Oh boy, where to begin.

I remember when I was a kid, maybe around 8ish years old, my great grandmother died. And that was pretty much my only experience with death. There had been people that I had met, here and there, but that was the only one that really impacted me. But recently I've had to get especially used to it - from grandparents, acquaintances, and friends. But I don't need to harp on about that again. We unfortunately are adding another, King Rama IX.

I don't mean to compare one to the other. They are all impactful in their own way. And I know that by itself may sound odd to people back home, as I am of course a foreigner. But it's a really sad situation over here. Thailand really, really loves their king, and for good reason. He was a great leader, who even I in my short time here will miss. I have seen people compare the love Thais have for King Rama IX to how North Koreans feel about Kim Il Sung, which I think is very incorrect. Perhaps on the outside, that's how people appear. But the feelings Thais have are legitimate, and the people here have been dealt a great blow. It reminds me of how everyone felt following September 11th. Everyone looked gutted, and maybe even felt a little guilty if something made them laugh. Thailand is going through that right now, and I really feel for them. The government has declared a one year mourning period, and all the videos I see online of people gathering en masse to sing the royal anthem are really touching. And where does Thailand go from here? Nobody has any idea. King Rama IX has been the monarch since the 1940s, only but the very elderly even remember another king. Plus with the military rule right now, everyone is kind of holding their breath.

So, let's try to move on to more happy things. This is a travel/personal blog, after all. So let's talk about Koh Samet.

Koh Samet is an island towards the east of Thailand, about halfway towards Cambodia. I had been there once before, with Ella and four other friends. It's a beautiful place, with white sandy beaches, clear blue-green water, nightly fire shows, and amazing food. It's the sort of place when you imagine yourself giving up on your job, and moving away to live on some tropical island - Koh Samet is that island. It's not really overrun with tourists, it's easy to get around, and feels like it has everything you need.

Last time, I feel we didn't have much time and we just sort of squandered it by sitting on the beach outside our hotel. I was eager to find out what was on the island, and if there was some big temple at the top of some mountain I could climb. Well, Ella and I went back for 4 days to see what we could find. Welllllll, not so much. Koh Samet is not a place you go to do things, it's a place you go to not do things. It also rained for 2 of those days, so we spent a lot of time sitting on the beach, eating, and drinking. Not that there's anything wrong with that. After how much work I've been subject to recently, it was a very welcome change. But I think if I had to do it for a few more days, I would've gone crazy. Sorry, beach. You're really nice. But I need to live around skyscrapers, trains, and reliable internet. Beautiful nonetheless, here's some stuff to look at:

In other followup, we've made some new friends. Elana, Seya, Art, and Aeh are sort of becoming one of the regular group you can always count on being available on Saturday nights to get into trouble with. That trouble involved going to the train night market, which is fast becoming my favorite place to party. It's cheap, has tons of food, bars, and is right on the metro. Aaaaand, this time I found a soju bar. A bar entirely devoted to soju, that magical Korean liquor that I have yet to get a hangover from, no matter how much I drink. It was amazing, and looking at my camera roll, I do not remember taking any of these photos. So, that's a good sign.

Hey there, internet.

I wish I could update you on all the fantastical stuff that's been going on, but I'm sorry to say there just isn't that much. At least, not much that would make for interesting reading. The semester is winding down, and I'm looking forward to having the next month off from work. Not that it matters too much, as it will all be spent on school. Minus the 3 or 4 days Ella and I plan on going away to the beach.

So, since this is my blog and I can do whatever I want, I'm going to talk about a subject that has been coming up frequently for some reason.

Flags.

I dig flags. About as much as I dig metros. And I'm sorry, but there's a lot of really terrible flags out there in the world. Most countries have their shit together. There are actually rules by Vexillological Associations, which I think is a bit crazy. Who are these flag nazis to dictate style? Anyway, let's start with some good flags.

Italy - Looks like a pizza. BAM.

St. Kitts and Nevis. 2 islands. One is green, one is more rocky. BAM.

South Africa - When I see these colors, I think "Africa".

Antigua and Barbuda - Latin America has some great flags. Mountains, white sandy beach, ocean, sunrise. Awesome flag.

How about some bad ones?

Turkmenistan - How is anyone supposed to recognize the left side?!

Cyprus - This is literally just a map of your country on a white background.

Fiji - Aside from the UK "Flagception", an incredibly complicated seal to boot.

Brazil - Beautiful, except for all the incredibly tiny fine details. A motto in 4 pt font? And a star map? Please.

Now, I'm sure these are all fine countries with lovely people. But you need to work on your flags. You see what the difference is? The good ones are actually capable of being drawn by a kid. They're instantly recognizable from a large distance away. And they mean something. I feel then, it's only fair to talk about my country's flag.

Unfortunately, the US only gets criterion #3. Everything does mean something, and it's pretty blatant. 50 stars for the States, 13 stripes for the colonies, yadda yadda. But let's take the right sides of Malaysian, Liberian, and American flag.

Which shade of red is the USA's? I don't know. You need to count the stripes, which is not going to happen. Quick, try to draw the American flag now. Good luck trying to get all 13 of those stripes and 50 stars unless it's the size of an A4 sheet. If we ever get in a Liberian - American - Malaysian war, it's going to be chaos. It's not a great design, and I say we make it great again. (C) Trump Industries

So, let's look at Thailand's. Pretty good flag. It's easy to draw, recognizable, and there is meaning. Albeit, I think the meaning is a bit unclear.

Apparently, red stands for the land and people, white for religion and blue for monarchy. But there's no way to know that unless you're some sort of flag scholar. In fact, many of the examples I gave don't really have blatant meanings. There are very few flags that you can look at right away and say "I know the symbolism behind all of this." There are some really good examples that tick all 3 boxes, like Estonia.

Want to guess what their flag is like?

Nice.

There are also flags that say "To hell with all of your rules." Notably, Nepal. They are the only nation with a non-rectangular flag. But ya know, I like it. Looks like the sun over some mountains to me. It also looks really old school, medieval style. Way to go, Nepal.

Your flag rules suck and I hate them.

Or Sri Lanka. It's super complicated, but it's gone to "so complicated it's good" territory.

Lets have stripes AND a lion! With a sword! And a gold border! And little flame things!

There's also some seriously, seriously bad flags. Like, atrocious flags. Most of the US State flags are pretty bad. Although, Colorado and New Mexico's are exceptions. But the creme de la creme, the epitome of a terrible flag has to be Maryland.

This is not a flag. I have no idea what's going on here, but I feel that if I cross my eyes I should see a picture.

But don't feel bad, Maryland. Liberia's River Gee County will always be worse than you.