So, You Think You Know Thailand?

This is something I have been meaning to do for a long time, but have yet to do it until now. Aside from blogging about my weekend as per usual, I would like to talk about the little cultural differences I have noticed here in Thailand.

Thai Time- Thai’s are always late for everything. I haven’t met a Thai person since I have been here that has been on time for anything. And I doubt that I ever will. I have waited for someone as little as 5 minutes, or as long as an hour. They do not call you to tell you that they will be late either. They just expect you to understand “Thai Time” and that when they say a certain time, it really doesn’t mean that at all. I am finally getting in this mode.

Mai Bpen Rai- The most used expression in Thailand. Essentially meaning, “No Worries.” Thai people will find a way to use this phrase in almost every single conversation they partake in. It’s used in restaurants, in school, in taxis. Every situation seems appropriate. It’s a good way to look at life, I suppose. It's optimistic and showcases Thailand's positive attitude.

OK- Another expression used frequently here. I swear, I must hear "OK" a hundred times a day. They are constantly saying it. I have even found myself saying it more often during conversations, even to other Americans.

Same, Same- And one more expression that you will frequently hear in Thailand. I'm not sure why they add that extra "same" on there when they could just as easily say one "same" to agree with you. But they do, and that's just the way it is here.

7-11- You never would have thought this before coming here, but there are 7-11's on every single corner on every single street here. I think I heard that there are somewhere near 6,000 7-11's in the whole country. It's a good thing though, if you ever need to charge up on junk food, cheap beer, or the most delicious tuna sandwiches you'll ever have (I'm not kidding, they have awesome tuna here).

Smiles- They don't call it the Land of Smiles for nothing! While my students might be the most annoying little brats I've ever come across, the rest of Thailand is not really like this. You can't help but smile at people as you walk down the street, and you will always get a smile in return. They smile in any kind of situation, good or bad. To agree, or disagree. I've run into a few rotten apples who don't fit this description, but on a whole, this country loves to show off their teeth.

Shoes- This should come as no surprise as it is common in many Asian countries, but when you enter someone's home or go into a Wat, you must remove your shoes as a sign of respect. Students at school must also take their shoes off in class, which often results in me trying to block out the smell of 40 dirty socks per class.

Animals- Back in the day, I'd get so excited whenever I saw an animal that I wasn't used to seeing on a day to day basis. Here though, I am used to having geckos in my room, in my bathroom, on my balcony, just everywhere all the time. I now know the noise that a gecko makes, and believe me, it's different than you would think. I am used to seeing 4-6 foot long Monitor Lizards every single day on my morning bike ride to school. They are like squirrels to me now. I'm used to seeing exotic looking birds, stray dogs, and cats with short, stumpy tails every single day. And oh yeah, I now have a passionate feeling of hatred for pigeons as they "coo" and wake me up much earlier than my 6:45 alarm does every morning. Many have set up shop on my balcony and poop on my clothes when I hang them out to dry. Which brings me to...

Laundry- Man, do I miss dryers. Everything is air-dried here. I should have expected this, but I never really thought about it before I left. It really makes you appreciate just how great dryers really are. Air-drying leaves your clothes feeling stiff and itchy, often times they are very wrinkled, and every time you do a load, they get stretched out more and more. Also, you can't really get rid of stains with the laundry here. You can make them smell nice with some kind of laundry powder, but try to get a grass stain or a food stain out of your nice khakis and I'm afraid you're all out of luck cause it ain't gonna happen.

Confusion- I can't tell you how many times I have been put into a situation where I have absolutely no clue what is going on. You get put in a room with a bunch of other Thai people and they are all speaking in Thai and probably talking about you, and you are just sitting there with a blank stare on your face. Or maybe this happens on the street when you try and communicate with someone by asking directions in broken Thai and they respond to you by speaking in Thai very fast. I'll usually just say "OK" and walk away. Pictures sometimes work, I often find myself drawing pictures of things, or maybe doing charades to act out what I am trying to say. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. When it does though, a great feeling of accomplishment pours over me.

The Stare- I have been here now for over 2 months, and I'm still not used to people staring at me wherever I go. More in my town than anywhere else, but you'd think after 2 months that they'd get used to seeing me everyday. You would think wrong. When I go to the food market every night for dinner, I can feel the eyes all on me, staring. I guess in time I will just learn to zone it out and not focus on it, but still, it's hard to try and order your pad thai when you know that behind you there are 20 eyes glaring to see what you are going to do next.

Food- I'm just gonna put this out there. The food in Thailand isn't as great as I thought it was going to be. Sure, I have had some unbelievably delicious dishes such as coconut milk curry with pineapple and shrimp, and I've had some real tasty pad thai, but on a whole I have been let down. The Thai food you get at home at places like Tara Thai or Thai Pavilion, is NOT Thai food. I mean, it is... but it's not. It's the Americanized version of Thai food, which I guess is what happens to lots of ethnic foods when they are brought to America. But the food here is spicy like whoa, very greasy, and almost everything is fried. I must have consumed about 1000 lbs of rice since I've been here, and if I never ate another single grain of rice ever again, I think I would be ok with that. However, that is obviously not going to happen, and I'm just going to have to start pretending that rice is something else, like Fruity Pebbles or peanut butter cups. Also, they LOVE fish sauce, my goodness do they love fish sauce.

Alright, well that's about all I can think of for right now. I'll try and post some more as time goes by and I think of more. In the meantime, I hope this will hold you all over and give you a little insight about what it's like living in Thailand.

I would also like to apologize for seriously lacking on my blog updates this month. I was gone for a long time at Ko Samet, and I haven't been to any cool places since then so I haven't had much to write about. I've also been quite sick the past few days, and I'm just starting to get better now. So there really hasn't been anything too exciting to post lately, which is why I thought now is the perfect time to tell you all a little about Thai Culture.

And one more thing. It is official, JOSH HAS BOOKED HIS FLIGHT TO THAILAND. That's right friends, the dynamic duo will be reunited come March 1st for a 2 month Southeast Asian Backpacking Adventure. Our goal is to hit up Thailand (obviously), India, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam with possibilities to explore other countries such as China and Indonesia. Who knows what kind of crazy adventures we are going to get ourselves into! This one is going to go down in the history books!