I have entered a language dead zone. I still can't speak Thai, and my English is starting to slip. No, really. After nearly nine months of seriously limited face-to-face interactions with native speakers, I guess this fate was inevitable. I slow my pace with every conversation, dumb-down my vocabulary a little bit more everyday, and, at times, use only my increasingly exaggerated gestures and a punctuated grunt to get a point across. As I lay here in bed, struggling to compose complete, coherent sentences, I have to wonder: will my linguistic prowess ever get back up to speed?
An example: I was in Koh Samet a few weeks ago, and a group of travelers wanted to get on our song taew in the middle of the road. The driver shook his head. "Mai dai, mai dai," he said, can't do, can't do. These travelers obviously didn't understand what the man was saying-- they were British, after all-- and tried to hop on. I turned to them, shook my head and waved my hands; "can't do, can't do!" I said, over and over again, baffled as to why they were giving me the same confused look that they had just given the driver. After a solid few seconds, the nice bloke rather wisely asked, "You mean we can't get on the song taew here?" Aha! Complete thoughts and sentences! So that's what they were looking for! "Oh.. haha.." I replied. "Right. No, you can't get on the song taew here. You have to go up the road."
As we pulled away and I replayed the scene over again in my head, I realized: I had just spoken English to English speakers like a Thai person might. Forget fretting over comma splices and colon placement-- I was forgoing complete sentences. Sigh. It was quite a devastating realization for a former English major and shameless lover of words. Do you think there's any sort of ex-pat support group for this sort of thing? Seeking tips/words of wisdom/guidance that will help me through this dark time.
With love and a tied tongue,
Anna
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
some things
In honor of Father's Day, I've written a blog post. It has nothing to do wtih my father (hi, dad! i love you! I miss you!), but he is without a doubt this blogs biggest support and advocate. Horrah for dads!
Well, I've been here for eight-and-a-half months now (!!!!!), and I've finally hit the point where thoughts like "ugggh, if this were America..." have all but vanished. When I was in Bangkok this weekend, though, walking up and down the aisles of the Siam Paragon grocery store (it's frankly unbelievable how many Western goods they have there), just gazing at condiments, I realized: there's no place like home. I'll always find comfort in decidedly American things, I think. And that's okay-- because I love Thailand, too! Below you'll find some things I miss and some things I love. I tried to keep this list pretty material-- friends, family, speaking English and other more obvious things have not been included-- as to avoid long, emotional tirades about both Thailand and the states. Below, my top few things, in no particular order.
Some Things I Miss About America:
My car.
It may be a politically incorrect gas guzzling machine, but I miss those smooth leather seats.
Watching TV on a TV, rather than a 13 inch computer screen.
My eyes hurt.
Seasons.
Remind me why a girl with frizzy Jewish hair, a die-hard love for sweaters and very active sweat glands chose to live in a tropical climate?
Bagels and shmear
I never knew how much the Kenyon bookstore spoiled me.
Affordable wine
Not only is wine here insanely expensive, it's also insanely bad. Alas.
Affordable cheese
As you may have suspected, there arent too many wine-and-cheese nights happening over here.
Bookstores
My favorite city escapes have yet to find a suitable replacement.
Whole grains
The Thai belief that white is beautiful apparently also applies to their taste buds.
Fresh vegetables/salads
Sweetgreen, I long for you.
Yoga classes
Or any movement class that involves people telling me what to do.
Tank Tops
Ah, bare shoulders in hot weather. Poor guys don't see much sun over here.
My home refridgerator on Saturdays and Sundays
Though my home fridge is always stocked-- I'd venture to say its the best refrigerator in the world-- its especially awesome on weekends, when its full of Shabbat dinner left-overs. My fridge here is poorly-stocked a mini fridge. Again-- alas.
Anonymity
Though I've gotten used to the stares, and the starers have largely gotten used to me, I am still an absolute freak here. I was at a som tom shop down the street a few weeks ago, and overheard two older woman-- who were complete and utter strangers, as far as I knew-- talking about me in Thai. They knew where I lived and where I taught. Creepy? Juust a little.
Some Things I Love About Thailand:
The country-wide obsession with food
Instead of saying, "what's up?" or "how's it going?" you say "gin kao?" ( literally, "have you eaten rice yet?"). It's like living in a land full of Jewish mothers: nothing makes people here happier than when you eat.
The lack of sterility
Though this is also sort of disgusting at times, I have to say that it's pretty awesome to walk into a run down shop and chow down on delicious food. It has made me realize how scared Americans are of... everything. Lets ignore the fact that I have gotten food poisoning three times over since last October.
Lateness
Everyone here is always late. Always. I've moved to the right place.
"Teacher, beautiful!"
I am told at least five times a day that I am beautiful. No, my students don't know how to say anything else. Yes, I'm going to choose to believe they really think that, anyway.
Availability of hot dogs
Thai people love hot dogs. Hot dogs are literally in and on everything you can imagine-- pretzels, pizza crusts, sticks, plastic bags. I dont really like hot dogs all that much, but it's a pretty hilarious nation-wide love affair.
Smiles
Turns out that "the land of smiles" isn't just an hyperbolic expression made up the the Thai bureau of tourism.
Chai Yenn
Thai iced tea. YUM.
Noodles
There are what seems like a billion different types of noodles and ways to cook them. It is.. awesome.
The heat
... in the food.
The fruit
Fruit here tastes like someone took a syringe and injected sugar in it. It's always fresh and always really cheap-- I'm talking 75 cents for a whole watermelon.
Thai kisses
Though I am yet to receive one (sigh), Thai kisses are perhaps the sweetest of all kissing varieties Sorry, Eskimo and butterfly. They involve a press of the lips and a gentle inhale--no smack, just a little wiff of the person you love.
The abundance of ice
Most Thai desserts have ice in them; beer is sipped with ice; there's a shop down my street that makes and sells only ice. Yes, it's everywhere, yes, it's bad for your molars, and yes, it's perfect in this weather.
Pay-it-forward mentality
The tit-for-tat mentality just doesn't really exist here. As long as you give, you can take-- and people give a lot.
America, I miss you. Thailand, I don't miss you... yet.
Love
Anna
Well, I've been here for eight-and-a-half months now (!!!!!), and I've finally hit the point where thoughts like "ugggh, if this were America..." have all but vanished. When I was in Bangkok this weekend, though, walking up and down the aisles of the Siam Paragon grocery store (it's frankly unbelievable how many Western goods they have there), just gazing at condiments, I realized: there's no place like home. I'll always find comfort in decidedly American things, I think. And that's okay-- because I love Thailand, too! Below you'll find some things I miss and some things I love. I tried to keep this list pretty material-- friends, family, speaking English and other more obvious things have not been included-- as to avoid long, emotional tirades about both Thailand and the states. Below, my top few things, in no particular order.
Some Things I Miss About America:
My car.
It may be a politically incorrect gas guzzling machine, but I miss those smooth leather seats.
Watching TV on a TV, rather than a 13 inch computer screen.
My eyes hurt.
Seasons.
Remind me why a girl with frizzy Jewish hair, a die-hard love for sweaters and very active sweat glands chose to live in a tropical climate?
Bagels and shmear
I never knew how much the Kenyon bookstore spoiled me.
Affordable wine
Not only is wine here insanely expensive, it's also insanely bad. Alas.
Affordable cheese
As you may have suspected, there arent too many wine-and-cheese nights happening over here.
Bookstores
My favorite city escapes have yet to find a suitable replacement.
Whole grains
The Thai belief that white is beautiful apparently also applies to their taste buds.
Fresh vegetables/salads
Sweetgreen, I long for you.
Yoga classes
Or any movement class that involves people telling me what to do.
Tank Tops
Ah, bare shoulders in hot weather. Poor guys don't see much sun over here.
My home refridgerator on Saturdays and Sundays
Though my home fridge is always stocked-- I'd venture to say its the best refrigerator in the world-- its especially awesome on weekends, when its full of Shabbat dinner left-overs. My fridge here is poorly-stocked a mini fridge. Again-- alas.
Anonymity
Though I've gotten used to the stares, and the starers have largely gotten used to me, I am still an absolute freak here. I was at a som tom shop down the street a few weeks ago, and overheard two older woman-- who were complete and utter strangers, as far as I knew-- talking about me in Thai. They knew where I lived and where I taught. Creepy? Juust a little.
Some Things I Love About Thailand:
The country-wide obsession with food
Instead of saying, "what's up?" or "how's it going?" you say "gin kao?" ( literally, "have you eaten rice yet?"). It's like living in a land full of Jewish mothers: nothing makes people here happier than when you eat.
The lack of sterility
Though this is also sort of disgusting at times, I have to say that it's pretty awesome to walk into a run down shop and chow down on delicious food. It has made me realize how scared Americans are of... everything. Lets ignore the fact that I have gotten food poisoning three times over since last October.
Lateness
Everyone here is always late. Always. I've moved to the right place.
"Teacher, beautiful!"
I am told at least five times a day that I am beautiful. No, my students don't know how to say anything else. Yes, I'm going to choose to believe they really think that, anyway.
Availability of hot dogs
Thai people love hot dogs. Hot dogs are literally in and on everything you can imagine-- pretzels, pizza crusts, sticks, plastic bags. I dont really like hot dogs all that much, but it's a pretty hilarious nation-wide love affair.
Smiles
Turns out that "the land of smiles" isn't just an hyperbolic expression made up the the Thai bureau of tourism.
Chai Yenn
Thai iced tea. YUM.
Noodles
There are what seems like a billion different types of noodles and ways to cook them. It is.. awesome.
The heat
... in the food.
The fruit
Fruit here tastes like someone took a syringe and injected sugar in it. It's always fresh and always really cheap-- I'm talking 75 cents for a whole watermelon.
Thai kisses
Though I am yet to receive one (sigh), Thai kisses are perhaps the sweetest of all kissing varieties Sorry, Eskimo and butterfly. They involve a press of the lips and a gentle inhale--no smack, just a little wiff of the person you love.
The abundance of ice
Most Thai desserts have ice in them; beer is sipped with ice; there's a shop down my street that makes and sells only ice. Yes, it's everywhere, yes, it's bad for your molars, and yes, it's perfect in this weather.
Pay-it-forward mentality
The tit-for-tat mentality just doesn't really exist here. As long as you give, you can take-- and people give a lot.
America, I miss you. Thailand, I don't miss you... yet.
Love
Anna
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