{"id":3450,"date":"2012-07-09T06:24:36","date_gmt":"2012-07-09T14:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ups.edu\/studyingabroad\/?p=3450"},"modified":"2012-07-09T06:24:36","modified_gmt":"2012-07-09T14:24:36","slug":"mai-pen-rai-be-happy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/2012\/07\/09\/mai-pen-rai-be-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"Mai Pen Rai, Be Happy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Oh man, its only 7:45am and I already have so much work to do.\u00a0 I still need to write a lesson plan for today.\u00a0 I didn&#8217;t have time for coffee before coming to the office&#8230;.Alright, lets bust out this lesson-plan before\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Maxwell!\u00a0 Come sit.\u00a0 Eat some langsats with me,&#8221; chimes Ajan Sumalai.<\/p>\n<p><em>Dammit, why is everyone here so cheery?\u00a0 Its too early to be so nice, I need my coffee.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Ok, maybe I don&#8217;t actually think that way (langsats are delicious!), but sometimes I feel like I am that guy\u2026and I&#8217;m from the west coast!\u00a0 Life is really relaxed here, which wasn&#8217;t my initial impression during my first weeks wandering through insane traffic and shoulder-to-shoulder walking markets.\u00a0 Its not that people in Thailand do any fewer things\u00a0during the day, its just that they don&#8217;t do them with such a frenzied and desperate persistence as we may do in America.\u00a0 People are just calmer and happier here.\u00a0 So happy they could sing!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qDXuchmLfWw?fs=1&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-3476 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5605-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"393\" height=\"262\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5605-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5605-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5605-624x416.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 393px) 100vw, 393px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left\">Happiness as a culture is pretty simple really, but often we only talk-the-talk in America. \u00a0To perpetuate happiness, people in Thailand constantly spread their compassion.\u00a0 &#8220;Share the love&#8221; is a common theme with Thai people (Except for the taxi drivers\u2026paed sip baht to get to Thapae gate?\u00a0 What planet are you from?). \u00a0I volunteered to help teach Thai teachers some English language skills on saturdays. \u00a0The above teacher wanted to share with us a song, completely interrupting my lecture on how to ask questions in English, which was a riveting one I might add.\u00a0 In fact, it was such a meaningful lecture, it drove these four educators to share some love.<br \/>\n<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-3464\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.ups.edu\/studyingabroad\/2012\/07\/09\/mai-pen-rai-be-happy\/img_5796\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-3464\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5796-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"553\" height=\"368\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5796-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5796-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5796-624x416.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 553px) 100vw, 553px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nYes, that is four grown men &#8220;cheating&#8221;\u2026.or &#8220;sharing answers.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Thai in my office are\u00a0extremely\u00a0friendly and giving. \u00a0They often share fruit or random bags of pork with me. \u00a0They had me at random bags of pork. \u00a0Everyone in the English department at Prince Royal&#8217;s College has helped me to settle in Chiang Mai in some way or another. \u00a0Ajan Jasmine helped me move all my bags from one apartment to another on a random Tuesday at 10pm at night. \u00a0Ajan Sumalai spent a whole Sunday afternoon driving me to a garage to help me buy a motor bike.\u00a0 Why yes, ladies, that is a basket on the front.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-3467\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.ups.edu\/studyingabroad\/2012\/07\/09\/mai-pen-rai-be-happy\/img_5561\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-3467\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5561-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"645\" height=\"429\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5561-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5561-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5561-624x416.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 645px) 100vw, 645px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t think that this kindness is limited to my fellow teachers, however.\u00a0 At a random bar hidden in the alleys of the old city, my friends and I sat surrounded by candles, the bar owner, his few buddies, and the sounds of Cher reggae covers.\u00a0 After a couple of rounds, the bartender asks if we wanted some barbecue.\u00a0 When we asked &#8220;Tao rai?&#8221; he looked confused.\u00a0 &#8220;No pay, we are just barbecuing, do you want some?&#8221;\u00a0 Next thing we know he&#8217;s bringing us platters of bbq pork back fat and bbq cow udder.\u00a0 &#8220;Its the thought that counts,&#8221; was painted on the faces of my vegetarian friends.<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-3487\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.ups.edu\/studyingabroad\/2012\/07\/09\/mai-pen-rai-be-happy\/img_5606\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-3487\" src=\"http:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5606-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"344\" height=\"229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5606-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5606-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/files\/2012\/07\/IMG_5606-624x416.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 344px) 100vw, 344px\" \/><\/a>Madame T has opened up her home to me, always refills my drinking water free of charge, and often offers to take me out to dinner, even though I think she is having trouble making ends meet.\u00a0 I&#8217;ve tried refusing these types of offers on several occasions, to which she usually replies, &#8220;We have to share,&#8221;\u00a0 and hands me some sweet bread.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Who says we have to?&#8221; would be a completely insane question to ask following this statement.\u00a0 Its the way of life here, and I&#8217;m pretty ok with it.\u00a0 We Americans are constantly attempting to impart our ways upon other cultures (Case in point: sending me to Thailand to teach English).\u00a0 In actuallity, we might be in greater need of the sharing and kindness ingrained in the Thai lifestyle. \u00a0I&#8217;m not trying to preach, but I think it would do wonders for the stress levels and societal gaps. \u00a0It has certainly helped my sanity and personal well-being so far. \u00a0I realized after volunteering on Saturday that I had learned a lot more from that teacher&#8217;s singing than my class of Thai educators did from &#8220;Why, What, When, Where, How: Getting to the Bottom of Things,&#8221; with Ajan Maxwell Honch.<\/p>\n<p>And in case you&#8217;re wondering, cow udder tastes a lot like chicken\u2026.really chewy chicken.\u00a0 Do I have any teet in my teeth?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oh man, its only 7:45am and I already have so much work to do.\u00a0 I still need to write a lesson plan for today.\u00a0 I didn&#8217;t have time for coffee before coming to the office&#8230;.Alright, lets bust out this lesson-plan &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/2012\/07\/09\/mai-pen-rai-be-happy\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-max-honch-12-thailand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.pugetsound.edu\/studyingabroad\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}