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Published: September 2nd 2017
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‘Did you see the girl who just walked past us?’ Me: ‘Yea, why?’ ‘I saw her glance at your belt buckle for a second’ Me:
‘Oh’ ‘That’s how people know you are from Chula’ Me:
‘So.. does it mean anything?’ ‘Well, people will look at you, admire your accomplishments. But if you do anything inappropriate while wearing this uniform, you will be judged and criticised for embarrassing the most prestigious university in this Kingdom.’ This is the conversation I had with the Thai friend who is now studying in SG, while we were hanging out in one of the shopping malls near Chulalongkorn University.
It never occurred to me that I was being regarded as the elite of any country, at least not how I felt. In here, I am showered with the attention and admiration from people on the street, only when I am wearing the university uniform, together with the 99 Baht belt with a Chulalongkorn University’s logo- Phrakiao on the buckle. (Phrakiao: Traditional Thai headgear worn by the Thai Royalty members)
The uniform and the
powerful Chula Belt do not only just fill me with a sense of pride
that I doubtfully deserve. It also declares to the '
common laymen' and street food sellers that ‘this Chinese-looking guy who doesn’t speak Thai very well is one of us now’. Thus, no more tourist price from me anywhere I go dining at. And tips are not expected as well,
oh yes baby.
It has been almost a month now since I landed on Bangkok to start my exchange study for this fall semester. Things have started to settle, the excitement of studying in another country has faded as well. I have been eating from the same stalls that I had tried in the first two weeks. It is not that all of them are exceptionally delicious that I would give up trying other dishes. It is because I am getting too lazy to explore other food options, too tired of being a tourist and being seen as foreign. That’s why I have settled on this routine, which I am not supposed to, because that’s not the point of going overseas for exchange study experience. Well..
Many (both MY/SGfriends and Thai friends) have asked why I chose to come to Thailand for exchange. I gave various answers depending on
what mood I am on and who is asking. I have also realised that I myself am not quite clear which reason makes up the bigger decision pie. It is very hard to figure out how brain is weighing options and being pushed around by all varying factors. I will try to list a few factors that I can justify.
1. Language immersion experience
Remembering how fun it was to talk Bahasa Indonesia in Jawa last year, I was curious whether I am able to pick up a whole new language that was once completely foreign to me.
Then why Thai language?
First, Thailand is just next to Malaysia, due to the linguistic variation, Thai media and culture representation are almost absent in Malaysia. This curiosity for what happens beyond the northern border drives me to pick up this language.
In addition, after reading ‘In Other Words’, the least favourite book from my favourite author-Jhumpa Lahiri, I am curious and would like to put myself in her shoes once trying to experience the joy and frustration of speaking a new language that is neither related to mother tongue nor national language nor other practical reason.
2. Affordability
Thailand’s cost of living is close to Malaysia’s, so it frees me a little bit from the guilt of burning my parents’ wealth.
3. ASEAN relatedness
Studying and working in Singapore, I will often see people from various southeast asian countries who look like any Malaysian or Singaporean, but speak English in another accent. I figure it is more possible and likely that I will have colleague of Thai nationality in my future workplace. Speaking a bit of their language and having spent a few months in the place where they grew up would make conversations more interesting. I mean if I were to go Ukraine for exchange, how often would I meet a Ukrainian at work in Singapore? (Except when I go to Universal Studio Singapore which there will be plenty of eastern European dancers and models.)
To sum up my experience so far, I think there are more similarities than differences that the people in southeast Asia share. It is very easy to imagine people are vastly different from us if we only know them from what ‘other’ and the newspapers say. More interesting life
details will be up for next post, hopefully. And hopefully I will have no problem moving to a better apartment next week.
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