"The trail of lime trees outside our building is still a public loo. …where else are they supposed to go to the toilet in a city where public toilets are about as common as UFO sightings?” (pp.281-82)”
― Sarah Turnbull, Almost French: Love and a New Life in Paris
Here garbage debris is hard to keep at bay, or on shore! We're living on the southern most tip of a peninsula, an island if you will, since it is completely cut off from the mainland by dense forest/jungle and is only accessible by boat. Tropical paradise, yes! But when the garbage pick up only comes once every two days (by boat!) in a community that houses hundreds of locals and hosts hundreds of visiting tourists, literally coming in waves....well, it becomes a problem. A lack of garbage bins and proper disposal units for tourists poses a serious threat to our health; and the same could be said for public toilets! Squat toilets, if not regularly hosed down become quite smelly and quickly! Squat toilets for the public, and clean ones at that...well that is a wondrous find indeed! Behind our shop is a mangrove forest, and my Mom recently learned to her horror that it is indeed a public urinal...but hey at least it's washed out to sea!
Side note: Is it really OK to pee in the ocean? Read more What's Another Drop in the Ocean?
“It is a bitter-sweet thing, knowing two cultures. Once you leave your birthplace nothing is ever the same.”
That ship sailed for me years ago....most people think the biggest barrier is the language, and since my Thai is pretty simple that does pose a challenge from time to time...however I find that we can mostly understand each other without words, through the use of visual and bodily language. You learn to get creative! Bitter-sweet? Maybe. There are days when I find Thai people WAY too relaxed in their business dealings...everything can be laughed off, which makes me feel stressed out and frustrated when dealing with corruption or faulty construction workers. But that's just the culture, the passive culture, which admits that trouble comes daily regardless of what you do to prevent it. On the one hand I hope adopting this relaxed culture allows me to grow into an even more happy person, and yet on the other hand it makes me want to scream like a raging bitch when I feel like I'm the only one who take anything seriously....my cross to bear :) Bitter-sweet indeed.
That ship sailed for me years ago....most people think the biggest barrier is the language, and since my Thai is pretty simple that does pose a challenge from time to time...however I find that we can mostly understand each other without words, through the use of visual and bodily language. You learn to get creative! Bitter-sweet? Maybe. There are days when I find Thai people WAY too relaxed in their business dealings...everything can be laughed off, which makes me feel stressed out and frustrated when dealing with corruption or faulty construction workers. But that's just the culture, the passive culture, which admits that trouble comes daily regardless of what you do to prevent it. On the one hand I hope adopting this relaxed culture allows me to grow into an even more happy person, and yet on the other hand it makes me want to scream like a raging bitch when I feel like I'm the only one who take anything seriously....my cross to bear :) Bitter-sweet indeed.
"Such is the nature of an expatriate life. Stripped of romance, perhaps that's what being an expat is all about: a sense of not wholly belonging. [...] The insider-outsider dichotomy gives life a degree of tension. Not of a needling, negative variety but rather a keep-on-your-toes sort of tension that can plunge or peak with sudden rushes of love or anger. Learning to recognise and interpret cultural behaviour is a vital step forward for expats anywhere, but it doesn't mean that you grow to appreciate all the differences.”
True, very true. But falling in love with a local certainly does help this adjustment. And while there are many differences in Thai culture that I may not agree with or understand, I accept that first and foremost I am a visitor in this country, and just because my husband is Thai does not mean I also will become Thai. I will always be an expat, a foreigner, an outsider living on the inside....and that is OK. Because the life of an expat, and all the struggles and challenges that follow when trying to 'fit in' is the life I chose for myself, a long time ago before Tik ever came into the picture....and I am excited to see how much more trouble comes our way, and how many more challenges we will face as a team....no longer solo, no longer alone, but supporting each other.
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