Crazy Cultural Differences

I have never known a culture that is so different and opposite from American culture. Everything is different, from the little things like how you drink a bottle of water to the entire system Thai culture is based on. If you're ever going to visit Thailand, here is what you need to know:

Societies tend to be either based on shame or guilt. America is based on guilt; there is internal control over one's actions, you make things happen and there can be consequences. Thailand is based on Shame; there is external control over one's actions, things happen TO you and there are no physical consequences. One of the best examples to explain this difference is how a child is taught by their mother. Take for instance a child that is running around like crazy banging into walls and everything else. In America we would let the child learn for them self that running into a wall will hurt and tell them that that's what happens when you aren't careful. In Thailand, if the kid ran into the wall, the mom would blame the wall for being "bad" and hurting the kid, she would say "bad wall, bad wall," instead of tell the kid that it was because they were running around without being careful.

In Thailand society is based on social harmony, whereas in the US it is based on efficiency. Basically, the Thai put utmost importance on saving face and not embarrassing or hurting anyone. There is no such thing as "constructive criticism." If someone does something to offend another, the person will never let on that the were offended, therefore as a foreigner you never know if you're doing something wrong. Their way of letting you know you did something wrong would be to tell someone else to tell you in a really nice way that maybe next time you shouldn't do that. It's all about saving face. This also fits into the Thai concept of "sabai sabai" which is a really low key, no worries, relaxing way to look at life.

Another big part of Thai culture is the driving. It is absolute craziness. It is like organized chaos. Everyone drives on the offensive and rarely crashes, but when they do crash it is bad. There may be lanes marked on the road, but people drive in the middle straddling the two lanes, they drive on what could in another realm be considered the "sidewalk" (because there really aren't any here), they drive on the breakdown lane, they drive through red lights, they drive everywhere at fast speeds and do not slow down for pedestrians. On a side not, no one walks, primarily only foreigners do because the Thai highly value their cars and motorsi (motorcycles/mopeds). They also don't really take the subsidized public buses and prefer more private modes of transportation.

Another interesting thing is that American put emphasis on sound, whereas Thais put emphasis on smell. Dogs here run rampant and are extremely loud and sometimes make it hard to sleep. But this is all to the American ear, the Thais don't really notice. Thais focus more on smell. It's really hot and humid here, and the Thais take a minimum of two showers a day. They notice if someone has even the faintest smell and it can offend them if they do. Note to people traveling here: take MANY showers and wear lots of deodorant, because you will sweat like you never have before in this heat.

Also, clothes are extremely important here. You dress for the context you're going to be in. For school, everyone wears uniforms, but the kids don't wear the same ones repeatedly, they wear different ones every day depending on what the primary subject is that they will be studying at school that day. For work, men and women dress really nicely and neatly, but at home, everyone changes into relaxing clothes. Even if you are about to leave the house in 1 hour, you still wear relaxing clothes and change right before you leave, because that is the context you are in. Everything is also ironed. EVERYTHING. Every morning at my Chiang Mai home stay I would have to iron my shirt and skirt for my university school uniform to wear that day.

More to Come...

Course Structure

The setup of this program is 4 block courses of 4-5 weeks each. For the last 3 blocks, we have an intensive week of learning more Thai and creating a foundation of knowledge to prepare us for the 3 week long expedition that is the main part of the course.

The first block is Foundations in which we learned the basics of Thai language (including how to read write and speak!) and learn about Thai culture. It is in this block that we had the home stays for five weeks. This block has ended and we are all now in the second block, Sustainable Food Systems. We moved into what the Thai's call "dorms," but are really apartments and we all struggle with having too few hours in the day to do everything we want to do. We are in the midst of the intensive week and are learning about Thai farming practices, sustainable practices, ecology, cover cropping, composting, succession planting, niche packing, nutrient cycles, crop rotations, which plants repel pests, and many other things. We leave on monday for our expedition of three weeks and head out to stay with host families on their farms who practice sustainable farming. One thing I am really excited for is the day where we go with our host families to the market and sell their goods.

The third block is Political Ecology in Forests, in which we will backpack from hill tribe to hill tribe learning about the prejudices against their ethnicity and their relationship with the forests. The fourth block is Culture and Ecology of the Andaman where we will kayak the Andaman coast and stay with home stays in a Muslim fishing village. We will learn about marine resources depletion, fish stocks.. etc. So basically we are on the go the entire time and learning so much.

Mok Fah Waterfall

This past weekend we went to a thai camping ground in a national park, where we swam underneath a waterfall, hiked in the forest, had bonfires, tried to sing camping songs around the fire, learned about bamboo, and most of all, bonded. We've all been getting to know each other at school, but we really needed a time time to hang out for an extended period of time, play ridiculous games of phase 10, try to play the various instrument people brought, and go on adventures together. It was nice to feel a sense of community and to get excited about the people we are all going on expeditions with in the coming 3 and a half months.

We went for a practice hike to test out our skills, try on our gaiters, and get acquainted with the tropical forests that will become our main tromping ground on the Forest Course. We also did a practice rescue mission where we broke up into groups and followed maps to find the students that had fake injuries that ISDSI staff had hid in the forest. The injuries were broken legs and busted knees, therfore we all had to work together to bind their legs, make tourniquets out of materials close by, and carry them out. Considering the heat, this was no small endeavor; by the end, we were all soaked with sweat and sore.

Thailand so far

I have been here 8 days so far and am loving it. It feels like it has been much longer because every day is different and new. My host family is wonderful. I live with my Kun Mae (mother), Kun Paw (father), four host siblings, one cousin, and on the weekends, I'm pretty sure the grandma. They gave me my own room, which was incredibly nice; everyone else splits into two rooms. In Thailand education is very important and the kids go to school almost every day (many times including weekends). The parents are both math teachers at a private school, so with everyone's schedules combined, each week is pretty hectic. My Khun Paw and Pear (host sister) speak English very well. My other host siblings know a lot I think, but rarely speak it to me.

I eat rice and some type of meat at practically every meal, and we rarely have sweets. The fruit is delicious and inexpensive here. Eating in a national pasttime it seems, so there are food stalls on every street. There are 4 famous foods all faraang (tourists) eat when they come are: Som Tum (papaya salad), Gweh-dtiao (noodle soup), Laab (spicy pork thing), and although I just had the 4th for lunch today, I can't remember the name.

So far, I go to school (ISDSI) every weekday at 7 and get home between 6 and 8. In the morning I have 3.5 hours of intensive Thai language class with 4 other students and in the afternoon I have Thai culture class and sometimes crossfit workouts. We go on many field trips that have included going to one of the large markets, a museum, and a sustainable fish farm. The fish farm was a really cool experience because we didn't just go and look at it, instead all 34 of us waded in mud up to our knees and water up to our chests dragging nets across the bottom of the pond to capture the fish (mostly tilapia) and transfer them to a different pond with cleaner water. We also caught all the female fish and checked to see if they had eggs in their mouth, if so, we would get the eggs out so they could be put in the hatchery. This also allowed for the females to hatch eggs right away again. This therefore increased production.

The Thai language is primarily hard because of the five different tones. Words that are spelled the same, mean different things when said in a different tone. A couple nights ago, I went to my host parents' school. Some of the kids in the classroom wanted me to teach them English. One of the questions I asked them was "what is your favorite food," to which one girl replied Som Tum (famous papaya salad). I tried to repeat it, but apparently I said "Som" in the wrong tone and ended up saying "toilet" in Thai; all the girls erupted into laughter. Reading and writing Thai is also very hard and time consuming, although I did learn how to write my name. The Thai characters look like this: พพภาอราสดหกแ. Most of the computer keyboards can switch between Thai and English.
Internet time is hard to come by, so that's all for now.

I've made it!

After 32 hours of sleeping, reading and watching movies during my flights, I finally made it to Chiang Mai, Thailand! Although I wasn't tired when I got here, I'm exhausted now. I've met most of the other students: 3 from DU, 9 from CC, 14 from Kalamazoo, and a few others from different colleges. I was one of the first to get here, so the few of us who had already arrived, jumped in the pool at our hostel to cool off, took a shower, and headed about a mile down the road to the markets.

I always thought that in Thailand I would eat many unknow things (and I especially would not want to ask what they were). And yes on my first day I ambled through the market and ate many things with names I could not understand, but the first thing I ate on my trip, which I was unsure about its origin, was on the plane. The flight attendent came down my row and asked me if I wanted carrot cake which she said was all they had left. I was slightly confused because everyone else was getting breakfast food, but I said yes anyway and unfolded the tinfoil to find meat of some sort mixed in with a spongy textured substance that wasn't quite tofu. It sure was not carrot cake, but I figured I would have to start eating whatever was put in front of me eventually, so why not start now? It wasn't too bad, but it's looks definitely suggested otherwise.

Although it feels like I'm in an entirely different place, I haven't felt the culture shock yet. I'm guessing it'll hit me when my host family picks me up tomorrow morning. It's all very exciting and the next four months are going to be amazing and full of adventure, I can't wait!