Being Farang

Housekeeping

I am so thankful for lazy Sundays, the week is so long and tiring and its nice to relax on the weekend. As always there is so much to write and only so much space time. I've had my first week of Thai language classes and orientation and tomorrow we start Thai Foundations class. I even had homework this weekend reading about Thai culture and practicing writing my Thai alphabet. This week also included a scavenger hunt around the city and rock climbing/rappelling at Crazy Horse Buttress as part of the school day. I'll try to do a picture post soon. Yesterday, Dew and I went to a new museum in Chiang Mai called Art in Paradise: Illusion Art Museum. The museum opened about 2 months ago and is awesome. You can see pictures from the museum in the blog post below.

Being Farang

To write about this topic already seems pre-mature, as do most of my "judgments" thus far on life in Thailand. I've learned so much in a week about Thai culture and myself that I am certain this post will get an update before I leave Thailand. Also, the title is totally a joke on the BBC show Being Human.

Farang is the generic non-derogatory Thai word for a Westerner, or a white skinned foreigner. Being farang comes with a host of benefits and a few disadvantages. One of the perks is that the Thai people generally regard farang with [slightly detached] amusement. The Thai are patient and kind-hearted and often excuse Farang from behaviors that would otherwise be deemed culturally offensive. We get extra leeway in our every action because it is assumed we don't know better. We are especially treated well when people see us with our Thai families, speaking Thai, or wearing our uniforms because it shows that we are making local connections to the country and culture.

Just the other day, I came across a monk standing on the road waiting for a rot deng. Racing through my cultural knowledge bank, I knew it was not necessary to wai every monk everywhere, but I was walking right past him on the road so I was debating the appropriate action in my head. I'm walking closer, he's talking on the cell phone, I get closer, still debating, he chats on the phone and at the last second I decide to go for it and Wai, BUT I LEAVE MY HEAD UP MAKING EYE CONTACT AS I BOW, essentially ruining any intent of showing respect with the Wai. Embarrassed, I try to lower my head, panic and quickly walk away. The monk smiles, laughs at me and then gets on his Rot Deng. The car then drives very slowly past me and the monk and driver laugh at me again as they drive off. Their laughter is an expression of the Thai value/idiom mai pen rai, the "no worries" attitude that Thais take to many different situations. Meanwhile, I bang my head against my fist and laugh at myself muttering, "silly, stupid farang," and silently thanking whoever will listen that I *am* a farang  and given leeway.

Another short story is of a girl on my program who was invited to a Buddhist ceremony. She wore a nice black skirt with a yellow and gray striped shirt. When she arrived at the ceremony, she found everyone there was dressed in white! No one gave her any trouble, because they knew she didn't know, but it isn't easy to handle. Can you imagine? Even Ajan Mark has stories of his own like this, once wearing hiking gear to a fancy wedding party! Misunderstandings happen and thankfully the Thai are nice enough to laugh at and with us for the most part.

Unfortunately, being farang also can come with a host of stereotypes. Many travelers (to Thailand, or elsewhere) do not travel with a mind towards cultural sensitivity. The stereotype worldwide is of the loud ignorant American. Many farang speak no Thai, dress in culturally offensive ways, and aren't mindful of Thai traditions. There are stories of Americans being imprisoned and/or assaulted for pushing the limits too far and disrespecting the King, Buddha, or Thai society. This takes an extra lot of ignorance to Thai culture and values so I only bring it up to show that Thai patience with farang does have a limit. 

This whole thought process really began on Thursday when all of us students came together to present our pictures from the Scavenger Hunt. One of the list items was to find "things that are interesting," whatever they may be. One of the groups took a picture of obviously American tourists, dressed in short shorts, tank tops, standing with cameras. Immediately, I was faced with extreme cognitive dissonance. Already, I look at those farang and feel somehow different, almost superior from them these "other farang". I am bothered by their behavior and seek to distance myself from it. I had the feeling others were experiencing this dissonance as well, but cannot speak for them.

ISDSI as a program seeks to help integrate its students to Thai culture as much as possible. This is the reason they pus us with host families, teach us Thai, have us do pre-trip reading and have us wear our uniforms. Many of us actively try to avoid "farang-y" behaviors, trying to integrate as best we can to Thai ways of life, even as our light-skinned American selves.

The fact of the matter though is that we *are* farang. We will never be Thai no matter how long we live here, but we can strive to become "accepted outsiders". Studying abroad is a balancing act in culture and identity. We live between two minds, and two cultures. We distance ourselves from farang to avoid sterotypes, but are thankful for the label when entering new and delicate cultural situations. We laugh at ourselves for our farang-y mishaps and use our status as farang to calm our fears of cultural missteps. Cross-cultural learning is an amazing and confusing process of removing social barriers and accepting new cultural ideas without dismissing our home cultural values. We find so many similarities in our experiences and see our lives from different perspectives. As we travel, we hope to find reflections of ourselves in people from other areas of the world. I leave you with this picture:

Dew and me at the Art in Paradise museum in Chiang Mai