Thai Cultural Differences - Family

I'm back again! This time I am going to go over how different Thai culture is from American based on family and home life. Before I begin, allow me to point out that like all families there are going to be exceptions. If you happen to know more than me and feel something I point out isn't true, then my bad, but that's what I have experienced here for the past eight months. And now that I have that out of the way, let us begin!~

Hierarchy

• Goes in the following order in most cases: Father, other adults in house, children, and then mother
• Generally the one who supports the family financially doesn't have to do housework or other such duties
• For example, when my host father comes home, everyone gets up to make him dinner and make sure everything is done for him
• The children are kind of equal although they have their own pecking order between each other
• The mother is last when it comes to just about everything because it's her duty to put her husband and her children before herself

Family Time

• A lot of Thai people do not travel very much because the adults of the family are always working
• I don't know a single Thai that owns a video game
• Though pretty much everyone has three different kinds of computers LOL
• My host mom and dad like going on day trips, even if it's just to drive somewhere for several hours
• When Thai families get together, they always eat at some point
• Birthdays are not usually a big occasion
• Weddings and monk ceremonies are extremely popular however. Big parties always follow! 8D
• Thai families like to be together, but during the evening they tend to go their separate ways until it's time for bed

Housework

• Usually left for the weekends
• Thais don't care about the cleanliness of their houses as much as Americans
• If there is an important guest though, they make sure to clean up really well
• Some houses have washing machines while others have only basins that you're supposed to scrub your clothes in until they are clean. It just depends, really.
• When doing the laundry, the wet clothes are left to hang in the sun until dry
• I don't even think Thailand has dryers...
• Shoes are taken off before entering any house or building to keep it clean and also for respect
• The one chore I do in Thailand, but not in America is ironing my school uniform
• Thais rinse everything (clothes, dishes, etc) twice to make sure there isn't any soap
• Everyone in the house has their own personal bath towel that they only wash with soap and water about once or twice a week. Normally we just hang it up in our rooms after we take a shower.
• Thais have something against underwear...most families have you wash, hang, fold, and then put away your own underwear

House Layout

• There is no couch anywhere in my house. Everyone just sits on the floor
• Sleeping on floor mats is sometimes a permanent thing (Thankfully not for me)
• Each room has either a fan or an air conditioning system
• The floors are usually marble or other similar rock because it won't rot from excessive rain
• Buddhist images are placed in the house and prayed to on certain days for a blessing
• There is often a Buddhist shrine outside of every house in the backyard that is supposed to house the dead spirits of the family
• Many houses are surrounded by a wall and large gate that can be locked

House Rules

• Always try to save electricity whenever possible
• Don't step over or stand above anything, especially food or Buddhist offerings
• If you are sick, you are not allowed any cold fluids
• Never let your hair get wet or you will get sick
• Don't clip your toenails at night or the ghosts will curse you (this is not in my family, but one of my friends said this is for his)
• Always ask to help the adults, even if they don't tell you to

Mastering Thai!

I figured I'd make a post about this incase people were curious. Since I'm in Thailand as an exchange student and living with a family, I must learn Thai language. You guys probably have known this from the beginning though, so I thought I'd give you an update as to how I am doing. The short story is that I know enough so I can go out into Thai society and not worry about not being able to get what I need. The longer story follows.

Basically, I am able to read and write quite well. I know some other AFS returnees who never managed to master the writing system, so it's good to know I'm on the right track. I've been memorizing the tones and grammar rules and I'll probably be able to read without too much thinking by the end of the year. However, the problem with reading in my case is that I don't understand 90% of what I am reading.

This is due to my lack of vocabulary, which I am slowly trying to revive. I had a few months in the past where I was literally at a dead end with vocabulary because I just wasn't using it. I would learn the words, but because I wouldn't talk that often, I quickly forgot them. But now I realized my problem and am doing better with remembering words just by talking with people.

By talking, I reinforce my mind to what words I still need to learn. For example, I may have a sentence like "I want a giant cupcake." Let's say I know the words "I want" and "cupcake", but I am not sure about "giant". Each time I say this phrase or something similar where I need the word "giant", my mind continually remembers that I must learn it. So when I go on my computer in the evening, I will soon remember to look up different words in the dictionary.

Right now I probably know about 5-600 words. That might not seem like a lot, but in the beginning I only knew like 50 words. This is most definitely a BIG improvement. More than anything though, learning Thai has taught me that it's possible to learn another language. I might not ever use Thai again in my life, but I learned things about other languages that will help me in the future. So I really think that when I go back to America, I will concentrate more on learning Japanese (a language I already speak at a basic level) because I know I will be using it. I'm sure I will still remember Thai words though. ;D

Thai Culture Differences - School

I decided to start a little series of posts this month about just how different Thai culture is from American. So since today I started writing this up at school, I'm going to talk about this. Now I've broken it up into various categories. That way I can think easier. But I'm probably going to forget something anyway. Feel free to add anything in the comments~


Attire

• For every school in all of Thailand (public, private, international, university, etc) students will wear a uniform
• There are generally two sets of uniform: the daily uniform and the sports uniform
• Girls must have their hair cut short (or simply put up in a ponytail if they're high school or college students)
• Boys hair cannot be overgrown on the sides, but can have a bit more on the top of the head
• Nails cannot be too long, painted, or otherwise enhanced
• Body jewelry is usually not allowed (sometimes even normal jewelry is not acceptable)
• Shoes, socks, and even backpacks must be approved by the school
• Even Thai "lady-boys" (they are common here) must adhere to the rules by their true gender

Studying

• Depends a lot on the student
• Have two choices for academics: science and algebra course (more math) or geometry and chemistry course (more science)
• Extra-curricular classes can vary, but the ones I have at my school are cooking, Thai dance, Thai fencing, music, art, etc
• Copying and cheating is fairly easy (don't let anyone tell you otherwise) as I often see my friends copying each others' work with the teacher noticing, but not caring
• Thai students get a lot of homework and often have tutoring after school or on the weekends because the studying at school is not enough to enroll in a university
• English and other foreign language classes teach only the language, not the culture
• Many teachers are quite laid back with what the students do in the classroom, however there are some that do not tolerate any sort of misbehavior

Discipline

• It isn't uncommon to see younger students being hit by the teacher
• A common physical punishment is hitting the wrists with a metal ruler
• In extra-curricular classes, the teacher is usually not allowed to fail students
• Students who repeat a year do so because of their academic classes
• If a students hair is not the right length, some teachers will simply cut it themselves without warning
• Wearing the uniform in appropriately will result in immediate action or removal

Lifestyle

• For many Thai students, school life is their main focus
• It is generally looked down on if someone chooses to concentrate more on something else rather than studying during their school years
• In the school, there are many different kinds of people, even if they all wear the same uniform
• You can always find some sort of food somewhere in the school (at least at mine. LOL)
• There are usually more free periods than in American schools
• Boys and girls who are seen together closely are suspected of being lovers, even if it's not true
• Thai "lady-boys" are easy to spot even in uniform (they are quite energetic and not shy)
• After school, many students go out with their friends instead of changing out of their uniform

November Update

Whee! It's November, guys! So that means there's an update post to fill you in on a few things that have been going on during the last month. Overall, I'm looking forward to this month. Last month was kind of strange because I was off school for six weeks so I sort of felt like I had no purpose in life. But now I'm back in school and getting adjusted to being productive again!

My host family is doing really well so far this month. I feel totally comfortable living here. I always know if I am doing something wrong, my family will tell me, so this prevents me from getting too worked up over something. That and also I think my family has figured out that by smiling at me when I pass, it shows everything is fine and I shouldn't worry. LOL I had a bit of a misunderstanding at the beginning of October that I had to have my advisor clear up, but thankfully they don't hold grudges either. ;D

This month is when my fellow AFS buddy from Germany, Jill, will be going back to her home country. I will miss her so terribly and I wish she could stay longer, but ay it isn't meant to be. I wish you the best of luck back in Germany, girl. And remember to never forget this experience. <3

Another thing that will be happening this month, and from now on, is a lot more posts about culture and the details of Thai life. I was originally going to post a bunch of pictures because I got my camera batteries back, but alas we've reached another complication. See, while I can take pictures now, I seem to have misplaced the connecting wire for the camera to my laptop. Well I know where it is, but I REALLY don't want to go there to get it back. Just trust me on this... Anyway, I will continue to take pictures and when I go back to America I will buy another connector. Then I'll post all the pictures from my Thailand travels. I have two memory cards that each hold like 500 pictures so I should be good, heh.

However, if you would still like to see some pictures, I highly recommend you add me on Facebook at Miki Thaigirl. This is my Thai Facebook so just about everyone knows it and it's where my friends tag me in pictures. So if you really want to see everything that is going on, I suggest you add me there. I'll more than likely accept all friend requests, unless you happen to have a creepy name or something, haha!

And this was originally just for my own reference, but I have now decided to put it here. It's a random timer set to go off when I am supposed to be going back to America. You can find it by clicking on this link. It shows the exact days, hours, and seconds it'll take before I go back. Since it was originally just for me, it's not really pretty so don't expect much. XD

That is about it for all the November updates. I will get working on those posts then~