8. A kind Thai aunt

When I found out that I didn't have a job at the moment, she invited me to get in the car and said she would take me to her house. This aunt lives with her teenage daughter and son. Personally, knowing that I didn't have a job made me free, and I like changing my surroundings. So, I agreed and got in the car with her without much hesitation. Part of the reason might be that I didn't feel she was dangerous, and she had kindly invited me. Besides, I wanted to see something new in this city. The reason was as simple as that.

When I arrived at her house, I met her son. The woman asked me this and that, interviewing me all the while. I enjoyed talking to Thais, as I'm also someone who likes to ask questions. There was a vacant room in the house at that time, and since the town where she lived was about half an hour from the shop where we met, and it was already quite late, she offered if I was interested in staying overnight in that vacant room. After seeing the room, I felt there was nothing to worry about, so I agreed. Of course, she, I would call her ‘the aunt’, cooked a Thai meal for me for dinner.

I slept comfortably on a large bed and woke up feeling good and peaceful in the morning. I'm usually an early riser. I woke up because my body felt full, and I like to make sure I don't miss my morning bathroom time because if I go completely, I'll feel relieved all day.

I'm someone who really loves the morning. It's so quiet and the air is fresh. Especially if I'm surrounded by nature, I'm addicted to the morning atmosphere. I woke up before anyone else in the house, and after going to the bathroom and washing my face, while everyone else was still asleep, I quietly opened the front door to go outside. I just wanted to go for a walk.

The plan wasn't much, just to keep walking. Everything seemed interesting in a new place like this. Whether it was the shapes of the houses, the quiet streets in the morning, or the bird songs that were different from where I was used to back in Thailand. Of course, there was no rooster crowing like in the countryside back home. I walked past a supermarket and a bakery until I accidentally reached a park. In my opinion, this is one of the excitements of walking without a destination... Finding something we like unexpectedly.

This park was called Anderson's Park. From a quick glance, it looked quite spacious and large. There was a big pond with white geese, black geese, and black swans. Yes, you read that right, there were actually black swans in the world! I'd only seen them for the first time myself. Besides that, there were many other ducks, and various species of animals were mixed together in groups. I thought it looked strange, funny, and cool.

Within this park, there were concrete paths for walking around, a large lawn in the center, and people walking their dogs. Dogs brought for walks need constant supervision and must be kept on a leash at all times (some parks allow them to run freely, but only under constant owner supervision). These rules were likely created to ensure the park can accommodate the diverse needs of everyone who visits without disturbing each other. The public parks here seemed peaceful and relaxing due to the lack of crowds. In the park area (excluding the skateboard rink), you might see no more than 20 people during normal hours. Everyone want their own privacy and to be close to nature. The park also has a designated area for children and teenagers to skateboard. As far as I could tell, I thought teenagers here enjoy skateboarding and rugby. I hadn't seen people playing football, basketball, or badminton in public parks as much as in my home country. In fact, I'd never seen anyone play badminton even once. Everyone has different preferences, don't they? Let's just say this garden made a great impression on me from the very beginning. The advantage here was that it is close to the aunt's house, about 300 meters away, and there is a supermarket within the area as well. I immediately felt in my heart that this was enough, even though I didn't have my own car at the moment, because I had places, I could feel good about, within walking distance.

After a while, the aunt called. She was probably surprised that I left the house in the morning without telling anyone. She might had been afraid I was lost (but actually, sometimes I like the feeling of being lost. It's confusing and exciting). When she found out I was at the park, she told me to stay there. She and her son would bring the leftover bread from home to feed the ducks. That was when I learned that besides big fish in rivers near temples in Thailand like to eat bread, ducks, geese, swans, and birds also like to eat bread as well.