If I had 1 million baht...

Every day something happens that reminds me that I am living in a country completely different than my own. Not that I forget I am in Thailand. Everyone looks different, speaks another language and it is 90 degrees at the end of November, but there are some cultural difference that resonates with me.

When I was riding on the "hot bus" to the bus station on Friday a monk boarded the bus. As he stepped on a middle-aged woman got up and gave him the front seat of the bus without hesitating. He didn't pay. No one asked him for money. After the middle-aged woman gave up her seat a young man gave her his seat. There is a hierachy in Thailand. I witnessed it on the bus.

Age and status are very important in Thailand. Those that are older have a higher status than the young. When Thai people greet each they do what is called the "wai'. You place your hands together in a prayer position and bring your hands to you head. The higher your hands the more important the person. For images of Buddha, monks and the royal family the base of you thumbs go to your forehead For people older than you the base of your thumbs goes to your chin. For people the same age or younger than your fingertips go to your chin. The younger person does the "wai" first. When I met my coordinator for the first time I was very nervous that I would do it all wrong. But perhaps to make me feel more comfortable or to show she knew something about my culture she shook my hand.

Since showing respect to people older than you is so important, many Thais ask me how old I am as soon as I meet them. Their response is always, "So young." However, being a teacher commands respect on its own. Teacher are addressed as Teacher _______, much like we call doctors Doctor_____. It is very refreshing to be in a country that appreciates their educators.

Respecting your elders is particularly noticable with the way teenagers treat their parents. I have been spending a lot of time with teenagers and I have noticed that mostly Thai teens are the same as American teens. They like junk food, facebook, and Twilight. But the Thai teens seem to be much more respectful to their parents than their American counterparts. Not that Americans are disrespectful though. (Some parents may disagree) Here is an example. Today I had the students finish sentences with their own thoughts to help them practice speaking. One of my sentences was "If I had 1 million baht I would..." "I would give it to my parents", the students responded. I laughed. They told me they would give it to their parents because their parents buy them everything they need and then some. It would only be right to give the money to their mom and dad. Would any of us say that? Maybe give some. Not all of it. Especially not when we were teenagers.

Lopburi

This past weekend I visited the quiet town of Lopburi. It is just 3 hours North of Bangkok and this weekend the town hosted their annual Monkey Festival. (Yes, you read that right. Outside of the cities, Thailand is just one big jungle. And what lives in the jungle? Monkeys.)

I will start with the "getting there" part. I think they say that travel broadens the mind because most of the time it is unpleasant. I left the OEG office at 4 pm. I walked down the road about 15 minutes to catch the MRT or the subway. Took the MRT to the Hua Lampong train station. So far so good. I tried to buy a ticket for the 6:10 train to Lopburi. But there is no train. The only explanation I received from the ticketing staff was "We have flood." Ok. A kind employee who spoke English well told me to take the number 49 bus to Mochit to catch the bus to Lopburi. So I adjusted my backpack and quickly walked to the crowd of people waiting for the bus.

The #49 bus came and I jumped on. For the next hour I sat on the bus (no AC of course) stopping throughout the capital city during rush hour. By the time I made it to Mochit the sun had set and I had no idea where to go next. Fortunately, Thais near bus/train stations know that when they see a farang with a backpack walking in circles that probably means that she doesn't know where to go and most likely is thinking of every single Thai word she knows before she asks for help. A kind man asked, "You go?" I said "Lopburi". He laughed because I said it wrong, of course. Then he pointed me toward the station and told me platform 96.

Well he meant 6. But there was no bus. Because we have flood. So I was told to take the wan. "The what?" "The wan". Oh right. The van. I boarded a 15 passenger van on the very bumpy, bumpy road to Lopburi. It was a good thing I had no time to eat dinner because it all would have come up on that journey in the back of the wan.
On Saturday morning, I explored Lopburi. The old town is very small so I was able to walk to all the famous ruins. (No taxis! Yay!) I have always enjoyed ruins and learning about the history behind them. Lopburi was the home to a former Thai king and many of the ruins are left from old palaces and temples. I also visited a museum full of 12th century smiling Buddhas found in the Lopburi province.

After lunch I headed Prang Sam Yot. A shrine that is over run with wild macaques. The closer got to the shrine the more monkeys I saw. Climbing on telephone lines, hiding under cars, inching closer to the noodle stands. At the shrine the monkeys ran about the grounds, scurried up the walls and laid in the shade of the temple's shadow. Some of my friends let the monkeys jump onto their backs or eat food out of their hands. The Thai people keep 3 foot poles on their person at all times so that the monkeys cannot get too close. If the Thais, the Buddhists who would never harm a living thing, do not touch the monkeys, then I am not going to touch the monkeys. The monkeys pulled hair and nibbled at legs. They are smart enought to open a water bottle or a bag of chips. It was absolute insanity.
Later I went with all the other English teachers to the sunflower fields and bat cave outside the town of Lopburi. We all piled into the back of a truck and took off. I can't even imagine all of the jokes that must have been told when the Thais saw us farang all squeezed into a truck bed together. The sunflowers have just started to grow, no where near their full height. We arrived at the bat cave just after sunset so we say the thousands of bats zip out of the cave to go find their dinner. That night the English teachers gathered at a bar and swapped classroom stories. I was eager to hear about all of their experiences since I have yet to start teaching yet.

Sunday was the day of the monkey festival. Thais and Westerners alike gathered at the Prang Sam Yot to watch the monkeys devour the banquet so experty prepared for them. The food was on plates. The plates were on tables with table cloths. The feast included tropical fruit, candy, sweets, Coca-Cola, juice. Everything a monkey could want. The banquet serves as a thank you to monkeys for bringing them success. Now don't get me wrong. Thais find the entire situation ridiculous. But it seems to me that they would rather celebrate these unwanted pests once a year than exterminate them. The festival was full of light-hearted fun. A day to laugh with family. A day to come together as a community. A day to celebrate our furry little cousins.

Photo: One of the tables from the monkeys' feast and Mary at a ruin site.

Other things I have noticed...

June informed me the other day that Americans are direct. And she respects that about us. I was a little taken a back. I have felt like I have been walking on eggshells around her and her family for fear of offending or worse, being seen as a burden. She said, “You tell me when you are hungry or thirsty. You tell me when you are not hungry or thirsty.” Interesting. From what I can gather, Thai people never want to inconvenience others. So if they are asked if they are hungry they may say no to avoid putting someone out. This conversation shed some light on something else that had been puzzling me. I mentioned before that we had two maids making us food and doing out laundry, but now the maid service has become more awkward than a luxury. If I ask June, “Can I get some water?” She always responds, “I will tell my maid”. I can't just grab a bottle from the fridge. (The tap water is safe to drink in this area but it tastes so bad.) When making cookies in the kitchen I pointed to some of the bottle water and asked, “Can I get some water from here?” June ran to get her maid from another room and who then poured me some water. Totally strange right? Maybe the maid service is so that I don’t ever have to inconvenience myself. Wish they would just let me grab a bottle of water when I am thirsty though.

Outside most business and homes there are Spirit houses. Spirit houses are elaborate shrines dedicated to the “spirits” that dwell the area. At first, I was confused. I saw these beautiful, detailed structures with fruit, water and juice sitting on a table before it. Food was arranged on plates. The bottles of juice were opened with a straw delicately placed inside. Near a mojito drink stand, (yes, they sell alcoholic drinks on carts on the street) I even noticed a spirit house with an offering of a mojito. The belief comes from ancient Animism. Thai people offer food and drink to the spirits. In return for the food offerings, the spirits will provide good fortune. Most Thais do not believe in spirits; they keep the spirit houses out of tradition and perhaps out of superstition as well. Keeping the spirits happy is good for business.

Thai people seem to realize the parts of their culture that Americans find strange. Breakfast is the big one. Without asking, Thai people know that squid or shrimp or noodle soup is probably a bit to much to swallow early in the morning. That is why we get eggs, hot dogs, spaghetti, salad, garlic bread and sandwiches for breakfast. In the office, I was make some coffee when one of the woman asked me, "Are you used to instant coffee yet?" First thought was, "How did she know I find this absolutely disgusting but I am desperate for caffeine" You can even taste the horrible-tasting tap water through the coffee. A cultural difference. I, as an American, find instant coffee offensive. Thais find it bizarre that I don't fill half my cup with milk and sugar. A insignificant different, yes. But I have noticed more significant differences which mainly have to do with Thailand having more community-based beliefs and the United States having more individualistic beliefs.

During a conversation with some of my students, I noticed that they students would describe their 3 houses or 4 houses. Now from what I can gather it isn't that these teenagers are filthy rich, but they consider the houses of their aunts and uncles and cousins to be houses of their own. I think. I tried to get the students to elaborate but shyness and limited English prevented me from getting the entire story. I was reminded of a conversation with Gift, June's older sister, who has studied in America. She explained that, "My family is a little different from Thai families. We don't live with everyone. So we have dinner together a lot." It seems to me that this cultural difference- community versus individual- is the hardest difference to understand. On both sides. Both cultural views has their shortcomings. Individualistic cultures foster success and independence. But de-emphasizes the importance of working together for the good of the whole. Communal culturals work together towards harmony between everyone, but at the expense of individual success and individual improvement.

On a lighter note, I interviewed two students today for the United States Exchange program. One was named Earth and the other Army. Thai nicknames are all over the map.

Lastly, I have noticed that many Thai people have a not so hidden talent of playing the ukulele.

Thai Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I first arrived June asked me many standard "get to know you" questions straight out of her English Language textbook. "How are you?" "Where are you from?" "What is your age?" "What do you like to do?" And for that question I answered, "Well, I like to cook." And June responded, "You can cook cookies." She meant to ask, "Can you bake cookies?" to which I responded "Yes." And then she said, "You can cook cookies for me." She meant to ask, "Would you bake cookies for me?" Thai people struggled with our question words. In Thai the question part goes at the end of the statement, putting it at the beginning is strange to them. Even harder is remembering to raise you voice at the end of your question.

It has literally taken 1.5 weeks to gather all the necessary supplies for baking cookies. Thais don't bake. In fact, the "kitchen" in this mansion is separate from the house and the main cooking area is outside. My host family has an oven but I believe it is really more for show than for cooking purposes. But eventually we gathered all purpose flour (hidden in the aisle with rice flour and tempura flour), sugar (easy to find here!), brown cane sugar (no brown molasses sugar unfortunately), butter (no prob), salt (got it), baking soda (very difficult to track down), eggs (in the fridge), chocolate chips (in the candy aisle) and vanilla extract (impossible. had to substitute for almond extract). Fortunately, my host family realized their baking shortcomings before I did. They had no measuring cups, or measuring spoons. No baking trays. But somehow they tracked all of those necessary parts down. So tonight we baked cookies.

The brown sugar was a little different. It was hot as Hades in the kitchen. Eager June throw in the butter before it had fully softened. But the cookies turned out great. My host father was very keen on learning how to make the cookies. He hovered over me while I was measuring, mixing, and scooping. He asked questions like, "Why no milk?" "You stir slowly?" "Have need everything?" June pranced around the kitchen in an apron, occasionally helping me mix the dough, but mainly playing DJ on her blackberry. Both were content on letting me bake. However, when I pulled out the gooey, hot cookies from the oven June and her father were disappointed. "Too soft! Can't pick up!" I was shocked. Not only would they not eat the raw dough, now they wanted hard cookies. I smiled and slide them back in. 3 to 4 minutes later I pulled harder, crispier, going to be dry cookies from the inexperienced oven. They loved them. I encouraged them to eat them with milk but my advice feel on deaf ears.

I ate 4 cookies. With milk. Soy milk. But it was close. Nice to have a little bit of home over here in this strange place :)

Thai Students

I started teaching a 2 week class about American Culture and History to 15 to 17 year old students preparing for a year studying abroad in the States. It has been my first experience teaching Thai students. And I have to say they are a little different than American students.

We were warned that Thai students can be a little "naughty". They are not like the diligent, hardworking, respectful Asian students that we have always imagined students in this part of the world to be. Thai students chit-chat, text and goof around like American students. They love to play around. Remember this is the Land of Smiles. And giggles. And laughs.

Today I reviewed the highlights of American History. Not surprisingly some of my students talked the entire time. No matter what I did to get them to stop. I like to think that were talking about the history content. I mean, they could be, I can't speak Thai. But they probably weren't. Phones went off. Girls giggled. Boys tried to avoid my eye contact. But at the end of class I did feel that they had learned something.

Of course, every student redeemed their naughty behavior by bowing to me and saying, "Thank you, Teacher. Good bye" as they left the classroom. Every single one of them. Can you imagine if American students walked out the door saying thank you. Every time? You may forgive texting during class too!

"Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater." ~Gail Godwin

Our Common Ground

Tonight for dinner my host family took us to a seafood restaurant. The 7 of us piled into the van, Dad drove, Bank the 16 year old son jumped in the front (sound familiar), Mom, Gift, June, Jenna and I climbed into the back. Once we arrived we decided to eat outside. It is “winter” now in Thailand and the evenings are quite nice. Thais eat everything family style. They order several dishes, some rice and some soup for everyone to share. So our host family selects our food for us. They want us to try everything. Thai people are so proud of their food. And they love to eat. It is a very social experience for them. There are very few small tables at the restaurant. Most are made for 5, 6, 7, 8 people to eat. I have also learned that they may order around 15 dishes for the entire meal. You have to really pace yourself because the food comes out at all different times. Very difficult to do when you are sitting in front of brand new dishes that you are dying to eat.

We all sat down and immediately the waitress (who was a lady boy) poured me a Heineken, Bank’s choice. He seems to justify ordering beer to drink because the “special guest” (me) drinks beer. The two of us split a liter of Heineken, which somehow turned into 2 liters. Tonight it seemed that we ate every type of animal that lives in the ocean. Mussels, Clams, Oysters, Crab, Fish, Shrimp, Scallops. Most of which still looked pretty much the same as when it was alive. The shrimp had a head and tail and legs. The crab was still whole. And the fish. It looked as if it was swimming just minutes earlier. But man was it delicious. There are so many sauces to dip and spread all over our tasty sea creatures. It was hard work freeing our meal from their hard shells but well worth the work. When I come home I will be an expert with a spoon and fork. (No knives in Thailand!) The waitress kept bringing plate after plate and by the end of the meal I was completely satisfied and a little drunk. I explained to my host family that Kentucky is very far away from the ocean and we don’t eat fresh seafood like this. Or this much of it!

Then the dessert came. We were served taro root in coconut milk. Surprisingly it was not too sweet! It was delicious. During dessert the conversation shifted back to the English language. Gift asked how to you say the sweet things you eat after dinner. “Dessert”, I said. Then she asked, “How do you say the place with all the sand, like Egypt?” “Desert,” I said. The table laughed. It sounds the same to them. We explained the word sounds different to us because of the emphasis of the stressed syllable. (We are back to this again!) In “dessert” the stress is at the beginning of the word. In “desert” the stress is at the end of the word. A very subtle difference.

At the end of the meal, (no it is not over yet!) we had juicy papaya, pina colada pineapples and the best watermelon I have ever had in the middle of November.

“Food is our common ground, a universal experience.” James Beard

Fruit

I have already mention that certain tropical fruits like pineapple and papayas taste like heaven in Thailand. I can't even describe the pineapple. It is almost like you are eating pineapple flavored candy. Now I know where that taste in Pina Coladas comes from! On the flip side apples, an American staple, are less than tasty. I like to think that Thai people who come to the States in the fall taste our apples for the first time, then they excitingly call home to tell their family how delicious apples are in the US. Maybe?

Durian is notoriously know as the "stinky" fruit. Oddly shaped and horribly smelling, durian may be the strangest fruit I have ever tried to date. On the outside it is green and covered in spikes. On the inside it smells like rotten food. But it tastes sweet. It is just the texture that gets me. The best way to describe is like bread dough. Sweet, smelly bread dough. I prefer pineapple.

We also have eaten green apple guava. Guava like many fruits has many different varieties. It is very strange. It feels like an unripe apple. And it tastes spicy and peppery. Not sweet. I don't really like guava either. There is probably a reason why durian and green apple guava hasn't really hit it big at home :)

But the bananas. I had no idea there were so many kinds. Bananas like the ones at home. Tiny baby bananas. Very thick bananas. Aroi! My favorite way to eat them is deep-fried and covered with sesame seeds. Perfect dessert straight off the street.

First picture is the durian and the second is the green apple guava.

Things I have noticed...

At 6 pm on all the radio stations, television stations and in public places, the Royal Anthem of Thailand is played, usually accompanied (if possible) with images of the King. If you are out and about every one stops while it plays and then goes about their business. The Anthem was also played at Movie Theater before the film started. (June took us to see “In Time” with Justin Timberlake. I would recommend it. It was like a Sci-Fi Bonnie and Clyde) I find all of this very interesting, particularly because it is the Royal Anthem, honoring the king, not the National Anthem that is played so frequently. There are huge pictures of the King and Queen everywhere. The Thai people revere him.

Sweet is sweeter here. Anything that has ANY sugar in it at all has 3 times the sugar in Thailand. The juice is like syrup. The ice coffee is like a milkshake. The candy is pure sugar. You all know I like sweet. But here it is too sweet. A few nights ago, for dessert we were served this black gelatin served in a bowl of ice. (It was very strange) I thought it was probably black-licorice jello or something along those lines. But it tasted like pure sugar syrup with a hint of the anise flavor of black licorice. It took everything in me to choke some of it down in front of my host family. I took about 5 bites under their watchful eyes and then politely smiled and said “Aroi!” or “Delicious”. They smiled and I played with my black jello on ice until it was time to leave the table. Next time they ask me if I want cake, I most definitely will say yes.

Thai people will point to an object, say something and look at me. I used to think they were trying to teach me Thai. However, I have found it is the other way around; they are trying to learn English. So many times I think they are saying a Thai word, but really they are butchering an English one. It happened today with June. She pulled a container out of the fridge and said, “La ZA naaaaa” and looked at me. I said, “La ZA naaa?” “Cheese?” she said, “La ZA naaaa”. I repeated what she said. I thought she was teaching me the word cheese in Thai. No. She then said, “Ga fee. Cat. Movie. He love.” June had pulled out lasagna from her refrigerator. She helped me understand her English by referring to Garfield everyone’s favorite cartoon cat that happens to love lasagna. I did not realize how important the stressed syllables are in the English language. If you stress the wrong part of the word, it can become almost indecipherable. Good to know that I can get lasagna in Thailand though.

-Photo of June, Jenna and I at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok.

Koh Samui

My first trip in Thailand was to the Thai island of Koh Samui. My 5 days were spent lounging at the beach, visiting temples, snorkeling at local islands and hiking up waterfalls. But the hassle it took to get there was something worth writing about.

To begin the Air Asia (the inexpensive airline) was having difficulties with their website. So my traveling buddy and I had to take a cab to the airport the night before the flight to purchase the ticket at the counter. Did you know you could do that? I guess you had to either go to the airport or make a phone call to purchase a ticket before the internet. As a strictly 21^st traveler this was a new experience for me. In order to avoid paying for a cab back to the apartment, then back to the airport we spent the night. Now I am 100% positive that airports design the airport benches in a way least conducive to sleeping. After a night on cold, metal benches I couldn’t wait to get to the beach.

Once our gate opened we waited to begin boarding the plane. 15 minutes before the plane was supposed to take off we boarded. Well. We got on a bus which took us to the plane. Never done that before. We sat down and not a minute later we were off into the air.

We touched down in Surat Thani, a city in Southern Thailand. From there we had to take a bus to the ferry. Now I didn’t realize how far exactly Surat Thani was from Koh Samui. After a 1.5 hour bus ride, 1.5 hour ferry and a 20 minute cab ride to our hostel, we had made it.

Koh Samui is a very “touristy” place. Most people speak English, the cab drivers (my disdain for them began on this island) try to rip you off and everyone wants to sell you something- a trinket, a sarong, a massage, some food, anything and everything. Apart from that the island was very beautiful and relaxing. We hiked up to the top of a waterfall where we swam in a small pool at the top. We visited the “Big Buddha” a temple that boasts of having the largest Buddha on the island. We ran into some Americans from North Carolina and spent our days at the beach with a German named Lara, who was traveling on her time off from her internship in India.

The journey back was must less surprising. I was even happy to be back in our district in Bangkok- Lat Phrao. We were greeted by ankle deep water and a homemade dinner by our landlord’s mother. Little did I know I had to prepare for my next journey in Thailand.

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move." Robert Louis Stevenson

Khao Pad Gai

At first all I could order in Thailand was Khao Pad Gai. Fried Rice with Chicken. Fortunately, I have learned some new words. I love the food here in Thailand! Don't get me wrongI get cravings for Sito's cooking but Thai food is very delicious. And Thai's love food. It is always time to eat and always room to eat more. Not only do they serve delicious, flavorful food it is always so expertly presented. A plate might be served to your table with shrimp sitting on a bed of lettuce with a few flowers on the side. Or the fruit would be carved into interesting shapes and delicately arranged on the platter. Food presentation earns a lot of points in my book. After all you eat with your eyes first, right?

So far I have really enjoyed Chicken with Cashews, Green Curry (Thai style), Yellow Curry, Shrimp Cakes and every type of noodle soup they offer. The food is spicy, but full of flavor. You guys know I love to cook so I have been trying to figure out what types of ingredients they use to make their food so delicious- a couple things have surprised me.

1. Lime leaves- gives the food a sour taste (obviously). They put this in the Green Curry. Probably to counteract the spiciness!
2. Lemon grass- I was speaking to a Thai friend and he said he paid 20 Canadian Dollars for 2 stalks of Lemon Grass in Canada. Here it grows in his backyard.
3. Fish Sauce or Nam Bla (literally means fish water)- I know it sound super gross but it is so good! They use it like soy sauce. Sometimes it comes with chiles so it is the perfect addition to everything... especially Khao Pad Gai :)

PS: The pineapple tastes like Pina Coladas. I swear. So sweet and delicious!

Mai Pen Rai

Well, my mom convinced me to start a blog!

I have been in Thailand for 3 and 1/2 weeks now and it has been one crazy journey so far. I have had to be very flexible with all of the flooding in and around Bangkok. One thing I have learned is that Thai people are much more relaxed than us Americans. They have a saying, Mai Pen Rai, (much like Hakuna Matta from the Lion King) which means let it be/it's okay/that's life/no worries. So I have become very familiar with Mai Pen Rai as I moved from hotel to hotel during orientation... from one room apartment in the suburbs to island hostel... and back to flooded apartment and now to the home of a wealthy family in Central Bangkok. So maybe the lesson to learn is that if you are patient and flexible or shall we say "Mai Pen Rai", you too could end up in a Mansion at the center of Bangkok with two maids who cook for you, make your bed AND do your laundry. :)

I will be staying with this family until school starts. (If it ever does!) In exchange for room and board I will be helping their youngest daughter, June improve her English language skills. I will also be interviewing Thai High School students for an exchange program in the United States. I will be assessing their English Language skills and their open-mindedness and adaptability to help the program directors decide which students will be the best fit for the program. Pretty cool, right? I get to do all of this because I speak English- a valuable asset to success in Southeast Asia.

I will be sure to update you on what I learn about Thai culture and where I am traveling around the country. So far I love the food, hate the cab drivers and have a great tan!