My 3 months here is ever-so-ceremoniously marked by a trip to Immigration, where i needed only to cough up 1900 baht to apply for an extension on what is already a one-year visa. The marriage proposal was free.
What, that doesn't happen to every girl at the Migra? And how come the proponent is always so convinced that You are The One?
Yeah, yeah, i know - he saw me in a staccato exchange with a stern bureaucratte, and - don't tell me - the glow of my halo always gets brighter with any show of faintly saintly restraint...
He asks what i do here - i answer with the least possible words. But not few enough - it seems the impenetrable box of emotional isolation, irritating self-discipline and righteous ambition has been cracked open. And just like that, apparently i'd make the perfect wife... and apparently he would be a most devoted husband. and he promises to cook african soup or fried rice until my little heart's content...he had it all figured out!
it took nearly 3 blocks to "convince" him that he was very much barking up the wrong tree - unbelievable! okay, i threw in a few jabs before the final punch (i'm a nice jewish girl, i eat gefilte...) okay, so i let him pay for the before i told him i was married, and suggested he get out more. 10 baht, he insisted. Seems more than a fair price for my advice - and it was crazy hot out... !
So now that i've paid my latest round of dues, all knowledge of the royal bureaucracy of thailand and its inner mechanisms have been sworn to secrecy - forever rendered useless for future inductees...actually, i could explain it, but not without either getting sassy about it or boring myself ;) Whether or not i should have had to extend an extended visa, at least i saved myself a visa run to cambodia (less fun when you're not actually travelling!)
ufa, last exam...
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