The New Normal

I cannot believe it has been one month here in Bangkok!  It is mind-boggling how one can become accustomed to a foreign place and get into routine, amidst so many cultural differences.  I consistently cannot communicate verbally with people, consistently am learning and seeing new things, and am consistently sweaty and hot.  Emphasis on the sweaty and hot.  Unfortunately the monsoon season here in Thailand is on its way out and so the gorgeous, drenching downpours that make my Oregon heart blissful are less common.  However, 'winter' is up next.  I am hoping that a slightly less sweaty, hot existence is in my near future.

In four short days, all of us Fulbrighters are pushed out of the nest of city and structure to our various provinces in the north.  I will be in the northeast, in a region called Esaan, which has a culture and language all of its own.  It is the poorest area of the country, but also spicier food, drier climate and supposedly more outgoing people await me there.  Ah, I am a mix of so many emotions right now!  I am absolutely ready to be out of the polluted air and congested materialism of Bangkok, but I have also grown to love this place.  My favorite memories here are at night, when the sun has gone down and everyone is off work.  The street food carts are in full swing, the pad thai guy down my road is creating plates of steaming magic and families and couples are out lingering, eating and strolling.  You don't walk here, you stroll.  The dogs wake up from their curbside comas and hunt for scraps, meanwhile maneuvering the traffic better than I ever will be able to.  Sounds of motorbikes, tuk-tuks and insects fill the evening air.  The adorable meat-kebab lady smiles her toothy smile at me and if I am distracted for a second, I almost am taken out by a car.  Nothing besides vehicles and cockroaches (I admit I still shriek when they scuttle around my feet) move quickly here, but that's okay.  Sabai, sabai the Thai people say.    Be comfortable, take it easy, don't stress.  Have a jai yen or cool heart.  My American easygoing personality is being taken to new levels of flexibility and easygoing-ness.  

Monks are tourist too, ok? Don't hate

Gettin some good luck!

Word of advice: Don't use flash at a Muay Thai fight...

This past weekend I did a ton of sightseeing- temples, the Grand Palace where the Thai royal family used to live, the JJ Market which is the hugest market in Bangkok.  Picture thousands of stalls, windy alleyways, and every possible good imaginable. My idea of hell on earth pretty much!  But the best part of the whole weekend was the little conversation I had with a monk at the Golden Mount, which is the highest temple in BKK that has a great view of the city.  He was coming down the stairs as we were going up and I decided to wai (bow) to him even though I wasn't sure if that was normal for foreigners to do that.  He got this huge smile on his face, turns to me and in perfect English asks 'How did you learn to pay respect to the Buddhist monks like that?!'. Absolutely adorable.  Then we chatted for a bit and I had to pinch myself and ask myself, "How did I get here on the other side of the world, just having a chat with a Buddhist monk in his long orange robes?"  There we were, just having a nice conversation like it was an everyday occurrence. At the same time, it was a reminder that even though outwardly we seem so different from each other, we are just two people who happened to grow up in different contexts.  We still want and need similar things out of life.

With my host teachers from Warin Chamrap! So sweet.

English Camp time!

This week we tested the waters of this whole teaching English as a second language thing we've been hearing about for our entire training month.  We were bussed out to the edge of the city, where we put on an English camp for secondary students.  A bit nerve-wracking, but so exciting! This is what we came to do and it was nice to start to put things into practice.  My friend Kru (teacher) Raffi and I taught a class of 12^th grade girls about music, movies, sports and the grand finale…food! The rooms had no air-conditioning and even with beads of sweat rolling down my face, the show must go on! I would argue that teaching is one of the most physically taxing professions.  It takes a superhuman amount of energy, but is incredibly rewarding to form relationships with the students and see them understand a concept.  

Overall, I would never have guessed that my first teaching job would be in Southeast Asia, but I am so happy to be here and to be a part of this prestigious organization.  I am privileged to take a small stand against the giant problem of the opportunity gap that faces this country, just as it faces most education systems in the world.

Now in four days, I move into my new house, my new job and my new life for a year. Support in this exciting and scary time of transition would be so appreciated :) Love you all.

Pure, authentic Thailand right there.

Let me introduce you to a little thing called the 'Thai massage'.  Sounds relaxing, right? Think again! The word 'massage' is very all-inclusive in this country actually...it also includes physical therapy, reflexology, yoga and little bit of torture to keep you on your toes!

Gathering peanuts 'tua' from the garden at my homestay (Wahn & Reung-Sri)

My first experience with Thai massage was definitely memorable.  I walked down the street from my international dorm to the first one I found (maybe not the best idea in hindsight...) and saw the advertisement in English for a 1-hour massage for 179 baht, which is equal to about 6 dollars.  Such a steal! So I walked in and in my own special Thinglish language I have developed, communicated my desires and was assigned to a lovely cordoned off section of mattress.  I was prepped ahead of time by a friend that I would have change into some one-size-fits-all attire, so I wasn't thrown off by that at all, but I wasn't prepared for the awkwardness I felt when I was lying in a see-through shift on a mattress, surrounded by thin pink, lacy sheets, with soft music playing in background. At this point, I have to admit that a word *cough...brothel...cough* briefly passed through my mind and I had a tiny moment of panic, thinking maybe I had confused this institution with one of a more shadowy nature!

My doubts were not quite eased when my masseuse, of course a young and rather good-looking gentleman by the name of Gan/Gon, came to into my 'room' and found me in the strange, half-lounge position I had settled on because I had no idea where to sit.  After a few minutes, I quickly realized that this wasn't going to be the average, relaxing massage I had envisioned! I was walked on, pushed, stretched, prodded and folded into origami shapes until I felt like quite a different person. All this while, I had decided to try out some of my new Thai small talk on the poor guy and so we can some good laughs and bonding moments despite our language barrier.  Overall, I feel like we got to know each other pretty well during the session (hah) and I now like to refer to him as 'my dear friend Gan/Gon' when I talk about my massage!

When in Rome, right? :)

Pretty much what I do here is eat

Another exciting part of this week was the homestay with a Thai family that Fulbright arranged for all of the ETAs.  During training the day before we left, Fulbright told me, "Hey Siri, so you are going to be out in the country in a province a couple hours away from Bangkok, by yourself and you are going to spend an extra day there!". Whew. There is nothing like going big for my first homestay ever!  I also think that backpacking through Europe the month before coming to Thailand broke me of all desire for control in my life---I know fully realize that I'm pretty much never in control and that I need to go with the flow....and so that I did!

The house at my homestay

Three days of pure, authentic Thailand.  No malls, very minimal English, no regular showers.  So refreshing to be outside of the big, noisy, polluted Bangkok!  I was placed with a woman nicknamed "A" who was 34 (guessed she was about 26...oops!), her mom Reung-sri and their distant relation/maid named Wahn.  It took 3 hours by a van that provided many extra thrills at no cost, such as a foot of air over each bump, to get outside the city.

When we got out at our stop, I couldn't help but think, "Hmm...I'm in the middle of the Thai jungle, with a complete stranger, it's pitch black and there is not another human being in sight....here we go!".  But I quickly felt initiated into the family when we were met by the mom Reung, I hopped on the back of her motorbike, and tightly clung to her as we sped away into the black, buggy night.  Definitely one of my favorite memories of my two and a half weeks here...I had this huge, cheesy grin on my face the whole time, even as I was greeted/attacked by their dogs once we got to the house.

At their beautiful, country compound I spent a lot of time eating, playing with their dog Adee, asking about words in Thai, watching Thai soap operas, going to neighboring markets and talking to their relatives on the phone, who couldn't speak English. Saturday we did a whirlwind sightseeing tour  They took me to a beautiful beach called Baengsaen, and it was hilarious because it took hours to get there, but when we got there, we spent about 20 minutes there. Typical Thai fashion...take a picture, then leave! It seems like in general, people don't  like to be in the sun or the water I think too.

The pond at my homestay

Here is a shortened list of some things I did wrong while there:
-I put too much food on my plate at once (only tiny bite-size portions are taken from the dishes)
-I had dark colors on when we were going to a temple (white or bright colors are strongly encouraged)
-I didn't make my bed correctly (Thai people fold their covers into a square then place at foot of bed)
-And many, many more!

There were moments when I felt just pure, overwhelming discomfort.  The desire to communicate is so strong within me, that it kills me when I can't!  Also, I wanted to be as polite and respectful as I can, but I kept making mistakes! However, overall 95% of the experience was sanuk (fun)! They lived on land with every exotic fruit tree imaginable (bananas, coconuts, dragonfruit, mangosteen etc etc) and produce of all varieties.  I would wake up and they would show me how they picked the food and then we would prepare it for the next meal. Pretty dang local right there!  I also learned how to bucket shower! I had to ask A how it was done and she looked at me like I was crazy.  Good times.

Bangsaen Beach with 'A'

But seriously...I will remember this weekend for the rest of my life! They were sooo hospitable and generous and I could tell that they liked me even though they couldn't communicate it.  Oh and the mom stroked my chin and Wahn held my hand all the way out the gate as I was leaving...good sign? lol. I think so.

Wat Sothon

Alrighty, I need  to go to bed so I can be alive for training tomorrow! Love and miss you all.

Thailand Will Make Me Fat, Patient and a Blessing.

So living in Thailand is going to be nothing like living in the Western world.  I can already see the widening gap between my experience with studying abroad in Northern Ireland and my life here in the jungle (currently the urban jungle that is Bangkok).  When I went to the good 'ol NI, I could make a nice and tidy bullet point list of cultural differences for my blog.  HA! There is no possible way to even BEGIN a list of different things here.  Every morning I wake up to a new world, different scents (lots of poop), different tastes (somtam and exotic fruit smoothies are my favorites so far), different creatures (cockroaches, no me gusta), different colors (ok maybe I'm getting carried away here...).  But seriously, by the fifth time my treadmill at the gym made me break into a dead sprint for my life and I couldn't figure out how to turn it off, I realized couple things about myself in this current stage:

First, I have become a child again.  By that I mean that I literally feel like a baby here---no ability to communicate (besides dramatic gesturing) and I have no idea what is happening around me most of the time.  I can tell that I am going to learn humility here.  I barely have the ability to say 'yes' or 'no' and have only just memorized how to explain what my name is.  Oh and side note: Siri means 'blessing' here and is a common first name. So henceforth, I will only answer to being called 'blessing'...ok? :)

Secondly, my independence and general self-reliance is simply not going to cut it here.  Asian cultures tend to be more communal, so I am told, and there is an interdependence that we just don't have in the U.S.. The community is vital to survival here and I know that I am going to have to rely a TON on others for help, communication, support etc.  Similarly, the new friends I have made so far have shown me how 'hanging out' is done in typical communal Thai fashion.  You meet up, probably an hour later than expected, wander the streets, eat, teach Siri dirty Thai words, see the gorgeous temples/parks/monuments/museums, eat, meet up with more friends that have just been called to join, eat, laugh, make fun of Siri butchering Thai words, and lastly, eat.  A beautiful, sweaty, meandering experience that I am sure will soon make me very, very fat indeed.

Thirdly, I have rediscovered my lack of the virtue of patience!  Another one of my many flaws that have been exposed to me here.  Even walking the twenty hot minutes to Fulbright lectures every morning, I have to coach myself to walk slower.  I keep finding myself zigzagging around the Thais on the sidewalk, awkwardly sneaking through gaps in people or resorting to the striding my long American legs down the street and putting myself at the risk of death by tuk-tuk (mini open motorcar...provides a genuine thrill when I need a little more adrenaline in my day).  The pace is different here; sun and culture combine to set a new, flowing rhythm of life.

On a lighter note, I have gotten to see, hear and do some sweeet things here already!  Some of my favorite include doing Jazzercise with hundreds of really legit people and my new Thai-biochemistry-student-friends in huge Lumpini Park (a Central Park-esque feel), wandering into a hilarious relay race competition in Chula University's stadium (sorry Thai peeps...but you need to get into shape!), karaoke and dancing with the past year's Fulbright English Teaching Assistants (one girl dislocated her knee cap and tore tendons while dancing....NEED I SAY MORE?) and honestly the daily ritual experience of obtaining non-lethal sustenance from street vendors.

Well family and friends, I have learned so much already in the past nine days (I have also figured out I love to use parentheses when I write) and I cannot wait to continue to share them with you!  Please keep me updated on your life, seriously feel free to just stream-of-consciousness email me, and keep me in your happy thoughts and/or prayers.

Miss and love you all.

Love,
Blessing (Please only call me this from now on)