After two weeks of orientation at Chulalongkorn University, I feel certain about one thing, and one thing only: Thailand is an unbelievably complex and complicated place. Though we’ve spent six hours a day, five days a week studying the country’s culture, history, and customs, I feel increasingly confused… especially when it comes to the language. Thai is a tonal, so the pitch and tone (rising, falling, middle, low or high) in which the word is spoken can potentially change it’s entire meaning. A small taste:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nlw4NJdnNE
Get it? Me neither.
How about telling time in Thailand? Here's a picture from class today.
Pretty clear right? Hahaha, funny joke. Did you know that after 6 PM you call all of the numbers (7PM-11PM) 1,2,3 or 4? Turns out I'll always be on time in Thailand, because the concept of time doesn't really exist. Guess I chose the right country after all.
Then there’s the political history, the gender norms, the food— ohhh, my, my, that’s for another entry.
While my weekdays here are mostly spent in orientation or in my little neighborhood near Siam Square, I spent last weekend doing some sightseeing around the city. After a week of noodles and rice, we decided on Friday night to hunt down some good, old-fashioned pizza. We found a “delicious American pizza place” online (never, ever do this), and hopped in a cab to Sukumvit Soi 26/1 (the streets here are named by number, so 26/1 is the name of a street off of Sukumvit Road)… only to find once we arrived that 26/1 does not exist, and 26 is an entire street of happy ending massage parlours (Angel Massage? White Lady Massage? Happy Massage? Hmmm…). Alas, we settled on a Japanese restaurant around the corner where at least six people were waiting on us at any given time—we may or may not have been the only farang (foreigners) ever to enter the building.
On Saturday we went to JJ market, an enormous, must-see market in downtown Bangkok. They have literally everything you can possibly imagine: food, animals, clothing, furniture, strobe lights, thrift stores, jewelry... on and on and on! It's a crazy place, with an awesome mix of tourists, Thai hipsters, performers, and other assorted characters.
On Sunday a friend from college was in town (he has been teaching outside of Chaing Mai for the past year), and he served as an excellent tour guide in Chinatown, around the downtown canals and at the Golden Mount. He speaks Thai brilliantly, giving me hope and making me realize how far I have to go before I’ll be able to complete a sentence. It was great to see a familiar face, though, and bowling that night was a fantastic end to a weekend.
More on my homestay weekend soon-- really, really this time!
Miss you all!!!!
Anna
yaaaaay!
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