This one is mainly observations about differences between Thai and American culture:People stare. I mean STARE….I have NEVER been stared at so hard in all my life and I’ve been black for quite some time now. I wish I could describe it…it’s just so intense to have 20 to 40 people just staring…expressionless…not moving…at first I was a little offended. But after I went home I realized that Asia isn’t like the US or Europe where there is some level of diversity. There are Asians and there are other types of Asians and occasional white people. I can live with the staring because I don’t know if many people in my province (or anywhere outside of Bangkok) have actually ever seen a black person in real life. This makes it more acceptable and I’ll pretend that explains it all! (which honestly it probably does anyway)

They drive SO crazy here! And no one wears seat belts. In fact, most cars don’t have them. We rode in taxi once that actually had seat belts and we got all excited but realized that the clip wasn’t in the seat so they were useless. They tailgate FURIOUSLY. Like a few inches between each car and OMG talk about dangerous passing…it’s such an adventure to fly down the express way with no seat belt going 85 miles an hour with a driver who is counting money and handing back tickets. I pray….and pray. It’s a lot of fun though after the first time. It brings whole new meaning to living life on the edge : )

Even though they drive on the left (steering wheel on the right), no one walks on the left. I realized how organized the US is even though most of us never realize it. It’s pretty much standard to walk on the right because we drive on the right (actually I don’t know why but they match up) but here, there is no “side of the road” when walking but there are an enormous amount of people so everyone just walks where they want to and you end up in abig jangled mass of people all passing and pushing…it’s very different.

Also, there is so much STUFF…everywhere. I think what most Americans would call “cluttered” this culture calls variety and options! There is an amazing capacity to pack in vendors and hundreds of boxes of shoes and dozens and dozens of bags, hundreds of statues, thousands of pairs of earring, scores of scarves, DVDs, wallets, furniture, live animals…all under a blanket of colorful umbrellas. Americans like their space….that’s what it is. I don’t think as a general rule the country likes to see too much stuff in one place. But here it’s like an explosion of colors and sounds—people playing drums, singing, playing guitars, radios playing all different kinds of music. There is so much going on. I love it!! You might be able to find something comparable to it in New York but that’s as close a comparison as I can think of….I tried to capture it in pictures but it’s hard to fit it all in one shot.

There is absolutely no PDA. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone kiss or sit on someone else’s lap (besides girls in crowded buses/skytrain cars). Very few couples hold hands and the majority that do don’t actually hold hands…they more link a few fingers or maybe one person holds just one finger of the other person in their palm. T

here is very little trash or graffiti and I have never seen any piece of money on the ground. I keep looking harder and harder to find even one baht (that’s how I notice all the people with missing toes : ) but no…nothing. With so many people it’s remarkably clean…there aren’t even that many gum stains on the ground!

I’m not sure but I think it’s socially acceptable to pick your nose in public. I think I’m going to pick it up while I’m here. (haha at my little pun) I mean why not! Socially acceptable just means you don’t do something just because other people don’t do it. When other people do it, it’s acceptable! Oh!

And (I was waiting for more evidence before I let this one out of the bag) people definitely not only have their cell phones on during meetings they ANSWER them. A couple people have answered their phones during presentations since I’ve been here! How different from the complete embarrassment American’s make you feel if your’s goes off in a meeting or classroom or quite place.