Thailand: A Land of Contradiction? 7/6/09

1. People look SO young but are actually old. Asian people age so gracefully, but the kids seem to grow up a lot slower than in America.

a.My host mom MaReam is 54. She could pass for 31…seriously. She is beautiful and has flawless skin.

b.My 21 year old host cousin looks about 13 with her braces…yet she has a 2 year old daughter old of wedlock.

-->Me and my adorable host cousin (the daughter)

2. People are very conservative on top but not on the bottom.

a.Thailand has a very conservative culture (almost no clothes are sold sans sleeves. Cleavage is an absolute no-no and my crew-neck dress was too low for school. (SCANDAL)

b.Girls wear the shortest shorts EVER. You should see the “university uniforms” with the most miniscule skirts I have ever seen.

3. The juxtaposition of wealth and poverty as I’ve explained previously…

a.Vast variation in socioeconomic classes on the same street.

b.People still give all they have to monks who wander the streets with these food buckets because they aren’t allow to buy anything, they depend on donations. This mirrors the funding of extravagant temples in poor communities.

4. Education system…poor or good?

a.My school has a lot of indifferent teachers.
i.I found a class of Pratom 1 students (6 years old) unsupervised while the teacher covering for the other teacher slept…on a bed in the corner of the classroom.
ii.Students are often left sitting alone while teachers chill in the lounge or smoke.
iii.School is often cancelled for ‘boy scouts’ or marching band or something religious.

b.My host sisters are super intense about school.
i.Fun and Film go to private school in Phitsanulok, a city about 45 minutes away.

1.They leave at 5 AM and come home at 5:45 PM M-F and both have English tutoring/extra studying on Saturdays and Sundays from 8 AM-4 PM.
2.When they get home, we eat dinner. Then they do homework.
3.THEY STUDY SO MUCH. I feel like such a slacker.