Saturday, November 3, 2007

This is Thailand.

In Thailand there is a HUGE amount of respect for the King. They just painted the bridge outside my window yellow, the royal color, to honor the King. You also stand for the playing of the King's anthem before movies at the movie theater.

You can't flush toilet paper.

Not being able to flush toilet paper isn't always a problem, because about half bathrooms don't have it. But they have handy dandy "butt sprayers", kind of like those dish washing sprayers that are attached to kitchen sinks.

They have toilet paper on restaurant tables instead of napkins.

"Thai Time, very flexible."

Motor bikes are family vehicles. It's not uncommon to see 4 people on one bike.

If it's raining, and you're on a motorbike, no problem. Just ride while carrying an umbrella, or put a plastic bag on your head.

You are not allowed to bring certain fruits on the subway, because they smell bad.

Dogs roam the streets like squirrels.

It no longer phases me to fall asleep knowing there is a gecko running across my ceiling (unless it's near my bed).

It's 80 degrees and people are bustin' out the sweaters, scarves, gloves, and ear-warmers. My students show up to class in winter coats.

I now find it awkward to eat with a knife and fork. If I had to choose only one utensil it would be a spoon.

In five months I have driven a car only once, and it was in the right-hand side of the car on the left-hand side of the road.

Every morning I get a fruit shake in a bag for breakfast from Rose, (aka "The fruit shake lady") who has a stand on the side of the road. Usually there is a fly that sneaks his way into the blender (I'm sure he regrets his desire for a tasty snack). I've gotten used to this.

I can get whitening soap, whitening lotion, and whitening deodorant. When I came back from the beach with a little bit of a tan, Rose said to me "Teacher not so beautiful today."

It's not considered rude to say someone is not beautiful, or to comment on people's weight.

Appearance is everything.

Appearances may be deceiving. The girl who works at 7-eleven isn't a girl. Well... Maybe she is now.

I eat meat on a stick that I buy from the "meat on a stick guy" on the street corner. I'm not really sure what kind of meat it is, but it sure is tasty!

3 comments:

Thailand Musings said...

Ah yes TiT (This is Thailand)

I love the bag full of fruit guy, the spicy sausages lady, the moving coffee cart guy and all the Thai's who make life soooo delicious!

Soi dogs are never cute and cats in Thailand seem to be possessed. In the States I will approach any stray cat I see and it seems genuinely glad to have me scratch its ears. In Thailand the cats want to scratch my ears...right off my head.

We're coming to visit the family in Tak and guess what we're bringing from the States? Winter coats so warm I wouldn't want to wear them here in Pennsylvania, let alone Thailand. But my wife says "my parents will like them a lot". Go figure.

I no longer use forks either, but I can't get away from knives.

I eat more rice in a week than I used to eat in a year. 5kg a month is about right.

I eat more chili's than ever too. About 1/2 kg a month of dried chili's and the same for fresh.

Call me new fangled, but I can't get used to the butt sprayers. Even worse is the bucket of water that you have to use yourself to spray your butt.

Yet for all the differences Thailand seems like coming home every time I arrive. Even after 10 years I am grateful for each day I spend in the Kingdom.

Sawasdee khrap
--Steve

Thailand Musings said...

Ah yes TiT (This is Thailand)

I love the bag full of fruit guy, the spicy sausages lady, the moving coffee cart guy and all the Thai's who make life soooo delicious!

Soi dogs are never cute and cats in Thailand seem to be possessed. In the States I will approach any stray cat I see and it seems genuinely glad to have me scratch its ears. In Thailand the cats want to scratch my ears...right off my head.

We're coming to visit the family in Tak and guess what we're bringing from the States? Winter coats so warm I wouldn't want to wear them here in Pennsylvania, let alone Thailand. But my wife says "my parents will like them a lot". Go figure.

I no longer use forks either, but I can't get away from knives.

I eat more rice in a week than I used to eat in a year. 5kg a month is about right.

I eat more chili's than ever too. About 1/2 kg a month of dried chili's and the same for fresh.

Call me new fangled, but I can't get used to the butt sprayers. Even worse is the bucket of water that you have to use yourself to spray your butt.

Yet for all the differences Thailand seems like coming home every time I arrive. Even after 10 years I am grateful for each day I spend in the Kingdom.

Sawasdee khrap
--Steve

Heather said...

thanks for the picture of your life in thailand. :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...