I've been sent some questions about Thai students/people, school and Lop Buri. I did my best to answer them all, but I'm sure I missed a few. I'll just have to write more later! :)
So here are some things I’ve observed—
-Every Thai teenager has a cell phone and most are doing
something on said cell phone at least once every fifteen minutes if not more
often than that. Also, Thai kids text/go on Facebook/use their phones at meals
all the time. At home, texting at the table is a no-no and I find it pretty
rude, so you could say I was a bit surprised to find even my host Aunt going on
Facebook at the dinner table!
-Thai teenagers love, love, love to take photos of
themselves. Boys and girls alike will sit and take multitudes of photos of
themselves, smiling, frowning, making weird faces, hair up, hair down, with
friends, without friends… everywhere and anywhere!
-Thai people in general are quite intent on trying to have
the whitest skin. Girls can often be found covering themselves in makeup and
baby powder. Males and females use umbrellas, sun or shine. Girls often wear
sweaters (even in the crazy heat!) to keep the sun of their arms. I am often
asked whether I like tan skin or white skin better… really white or tan skin
doesn’t make a difference to me. I’d rather just let my skin be whatever color
it naturally is then constantly strive to have something else. Ah well,
Thailand will always have a great whitening lotion/soap/baby powder industry I
suppose.
-Though boys and girls do hang out with each other in
groups, one on one settings with the opposite sex rarely occur. Though girls can walk around holding hands
just as friends, if a boy and a girl held hands it would be the talk of the
town for ages. Boys don’t really touch girls at school and if they did it would
probably be assumed that the two people involved were in a relationship even if
they had merely exchanged an innocent (well… innocent in America) high five or
hug (speaking of hugs—people don’t hug here. I miss hugs… a lot.) After school,
the more “bold” couples can be seen walking around town holding hands.
-From what I’ve heard, Thai school is extremely difficult.
Before I went to school in Thailand I expected a strict environment, silence
and long, long lessons that provided lots of homework. My expectation turned
out to be partially correct; Thai kids do get an awful lot of homework. Thai
kids don’t have much free time because they always have homework to do, tests
to study for or tutoring classes to go to. Some schools do not get out until 8pm and tons
of kids go to school or tutoring classes after school or on weekends. The thing
I don’t understand though is the classroom dynamic. Thai kids seemingly have
little to no respect for their teachers when they are talking which is so
strange because usually young Thai people are so respectful to elders. Students
talk, laugh, yell, use their cell phones, throw things and seem to pay very
little attention to the teachers. I
honestly wonder how anyone can learn anything in all the noise and chaos. On
the other side of the spectrum is the teachers… if they don’t want to come to
class, they just don’t come.
-Age, it matters. If someone is older than you you must wai
to them. When you are speaking to elders you must add “ka” to the end of your
sentences if you are a girl and “krap” if you are a boy. You must call people
older than you “P” and then their name (for example my host aunt’s name is Toon
so when I speak to her I say “P’toon ka”. I don’t yet understand why when
students are in the hallway they wai to the teachers and seem to be very
respectful, but when they are in the classrooms they don’t listen to the
teacher when they talk (which in America would be considered extremely
disrespectful) or seem to pay much attention to their lessons at all.
-The school I attend begins at 8am and gets out at 4pm. Most
students have a number of free periods during the day. If they don’t spend
these studying then they can be found just sitting and talking, taking photos
or (if they are boys) passing a soccer ball or playing the Thai game “da-gaw”
(played with a plastic ball, you must keep the ball in the air with your feet
while passing it across and around the circle of players, if you kick the ball
out then you must kneel in the middle of the circle and people pass the ball
over/around/into you). Thai girls in general do not like sports. If they do
like sports then they most likely enjoy badminton or the Thai version of
cheerleading. Here, soccer is for boys. When people ask me what I like to do
and I say I like to play soccer (Chan chob len futbon.) my statement is always
followed with a generous round of “Ooooh” which is often accompanied with
someone saying “Sport girl! Sport girl!”
-People say Americans eat with a fork and spoon. No, no, no…
Thai people eat with a fork AND a spoon! In America you use spoons for soup or
sauce and a fork and knife for everything else. In Thailand you don’t use the
fork to put the food in your mouth, you use the fork to push the food onto your
spoon, which you then put in your mouth. For certain dishes (usually noodle
dishes) people eat with chopsticks.
-In America, if you go to restaurant with three people, you
get three dishes and each person eats his or her own dish. In Thailand, if you
go to a restaurant with three people, you get around five or more dishes and
rice and everyone eats a bit of every dish. It’s fun to be able to try lots of
different dishes at one meal!
A little about Lop Buri—
Lop Buri is one of the most historic cities in Central
Thailand. In the center of town is the
remains of King Narai Palace which was built in 1666 by King Narai the Great.
Now the Palace is used as a museum and houses all sorts of artifacts from the
early ages of Thailand. The Palace is only one of the many historical sights in
Lop Buri though. Another really famous one is Prang Sam Yod. Prang Sam Yod
dates back to the 13th century and is a three-pronged monument that
used to house a Bhudda statue. It is just across from my school and it’s where
bunches and bunches and bunches of monkeys (ling) can be found! The interesting
thing is that there is no old and new city, as you drive through Lop Buri you
can find remains of fallen down brick walls and crumbling corners of temples
and shrines everywhere. Every day on the ten minute drive to school I drive
past at least three or four ruins. Lop
Buri is also very well known for it’s monkeys. Though they’re most concentrated
at Prang Sam Yod, you can find monkey’s everywhere. They jump on cars, scramble
across telephone wires, eat everything and anything they can find and if you’re
me—they jump on your back! After one month here, three monkey’s have already
jumped on me… J
Part of King Narai Palace
Part of Prang Sam Yod
Prang Sam Yod
Ling! Monkey!
And a bit about what I've been up to...
My host mom's bunny, Pooklook!
Me giving my Rotary Introduction powerpoint
My host Aunt and I riding an elephant! (In Ayutaya, another province). I spoke to the elephant trainer in Thai a bit and he ended up letting me sit where the trainer usually sits, directly on the elephant rather than on the seat. So much fun! The elephants name is Gyipsi and she is 15 years old.
another elephant! (chang)
Got a package from home! Best thing ever!
This is a coconut-y, creamy, delicious dessert! It's called "ka nam buang".
me feeding a baby tiger in Chonburi (another province)
