Chiang Mai: Yes, yes, Florida, California good.

I frequently have dramatic part-pantomime conversations with some of the Thais I deal with regularly.

Today, I was buying Diet Coke at one of my habitual stops, and the woman who runs it started to talk about all the snow she'd seen on CNN. She was horrified at the thought of the cold, wet stuff. She accompanied her words with gestures defining snow that reached over her head, followed by exaggerated shivers. I responded with a demonstration of shoveling. This triggered a pantomime of using a snow-blower. She marched along the floor, pushing the imaginary blower, waving her arms in the air to define the arc of the snow. My arms swept across the ice cream case as I talked about snowplows burying cars and blocking driveways. "Switzerland," she said, "Cannot open door." Her shoulder lowered and bumped forward, to show me how people can't get out of their houses even if they push the door. "Stay in house."











"I moved to Florida," I said. "Yes, yes, Florida, California good." This is something everyone here seems to know, that Florida and California have acceptable weather.