Being a Thai-American in Thailand

Hi everyone!!

It's me Cindy Sunshyne here blogging from Thailand! It took me 24hours to get to Thailand. I flew out of SFO to Taipei, which took me 13hours. I had a layover in Taipei for 7hrs till my next flight left for Thailand. From Taipei to Thailand took me only 3 hours! So I got to Thailand on Sunday October 10, 2010 (10/10/10)!! I pretty much lost a day because Thailand is 14hours ahead of San Francisco. All good though! It is now October 14, 2010 and I feel a lot has happened so far!

So, where am I staying at? I am staying at my aunt Pa'Sri Noi's and Uncle Jim's house in Min Buri city. It is outside of Bangkok by about 45min. Their neighborhood is really nice and is located in a gated house community with security and a park. The house is really nice with four bedrooms and three baths. There are mango trees planted in front of the house and there are banana trees in the back! I love all the green that is around me here. In the mornings, there is a truck that drives around with fresh food, kind of like the ice cream man back in America, but this is all thai food! Around the corner from my aunt's street is a tiny market for food as well. Outside of the housing community, there is an open air street market of food all prepared on the side of the road where you can just park your car, step out, pick what you want, and go home! It's pretty convenient! I'm totally living like a local. there are no tourists in this town or even around this neighborhood. Everyone is THAI!

My accommodation is rather nice. I sleep in a queen size bed in an air conditioned room, I have my own large bathroom, and my aunt cooks me breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The common thai breakfast I've been having is "Gow tom" which is similar to the chinese "jook"! It is a rice porridge filled with different veggies, ginger, squash, and spices! I help do the dishes of course. Every morning I drink tea! When i left America, I got my teeth cleaned by my dentist who told me to not drink so much tea or at least rinse after I drink tea now because my teeth are starting to stain. Oops!=) I shower with cold water. The cold water doesn't even feel cold! Because it's so humid and hot in the bathroom, the cold water feels soooooooo nice!! And don't worry, the toilets in this house is very modern with a bedeigh. Right now I am using Uncle Jim's computer to use the internet, which is kind of slow, but it's better than nothing.



I'm loving the weather. The month of October is actually the end of the rainy season. The last four days that I've been here, I have not seen the sun yet. Though it is still very hot. The hard downpour of rain has woken me up every morning at 4am. Then I sleep for another four hours and wake up by 8am.

BODY CHANGES:

The 1st evening when I got in, I took my shoes off and noticed my feet and ankles were swollen. "Did I sprain both of my feet???" Uncle Jim reassured me it's probably because my body isn't used to the heat yet. Right now, my feet are not swollen.

My muscle tone is a lot firmer here, my hair is softer, my skin is smoother, my nails are growing faster, my bowel movements had to adjust a bit to get used to the food so far, my chest is bigger (TMI I know haha), my skin pigment is also more orange, oh and I think my hair has grown like almost half an inch so far!! That is good news because I'm in the process of growing my hair out! =)

CROSS CULTURAL DIFFERENCES:
I'm a Thai-American. My family is all Thai. My parents are Thai who moved to America from Thailand to raise a family. My whole life growing up, I didn't understand some of the ideals my parents had about us kids growing up. Now I'm starting to understand why after being here in Thailand for just a few days.

Here's an example: Because I am Thai, I guess it isn't appropriate to let children (especially girls) travel alone. If someones child is traveling alone, then there must be something wrong with her or there must be something wrong with the parents. "Why are you traveling alone?" "Your parents let you travel alone?" "It's not fun traveling alone." "Wow, you not scared?" "It's dangerous". OK I understand the "it's dangerous" part because all parents want their kids to be safe right? Apparently my mother wrote my aunt a note asking my aunt to keep an eye on me and to not let me loose in Bangkok. Wow right?? Perhaps my mom doesn't want other people to think she is also crazy for letting me travel alone?

So on Monday when I went to go find Wat Saimai where my grandpa's funeral was at, my aunt came with me. Which I actually didn't mind because she can speak to the head monk for me. Going to Wat Saimai was an emotional experience. So many people were crowding the head monk's room trying to ask him questions. My aunt was getting frustrated thinking that we might not be able to find grandpa's ashes/bones. So we left the room and went to talk to a younger monk of the temple. He had me do a meditation with water which I later watered a huge tree with. Then he took us to talk to the head monk as VIP. haha. The head monk told me that my grandpa's funeral was located here but his ashes/bones are some place else in North East Thailand. I was a little frustrated but at least I had a better idea of where to go. This visit was still important though. I was able to donate some money, do a prayer and do another meditation in my grandpas name at this temple where his funeral was at. Before I left, the monk gave me two goodluck charms which you cannot put in your pocket! And by the way, my grandpas funeral was big. The King of Thailand donated his gold for my grandpa's funeral to use in the ceremony.

So it's a little frustrating knowing that I am being "watched" sort of. In America, the new generation commends people when you successfully travel alone. Prior to coming here, my cousin told my aunt (who I'm staying with) to not worry about me because I am American; American kids travel alone with their backpacks. Here in Thailand, the Thai people are totally tolerant of seeing international travelers travel alone because they are not Thai. But because I come from a Thai family, it is different. My parents and elders are also traditional in their way of thinking, so they still try to tell me what I should and should not do.

When I went to Ayutthaya yesterday, my aunt called in a private chauffeur/body guard for me. He took me around to so many beautiful places in the ancient ruined city, which was built in the 1300s. He also followed me around looking me from afar to make sure I was okay. He wore big black sunglasses. haha



CLOTHING!
In Thailand, the Thai people are very good at the way they dress. Before I left America, my mom was telling me to not wear any hats, wear my headband, or wear my bandana on my head because it isn't good. She said, "people are going to think you're a punk". Ok Mom! My mom has said stuff like this before in the past when I was growing up, like "Don't wear too much tank top...it's not nice!" I was surprised she said something like this again. Yesterday, my aunt also said, "Cindy you need to cover up more. The tank top is not good. Bring a shirt with you". Goodness, what's with this tank top thing!!?? So ok, I took an extra tshirt with me just in case. Yesterday I was chauffeured to Ayutthaya. And to my surprise as I was looking around the streets of Thailand, I focused my awareness on the people and how they dressed. NO ONE was wearing a tank top. Everyone I saw was wear shirts with sleeves to either their elbows or just enough to cover their shoulders, pants or shorts were no higher than above the knees. I hardly saw anyone wear hats or anything covering their heads unless they were working on a farm or were pushing food around.

In the Thai culture, covering up is seen as normal. My aunt was telling me if you're showing more skin, people are going to look down on you or think you are trying to fish for men. Covering the head or even touching someone else's head is a bad thing because the head is seen as a sacred part of the body. So for all you travelers coming to Thailand, make sure you are dressing appropriately and do not touch someones head! I believe in Bangkok, the Thai people are more accepting of travelers who wear tank tops because there's a lot of international travelers there. You do not want to offend Thai people outside of Bangkok though. Now I understand why my mom would worry about me when I was in high school whenever I would wear tank tops or if I travel alone. It's a form of saving face and protection; well in the Thai eye's perspective.

So it's hard for me because I was raised in America where culture is completely different. All my friends around me are American and live American ways. The things I do, some Thai people do not understand. There's a small line of conflict because I am also Thai. So I feel obligated to respect the family and the "Thai" way, especially if I'm Thai. Now that I am in Thailand, I feel I need to live by the Thai way, especially if I'm going to be staying with family here.

GOING INTO THE CITY-Bangkok:
"She looks Japanese!! She is not Thai!", an officer said as my aunt and I try to get into Wat Phra Kaew, The Grand Palace in Bangkok. There are two entrances into this place. One way for foreigners and one way for Thai people. My aunt told me we can just go through the Thai people entrance. As we are walking up, I see lots of people just walk through without being checked. So I thought this should be easy! As we approach the entrance, an officer pops out, "Sawadee Krap!!". Ohhhh noooo....
My aunt asks the officer "we can come in this way right?". But the officer replies yes for Thai people, but points his finger at me, "What about her? I need to see her Thai license". As my aunt is talking to the officer, I start to feel embarrassed and rather just save the trouble and walk away. "Cindy is my niece, she is thai!", my aunt says; then she notices as she's talking with him that other people walk on by without being checked. So she asks him, "how come you aren't checking their I.D?" His reply was, "Because they look Thai. She looks Japanese!! She is not Thai". I reply back in Thai, "I am not japanese sir". He then says in Thai, "See, she isn't Thai, when she speaks she doesn't sound Thai". I'm so offended, bothered, and embarrassed at this point that I tell my aunt, "Pa'Sri Noi, mai pen rai". I told her it's okay, we can just go.

She wanted to get me in somehow though, without paying. HaHa. So she talked to some guards on the side saying that I was her niece visiting from America and that I am Thai and we want to check the place out. The guards asks me, "Is she really your aunt? How old are you?" I answer, "Chai, Lhan jing jing. Chun yee-sip hok pee kah". Then they let us in. "Korp koon mak kah", I reply thanking them.



We then walk to other temples, checking out the Bangkok scene for the day. Everything in every moment was very fascinating. I walk ahead of my aunt, and some Thai people selling stuff on the side of the street talk to me in English. How do they know I'm "American" or can understand English? My aunt thinks it's the way I dress and the way I walk. We sat down to eat along the Chao Praya river at a cute restaurant. Yum I ate really good tom yum soup. A little cute girl walked up to me, not my aunt, and asks me in Thai if I can buy dessert bread from her. I reply saying, "Mai pen rai nong", it's okay. She walked away soooooo SAD!!!! NOW I feel bad. So I look over and say, "Nong, mai nee. Lah kah tow lai kah?" Come here little one, how much is it I ask her. "TWENTY BAHT" she says with a huge smile. So I ended up buying her bread and it was really good!

My aunt would bump into people saying that I'm her niece visiting from America. These people reply saying, "wow she's traveling alone? She's thai?" Some of these people I get a weird vibe from. A vibe as if they envy me that I was raised in America... or the kind of vibe that I'm not truly Thai if I'm not living in Thailand and not speaking Thai fluently. So I kind of feel bad. *throws hands up in the air*

So, I don't know if I should even keep trying to fit in?? I want to get into the culture and learn about my heritage, but so far, it has been kinda frustrating. I feel a little torn. Perhaps I shouldn't care about what other Thai people think and just make sure I get in tune with my families culture and just keep my eyes open for overall learning of the country. I'm not sure. It's only been a few days so far.. we will see how the rest of the trip will go. Tomorrow, Friday October 15, I am taking a plane by myself to Surat Thani, which is in Southern Thailand and will be traveling ALONE with no family for the next 10 days. I already got in touch with an adventure tour in Khao Sok National Park, that is where I am staying next. Adventure time is about to begin!!

Overall, I'm having a wonderful time so far in Thailand. Fascinating and mind boggling at the same time. I'm sure my experience is definitely different compared to my friends who have traveled here, it's because I am also Thai. But my American upbringing is the part that challenges me while I am here in Thailand.

Stay tuned.