It is time for the final push to get ready for the upcoming Rotary year.  I am amazingly busy and excited all at the same time.  Naturally this means that I am interacting more with all types of members right now.  Of course this is wonderful but the quantities of interaction are infinitely greater than the comfort level for any introvert. I am an INTJ.  Most people getting ready to start this Rotary job would be overwhelmed with the workload.  I don’t view that as my weak spot.  It is the social spotlight that makes me uncomfortable.

I realize that most people don’t know or wouldn’t peg me as an introvert.  I have three topics that I tend to talk that are safely within my comfort zone: Rotary, work and dogs.  I have noticed that as a result of the number of meetings I am having, I am beginning to show some of the introvert tendencies even when talking about these “comfortable” subjects.  I can not choose my words as comfortably so I stumble upon my own vocabulary, I repeat myself and then after the meeting, I hone in on some small trip up and think about how unsophisticated I look for about two hours.  Typical introvert behavior.  Feels awful.

Now isn’t the time to slow it down.  Now is the time for me to have more meetings.  Some of these meetings are for me to just get to know people better.  Most of the people that I spend time with are like meeting old friends.  They are both interesting and wonderful! But it still overloads my introvert mind.  

I hate perpetually feeling awkward.  I am currently working with a fellow Rotarian that is also an introvert on a new project.  This person has channelled their talents into creating something special for this new project.  This effort takes infinite hours and will serve as a powerful and compelling tool for this project.  I understand the level of satisfaction that comes from this type of work as I am doing some of these things too however I have to find the balance between this behind the scenes time and the out in the public time.  Right now I think I have to accept awkward as the new normal.  It will probably slow down a bit around mid July, early August.  Until then, I need to breathe and slow down more in conversation.  These people are my friends.  This is a volunteer job that I means a lot to me.  I have one shot at doing a great job but I wish for just a few months, I could be an extrovert.  The extroverts that I know thrive in these environments.  Time to take a few cues from an extrovert. 

I have not yet been in Bangkok for 24 hours but I know it is time to check in.

It was a very long journey.  We started out at 5:30 am Atlanta time.  Our flight was around 8:30am to LAX.  We had a two hour layover in LAX then it was off to Tokyo.  I have a terrible time sleeping on airplanes and the flight was extraordinarily long.  I watched FIVE movies.  To put that in context, I don’t watch five movies in a month at home.  I would say, I am well caught up on Hollywood.  

Then, as often happens in Rotary, something unexpected and great happened.  We landed in Tokyo (which would be around 4am Atlanta time) and I ran into one of my favorite Rotary couples, Bob and Charlene Hall!  They had just flown in from Seattle.  Now all four of us were completely wiped out but certainly you wouldn’t know from the 10,000 watt smiles the Halls were wearing.  As we made it through security and to the gate, we met a HOST of other Rotarians from Atlanta, Florida, Canada, etc.. In fact the flight was (guess here) over 50% Rotarians and that was just what I could determine from the logo shirts and/or pins.  They the gate was bustling with “where are you from”?  It was as if we had already arrived in Bangkok, excited to meet people and we still had a seven hour flight to go!

Finally we boarded and arrived in Bangkok.  It was after 1am Bangkok time, 86 degrees and we had a few pop up storms.  It was too late to get any food so we settled in with a bag of chips and a minibar small bottle of wine.

The hotel breakfast was a display of multiculturalism.  You could dine on anything from an omelette to miso soup to croissants!  So steering clear of meat and dairy, I enjoyed chana masala for breakfast!  After a leisurely meal, Mark and I ventured to the tailor.  I have always heard that custom suits were very reasonably priced in Thailand and I have had my eye on the suit that Sandra Bullock wore in “The Proposal” from the moment I saw it.  So I picked a nice fabric and was measured galore for the suit.  I also snuck in a very conservative dress.  Both items were reasonably priced and IMHO a steal compared to what I would pay at home for the same items.  In a few days the items will be done and I will have a final fitting!

Then it was time to make it to the famous Bangkok market.  It was an easy train ride from our hotel to the market.  By this time it was early afternoon, HOT and fantastically humid.  I expected a lot of pollution and was pleasantly surprised that unless you were trapped behind a bus, breathing was clear and easy.  We saw all types and shapes of items from clothing to shoes to art to refreshing beverages made of coconut!  It was of course, overwhelming but we spent many hours interacting with vendors and enjoying their wares.  We did come out with some interesting items including paper, clothing and art. This was accompanied by plenty of interesting food and beverages to keep us going. Just as we were making it back to the train station we were caught in a terrible deluge but as fast as it came, it dissipated before we were soaked to the bone.  

We made it back to the hotel tired, sticky and quite happy for our first night in Bangkok.  Tomorrow, all the festivities of the Rotary International conference begin.  Tonight will be an early evening as we are just exhausted and don’t want to miss anything that the international conference has to offer!