Language and Culture

I’ve been in Bangkok a little over 3 weeks now and I’m starting to learn bits and pieces of the Thai culture and way of life. I’m picking up a bit of Thai finally as well – Sawadee Kah, Sa-bai-dee-mai = Hello, how are you? Sa-bai-dee kah = I’m fine, Check bin kah = check please, kawp-kun-kah = thank you, mai-kow-jai = I don’t understand.  It’s funny though because just like my students I am usually too shy to actually use any of it other than the standard hello. This is because often when I say it I am not pronouncing it well enough to be understood by the Thai’s. The language is very tonal and the same word said in a different tone can mean something totally different. For example the word for milk is also the same as the word for breast, the meaning is conveyed in the tone. It’s very intimidating to try and use it, especially when most don’t understand me anyway! The worst is trying to pronounce my bus stop for work. I just can’t do it – I have resorted to simply showing a tattered piece of paper with the bus stop name written in Thai. It’s like I’m a mute. J  I was telling this to my students today and I acted the whole thing out --me getting on the bus and attempting to say “Mueng Eke” but butchering it and getting a blank stare from the bus attendant, then giving up and showing her my tattered scrap of paper with the name written in Thai, having the bus driver say the name to me and smile, me repeating the name while smiling and nodding my head, then of course I forget the next morning and it starts all over. The kids got a good laugh out of that one, especially when I again attempted to say it to them and butchered it. J I think it made them feel better about having such a tough time with English.

The Thai’s cannot pronounce an “r” to save their life; It comes out as an “L” so words like Farang, which means foreigner, come out as “falang.” Melissa taught me that one, and it’s been so true. Another language thing I’ve noticed is that the people sort of drag out the last syllable of any word in a slow soft sort of way. So when they say, thank you it sounds like this – kawp-kun-kaaaahhhhh, with the last kah stretched out. They also speak in a soft, mild mannered way, even the men I’ve seen. It seems to be a part of their culture  - very non-confrontational, quiet, almost meek, but in a nice way. They are very opposite from Americans in this way. I feel like a firm handshake would be seen as somehow too abrasive. The bow, or “wai” in Thai is much more suitable.

Another interesting thing I’ve noticed regarding culture is the abundant amount of monks. Every morning when I’m on my way to the bus stop I see them out collecting their food for the day. They are not allowed to beg, and they do not use money so they walk up and down the street slowly and the food stall vendors come out bringing them large portions of food for the day. The monk then stops and the vendor kneels on one knee and offers up the food to the monk, who is dressed in an orange robe (which is more like a bed sheet draped over one shoulder) and wearing no shoes. I will have to look up what the color orange symbolizes; I’m curious now that I think about it. I will try to get some pictures of this (especially for you, Ed. J).

This weekend I’m going to check out Ayutthaya, the old capital city of Thailand, about an hour and a half north of here. It’s got many beautiful ruins (destroyed by the Burmese in 1767, those jerks). The thing I’m most excited to see there is that famous large Buddha head growing in a tree trunk. I will get lots of pictures and report back to you all.  One last thing, I will try to post a video on here of one of my class’s skits that I was telling you about in my last blog. It’s great to listen to their English which is spoken with such a heavy accent that it is only recognizable as English when you really listen.  I’m sure that’s about how my Thai sounds to them.