Joan's Thailand Journal: Hospitality

I recently went to Northern Thailand with my friend and fellow PCV, Faith; the director of English teachers in Nongkhai area 2, Sanaw Sutheeporn and Sanaw’s nephew Win, who did all the driving. We covered a lot of kilometers in 5 days! It was great to see the north - mountains, flowers, beautiful hand-crafts and large crops of vegetables. In Issan, the area I live in, we see mostly rice fields, some pineapple and banana trees. The North was almost a different country to my American eyes. We visited a school on a mountain top and got to meet some of the hill tribe villagers whose children go to the school.

What I took away from the trip was the treasure of the Thai people. There are many things about Thai culture that I don’t understand and I get frustrated from time to time, but I am learning to appreciate and value a few things that I see consistently. I hope to absorb some of these traits and carry them home to America.

- Relationships are more important than schedules. We stayed one night on the way home with Sanaw’s cousin in Loei. We got there late, but were warmly welcomed and offered dinner. In the morning, we had coffee and warmed Thai “dumplings”. I thought we would be on our way early after eating. But there was a whole breakfast being cooked. We shared the meal with the family, interacted a little with their grandson and daughter before they went off to school and work. Then we were shown the garden, they are self-sufficient 70 year olds. They grow their own vegetables, probably have chickens and have a fish pond. They asked where we were from, how long we’d be in Thailand, if we liked it, and if we wanted more food. So gracious and hospitable. Sometimes it is hard to feel like a Peace Corps volunteer when being treated like an honored guest.

- The school we visited welcomed us with the same overflowing hospitality. We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant in Pua, high on a hill that overlooked the city. We went to the night market and stayed in a nice hotel. The day we visited the school we were treated to coffee, lunch, a tour of the school and we got to visit the hill tribe village. Those people were shyer, but no less gracious. We spent the next night in a resort that had a beautiful lake, lush gardens and flowers and another wonderful meal. The next day we went of a field trip with the students to a waterfall. I had asked if we could get sticky rice the day before, which was not available. But for lunch we got the sticky rice and som tom Thai without the peppers. They know what we like and do their best to get it for us.

- Sanaw Sutheeporn took us to a mountain visitor’s center on the way home. We got to see breathtaking views of the North from high on the mountain and take a dozen more photos. We had another good lunch. Then Sutheeporn let Faith and I stop at Tesco for some much needed groceries and she drove me home an additional 25 kilometers (50 for her round trip). It is almost impossible to give back and they never stop anticipating what you might like to see, do or eat.

- While I was in the North, I got a small gift for Sutin and Kanya, my host family during training in Singburi. We went to the post office today to mail it. The post office woman was gone, so we wrapped the box and left enough money to cover mailing. Her son goes to school at Ban Serm and will bring the change in the morning. This would probably not happen in a large city in Thailand, but the practicality of helping and the ease with which it all happens inspires me to slow down and see what I can contribute too.

After 11 months here, I am still amazed at how friendly, welcoming and warm the people are, day after day. There are times when I need a bit more independence than they are used to, but I have come to rely on a few friends who help me in so many small ways with day to day living in a foreign country with no car, limited language and some general confusion about how things work.

Ready to go with Sanaw Southern and her IPad