#12 Turn and Face the Strange Changes
Entry posted by Sofa King
306 views
You and I plan. We wake up and say to ourselves, "Today I'm going to go the the mall. Then I'm going to eat lunch. Then I'm going to go home and take a nap." etc., etc. Thais don't do this, at least not as much. From my experience it appears Thai people wake up and say, "I'm going to go outside, and then whatever happens, happens."
This most affects me at work. Western-minded me, I am given a schedule of classes, so I follow the schedule and show up at each class on time (usually early). One day early on during my Thai teaching career, my students didn't show up. This is not unusual - they are almost always late. So I waited . . . 5 minutes . . . 10 minutes . . . 15 minutes . . . At the 20 minute mark I called our Thai coordinator. "Hey, it's been 20 minutes and my class hasn't arrived. Has something changed?" First of course there was laughter. They always laugh (see blog entry #11). "Oh yes, today students go to temple. No class today."
Now the first 10 or so times this happened I got pissed. Afterall, I am the teacher. I should be the first person told when there's a change in my schedule. You gave me this schedule to follow. I follow it, always on time. If you so much as think about changing anything you need to tell me at least a day in advance. Right?
After five years teaching in Thailand, I have learned that the norm is they tell everyone EXCEPT the falang teacher. If they do tell you something it is always at the very last minute.
I'm not sure why this happens. I could easily blame it on the language barrier, but it's more than that. I think Thais just sort of float through life, bumping into each other and changing directions like plastic 7-11 bags swirling around in the wind. They look at us with our organized schedules and our "to-do" lists and think we are worrying too much.
They are also famous for giving partial information. If they actually tell you about a "plan" in advance, you can bet your bottom baht that there are key details missing.
When I lived up country I was dependant upon the local bus system to get around. If I wanted to go to the nearest big city I had to catch the local bus (usually at least a 30 minute wait), then ride for an hour-and-a-half to get to the city bus station, then get a baht bus or tuk tuk to wherever I wanted to go. So when one of the Thai teachers offered to give me a ride to town, I jumped at the opportunity. My expectation was that she and I would go in her car, and if I could hook up with her for a ride back, great. If not, no big deal. I'd just catch the bus back. We were leaving at Noon, so in my head I figured at the worst I'd be able to catch the bus by about 4 and be back home no later than 6.
Little did I know . . .
First, she was on time, which kind of surprised me. She pulled up in a big passenger van. She was not driving. I was told the girl driving was her sister. Another guy sitting in the back was introduced as one of her former students. I climbed in, expecting we would begin our trip to the big city. Instead we made a stop for another passenger - another teacher. He wasn't quite ready to go, so we made two other stops to pick up more people. Then we filled up with gas, and everybody piled out to buy food and drinks. Afterwards we went back for the first guy. He was ready this time.
So, okay, it wasn't the cozy ride with just the original teacher and myself, and after 20 minutes we still hadn't left town, but no big deal. We were finally on the highway out of town . . .
We made three more stops at towns along the way to pick up more people. It was after picking up the last guy that I was told they were all going to an insurance seminar, which started at 1PM. She assured me that it would be finished at 4PM if I wanted a ride back. Once we arrived in the city we pulled up to the hotel where the seminar was taking place and dropped everyone off (of course they were 20 minutes late). Sister then drove me over to my destination: Big C.
I did my shopping, had lunch, and basically was ready to head back by 2:30. I could have gone to the bus station and taken the bus back to our little town, but no, I decided to hang around and ride back with "the group". Not a big issue. I found plenty of things to do to kill time until the seminar was finished.
Now, I'm no dummy. I knew the seminar probably wouldn't end on time. I walked over to the hotel around 4:30 and saw that it was still going on. So I walked over to 7-11, got something to eat and drink, then went back at about 5. Still not finished. They all finally rolled out around 6PM.
Again, I'm no dummy. These are Thai people, and they have been in a seminar for several hours. They're going to go somewhere to eat. I was half right. First we went to the mall, where part of the group ate while the rest of us shopped. For some reason an older male Thai teacher latched onto me and followed me around the mall. He was very eager to practice his English. Of course the group got split up without any plan on where and when to meet up later, but eventually we found the last stragglers and loaded into the van. Finally we were on our way home . . . but first we made a stop at a little Chinese noodle stand, where we all ate.
I didn't get back to my room until after 9PM.
The next time I saw the teacher who had organized (?) the trip she admitted that she had lied to me about how long the seminar would last. Her exact words, "I no want you angry. Thai people no plan, just go."
So if you find yourself in a situation where your transportation is completely in the hands of a Thai person, just accept the fact that you will be gone all day and will have no idea where you will be going.
This most affects me at work. Western-minded me, I am given a schedule of classes, so I follow the schedule and show up at each class on time (usually early). One day early on during my Thai teaching career, my students didn't show up. This is not unusual - they are almost always late. So I waited . . . 5 minutes . . . 10 minutes . . . 15 minutes . . . At the 20 minute mark I called our Thai coordinator. "Hey, it's been 20 minutes and my class hasn't arrived. Has something changed?" First of course there was laughter. They always laugh (see blog entry #11). "Oh yes, today students go to temple. No class today."
Now the first 10 or so times this happened I got pissed. Afterall, I am the teacher. I should be the first person told when there's a change in my schedule. You gave me this schedule to follow. I follow it, always on time. If you so much as think about changing anything you need to tell me at least a day in advance. Right?
After five years teaching in Thailand, I have learned that the norm is they tell everyone EXCEPT the falang teacher. If they do tell you something it is always at the very last minute.
I'm not sure why this happens. I could easily blame it on the language barrier, but it's more than that. I think Thais just sort of float through life, bumping into each other and changing directions like plastic 7-11 bags swirling around in the wind. They look at us with our organized schedules and our "to-do" lists and think we are worrying too much.
They are also famous for giving partial information. If they actually tell you about a "plan" in advance, you can bet your bottom baht that there are key details missing.
When I lived up country I was dependant upon the local bus system to get around. If I wanted to go to the nearest big city I had to catch the local bus (usually at least a 30 minute wait), then ride for an hour-and-a-half to get to the city bus station, then get a baht bus or tuk tuk to wherever I wanted to go. So when one of the Thai teachers offered to give me a ride to town, I jumped at the opportunity. My expectation was that she and I would go in her car, and if I could hook up with her for a ride back, great. If not, no big deal. I'd just catch the bus back. We were leaving at Noon, so in my head I figured at the worst I'd be able to catch the bus by about 4 and be back home no later than 6.
Little did I know . . .
First, she was on time, which kind of surprised me. She pulled up in a big passenger van. She was not driving. I was told the girl driving was her sister. Another guy sitting in the back was introduced as one of her former students. I climbed in, expecting we would begin our trip to the big city. Instead we made a stop for another passenger - another teacher. He wasn't quite ready to go, so we made two other stops to pick up more people. Then we filled up with gas, and everybody piled out to buy food and drinks. Afterwards we went back for the first guy. He was ready this time.
So, okay, it wasn't the cozy ride with just the original teacher and myself, and after 20 minutes we still hadn't left town, but no big deal. We were finally on the highway out of town . . .
We made three more stops at towns along the way to pick up more people. It was after picking up the last guy that I was told they were all going to an insurance seminar, which started at 1PM. She assured me that it would be finished at 4PM if I wanted a ride back. Once we arrived in the city we pulled up to the hotel where the seminar was taking place and dropped everyone off (of course they were 20 minutes late). Sister then drove me over to my destination: Big C.
I did my shopping, had lunch, and basically was ready to head back by 2:30. I could have gone to the bus station and taken the bus back to our little town, but no, I decided to hang around and ride back with "the group". Not a big issue. I found plenty of things to do to kill time until the seminar was finished.
Now, I'm no dummy. I knew the seminar probably wouldn't end on time. I walked over to the hotel around 4:30 and saw that it was still going on. So I walked over to 7-11, got something to eat and drink, then went back at about 5. Still not finished. They all finally rolled out around 6PM.
Again, I'm no dummy. These are Thai people, and they have been in a seminar for several hours. They're going to go somewhere to eat. I was half right. First we went to the mall, where part of the group ate while the rest of us shopped. For some reason an older male Thai teacher latched onto me and followed me around the mall. He was very eager to practice his English. Of course the group got split up without any plan on where and when to meet up later, but eventually we found the last stragglers and loaded into the van. Finally we were on our way home . . . but first we made a stop at a little Chinese noodle stand, where we all ate.
I didn't get back to my room until after 9PM.
The next time I saw the teacher who had organized (?) the trip she admitted that she had lied to me about how long the seminar would last. Her exact words, "I no want you angry. Thai people no plan, just go."
So if you find yourself in a situation where your transportation is completely in the hands of a Thai person, just accept the fact that you will be gone all day and will have no idea where you will be going.
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