Thai update...

I'm just the edge of reading now. I can recognize key words and most of the common consonants and vowels, although I'm still having trouble working out how to pronounce new words. It's been fun so far, and not actually that difficult, it's just that there are a lot of pronunciation rules you need to internalize in order to read correctly. I can see how learning the script will really pay off though. The three written sources I'm using all use different romanizations, and none of them seem to be ideal. The other plus is that it's a lot easier to remember the tones if you can also remember the leading consonant.

I took Liem out to dinner last night and managed to order entirely in Thai (which is less impressive than it sounds because most menus here just use the same twenty words in different combinations). At least the manager didn't bat an eyelid when I walked in and asked for a table for two. I guess she knows how to keep the locals happy... Here's Liem about to dig in to some khao pat gai (chicken fried rice) and pat thai goong...

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