When you go to a new country, or even sometimes a new part of the country you live in, and you spend a good amount of time there some parts of life start to become a given. For example, it became a given for me in Portland to look more diligently for bikes when I drove. In Australia and England and New Zealand, looking right and then left when crossing the street is a small adjustment that becomes a given if you come from the States. In cultures and countries where chopsticks are the primary utensil it becomes odd to not see them at the table. Here are some things in Thailand that I’ve become accustomed to as normal, that when I think about, realize just aren’t in the States.
Riding in the back of pick-ups
I’m not really talking about just climbing in the bed of truck because there wasn’t room in the cab (although that is extremely common here). What I’m thinking of are the vehicles that are called song tao. Song tao means two rows which refers to the two benches that are in the bed of the pick-up and under a cover for people to sit on.
A song tao can be a pick-up or it can be a large truck. Size doesn’t matter, just the presences of benches in the bed of a truck qualifies it. In most cities these are the public transportation. There are fixed numbered routes that are often impossible to explain and Thai people don’t know them either. I’ve also see them function as the school bus for the secondary school students. They are multipurpose and I think are the most fun, efficient, cheap way to get around.
Things for sale anywhere
Want to be a small business owner? As long as you have some inventory (which may be just junk from around your house) and can find a space in a public area, you can be! In the cities, it is not uncommon to be unable to walk normally on the sidewalk because it is crowded with tables with anything you can imagine for sale. Sometimes the sellers don’t even have a table it’s just a blanket on the ground with their wares. It doesn’t seem as if there is any kind of permitting system in place for this, nor does it appear to be illegal in any sense. Need a pair of pants? They’re just a block down. How about some Angry Birds merchandise? Turn the corner. A watch? Oh look, there are some right here. Anything and everything you can imagine is being sold on the street.
Having a Town Crier
I remember learning about how news was spread around villages in pre-printing press times: someone would just walk around shouting everyone’s business and people would listen. That is how my village, and most villages I know, work. Except there is a loud speaker that is turned up loud enough to be heard for kilometers around. It just so happens that the loud speaker is currently about 50 meters from my bedroom door. So I get to hear, in Thai, all of village’s business.
I was kind of excited yesterday when I understood one sentence of it. But then I had a hard time tuning it out like I normally do. Sometimes there is nothing to say, so they will just play music. There is also no set time for any of the announcements, but they happen regularly every morning and every evening. Mostly. Sometimes as early as 5 am. But that is how everyone knows what is going on and to go show up at things.
Trucks Full of Fruit
Before we left San Francisco (which seems like 10,000 years ago now, even though it was only 5 months), Stacey who is the placement officer for Asia told us about how she had just gotten back from visiting Thailand and how people who love fruit would love it here. Not only is there an enormous variety of fruit, but it is quite common to see a pick-up stacked 10 feet high with it. I love seeing a huge truck-full of pineapple just cruising along the highway. I worry that they will all topple out on top of me, but I love pineapple so if that were the case I bet I would get some free pineapple out of it and so I don’t worry about it.
Today at the market there were three different pick-ups full of watermelon. And when I talk about truck-fulls, I don’t just mean that the bed is full, I mean that there is a cage coming up off the bed and they stack the fruit to the top of the cage, which is another 5 feet up off the bed. It truly is the place for fruit lovers here.
Barefoot All the Time
It is customary to take your shoes off before going inside. And putting on shoes is often a hassle. So I spend most of my time barefoot. I teach barefoot. I cook barefoot. I lay on my porch barefoot. The only time I ever really wear shoes is when I ride my bike. And I could probably get away with not wearing them then. My co-teacher wears slippers in the classroom. But not me; I let my little piggies run wild and free.