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For a while now I have been following the very active bloggirl SHE in China. Almost every day she posts elaborate stories of her experiences in China. She speaks basic Mandarin and works in a big city and her posts often focus on the cultural differences and the way we Westerners respond to that. It doesn’t take long before you will encounter something in your daily live in Asia that makes your hair stand straight up (is this an expression?), and those stories always make a good read. I have done pretty well myself by stuffing a number of those things in my book Pantau in India. Those crazy Indians nah?
I now live in Thailand, and really, I could post new stuff everyday about those Siamese! But I haven’t. Why not? Because writing about the unusual habits of the people in our host country doesn’t make me feel good. It feels like complaining. Also, I think after over 9 years in Asia I got used to unwestern habits. I spit in public too.
We Westerners don’t mind complaining. I don’t often meet Westerners who need to go through the culture shock, but I currently spend time in a touristy area and the only thing I hear on the beach are white faces complaining about the crazy antics of the Thai. Four Dutch guys were sitting behind me on the beach. Complain complain complain complain.
I don’t let myself go very often but I couldn’t help myself. I turned round. “He! Als jullie het zo verschikkelijk vinden in Thailand, waarom hoepelen jullie niet terug naar Nederland!!”
Or in English: “If you hate it here so much, why don’t you go back to Holland!!”
I realised I have become almost Thai. Thais don’t complain. They rather keep quiet. Complaining isn’t a nice thing and is considered not done, not appropriate and someone who complains loses face. I hear Thais complain about one thing only and you hear it every day, even in winter.
“Ron!”
“Hot!”
Yes, it's bloody hot these days with temperatures close to 95F. I don’t even complain about that because it doesn’t really get hotter in Thailand than 95F and I have spent time in Delhi in April and temperatures were close to 120F (whilst 2000 Indians would just drop dead in the street every day). Mai pen rai!
I now live in Thailand, and really, I could post new stuff everyday about those Siamese! But I haven’t. Why not? Because writing about the unusual habits of the people in our host country doesn’t make me feel good. It feels like complaining. Also, I think after over 9 years in Asia I got used to unwestern habits. I spit in public too.
We Westerners don’t mind complaining. I don’t often meet Westerners who need to go through the culture shock, but I currently spend time in a touristy area and the only thing I hear on the beach are white faces complaining about the crazy antics of the Thai. Four Dutch guys were sitting behind me on the beach. Complain complain complain complain.
I don’t let myself go very often but I couldn’t help myself. I turned round. “He! Als jullie het zo verschikkelijk vinden in Thailand, waarom hoepelen jullie niet terug naar Nederland!!”
Or in English: “If you hate it here so much, why don’t you go back to Holland!!”
I realised I have become almost Thai. Thais don’t complain. They rather keep quiet. Complaining isn’t a nice thing and is considered not done, not appropriate and someone who complains loses face. I hear Thais complain about one thing only and you hear it every day, even in winter.
“Ron!”
“Hot!”
Yes, it's bloody hot these days with temperatures close to 95F. I don’t even complain about that because it doesn’t really get hotter in Thailand than 95F and I have spent time in Delhi in April and temperatures were close to 120F (whilst 2000 Indians would just drop dead in the street every day). Mai pen rai!
Thais don’t complain, they don’t let off steam. They keep their own frustrations to themselves. Always. They smile when they feel even more frustrated. They also drink like elephants. Chang, Singha and Heineken do very well in Thailand. Put enough beer in a frustrated Thai and you get an explosive coctail of a small Asian body brewing big trouble inside.
Plenty of people kill those who frustrate them, women cut off the penises of their cheating husbands etc. Welcome to Thailand. I know a surgeon who specialises in putting back penises onto men, and I am not talking about frustrated Thai transsexuals with regrets.
If I had been more like a Westerner I would be able to post every day, I would be able to get all my little frustrations off my chest. I could complain about these bloody Thai smiles that mean nothing, because they may think the opposite of what a smile is supposed to be the result of. (I think this is a bad sentence). I could complain about the fact that I get a smile when I tell someone that I know they’re overcharging me.
If I had been more like a Westerner I would be able to post every day, I would be able to get all my little frustrations off my chest. I could complain about these bloody Thai smiles that mean nothing, because they may think the opposite of what a smile is supposed to be the result of. (I think this is a bad sentence). I could complain about the fact that I get a smile when I tell someone that I know they’re overcharging me.
“I am not a tourist. I know about prices.”
The first sentence I learned in India was: “Me tourist nee he hun!” or, “I am not a tourist!”
I am a little ticked off as I ate something bad in my favourite restaurant last night and got ill, vomited all over my bathroom floor and had to clean it up myself. I never get ill, I can lick an Asian street and drink water from the tap and don’t get sick. I can eat Thai food from the street! I don’t get sick. I don’t complain.
Okay, now I get it! Westerns girls in Asia need to complain in their blogs because if they would drink a beer, they would start shooting down Asians.
Anyway, I am glad I postponed my vow not to complain, which resulted in a new post and a Thai life saved. Now I need to check my photo archive for some appropriate photos of Thai food.
Anyway, I am glad I postponed my vow not to complain, which resulted in a new post and a Thai life saved. Now I need to check my photo archive for some appropriate photos of Thai food.
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A nice serving of cockroaches perhaps? Hold the mayo!.JPG)
Okay, perhaps chicken feet? Lovely snack when watching the tele.JPG)
Oy, lovely snot still dripping from our snack..JPG)
Frogs perhaps? Yummie..JPG)
She's still smiling....JPG)
Crickets? No?.JPG)
A sweet to finish it off. It will chip your teeth' enamel..JPG)
Okay, she's no food, but she certainly likes it, so to see.
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The expression you're looking for is "Make your hair stand on end." There is some logic behind the expression as the body's reaction to fear draws blood away from the arms and legs. This causes the usually flat hairs to rise away from the skin.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I think for a lot of people, complaining is a sort of backwards boasting: see how much I can put up with! They are just doing it to feed their own ego.
Oy, you're giving me goose bumps, dear follower. I must say I like SHE in Asia. However, I asked her to write a love post about the things she loves about China and the Chinese and also about what the Chinese love about their land and their people.
ReplyDelete