your foot – instead, bend down to pick it up.

Koh Samui

When I saw the island from the air, I searched for the understanding within myself whether I was at home or not!? I didn’t have such feelings. Curiosity maybe, but to a very small extent. I don’t have any expectations about the island, so curiosity is more of a practical feeling than a positive or negative expectation.

The kindness of the taxi driver lady was the first thing that grabbed me. As she said let’s be friends. I asked her, she told me why she was driving a taxi. She gave me a business card to call whenever I needed help.

My host is also a nice French guy. The kindness that he placed a large bottle of chilled mineral water in my room was nice. We have been chatting with him ever since.

During my walks so far, I have met many smiling people. With lots of looks, turning around, greetings, and smiles. I use the well-known way of greeting from the first moment, and I hope that they feel that I give sincerely. And I am sure that I receive sincerely.

Here, the refusal is also friendly. I have been invited to about 30 massage parlors, but I refuse with a greeting. Walking the streets, I constantly think that I did not come here as a tourist, but I want to live here.

We have also greeted each other with people living in my neighborhood. There were Europeans and Thais among them. As a villager, I take this for granted at home. It feels good that if I want to remain unnoticed, I can do it, but if I want to be one with another person for a moment, there is a natural openness in the people here. This is a very good first experience, a first feeling.

Today, as I sat in the “Fisherman’s Village” frequented by foreigners, listening to the music coming from one of the restaurants and paying attention to my feelings, I had the feeling that I was home. I can’t quite put my finger on why. Nor on what the occasion was. Maybe it was just because I longed for it. Maybe it was because there was something in the air. Or was it the proximity of the ocean? Or was it the sea air? I really don’t know, and I dare say I don’t care right now.