A Few Cultural Notes

Just thought I would add a few more cultural notes. During my stay in Cambodia , the national elections had begun. For 30 days before the election (which is July 28) the parties begin their campaigns. Trucks, taxis, cars, and tuk tuks are decorated with the banners and photos of the leaders for the political parties and loaded with volunteers sporting the colors by wearing the appropriate T shirts and hats. The loudspeakers carry music and messages of the party. The volunteers are the cheering squads which wave flags and also pass out literature during stops. The current party is expected to win but one needs to be wary as Election Day nears and then on Election Night after the results are in. It is not unknown to have brawls and shootings among the competitors. It does not matter that between 14,000 and 16,000 election observers are in the country.

Asian women think being white is great or the paler the better. All kinds of lotions for the body have whitener in them if you want it: bath gel, soap, moisturizers, and even deodorant. A lot of skin cream is made which carries the label with whitener. Those who use it swear it works; those who don’t say too many of the products have bleach in them which they believe only gives a grey pallor. Beauty is whatever, wherever.

So far the Thai women that I have met can really drink and they love to eat. I cannot believe how much food they order and eat during the day. I got to observe this on our recent excursion to Koh Chang, a beautiful island off the coast of Thailand about 5 hours south of Pattaya and mayb e 6 or 7 hours from Bangkok . Thais seem to like to travel in groups and really do have a great deal of fun. It is really okay to have fun. Even though the trip was for the Language Corps participants friends and others of the staff were also invited. The more the merrier and that made it a lot of fun.

After our five hour drive and food stops we took a 30 minute ferry drive and were extremely grateful to get to our hotel which was right on a lovely white sand beach. I was in the water in no time flat and just fully enjoyed the warm waters and easy body surfing waves. After a good while, I jumped into the hotel pool and luxuriated some more in what could have been cooler water. Then, of course, a beer at the poolside bar. Pretty much everyone was doing the same. Dinner of lots of seafood was farther up the beach, another postcard site, and everything was delicious.

The next day after enjoying the morning and early afternoon just swimming and exploring around the hotel, we all went to a village on the water built on stilts. It was great walking the narrow walkway with all the usual souvenir shops, food shops, bake shops, and so on all the way to the end of the pier with a very cool lighthouse. Small but with the decorative look of the various temples and wats on a much simpler scale, but nonetheless unique. After exploring this place, we backtracked and found our restaurant on one of the arms off the pier. What a beautiful site with mist hanging over the nearby jungle mountains, lovely pagoda houses hugging the shore and the hillside, Asian boats moving around in the water, some for fishing, some for recreation. Believe it or not, the fishing boats are wildly decorated with great splashes of color and designs that are from the sea, from myth, and from religion. And they are indeed kept immaculate. Most, of course, are made of teak. Needless to say we spent a long afternoon eating steamed crabs and washing them down with some great beer. One of our crew kept looking longingly at one of the neat looking pagoda houses, complete with guest house, and speculating that he would own that in about ten years.

We capped the weekend off by visiting a pounding, spray-shooting waterfall but only after more food ( the most fantastic spit roasted chicken and sticky rice). Only a few of us walked through the jungle path to get to the waterfall. Because it had been raining, the way was slick in a lot of places and only muddy in a few. I guess we trekked in about 40 minutes and just stood in awe at the water and spray thundering down the rock side in front of us. We followed a rope line to cross from one side of the water flow to the other and was that ever refreshing. We were able to swim around at the pool just past the falling water by holding onto ropes. The current was way too fast to allow for swimming freely. I did a little more rock climbing than I am used to do all this, but it was worth the trip.

Back to school and teaching the next day along with some more Thai language lessons. I am not doing all that well learning Thai, to tell the truth, but I am trying. It is really hard. Talk to you all soon.