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Suphan Buri, Part 2
Posted by Teresa Ulrich
on
4:29 AM
Day 2 of English Camp in Suphan Buri:
This morning I drank two cups of coffee. My stomach doesn't take too kindly to it!
I feel like waxing profound this morning. I am slowly learning "Thai time" -- late. I was told about it, but to experience it is quite different. Last night, Chaiwot told me to be ready at 7:30 this morning. So I left my room -- by the way, they let me have a room t myself - at 7:30ish and waited. I walked by the other rooms. No sign of life. For whatever reason, I feared that that they had left me. Breakfast was to be at 8. 7:45 -- still nothing. After 8, one of the professors came around the corner of my car port. "Teresa, come drink some coffee with us. Are the others awake?" I wasn't sure. We chatted as I sipped down two cups of coffee (mistake! Today, for the first time since I've been here, my digestive system is out of sorts, which might have had to do with the coffee).
Finally, Chaiwot drove by at about 8:15. :)
"This side is about 300 baht, and your room is 330 baht. Do you know why?" the professor asked. I didn't know. "The toilet seat. My side has a traditional Thai toilet."
At that moment, I was so humbled. They let me have a room to myself, which cost more because of the toilet seat, while the female students slept four to a room, and these two had a "lesser" toilet. This isn't about the toilet seat, though. These people have done nothing but been hospitable, accommodating, kind. They ahve welcomed me into their world, a foreigner, a farong, gave me a room to myself, and I have the nerve to complain about their lack of promptness or the fact tht they answer their cell phones in class, mind you, or that they don't flush toilet paper, or even don't have some readily available sometimes, or that there are ants in my room.
I think, for the Thai people, it's more about enjoying others' company rather than being on time. (Later note -- I kind of addressed this in a previous blog in regards to class time...) At home, tardiness is severely discouraged. To me, being late communicates that one doesn't care enough about commitments to honor them. I know this is not their intent (the Thais, that is), but it is very easy to rub me the wrong way.
It's not that I didn't appreciate before. I just didn't realize. Maybe now I will appreciate with greater awareness.
This morning's breakfast was quite delightful. I drank a sweet, warm, soy milk, with some sort of jelly seed thing. I also had a Chinese doughnut. It's kind of like ours, but maybe more like a French Beignet. We discussed the differences in how our cultures regard teachers. Amy (one of the professors who teaches English) explained that today is Teacher's Day and gave me a beautiful, little floral zipper bag.
Currently I am sitting on a balcony, enjoying some Chrysanthemum tea in the cool breeze beneath a palm tree.
This evening we went to a nearby dam. Quite majestic. So beautiful. And it smelled great... nearby they burn sugar cane to make sugar, and you could smell it. There are these mysterious black ashes around Suphan Buri, and I couldn't figure out what they were or where they were coming from. That answered my question.
The students also worked on a few dramas in English, and I had to judge their performances that evening. I was thoroughly impressed with what they could do in three hours. Drama and dance are very important in this culture.
This morning I drank two cups of coffee. My stomach doesn't take too kindly to it!
I feel like waxing profound this morning. I am slowly learning "Thai time" -- late. I was told about it, but to experience it is quite different. Last night, Chaiwot told me to be ready at 7:30 this morning. So I left my room -- by the way, they let me have a room t myself - at 7:30ish and waited. I walked by the other rooms. No sign of life. For whatever reason, I feared that that they had left me. Breakfast was to be at 8. 7:45 -- still nothing. After 8, one of the professors came around the corner of my car port. "Teresa, come drink some coffee with us. Are the others awake?" I wasn't sure. We chatted as I sipped down two cups of coffee (mistake! Today, for the first time since I've been here, my digestive system is out of sorts, which might have had to do with the coffee).
Finally, Chaiwot drove by at about 8:15. :)
"This side is about 300 baht, and your room is 330 baht. Do you know why?" the professor asked. I didn't know. "The toilet seat. My side has a traditional Thai toilet."
At that moment, I was so humbled. They let me have a room to myself, which cost more because of the toilet seat, while the female students slept four to a room, and these two had a "lesser" toilet. This isn't about the toilet seat, though. These people have done nothing but been hospitable, accommodating, kind. They ahve welcomed me into their world, a foreigner, a farong, gave me a room to myself, and I have the nerve to complain about their lack of promptness or the fact tht they answer their cell phones in class, mind you, or that they don't flush toilet paper, or even don't have some readily available sometimes, or that there are ants in my room.
I think, for the Thai people, it's more about enjoying others' company rather than being on time. (Later note -- I kind of addressed this in a previous blog in regards to class time...) At home, tardiness is severely discouraged. To me, being late communicates that one doesn't care enough about commitments to honor them. I know this is not their intent (the Thais, that is), but it is very easy to rub me the wrong way.
It's not that I didn't appreciate before. I just didn't realize. Maybe now I will appreciate with greater awareness.
This morning's breakfast was quite delightful. I drank a sweet, warm, soy milk, with some sort of jelly seed thing. I also had a Chinese doughnut. It's kind of like ours, but maybe more like a French Beignet. We discussed the differences in how our cultures regard teachers. Amy (one of the professors who teaches English) explained that today is Teacher's Day and gave me a beautiful, little floral zipper bag.
Currently I am sitting on a balcony, enjoying some Chrysanthemum tea in the cool breeze beneath a palm tree.
This evening we went to a nearby dam. Quite majestic. So beautiful. And it smelled great... nearby they burn sugar cane to make sugar, and you could smell it. There are these mysterious black ashes around Suphan Buri, and I couldn't figure out what they were or where they were coming from. That answered my question.
The students also worked on a few dramas in English, and I had to judge their performances that evening. I was thoroughly impressed with what they could do in three hours. Drama and dance are very important in this culture.
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