Written by Marna Kirchner
Six months flashed by since we first arrived here in Bangkok. In that time we have experienced the ups and downs of expats settling into a new city and coping with whatever comes. There have been some wonderful new discoveries, culturally, culinary and visually. Now, it’s time to go back to South Africa to visit. I would love to share some of the things we have experienced here with my family and friends back home and have been racking my brains trying to find just the right gifts. It has to be something that suits their personalities and also gives them a little bit of a glimpse into what Thailand is all about. At the same time, I need to be able to fit it into a suitcase without paying a fortune in excess baggage at the airport. It’s been a very enjoyable challenge. Here are some of the goodies I came up with:
For my elegant mother who loves to dress up and always looks stylish, a beautiful mother-of-pearl brooch.
My older, ridiculously fit and health conscious brother who regularly takes 100km bike rides for fun, gets a Benjarong porcelain tea cup with a little lid and a packet of ginger tea. My two best friends definitely also get ethereal and delicate Benjarong porcelain sugar bowls.
For my younger, gregarious brother who takes care of everyone around him and who expresses his love by cooking for people, some braai (barbecue) goodies from Emporium’s excellent home ware shop accompanied by a cookbook with beautiful braai recipes from Kunikoniya
My cool aspirant rock star teenage nephew definitely needs a kick-ass T, printed with a mean looking dragon spirit-thing. He will be the hippest guy in his band. For my niece, petite little porcelain elephants with fragrant lotus and jasmine flower scented candles.
Of course, no selection of gifts from Thailand will be complete without silk, so my sister-in-law will be the proud owner of a fabulous Thai silk sling bag.
Apart from seeing the people I’ve missed, the thing I’m looking forward to most is to escape the heat; to just cool down in the beautiful mild South African winter, but I know I will very soon start longing to come back again to my new home!
And so, jetting to cooler climes, I remain ...
Emotionally yours, Marna
PS. What are your best gift ideas? I can’t help but start to think forward to Christmas when I’ll have to come up with some fab goodies again? Any ideas?
Marna Kirchner is a qualitative market researcher, a woman, a wife and a mother who has recently moved to Bangkok. The city alternately inspires and infuriates her. Here she writes about the emotional impact of her experiences in Bangkok and shares them with you, because she knows she is not alone in going through these experiences. And when she walks past you on the BTS walkways or on Sukhumvit road, she wonders which emotions are going through your head. Maybe, in turn, you’ll share them with her.
Marna asserts her right to be identified as the author of this work. All copyright and/or pictures are the property of the author.