But Why Can’t I Call You Fat?

Each of the directors with his certificate for completing the workshop

Fulbright staff and English Teachers in front

(Photo taken from Fulbright's Facebook page)

This week was round two of teaching English to the directors of Thai schools. The directors were so pleased with the progress they had made last time that they requested a second workshop with us to continue their education.

The English teachers I worked with last time were not available to return so I was accompanied by two other English teachers from my program this time. It was very pleasant to see how happy the directors were to see me again, and how comfortable they were to converse with me despite their struggles with English!

We worked on pronunciation (do you say "die-rector" "dee-rector" or "der-rector"...they were not pleased when we each said it differently), how to have small talk, how to give a tour of your school and town, and how to present about your school. I was leading the small talk session the morning of day one. I had prepared some sample dialogues for practice but had prefaced the exercise with example topics of what to avoid:

Do Not Talk About:                                                                    

-Age                                                                                        “How old are you?”

-Weight                                                                                   “You are fat.”

-Physical appearance                                                             “You are very pretty.”

-Alcohol                                                                                  “Do you like whiskey?”

-Religion                                                                                 “What religion are you?”

-Politics                                                                                   “What do you think of Obama?”

The first two groups listened carefully, and followed with many questions about what is acceptable and offensive language to us Americans. Many of the men had a serious “oh-shit” face on when they realized that they have said almost every single one of these phrases to us just in the last workshop we held, thus why they each made the list. These are exceptionally common phrases in Thailand, and not considered offensive or taboo in Thai culture but even necessary at times. For example, talking about age in Thailand is common practice because you address those who are older than you as “Pee” and those who are younger as “Nong” (I will be addressed as “Pee Kendra” and “Nong Kendra” depending on who is talking to me). Many times that is someone’s first question to a new-comer in order to avoid making their own cultural faux-pas.

The most wondrous teaching moment of the day was when my last group sat down for the small talk session and one of the directors immediately said “Hello, my teacher. You look more beautiful today than the last time.” Great. Prime segue into my topic about what not to say to a foreigner. I begin the lesson, and as we proceed through the list above he immediately apologizes when he notices his error. I reassured him by saying that I understand because I have spent enough time in Thai culture. I know it was genuinely meant as a compliment, but when a 50 year-old man is complimenting my looks in a professional setting I can’t help but have that initial uncomfortable reaction, probably due in large part to the growing awareness of sexual harassment in the States.

Then it took a turn. What my group began to ask me, more or less, is why it is their responsibility to adjust their speaking and not that of the other party’s in the conversation. They asked me if I warn my American friends who come to Thailand that they should expect to hear these things that are considered exceptionally normal in Thai culture (as if I am personal friends with all Americans who come to Thailand).

Something to remember is these are middle-aged men run schools of around 50-100 students and 3-7 staff members in rural Thailand. Lampang province is not the most disconnected province from tourism and the greater world, but these men have very little reason to engage in the global community and have very little prior experience.

It was a bit shocking at first to hear them ask me why it is their responsibility and not the other party’s. Although I had not defined a particular situation at first, I believe most of the directors assumed that they would be interacting with a foreigner in Thailand rather than being the visitor themselves, as that was the situation they were currently in while speaking to me. Therefore, they felt if you come to their home you should play by their rules. That’s valid. I have no right to say they are in the wrong if I am in Thailand and the things they say make me uncomfortable. But if you have a guest in your home don’t you do your best to make them feel comfortable, even if it means changing your routine a bit? And as a guest, you expect to be make adjustments from your normal routine. It’s a compromise. It’s a thought that has certainly crossed everyone’s mind when you travel or interact with foreigners: whose responsibility is it to adapt? But there is no code or rule. Culture is a complicated game. The responsibility falls to those who are educated about the cultural differences, and they further have the responsibility to educate others. Although these directors challenged the idea at first, the next day they were eager to report what they had learned from the day before. When they arrived at the meeting room the sought me out to say “Teacher, we don’t talk about age. Don’t say you look sexy, or you are thin. Don’t offer you whiskey…” listing off each item on their fingers as they dug through their thoughts.

I was a proud teacher. 

Krung Tep and Bangkok…Same Same.

Something that took me an embarrassingly long time to learn is that Bangkok is not called Bangkok in Thai: it’s actually “Krung Tep Maka Nakhon” or just “Krung Tep.” It means city of angels despite the brunt of many jokes “Bangkok” has born over the years. In fact, this is the abbreviated version of a much longer name which holds the Guinness Book of World Records for longest name of a place. This is a recent video released by the Peace Corps which is too fitting to this post:

 

A peer of mine showed the video to a Thai friend who commented that this man in one of ten people who knows the full name: making the point that it is not common to use the full name, only for ceremonial purposes. King Rama I established the new capitial in 1782, and anointed the city with this name which roughtly translates to this:

“The city of angels, the great city, the residence of the Emerald Buddha, the impregnable city (of Ayutthaya) of God Indra, the grand capital of the world endowed with nine precious gems, the happy city, abounding in an enormous Royal Palace that resembles the heavenly abode where reigns the reincarnated god, a city given by Indra and built by Vishnukarn.”

Clearly the king was fond of his new capital, although apparently foreigners have never caught on to the new name.

Broadway in Bangkok

I’m currently in Bangkok for a six-week internship over school vacation, and as I took the subway every morning I stared enviously at this gigantic poster for Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast. My roommate and I decided to indulge a little bit while we are in Bangkok and have the chance, as this is likely our only opportunity to see a play until we are home next year.

We bought the ticket online, looked up where to go, and discovered upon arrival (much to our amusement) that the theatre was on the top floor of a shopping mall. We have discovered that just about every shopping mall in Bangkok (and there are many!) has a movie theatre on the top floor. Movie theatres clearly haven’t hit the same financial problems as the US. Sure enough, the Broadway-equivalent theatre has found its home on the top floor of a mall as well.

After picking up our tickets we noticed how much effort had been put in for a travelling show. They set up the entire lobby for photo-ops. You could pose with the rose or take you picture with any number of the posters from the play that were framed around the entry way. A big difference from the standard poster out front on a NYC sidewalk with which it is customary to take your picture.

Everyone taking their pictures before the play. It was a madhouse after the show...

Apparently a Thai architect worked on Broadway for many years and returned to Thailand with the vision of a theatre of similar standards for Bangkok. He build the Mueng Thai Rachadalai Theatre that you can see below so that Thailand can participate in the world of theatre with its own productions as well as housing international tours like Beauty and the Beast. In fact, one of Thailand’s productions will find its way to Broadway next year.

(Photo from www.rachadali.com)

We were also shocked that the event appealed more widely to Thais than foreigners. We expected, as the play is English (and set in France making this even odder), there wouldn’t be as much local interest. As we settled into our seats we noticed large flat-screens in the corners of the theatre and deduced that the play has been subtitled in Thai.

Having taken a translation course before, I know the challenges this poor person faced when trying to subtitle the production. Particularly in a play like Beauty and the Beast, the songs and a lot of the humor involves puns with both the French and English language, idiomatic expressions, and cultural references that simply don’t translate well. When attempting to do so, the translator typically tries to find similar puns, expressions, and references in the host language but I imagine over an entire play there are many jokes lost. 

We had noticed, as the only foreigners within a certain diameter of our seats, that we were the only ones laughing at jokes that truly depended on the language. Clearly some things didn’t get translated. For example, Lumière was giving a tour of the castle and ended with “I always say, if it’s not Baroque, don’t fix it!” I know the joke is a bit old, but I don't think that's why we were the only two laughing.

We were very happy with the night, both to indulge in our love of theatre which has been absent from our Thai lives, as well as an unexpected cultural moment. I will definitely be looking forward to a trip or two to Broadway when I get home next year though!

Pin the Flower on the Student

My favorite senior (Yes, I have favorites. Get over it.)

Graduation day at Sansai. My first semester teaching English in Thailand is over and some of my students are leaving school. Unfortunately, due to the absurd amount of holidays and class cancellations, my senior class was the group I saw the least. 

Sansai Wittayakom School educates 7^th-12^th grade students. Even though they stay in the same school, we graduate the 9^th graders as well as our seniors. I’ve asked a lot of questions about this and can’t figure it out. It is some sort of coming-of-age or right-of-passage to “graduate” from 8^th to 9^th grade, but those students will be right back at Sansai Wittayakom come May. It’s not like the US and many other countries where many students attend separate schools for middle school and high school, so a graduation ceremony is justified, albeit a bit ridiculous. Then again we hold full-fledged ceremonies for graduating kindergartners now…

Helping  a buddy out and pinning his cards on to his shirt.

The Mama noodles necklace.

Thai secondary school graduation is for the school and the students, not the family. The underclassmen (11^th, 10^th, 8^th, and 7^th graders) will decorate the school (missing half-a-days class for it) and often bring in small gifts for their upperclassmen friends. They proudly adorn their gifts on their bodies: pinning cards to their blouses and hanging pictures around their necks. They may be the most unique graduation gifts I have ever seen. They remind me of Valentine’s Day cards from elementary school when you made 30 of the same card with a small candy attached to distribute among your classmates. Some were even more unique, my favorite was a Mama scarf with two bowls of instant noodles hanging around the boy’s neck. By the end of the day some students couldn’t even carry all of their goodies: candies, flowers, fake flowers, stuffed animals, and who knows what else.

So many goodies.

Many of the teachers laugh at the students’ costly and flashy forms of celebration but also remark that they are modeling themselves after college graduations. Although the colleges do the classic diploma ceremony with robes and a cap as we do, though the princess hands them their diploma, they also have these very social-orientated practices as their expression of friendship, and congratulations.

Thailand values aesthetics. It's a theme I've noted across many fronts: first priority is appearence. There were several areas set up, and broken down within the day, for the sole purpose taking pictures: more specifically selfies.

Some photo-opt scenes set up at the school.

The graduation itself was kicked off at morning assembly when I had the nice opportunity to participate in part of the ceremony. Every teacher lined up in front of the students and all of our 9^th and 12^th grade students filed through to receive a flower pin from one of the teachers.  Only thought on my mind: I’m most definitely going to stick one of these children with the pin. I had to repeat it with four or five students so chances were high, but I pulled through. I was proud that these students at least had the sense to say “Thank you” in English to the foreign teacher (who was holding a giant pin to their chest).

Sitting outside the spirit house.

Graduates parading into the school receiving gifts from friends in the crowd.

Following the flower-pinning ceremony, all the graduating students proceeded to the front gate of the school to pay respect to the Buddha at the spirit house. They then paraded in, stopping along the way to be decorated with cards and candy from their friends who lined the driveway. At the end of the parade, in small groups they were honored by the underclassmen in a unique way which you can see in the video below.

A special way of saying thank you and congratulations to the graduates.

The teachers tying a string around students' wrists for luck.

After taking a moment to have a snack and deposit their treasures at a table in the canteen, the teachers, myself included, led the graduating students upstairs to the auditorium. There were many songs, prayers, pictures, speeches from both faculty and students, and emotion to fill the morning. We held one more ceremony where the teachers tied a string around the students’ wrists for good luck. As we filled out of the auditorium the teachers lined the exit to salute each student as they exited and “Wai”-ed the teachers as an expression of gratitude and respect. The ceremony was very symbolic as an educator: leading my students, wishing them luck, and letting them leave no longer under our guard.

We joined the students for a special lunch accompanied by the school’s band but the afternoon was left to the students to socialize and celebrate. Many of the teachers retreated to their offices to finish grading and let the students enjoy their party. Early that evening both the students and teachers had cleared out early to leave a quiet Sansai….until Monday morning when the unhappy children have return for final exams!