A Stranger in a Strange Land

Falang!  Falang!  A word that has both good and bad connotations in the Thai language.  It all has to do with the context and how it's being said.  Falang is their way of saying foreigner.  And typically this means a white foreigner -- a Westerner.  Here is a great example:

I have been in Thailand now for just over 5 days.  And boy has it been an experience.  For those that have not visited or have very little familiarization, the only thing I can say is that it is quite different from American culture.  And there are many examples.

Language.  This is obvious, however, it has deeper layers.  Thai comes from Sanskrit via Cambodian.  A major distinction I find with Thai is how many different meanings one basic word can have.  It has to do with inflections, which makes for a tricky if sensitive learning curve.  Words can be said up to 5 different ways.  Case in point: take the word "maa". This can mean both "horse" and "dog"; it has to do with how you say it.

The humor in this is obvious, especially in the case of a newly-arrived Falang.  I was at the mall with Kayne and May (husband and wife -- owners of the school) getting new cell phone service.  I was curious how "excuse me" was said in Thai so I asked.  May told me it is "kaa tot".  I began drilling it while walking around the mall.  When in the cell phone store, I said out loud "ka toot", which in Thai means "I want some ass".  May busted up laughing and I of course followed.  I'm sure glad she told me.  The last thing I'd want is to be bumping into Thai people and saying "I want some ass".

Traffic.  They drive on the left side of the street in Thailand.  All cars have their steering wheels on the right.  This definitely takes some getting use to.  But that's not all.  Driving in Thailand is a bit of an "every man for himself" proposition.  Half the people drive scooters, which are constantly weaving in and out of cars.  One intersection on the outskirts has no traffic lights whatsoever -- and it's actually a heavily-trafficked area! People kind of figure out who's going and a procession in one direction starts.

Food.  Well, most everyone is familiar with Thai food.  But here, it's just food; what I eat every day.  Unlike Thai restaurants in America, it's Thai culture to have the spoon as the primary eating utensil.  Everything evolves around the spoon.  Everything contributes to what the spoon must do.  If the fork or knife (rarely used) were the bees to the honeycomb -- the food -- the spoon would be the queen bee.  

Dogs.  The Thais love their dogs, but in a different kind of way than Americans or many other cultures for that matter.  Dogs are an "open" part of the Thai community.  By that I mean there are so many dogs around that are not owned in the usual sense of the word.  Rarely do you see a dog with a collar.  Dogs wander the streets, have certain hang-out spots, stay in populated areas, etc.  In fact, when you take the road to Kayne and May's house you'll find 3 to 4 dogs at any given time sleeping in the middle of the road.  I am not joking here.  These dogs will curl up and SLEEP in the middle of the road.  Beyond this, it is hard to explain.  I am a dog lover and to see so many wild, free dogs around is kind of cool.  Just don't go kissing them.

I'm going to leave it at that for now.  I have so much more to write about but very little time.  I think I am now over the jet lag/lack of sleep phenomena.

More on Thai culture and cultural differences to come.  Meanwhile, here are some more pictures from what I've been seeing in day-to-day life.