Things I have gotten used to:
-The unbelievable generosity of the Thai people.
-The familiar call of the geckos in my room in the middle of the night
-Laid back attitude. Even though the school can be extremely disorganized, (and I often find out 10 minutes before that my class is canceled for a random reason), I have discovered that you just have to roll with it sometimes. Shrug it off. “Mai pen rai”
-Being stopped in the middle of the street and being asked “where you come from?” I always reply with “America
-My students shouting “hello teacher!” from across the way.
-My students calling me “beautiful teacher”
-Hearing the word “farang”
-Thai music. I have actually grown to like the music here. Although I am pretty tired of hearing the pop love songs. (Except for "1,2,3,4,5 I love you". That ones my favorite. 555)
-coconut milk on everything!
-The ants. I have made my peace with them
-Mosquitos. They seem to be leaving me alone. For now….
-Having a 7-11 on every corner. I don’t know what I would do without it!
-Random people yelling “hello” or “yoooo” as they whiz by on their motorcycle
-Our “regular” food stalls that we visit. We now have a “lunch lady”, a “coffee lady”, a “som tom lady” and a “fruit lady”. None of them speak English but are absolutely thrilled to see us on a regular basis. The highlight of my day is getting a huge smile as I pull up on my bike to order a cha yin.
Things I am still getting used to
-Squat toilets. I don’t think I will ever get used to them. I am thrilled when I find a restroom that has both a western toilet and offers toilet paper. A rare commodity!
-Being stared at. All the time.
-Being in a constant state of confusion. I never seem to know what is going on. Oh, another random festival? Ok, cool.
-Motorbikes. Seriously. I can’t get over it when I see little babies perched on their parents lap as they drive through town.
-Lack of hand soap
-Lack of paper products. Using toilet paper as a napkin doesn’t really cut it
-Weird spicy sugar stuff they put on their fruit (and the weird stares I get when I don’t use it).
-Stray dogs
-Communication barrier. It can still be really frustrating when you can’t get your point across no matter how much you gesture and how many different ways you try to say it (in English and Thai).
-The fact that Thai people wear sweaters and jackets when its 90 degrees. I am sweating in a tank top and shorts and they are wearing coats and scarves?
-My kids horse playing in class. They hit each other really hard!
True story: My coordinator's friend ran out of gas on the side of the road so we went to go help her. We pull up to a gas station but they didn't have any gas cans. So, they decided to give us a plastic bag full of gas and cut a water bottle in half to use as a funnel (no joke). My coordinator causally handed the bag of gasoline to Olivia who was lucky enough to be sitting in the front seat. She held the bag out the window as we drove because the fumes were so bad. I could not stop laughing in the backseat. Only in Thailand.
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