Dear family and friends,
Country number three on our semester long itinerary. Thailand. And here we stay for a bit. That feels good.
Asia, we are learning, is not one monolithic society. Thailand is not just a smaller version of China or a southern version of Japan. It is its own nation and culture. Of course it always takes longer to grasp the culture than the geography or climate or food. Well, I guess sometimes it can take a while to adjust to the food too, but not in Thailand. Thai food must be the best in the world. And we are happily testing that hypothesis twice a day. (Not breakfast.)
Our intensive Thai language class here at Chiang Mai University is sort of like taking a shower in Niagara Falls: it accomplishes its purpose, but it also leaves my pride a little bruised and gasping for air. We've been at it for two weeks now. Carol thinks I'm doing better than she is; I think she's doing better than I am; we know the students are doing better than either of us. Most of them actually appear to be enjoying themselves! Being told repeatedly by our teachers that Thai is easier than English -- and I agree: grammatically it is much easier -- doesn't make me feel any smarter when asked a question in Thai, and I shuffle frantically through pages trying to put together the right vocabulary to answer. But when I get something right, and when I overhear words on the street and recognize a few, I feel smarter. Fortunately, we have time here in Chiang Mai to practice, practice, practice.
Carol and I have moved into an apartment several blocks away from campus, but close to a great little restaurant, modest in architecture but grand in quality of food. We have bananas and coconuts growing just outside the door, and flowers, flowers, flowers everywhere. Students have been staying at a hotel near campus until they began homestays this week end.
It feels good to all of us, I think, to settle down a bit here in Thailand. Though "settle down" doesn't mean going nowhere. We have already hiked/climbed the local mountain to visit the Buddhist temple at the top, and enjoy the view out over all of Chiang Mai city. We hiked beside banana trees and split leaf philodendron vines; teak and other magnificent trees overhead, flowers all along the path. Our guide bought lotus blossoms and incense for us to offer in the temple precincts, and we all involuntarily "offered" copious amounts of perspiration from the climb. (It is still very hot and humid here.) We have visited the archaelogical ruins of the ancient city that had to be moved centuries ago because of regular flooding. As seems to be the case in many places around the world, the only remaining ruins are of religious centers or royal dwellings. Ancient policy here dictated that only temples and palaces could be made of brick. Ordinary people built homes of bamboo and thatch. Not hard to figure out why only temples and royal sites survived. We have been to various open markets and the local shopping mall. And we have learned how to hail and ride the local taxi -- a red pick up truck with a covered box and two benches facing each other along the sides. There is no closeable door in the back. You just sit and look at the motorcycle drivers who pull up to within inches of you at stop lights. It's kind of fun. And, of course, we have learned how to "wai." Put your hands together and bow your face into them while you greet a person by saying, "Sa-wat dthii." While there seems to be some variation on the gesture depending upon social class here, it seems to me that democratically and evenly practiced, it is a meaningful way to recognize the dignity of the other. It would be suitable, I think, for sharing the peace in church. (Especially, I suppose, in flu season.)
After a few days of Thai Society classes, I'm starting to think of Thailand as "one of the most interesting countries I know nothing about." Oh, I knew it had beaches and elephants and Buddhism, but it also has a fascinating history and an intriguing culture. It is very small compared to its near neighbor, China. But, as our shortest students would argue, small is not a measure of significance. Here in northern Thailand we live in kind of a laboratory of cultural mixing. Many signs have three languages: Thai, English, and the old local dialect, Lanna. And various hill tribe people bring their own flavors and accents to the mix as well. Chiang Mai University is only 45 years old, and for 41 of those years it has collaborated with St. Olaf. We are proud of St. Olaf''s venture into international education years ago, but I'm seeing it from the other side now, and thinking it was courageous of a university just 4 years old to jump into this program too.
We're all missing family, friends, fall colors on campus, and Fall Break -- which we don't get until late November! But we also feel privileged to be where we are, and not yet too tired to take in so much that is new and full of wonder.
Bruce and Carol
Country number three on our semester long itinerary. Thailand. And here we stay for a bit. That feels good.
Asia, we are learning, is not one monolithic society. Thailand is not just a smaller version of China or a southern version of Japan. It is its own nation and culture. Of course it always takes longer to grasp the culture than the geography or climate or food. Well, I guess sometimes it can take a while to adjust to the food too, but not in Thailand. Thai food must be the best in the world. And we are happily testing that hypothesis twice a day. (Not breakfast.)
Our intensive Thai language class here at Chiang Mai University is sort of like taking a shower in Niagara Falls: it accomplishes its purpose, but it also leaves my pride a little bruised and gasping for air. We've been at it for two weeks now. Carol thinks I'm doing better than she is; I think she's doing better than I am; we know the students are doing better than either of us. Most of them actually appear to be enjoying themselves! Being told repeatedly by our teachers that Thai is easier than English -- and I agree: grammatically it is much easier -- doesn't make me feel any smarter when asked a question in Thai, and I shuffle frantically through pages trying to put together the right vocabulary to answer. But when I get something right, and when I overhear words on the street and recognize a few, I feel smarter. Fortunately, we have time here in Chiang Mai to practice, practice, practice.
Carol and I have moved into an apartment several blocks away from campus, but close to a great little restaurant, modest in architecture but grand in quality of food. We have bananas and coconuts growing just outside the door, and flowers, flowers, flowers everywhere. Students have been staying at a hotel near campus until they began homestays this week end.
It feels good to all of us, I think, to settle down a bit here in Thailand. Though "settle down" doesn't mean going nowhere. We have already hiked/climbed the local mountain to visit the Buddhist temple at the top, and enjoy the view out over all of Chiang Mai city. We hiked beside banana trees and split leaf philodendron vines; teak and other magnificent trees overhead, flowers all along the path. Our guide bought lotus blossoms and incense for us to offer in the temple precincts, and we all involuntarily "offered" copious amounts of perspiration from the climb. (It is still very hot and humid here.) We have visited the archaelogical ruins of the ancient city that had to be moved centuries ago because of regular flooding. As seems to be the case in many places around the world, the only remaining ruins are of religious centers or royal dwellings. Ancient policy here dictated that only temples and palaces could be made of brick. Ordinary people built homes of bamboo and thatch. Not hard to figure out why only temples and royal sites survived. We have been to various open markets and the local shopping mall. And we have learned how to hail and ride the local taxi -- a red pick up truck with a covered box and two benches facing each other along the sides. There is no closeable door in the back. You just sit and look at the motorcycle drivers who pull up to within inches of you at stop lights. It's kind of fun. And, of course, we have learned how to "wai." Put your hands together and bow your face into them while you greet a person by saying, "Sa-wat dthii." While there seems to be some variation on the gesture depending upon social class here, it seems to me that democratically and evenly practiced, it is a meaningful way to recognize the dignity of the other. It would be suitable, I think, for sharing the peace in church. (Especially, I suppose, in flu season.)
After a few days of Thai Society classes, I'm starting to think of Thailand as "one of the most interesting countries I know nothing about." Oh, I knew it had beaches and elephants and Buddhism, but it also has a fascinating history and an intriguing culture. It is very small compared to its near neighbor, China. But, as our shortest students would argue, small is not a measure of significance. Here in northern Thailand we live in kind of a laboratory of cultural mixing. Many signs have three languages: Thai, English, and the old local dialect, Lanna. And various hill tribe people bring their own flavors and accents to the mix as well. Chiang Mai University is only 45 years old, and for 41 of those years it has collaborated with St. Olaf. We are proud of St. Olaf''s venture into international education years ago, but I'm seeing it from the other side now, and thinking it was courageous of a university just 4 years old to jump into this program too.
We're all missing family, friends, fall colors on campus, and Fall Break -- which we don't get until late November! But we also feel privileged to be where we are, and not yet too tired to take in so much that is new and full of wonder.
Bruce and Carol