Some may wonder why I called this bolg green and blue paint? Are much deliberation the title came from green and blue being the color of the world. The colors of the word represent what my mission in Thailand is.. to be a cultural amabassador sharing American Culture with the Thai community I encounter. I am to open the door to the world to my students while promoting cultural understanding. As well I can take all the knowledge of Thailand and share it with my world back open- therefore serving as a global citizen spreading cultural empathy to family, friends, and my Louisville/ Kentucky community. The word Paint represent my love of creativity and education which is the avenue through which I get the opportunity to see the world and share my experience with others. Therefore the mission of this blog is to be a creative education and spreading of goodwill of American and Asian cultures.
I hope to bring connections with my previous study abroad as well as my hobby of education philosophy and methodology while exploring Thailand and Southeast Asia. And I encourage many of my teacher friends to compare notes of teaching techniques and culture. I also want to pull on all my resources when teaching my students and community American culture, so I encourage friends to post notes and reminders of important American concepts.
The Heat
So I will follow my last blog post of one of the best parts of Thailand with the one aspect that is the hardest to get used to: the heat. First I have to admit that it is the cool season and I do not know how I will make it through the April months when it actually is summer time but even so I will explain the heat of this cool month of October. The average daily temperature is about 30-34 degrees Celsius. I am not sure how much this is in the states, but feels around upper 80 to lower 90 degrees. The crazy part about the heat is that it is always hot- I walk out of my room and the hallway is hot, the lobby is hot, the walk to school is hot, the canteen is hot. There are only a few rooms that have some sort of AC or fan and luckily our bedrooms and the classroom of AC in the room.
On a day when I don’t have class the heat becomes a daily obstacle. You body is drenched with constant moisture and trickles of sweat are constantly sliding down various parts of my body. My legs stick to most chairs and my lungs sometimes have difficulty with all the warm damp air.I cant drink the tap water, so I constantly have bottled water to keep hydrated. I actually have been trying to drown my body in water as a good way to flush out all the pollution, different pollen, and help my body adjust to the new atmosphere. I have to say buying a water stomach has been useful purchase. I also have to swear by my deodorant:
Food
So I wanted to write more about the food because I just don’t think I did it justice. Food is such a big part of Thai culture- everyone loves to eat. They love to snack. They love really sweet things. They love condensed milk in everything. I became a black coffee and un-sweet tea drinker a few months before I left when I was on my diet kick and that was the biggest mistake I could have ever made. Here they put sugar on everything, and the condensed milk adds this thick, buttery creamy sugar taste that is unlike any sweetness in America. I love tea but I can’t drink the Thai tea because it taste like the topping of a orange GIGIs massive cupcake icing blended in drink form, and I am the biggest sweet lover there is.
I don’t dislike all the sweets; it is just things that are not supposed to be sweet are sweet and it just throws me off. The desserts here are amazing two. The other day I had a small crape about the size of a quarter with a spoonful of marshmallow cream fluff scooped on top with sprinkles of chilly powder on top. The sweetness melts on your mouth but has a thicker consistency of a marshmallow and then at the end the spice of the chily powder compliments like coconut sweetness. I also love the giant pancake size crape with nuetella and warm bananas! They make the crap right in front of you so the bananas a mashed and warm with a slight taste of chocolate melted overtop. The crape is then folded four times in a triangle and handed over for a great dessert. The bonus part is this is the dessert at my canteen at school for a little under 1American dollar! Overall the desserts are unbelievable. The Thais have won my heart with things that are meant to be sweet.
Since I am writing about Thai food I have to write about the spice. There is no way to explain the spice that is present in the food. Almost everything is spicy. The food has some of the Indian curry spice, but the main spice comes from red and green small peppers cooked in everything. The other night I accidently bit right into one of these red peppers and the spice exploded in my mouth. The heat wrapped around the front of my lips into my nasal passage and down my throat. My upper lip broke out in sweat and my eyes started watering. I stuffed my face with rice and peanuts to help neutralize the intense feeling but only time (and about ten minutes of time) would calm my mouth down. All that being said I have to admit that I LOVE the spice. Their main condiment is fish oil and peppers and I add it to almost all of my dishes to make it even spicier. I am already worried how I am going to go back to America and eat blander food…..
Other random things I have eaten: crickets, octopus burger on rice patty bun, sticky bun and pork shreds for breakfast, lots and lots of pineapple, dragon fruit, the best watermelon in the world, custard apple, baby oranges the size of your thumbnail, egg and milk pudding, lots of meat on a stick, egg stuffed with rice, baby eggplant, …….And lots f things I have no idea what it was. Usually my best bet is just to point, hold my finger up for 1 portion, and shake my head for the price. So far so good
India/ China and Karma
When I was talking to someone about Thailand they said that Thailand was uniquely Thai, and that I should not compare it or try to find influence from other countries, and yes that is true to some degree. There are lots of things I have found that I have not seen anywhere else in the world: the architecture, the amazing, helpful, caring people, and how they always smile and laugh, etc. but there are so many similarities to China and India and it is so weird how both of these cultures mesh together. Much of the order of daily life reminds me of china- the traffic patterns, the vendors, the shops, the order, the relatively clean streets, the food to some degree- while much of the color and spirituality of Thailand reminds of India. The beautiful colors used in everything, the wonderful curry in the food, the ribbons and flags used to decorate buildings, the tuk-tuks, and especially the reverence towards the chosen spiritual leader. The only reason I say this is because both of the trips has made the transition to Thailand so much easier. I am not longer surprised when motorcycles ride up on the streets or when you are expected to cover your shoulders and take off your shoes when you enter a watt (Thai Buddhist temple). Every day I see something that reminds me of one of my trips, and I know I am so blessed to be able to have seen so much of Asia and slowly start to understand Asian and eastern cultures. I cannot wait to get to explore more of Southeast Asia through my travels out of the country and in my home village. I look forward to understanding eastern culture through the families in my community I will be teaching in. I am so so blessed to be in a small community where it is very common for teachers to be close to the families. I am teaching in a school with 350 students K-9 while some of my counterparts and teaching in middle schools and high schools with roughly 2000 students. I am not sure how I got so lucky or blessed with my placement, but the director says based on our goals addressed in our personal statement she tries to place us in our school. She also said that our signatures and black magic had a lot to do with how she was able to match our personalities with our school placement. I do not understand karma, black magic, and some of the Thai superstitions enough yet to write about it, but trust me I am on the path to finding out. I am going to an English Karma and meditation lecture another girl found on Monday so keep your eye out for what comes of that.
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