Mai Pen Rai

---

November 1, 2009

My training is done. This Halloween I spent in the nicest bus I’d ever been in. Encased in air conditioning, the seats reclined all the way, a nice stewardess came by with blankets, snacks and drinks and I passed out in exhaustion. I arrived in Bangkok and found our hostel with some difficulty. The cab pulled up to the address and the only thing there was a gate and a sign that says M.D.C Recruitment Agency LDC. We eventually woke our friends up and learned that the guesthouse was not supposed to have opened yet but opened especially for us. They do not have a sign yet or many of the essentials but we are the only one’s here. I have learned very quickly that the Thai’s operate on a very different schedule then American’s do.

In my Thai language class we laughed that the reason the Thai’s were always late was that they had 4 different ways to tell time. After the lengthy lesson where our teacher explained, the formal version (the easiest and only one I’ve gotten). Then she explained informal which has different words for times 1am-5am and then another system for 6am to 11am a different word for 12pm and then two different systems for the pm times 1pm - 5pm and 6pm - 11pm Etc. After all that she explained that this function of telling time was regional and we would likely not be understood if we went elsewhere. Since none of us was staying there this was a bit discouraging.

Anyhow, we are all learning FLEXIBILITY. “Mai Pen Rai,” they say. This they roughly translate to “Whatever.” I think of it as “Que Sera Sera” or go with the flow man. It’ll work itself out. The Thai’s also do not like you showing your disapproval or upset and cover everything with a smile. It is considered extremely rude to show such distasteful expressions on your face.

---