This morning I was told I had to be ready at 7:00 to go "pay the forefathers." Instead of waking up at 6 like I was supposed to, I slept in a bit (until 6 30) and then rushed to get ready in half an hour, I was ready at 7, and whent downstairs to the kitchen. I ended up just sitting at the table while everyone else took all kinds of food offerings up onto the roof :S I didn't go up there with them though, because honestly I was having a bit of a bout of homesickness and didn't really feel like going. Cherry asked me if we do this in Canada as well, and I said no, so then she asked me what do we do when people die? And it was really hard for me because today it's been 6 months since my Nanny passed away, all I could think was, "don't ask me about death right now..." and I just told her that we do different things depending on what the certain person wanted, and I don't think she understood, but at least she stopped asking me about death.
Patch wasn't at school today because I think she has a cold, or just isn't feeling well for whatever reason. My AFS Coordinator wasn't there either, which made for a very boring day on my part. I spent the first period in the computer room, just checking my emails and what not, then went to my Thai Art class and continued working on the same drawing I've been working on for the last few weeks. After that I was supposed to have Thai Cooking, but the teacher told me "no cooking today" so I went back to the computer room. Then my Flower Making teacher called up to the computer room and told me to go make flowers instead of cooking. I went back down and just painted some more orchid petals, since all of the ones I painted last week went missing. At lunch time I went and ate with Cherry, which wasn't too eventful, except Nink told me I look fatter than I did when I first got here. Apparently in Thailand, they don't consider comments such as these to be rude, so I'm trying not to take it too personally, and I know there's nothing I can really do about it, since all exchange students tend to gain weight, and then just lose it when they go back home. After lunch I headed up to the English room for a change of scenery, and started reading a Bangkok newspaper which was in English. In the newspaper I found an advertisement for a Bangkok Dance Festival type thing (not sure exactly what it is called). It lasts from the middle of September to the middle of October, and has all different performances including The Nutcracker put on by a Russian Ballet Company, and a Comtemporary Dance performance all the way from New York. I then ran in to Pailin, and told her how much I would love to go see one of these performances, and asked if she would want to go with me. So, as long as we can get tickets (they cost between 600-2000 baht depending on the seats), and the dates don't interfere with anything (such as my AFS Cultural Orientation Camp, and nobody seems to be able to tell me exactly when it is, besides the fact that it's within the next couple of months) Pailin and I will go to one of the performances! I'm super excited!
In the afternoon I hung out in the computer room and read my Thai Culture Shock guide, and I was suprised at how many things listed in the book I had actually noticed on my own. Such as the fact that Thai's will only show a guest the "guest room" of their house, while in North America, people generally show a guest all the different rooms of their home. I guess this explains (maybe?) why my host family hasn't shown me all of their house. It also mentioned the different types of spirits Thai's traditionally believe in (although not so much anymore), and one of the scary ones is the spirit of a woman who dies while she is pregnant. It reminded me of a conversation I had with Cherry when she asked me if I am afraid to have children, and I told her no, and she said she was afraid of dieing while giving birth. I was like, "ugh, that hardly happens.?" So I think maybe the real reason she's afraid of it is because of the whole spirit belief. Who really knows though. After being here for about a month and a half, I am really starting to become aware of the "deep" cultural differences. These aren't the obvious ones, such as the different food and different language, but rather the rules we are brought up by, which may influence the way we think or react to certain situations. One thing I have noticed about Thais (I wont mention them all, because it would take up an entire novel, if you are curious, just read CultureShock Thailand) is the whole "saving face" and avoiding conflict idea. Thais will do anything to avoid an argument. As a foreigner, I find this behavior hard to adjust to, esepcially the fact that all emotions must be held inside. You must not let anyone know if you are mad, or sad. They must only see happiness. And (as I've learned actually), if you cry, you cry alone. This is very different for me coming from a culture where if you are angry, you let someone know.
My last class was Thai Language with Ajan Supanee. She had new Thai Desserts for me to try (as always), and today it was shredded sweet potato which was fried and all sugary, and made to look like a birds nest. It is tasty I must admit. This Sunday I will be going with her and her two nieces (if all goes as planned) to JJ Mall. I'm not really sure what the plans are for getting there yet, as she said she will phone me and let me know once she talks to my host family about it. As for tomorrow, I am going with Beam (and I think Kla too) to another province to see Beam's Gramma's house (and presumably meet some of her family too?). Unfortunately, since it is in another province, we have to leave at 7 45, which means probably waking up no later than 7. Which means I will still continue to be a zombie. Hopefully I can sleep in the car.
Today is apparently Kla's birthday, although nobody in my host family informed me of this earlier, so I have nothing to give him. However, I don't think gift giving is too important on birthdays around here. We are supposed to be having a fancy barbeque/seafood type dinner up on the roof tonight for his birthday, but it's just begun raining, so I don't think that will be happening.
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