"Saa-waat-dee kraab."

Alright so I’ve stopped moving and now I have no idea what to do. We made it to Chiang Mai safely after having bummed around the Bangkok Airport for three hours at 5:30 in the morning their time. We’re all sort of punch drunk and fairly lost; somehow it’s Saturday afternoon after taking off on Thursday. The airport is kind of humorous and seems like something out of a sketch comedy act…most people walk around holding masks on their face in fear of swine flu (“HEY YO. SWINE FLU!”)

So to give you an idea of Thailand…there really is no way to summarize it in a simple blog post. First off and not surprisingly, it’s hot. Not like it gets at home where it pushes 85 and everyone dives into their air-conditioned houses, but a sticky, sopping heat that saps every ounce of moisture out of you as soon as you step outside. Honestly, if the Thai find sweat offensive, then I’m straight up SOL thanks to my dad. Inside isn’t all too much different; Thailand seems to stay cool by utilizing archaic oscillating fans straight from the 1950s. Hell, I’m sitting in front of one right now writing this.

Second of all, when they talk about it being the rainy season, it lives up to its name. The skies open up here like God wants us to build another Ark and round up all the animals. The rain clouds come at 11:00 every day, almost predictably right on time, ominously overtop the mountains and black as the darkest night. The raindrops are just under the size of silver dollars and have the ability to give a rock concert a run for its money in the ability to deafen someone. Speaking of mountains, I realized I’ve never seen legitimate mountains before now. Michigan’s “hills” seem as flat as a Kansas cornfield.

Third of all, the culture here is very interesting. Here is an abridged breakdown of some of their beliefs/cultural values:

1. The King is the shit. Do not diss the King. Everyone loves the King here (as evidenced by the two King calendars posted around my host family’s house – I’ll get to them in a second)

2. The head is the most sacred part of the body, with the feet being the most impure. Don’t pat anyone on the head, especially kids. Or the King…that might yield instant death. Don’t point at things with your feet. Especially at a monk; showing the soles of your feet towards someone is like flipping the bird.

3. Thai families are very generous, especially when it comes to food. If I lose weight while I’m here and they notice it, it’s apparently regarded as poor caretaking on their part while gaining weight is a sign of a good host. Good thing I’m not picky. Although, I’ve already eaten quite a few things where I honestly have no idea what the hell I’m eating. My host father gave me these cookie-like biscuits that have some sort of fruit in them and I can’t decipher the almost hieroglyphic-like text on the wrapper to figure out what they are. That, and I had something on the plane called Puff & Stuff, which, might I say, was not in any way puffy or stuffy. It was more like solidified blue gel with coconut inside. I’m still excited to try real Thai food though.
So anyway, I’ll share more Thai culture with you later. After arriving in Chiang Mai, we got our baggage and piled into the back of trucks (covered pickup trucks that have been converted into taxis) and went to the ISDSI for orientation (the ISDSI being the institution that is hosting our whole program). The air pollution here is pretty rough…I don’t think I’ll be running on the ghetto treadmill that my host father showed me that was essentially a tread on 18 rolling pins. After orientation, our host families arrived and took us off to our respective houses. My host family consists of my host dad, mom, two sisters (one around 16 or 17 and the other who can’t be a day older than 3; she’s adorable), and two host brothers. None of them speak a lick of English except for my host brother Thom, which I just found out via phone a few minutes ago (he’s probably about 24 and works all day). When I figure out the names of my host family, I’ll let you know. Honestly, I have no idea what I’m doing but it’s a riot. I gave my host father a miniature statue of the Grand Haven lighthouse…try explaining the concept of a lighthouse to a man who’s never seen one nor a large tanker before and the only words he understands are “very good” and “hello.” Not that I really can complain; the only words of Thai I know are hello (“Saa-waat-dee kraab”) and thank you (“Kawb-koon”). They’ve gotten me by so far…I’ve been smiling and playing a lot of charades. The language barrier is actually quite comical. My family was showing me my desk which doesn’t rise more than eight inches off the ground and trying to tell me that they didn’t know I was so tall and that I wouldn’t fit in front of it and that they would get me a new one. I just spent the last 20 minutes defacing the top of my door with my host father – literally defacing with a band saw and a hammer – to install a locking mechanism on my door to keep my belongings safe. It’s a strange culture, if anything.

Anyway, I will write more later, but I’m starting to crash from lack of sleep. I have to stay up as late as I can to make the jetlag transition easier, but unfortunately it’s only 3:34 in the afternoon and I’m lying on my mattress with my wonderful Mickey Mouse covers.