Whatever happens

For one of my classes, 'Intercultural Understanding', we were told to blog about one of the cultural patterns that we have been studying and discussing and relate it to an experience we have had while in Thailand. We read one article called "Diverse Cultural Patterns" that described 'person-nature orientation'. It discussed the difference between societies that believe that human beings are subject to nature, are in cooperation with nature, or must control nature. This distinction really jumped out at me because this has been something I have confronted a lot while being here. I guess I would classify Thai society as a culture that lives in cooperation with nature. I always sort of feel uncomfortable making broad generalizations but in many instances I have observed this attitude. I think that this observation originates a lot with Buddhist thought and practice. And since this is a country where 98% of the people are Buddhist (I think that's the correct percentage) it makes sense for this idea to be linked to Buddhism. Maybe it's that when there is a god or a figure to look to as a spirit that is responsible for the way things happen, nature is simply at the mercy of a greater being.

One day I was talking to my friend Ping (who is actually from Taiwan and is not Buddhist). We were discussing the use of helmets when riding motorbikes. She explained that she grew up riding motorbikes along with everyone else around her. She said she had gotten into a couple of accidents... there is still proof of one of them-- a large scar across her right shin. I said that I had only ridden one a few times before and told her that I would be extremely scared to ride one without a helmet. She replied by saying that "Well, you know, I think that Asian people are just more brave or something". I kinda laughed and said that I guessed that must be it. The more we talked the more I understood that she didn't really have many things that she worried about. I have seen that this is sort of the general sentiment amongst most people here. It's not that they are not aware of the risks involved, it's more of a "whatever happens, happens" attitude. 

Coming from a family where I have received monthly lectures about how it's "better to be safe than sorry" and from a country where it is illegal to ride in a car without a seatbelt on, this concept of "whatever happens" is a little difficult for me to grasp. Don't worry Dad, I am eternally grateful for how you have prepared me for the world and all of its possibilities but I sometimes wonder if it is worth all of the anxiety that Americans suffer as a result of trying to control nature. Especially if you are a person prone to worrying (as I am) life can get pretty bogged down with all the thoughts of what could happen instead of enjoying things as they happen. So I don't know if I would call Ping "more brave" or simply "less paranoid" but it's nice to be in an environment where things are more accepted as they come and less fought against. 

Sukhothai and Phitsanulok

After a brutal week of midterm madness last week it was nice to look forward to the trip we took this weekend to two provinces--Sukhothai and Phitsanulok, that are about five hours south of Chiang Mai. We arrived at our guesthouse in Sukhothai at around 6 PM and took a little time to settle in and explore. It was a beautiful place. There were gardens all around and little bungalows with hammocks. There were also tons of little bird cages all around with beautiful birds of all different colors and there was a pool. Sukhothai is one of the hottest places in Thailand because it is in the center of the country in the plains. So at night it still felt like it was around 75 degrees and the air was so humid. Unfortunately I couldn't swim because of my burn so I just lived vicariously through others. 

The next morning we woke and had a great breakfast. A couple owns this guesthouse. The man is probably in his early 60s and had white hair that was slicked back and golden skin. He is Italian but has been living in Thailand for many years and is married to a Thai woman. I asked him what originally prompted him to come and he said that things in Italy got too expensive, busy and money-centered. He said he loved the Thai laid-back lifestyle. He had this super thick Italian accent and was such a character. When he would speak Thai it was so hard to understand him because it was infused with so much of his accent. Anyway, the breakfast they served was toast with fresh jams and a little omelette. There were also these little bananas, fresh honeycomb, and really nice black coffee. Paulo, the owner, served us our food and would say "delicious", "ammmazing", "fresh honeycomb from the jungle" really loudly with his accent. He was hilarious. 

After breakfast, a professor from Naresuan University (which is in the nearby province of Phitsanulok) gave us a lecture on the history of Sukhothai. Sukhothai is the ancient capital of Thailand and it is unique because it is covered in ancient ruins that were built during the empire. Originally people lived in the forest surrounding these ruins and built homes around them. But about 60 years ago they renovated the area and turned it into a national park. (Which unfortunately also meant that they had to basically kick these homeowners out of the area) The ruins contain many buddha statues and are situated between these small bodies of water that were originally constructed as water sources for these ancient people. 

We headed over to the park after the lecture and took a guided tour in a little trolley car around the grounds. The sky was a perfect blue and it was really hot so the sun created these great shadows and all of the details were accentuated. Next we went to the museum on the grounds and got to explore for a while. Sukhothai is also known for its ceramics. During the lecture we had in the morning the professor explained that Sukhothai became renown for its style of having tiny cracks that create a great sort of spider-web design around the ceramic. We were able to see some of these ceramics as well as some other great things. After that a few friends and myself rented bicycles and rode around the park exploring all of the ruins. It was pretty hot so by the end we were all dripping with sweat but it was such a cool way to be able to look at everything. We would ride a little bit, stop at a ruin, walk around and take pictures and then ride some more and stop again. 

The next day we drove to Phitsanulok which is about an hour away from Sukhothai. We stopped at one temple along the way and also went to a folk art museum. Friday night in Sukhothai we went to a hotel near Naresuan University and had a big dinner with some of the students there. The students at the dinner were mostly in their fourth year of school and were in the social sciences department. The students at my table were so nice... most of them knew a good amount of english and we also were able to practice some Thai with them. The dinner was really good. There was even a salad bar! This is something I have not seen in Thailand anywhere yet. Vegetables are always cooked here so it was nice to have some fresh veggies. First, they performed a traditional thai dance that I have seen a few times since I have been here. I think that it is a typical to open up ceremonies with a dance like this. We found out later that the woman who was dancing was actually a 'lady-boy'. I don't think I have mentioned lady-boys yet but there tons of transvestites in Thailand. It is really accepted for men to dress like women and most of the time you wouldn't even know they were men until they speak. Te=hey are called "lady-boys" or the thai word is "gatoy". Myself and my friend Kelsey were given the task to put together a little performance for them. We sang a thai children's song for them first and then had some people show off their special talents. A couple people juggled and then one girl sang the ABCs with her mouth closed. Lastly, we taught them the "make new friends but keep the old" song in small groups. It was pretty silly but it did the trick. Throughout the night we exchanged gifts and did a lot of dancing. After the party a bunch of the Naresuan students took a group of us who wanted to see the town out with them. It was so interesting to see the nightlife of this smaller city. It was somewhat similar to Chiang Mai but had more of the feeling that everyone knew each other. And at 12:00 PM I was even sung happy birthday to! And of course, there was a little bit of drinking being that it was my 21st. I don't think that I ever thought I would be with a bunch of university students in a small province in the middle of Thailand on the eve of my 21st. 

The next morning, before we left to drive back to Chiang Mai we stopped at a Buddha casting foundry. It explained the whole process which would be kind of long to explain but it was so interesting and there were all different sizes of these sculptures. We got to watch people as they worked on various parts of the process. They all looked so calm and comfortable. It made me want to just quit school and run away to Thailand and learn how to cast buddhas. You could just meditate all day while creating these beautiful things.  Maybe that's what I'll do in retirement. The best part was when I went into the gift shop, the clerk was a Thai woman wearing a shirt that had 'New Jersey' written across it. New Jersey was surrounded by hundreds of buddha statues for sale seated all around her. It was too perfect.  I don't think she had any idea what New Jersey was before I told her it was my home. She even let me take a picture of her outside in front of a large buddha. That concluded our adventure for the weekend. It was a really great weekend again. 

Here's some more pics from the weekend. 

http://s438.photobucket.com/albums/qq110/emilyfwolff/Sukhothai%20and%20Phitsanulok/

Long Mae Ping

On Saturday morning I woke up to a call from my advisor at work named "Malinee" saying that she had heard about my burn and wanted to know if I needed anything or wanted to go the doctor. I thanked her and said that I thought I would be okay but that I would tell her if I needed anything. (Yet again, more proof of how amazingly nice and generous these women I work with are). In the afternoon I met Cruu Bakeauw at the school and we drove together to the temple, or 'Wat', in downtown Chiang Mai where she goes every weekend to practice local music. Beside the main building at the temple there was a beautiful cemetery. Cruu Bakeauw told me that inside these white, ornate structures the ashes of past royalty and important monks were buried. The actual temple itself was huge. It is one of the largest I have seen yet--and I have seen many temples here. When we walked inside there was a group of people sitting on the ground underneath various large buddha statues with their instruments. People either had a 'seung'- a the small guitar-type instrument I am learning, a "saw u"- a 2 string fiddle that uses a bow and has a coconut shell body, or a small wooden flute. The people there were of all ages. There was an old man who must have been about 75 or 80 years old sitting eager to begin in the front and sitting next to me was a couple of young boys. I was the only "farang" (foreigner) at the class, beside one little girl who was a "klung" child or half-thai, half-farang. A woman next to me asked if I was her mother. I shook my head...

We sat practicing and fiddling around until the instructor, Cruu At, arrived. He was probably in his mid-30s and had a long ponytail thatreached all the way down to his butt. He was very energetic and expressive and I am guessing he was pretty funny as well because everyone around me kept laughing at the things he would say. (I could pick up a few words here and there but for the most part I was reading body language and watching throughout the lesson. I am used to this by now though.) Before we began playing, he took everyone's instruments and tuned them. Then we all turned toward the Buddha and he led a series of chants. Even though, again, I cannot understand a word that is said, I love Buddhist chanting... there is something about the tones and the words that sort of lull you into a little meditation. We started with the song I had been practicing called "Long Mae Ping". It is a song about the Ping River which runs straight through Chiang Mai. I kind of fumbled through because the tempo was much faster I had practiced it. Then he took a small group of us aside (everyone whose first lesson it was) and broke down the basics. A woman who told me she was a teacher at the bilingual school in town helped to translate what he explained which was so nice and helpful. The teacher kept saying that when you can sing it, then you can play it. So first he had us sing the notes, following along with the thai characters for "do re mi fa sol la ti do". I could do this easily, but it took me a while to really get comfortable with the playing. At the end we all came together to play some more and before departing we again prayed to the Buddha. 

I couldn't stop thanking Bakeauw for bringing me along. She encouraged me to come back any weekend I am free. Hopefully I can practice enough to get through the whole song without mistakes for next time. We'll see...

A Burn the Size of a Golf Ball

In October all of the school and university students have a holiday break. It starts around now and lasts until the beginning of November. This means that my days at work have been very different. Instead of running around from class to class with a bingo board in one hand and crayons and markers in other, I have been able to just help out with things here and there. Even though the teachers are technically on a break as well, a lot of them still come in and hang out around the campus at Kawila. Can you imagine being a teacher in the US and coming into school over your summer break to simply relax, eat and chat with other staff members? That is what is so remarkable about people's relationship to their work here. I know some people in the US thoroughly enjoy their jobs but I would go as far to say that about 80% or even more don't enjoy their job or find some fault with what they're doing. And I have noticed that across the board, at Kawila and other institutions I have had interactions with, the workplace is not just a place where people come in the morning, punch in, and do their time. Instead, it is literally a whole other community  and family. I mean maybe I am making assumptions... because a major value in Thai society is "saving face"--making sure you never let your guard down. From what I've gathered it's not about being fake, it's more about avoiding making others feel uncomfortable or inconvenienced. So maybe they are not as happy as they seem to be? But at Kawila, so many of the men and women have been working there for so long and seem to really just enjoy being around one another and the work they are doing. It's so refreshing... and it makes me all the more grateful that they have invited me into their family. 

So anyway, getting into the golfball story. Since I have had more free time at work, I have been helping to paint these linen bags that they sell for the benefit of the schools. On each bag, you trace a floral design and then use fabric paint to shade things in. It has been a great little meditation time for me. It actually makes me think of my grandma a lot. I just have such strong images and recollections of watching her paint beautiful flowers or doodle little designs and she would just sit there so quietly and calmly. Anyway, one of the teachers at Kawila who has been there for 20+ years has sort of taken me under her wing and guided me along in this painting. Her name is 'Cruu Bakeauw'. She knows a good amount of English so she enjoys speaking with me and asking me how to phrase certain things. She has also helped me with my Thai skills--which are slowly starting to take shape. She has also been really excited to teach me how to play a small Thai guitar-type thing called the 'seung'. It only has 4 strings and is made out of beautiful teak wood. It is specifically a Northern Thai instrument. She even lent me one of her own to practice at home on. (don't worry I am getting to the golf ball) So on Wednesday she told me that she wanted to invite me to come and learn with her music teacher at a temple in town on Saturday. On Friday when I came in, after a day of painting bags and practicing music, she brought me to the market in town to find a nice Thai-style shirt to wear to the temple on Saturday. So we hopped on her motorbike (motorbikes are the primary means of transportation for people here-- but don't worry, I wore a helmet!), and drove to the market. As I was getting off of the bike the back of my leg grazed the exhaust pipe of the bike that was burning hot. I ended up with a beautiful red, circular burn the size of a golfball on the back of my leg. OOOOuch. Despite the stinging on the back of my leg, we still found a great white shirt for me to wear. When I got out my wallet, she told me she wanted to buy it for me for my birthday because she remembered it was next week. Could this woman get any sweeter? When we got back to the school, Cruu Bakeauw ran to this house near the school and broke off a leaf of an aloe plant, peeled it, washed it, and stuck it onto my burn. (I thought that it was so cool that I got my camera out, limped over, and snapped a picture of the process). The pain was pretty bad at first but the aloe really helped. I did, however develop a wonderfully large bubble over the burn which was pretty sexy as you can imagine. She drove me home in her car that day. 

Happenings

This past week has really been kind of strange. We are a different semester schedule than the rest of everyone studying at Payap because we follow the US system. The thai students have the rest of October for vacation. So this past week has been exams for everyone else and packing up bags, moving around, etc.  It's already weird walking around campus with so little people around. 

Also a really tragic thing happened a few days ago. This boy who lived in the dorm where I am named Andrew was driving on his motorbike just outside of campus and was hit and killed. He was actually wearing a helmet (which many people in this city don't do) but I guess that the force was too strong. Andrew was a Korean American who grew up in California and had a pretty rough life before he came here. I didn't know him well at all... I had only seen him around the building and campus but whenever I saw him he smiled anyway. There was a service for him on Friday. It was really nice... so many people came, the place was packed. He was a devout Christian so the service had many religious songs and some passages were read. Towards the end people had the opportunity to go up and say things and everyone talked about how genuine, generous and caring he was. People spoke about how he really took the time to greet people everyday and help them out with anything they might need. It never ceases to amaze me how someone can be there one minute and not the next. It's just so easy to forget how impermanent everything is. But he was a person full of faith and his death I think reminded everyone to just take more time with each other. At least for me, even though I did not know him well, he reminded me to just appreciate people as people and not worry about where you are going next or what you need to get done before the end of the day. Because when I think about it, the people I admire most in life are the people who are not afraid to spend time with people and really look at them and listen when they talk.

My really good friend here named Kali is leaving this week. She is from Vermont but was on a different program here so she started her semester in June and is now finishing. But here mom just got here beccause they are going on a 2 month adventure excursion because Kali does not have classes until January. They have some money tucked away and a couple plane tickets but they are starting here, then flying down to southern Thailand to the beaches and then they are going to Malaysia, India, Morocco, Amsterdam, Ireland, and I think there are more. I am sooooo incredibly jealous of them. I wish I could go on a 2 month trip with my mama! But I am going to miss her so much. It's going to be so weird not having my right-hand-woman around. But luckily we live close enough that I will be able to see when we are back in the States. 

So things have been shifting a lot this past week. In a couple weeks we are going to Sukhothai- the ancient capital of Thailand. It is supposed to be a really interesting place so I am looking forward to that. That's all for now. Hope everyone is happy and safe. 

Golden Triangle among other things

Things this past week flew by. I was a little sick in the beginning of the week and took a day to stay in and rest... I guess I was just very dehydrated. This has happened to me many times when I have traveled. So I think I need to pay closer attention to my body being in new country with new weather, new food and a different routine. 

Things were a little different at work this week because October is often a break for school children in Thailand. So when I came in on Wednesday hardly any kids were there. The teachers still come in for the most part. But I guess this break will last until the end of October. It's a little disappointing because I felt like I was just getting really comfortable with kids and warming up to teaching and things. But hopefully they will be able to put me to some good use. One teacher was mentioning that I might be able to come along on some home visits throughout the month. They visit the children in their homes throughout the month. Some of them live in small villages that are somewhat far from the city. So that would be very interesting. I will have to wait and see what happens this week with all of that. 

This weekend we got to go on a great trip... everyone in the Thai studies program (which includes over 20 of us) was able to go. We went to Chiang Rai province which is about 5 hours east by car of Chiang Mai. We left on  Friday morning in these large air conditioned vans that they rented out for us. The drive was really beautiful... especially as we got closer to the town where we stayed for the first night. As we approached Mae Salong village the road wound around these green mountains and on either side of the road you would look out onto amazing views below. I still can't get over the landscape here. It's just amazing to think that there are thousands of these little villages of people that live scattered about on the mountains and have these views all of the time. This settlement where we stayed, Mae Salong, largely consists of immigrants from Southern China and their families who left China to escape communism and settled in the hills of Northern Thailand. The people there have Thai citizenship but mostly still speak Chinese and continue to maintain Chinese customs and tradition. It was so interesting to notice the nuanced differences in the food, the language and the lifestyle of these people. The area was also significant because it was a hotspot of opium harvest years ago. But the the Thai government and military was able to put a stop to production of opium there and now the area  is primarily known for its tea plantations. We got to taste a lot of the tea which was wonderful... there are little shops all around town where you can sit and enjoying trying all different varieties. They have the beautiful chinaware and it's so fun to watch them go through the process of preparing the cups and brewing the tea. We got to visit a museum there and also went to the shrine of a hero general at the top of this hill overlooking the town. The hotel we stayed in was great. Each room had a balcony that had a great view and the dinner was wonderful.  It was the lazy susan style and there was some amazing vegetable dishes and some soup. 

The next day we got up early and left to head for Chiang Saen which is the area where the Golden Triangle is. The Triangle is the meeting point, united by the Mekong River where Thailand, Burma and Laos meet. So where we ate lunch you could look out and see Burma to the left and another mass of land to the right that was Laos. The Mekong was beautiful as well. The Golden Triangle is also notorious for being a hub for opium trade between China and the other 3 countries because of its geographic position on the river and between 3 countries thar had acres of land devoted to growing opium. We spent some time at the Opium Museum there (which is supposedly the best museum in Thailand). It was definitely the best I had been to yet here. It was huge and beautifully constructed and arranged. It took a long while to go through but it was very interactive and basically traced the history of opium in the world and its social, economic and political impacts up until the present. At the end we even got to enjoy a poppy seed cookie that was really great (however, it wasn't laced with opium). That night we had dinner along the river which was nice. The hotel where we stayed was great as well.

 Today we got up again and stopped at a couple of temples on the way home. While visiting the first one I was able to get my fortune by shaking a cup until a stick with a number on it fell out. I got number 27... so I reached into the little box marked 27 and pulled out my fortune which informed me that, "Just like a dying tree, suddenly refreshed and soaked with rain, reviving back to life. Just like a teenager who never knows sorrow. Legal case is favorable. Patient fast recovering. Good supports. Overall, this one is good." I don't know if I ruined the chances of this coming true by sharing it with you... but it actually seems like it could be applied to my state currently. I am especially happy that my legal case is favorable though. 

The second temple we visited was this temple that was all white and silver. This cool Thai Buddhist artist conceived of it and on the inside there is this giant mural that includes a bunch of pop icons. I guess that it is supposed to depict sin but in the 2 eyes at the top, george bush's face is in one and Osama Bin Laden's is in the other. Also Nero (i think that's his name) from the Matrix is floating around in there as well as images of cell phones and gasoline tanks pouring out and surrounded by flames. It was very interesting... the opposite side of the main room in the temple had a bunch of buddha images and statues. It was definitely a gutsy comparison to make. 

It was a good trip yet again. I feel pretty damn fortunate to have all of these opportunities to go and see and experience all of these things. I just keep pinching myself so that I can make sure I don't take a single thing for granted.