The Thai people, in general, are a very friendly people. They laugh a lot, smile a lot, and generally avoid confrontation at all cost. It just isn't the Thai way to be angry. A few weeks ago,(I may have mentioned this previously) I greeted a Thai in Thai for the first time. He didn't laugh, just smiled, and said it right back to me as if I had done a good job. Well, that was the last day that I did that because the next time I used my greeting with a Thai, he did laugh at me and my bubble was popped. I just knew that I did something wrong and went right back to greeting people with a friendly English "hello". Yesterday however, I regained my confidence!
At about 2:30, right after putting the babe down for her nap (and maybe taking a little nap for myself), the doorbell rings and I hear Khun P talking to this Thai man who was asking for me and the Big Kid in English. A little strange, but okay. Turns out I had completely forgotten that my Thai lessons were to start. So, after willing myself off my comfy chair I greeted Khun Bill, my Thai teacher.
Khun Bill is a hoot by the way. As we were sitting there he starts asking me questions about myself, the kids, our life here, and when we get to my middle son and his name, Khun Bill says loudly "Oh, good name! Man of God!" This totally threw me off my game because Thai's, at least the majority, are Buddhist. How did the man, this Thai man at that, know that my middle was named after a man of God? And why did he just say "Praise the Lord" and give my middle two thumbs up?? So many questions in just a five minute period. Turns out Khun Bill is a Christian and a passionate one at that! So, after I got over my shock of meeting a Thai Christian, we got down to business.
His first order of business was to find out what I liked about Thailand. I'm guessing he was trying to figure out what phrases would benefit me the most. Now, if you have been keeping up with this blog, I was posed this question shortly after we got here and my answer was less then stellar. I was prepared this time since I have been actively searching for things that I like about Thailand. I told him that I liked the friendly people, the excellent food that Khun P cooks for us, the lovely scenery, how laid back life could be, etc. Surprisingly he actually criticized the laid back life that most Thai's live. He said not worrying about the future, while good in some circumstances, was a very bad thing when it comes to finances and things of that nature. This also shocked me because it seems to be such a Western way of thinking. Anyway, after also going over things that I disliked about Thailand (the list was much longer then the likes list, but getting shorter then my original list), we started speaking in Thai.
The big kid was also allotted 150 hours of Thai language lessons with me but instead chose to complain about how bored he was (which Khun Bill showed him how to say in Thai by the way, lol!). After we were doing lessons for about an hour we took a break for a few minutes then got right back to work, this time with the big kid joining in. When I asked him if he could say something, instead of getting the "yes, I can" answer, he actually said what we (Khun Bill and I) were saying. All in all it was a fun afternoon and I did learn quite a lot. Khun Bill even said that we did well and that we should feel confident when we greet someone. I should however be careful if trying to tell someone that I love them in Thai because apparently when I was repeating the phrase back to him I told him that I was going to rob him. Why those two words are spelled the same I will never understand! Even though i messed up that phrase i did however learn proper greetings and was fairly good at sentence structures. My tones suck though!
So, that brings us to today, day one after the lessons. As the big kid and I were walking into his school I told the guard "hello" in Thai and to my surprise so did the big kid! He said it with such confidence that it took everything in my mommy gut not to swoop him up and kiss his cheeks! I was, and am, so proud of him! Next week we have more lessons and hopefully the Big Kid comes with the same positive attitude that he showed in the latter part of the lessons. I would love for him to be able to carry on conversations with Thai's and I think he is at the right age for learning.
In any event, it is time for lunch and I have a babe sleeping on my lap so I guess I had better get going. Until next time, I hope all is well!
Sawatdee Ka,
Kristen
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