Nine days in Thailand has made me experience extreme CULTURE SHOCK.
My first day here, my team and I were walking down one of the streets in Bangkok. One of my team members pointed out that I had a bunch of wet rice stuck to the bottom of my shoe. I lifted up my foot to look at it, and sure enough, it was wet rice. I stopped right where I was and began wiping it off on the side of the curb. A few seconds later, I felt someone kick me in the leg! I looked up to find an older Thai woman with a broom in her hands shooing me away with her hands and making mad grunting noises. I think my mouth hung open for about three mintues straight. I could not believe she just kicked me!
The next day during my squad’s cultural briefing, I discovered that showing the bottom of your foot to someone is not only seen as dirty, but is equivalent to giving someone the finger in America! Never again will I wipe off my shoe in public or check to see if something is stuck to the bottom of it.
Thailand has also taught me that insects are like chips in America. Fried grasshoppers, maggots, silk
worms, crickets…you name the insect and it’s most likely eaten regularly in this country. My new phrase has become, “When In Thailand.” So of course, when I saw the fried grasshoppers and maggots I had to try them. Even though everyone told me they tasted like barbecue, all I could do was look at the bug eyes staring back at me. It took me the entire meal to muster up enough courage to pop the grasshopper in my mouth, especially since they decided to give me the biggest one – which was half the size of my hand. All I can say is, never again.
worms, crickets…you name the insect and it’s most likely eaten regularly in this country. My new phrase has become, “When In Thailand.” So of course, when I saw the fried grasshoppers and maggots I had to try them. Even though everyone told me they tasted like barbecue, all I could do was look at the bug eyes staring back at me. It took me the entire meal to muster up enough courage to pop the grasshopper in my mouth, especially since they decided to give me the biggest one – which was half the size of my hand. All I can say is, never again. Now for the last bit of cultural news. My team members and I noticed that many Thai men were picking their nose in public. We asked our translator why they were doing this so openly. She explained that not only is it normal for Thai men to pick their nose in public, but they leave their picky finger nail long just for the purpose of picking! All I can say is, CULTURE SHOCK.
