When we arrived in Bangkok, we were given an orientation about the culture, what to do, what not to do, and what to expect - some of which we were taught prior to arrival. During a lot of our outreach preparation, we agreed to embrace all the new and different experiences that this nation would be throwing our way.
This is important because when you embrace another culture, you learn how to love it, and how to be respectful, which opens door for conversation and relationship.
Greeting - When greeting someone you say, "Sawatdee" (and add "Kha" if you are a woman or Krap" if you are a man) and Wai - A Wai is Thailand's equivalent of a handshake.
We practiced basic greetings and phrases previous to arriving and all felt pretty silly until we had to introduce ourselves to some of the Thai staff in Bangkok and started asking each other "Wait, how do you Wai? Am I pronouncing this correctly?"
Feet - they are the lowest part of the body, so not do anything that involves pointing your feet at someone, touching someone with your foot, moving something with your foot... just avoiding anything foot involved is safest.
Head - the head is the highest part of the body, so simply touching someones hair or patting someone on the head would be demeaning and disrespectful. Unless you're a friend or have asked permission first.
The King - When asked any questions about the King, we were told to respond, "The King is good," and change the subject to avoid offending someone accidently. Seems legit.
Squattie potties - they are a thing. Being American, you don't realize how much you'll miss a western toilet until you don't have one.
Traffic - Death defying. The whole driving-on-the-left-side-of-the-road thing isn't a big adjustment compared to the speeding cars, buses, scooters, song taos, and tuk-tuks that pass each other like it's a race. And for this girl, motion sickness got very real.
Also, crossing the street whenever you want is pretty normal. Vehicles will either stop or hope you pass before they have to slow down. While all drivers are seemingly aware, it didn't ever redeem the fear I had for my life every time I crossed the road or got into yet another vehicle.
Food - We were often given 50 Baht and told to go find our own meals. 50 baht is almost $1.50USD, which seems like very little, but Thai food is extremely inexpensive. Which is why a lot of Thai people who come to America end up broke. They are used buying all of their meals.
Buying your own food in another country, where you don't speak the language is pretty overwhelming -and albeit scary- initially, but you learn to embrace your inner cave man by speaking in grunts, nods, various awkward gestures and so on.
And you get used not knowing exactly what it is you're eating - the whole embracing the culture thought.
Keeping face - This means that in social situations, it is important for each person to maintain respect and dignity from who they interact with. It is first social, because you want others to respect you and think highly of you. Second, face is an impression. It doesn’t matter what their real impressions are, as long as you are treated and treat people with respect.
The biggest difference between cultures are the religious beliefs.
Everywhere you walk, there is a Buddhist statue, shrine, or temple.
I'm not an expert on Buddhism by any means and what I did learned about it is that when asking questions, someone will always either give a different answer than the last person or they can't give one. Buddhism, from what I have witnessed, is a generational belief system. They do what they think they should do or are told they should do.
It would seem that everything they do as a form of worship is done out of fear that they will have bad luck, bad health, etc. They believe in Karma and gaining merit by doing good things, giving money, and praying to unknown numbers of spirits. By doing all of this, it determines the outcome of their after-life.
The country is somewhere around 1% populated by Christians and over 95% Buddhist.
This makes sharing the Gospel quite different than in America, which I'll will obviously be sharing as well.
This is important because when you embrace another culture, you learn how to love it, and how to be respectful, which opens door for conversation and relationship.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law),so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Greeting - When greeting someone you say, "Sawatdee" (and add "Kha" if you are a woman or Krap" if you are a man) and Wai - A Wai is Thailand's equivalent of a handshake.
We practiced basic greetings and phrases previous to arriving and all felt pretty silly until we had to introduce ourselves to some of the Thai staff in Bangkok and started asking each other "Wait, how do you Wai? Am I pronouncing this correctly?"
Feet - they are the lowest part of the body, so not do anything that involves pointing your feet at someone, touching someone with your foot, moving something with your foot... just avoiding anything foot involved is safest.
Head - the head is the highest part of the body, so simply touching someones hair or patting someone on the head would be demeaning and disrespectful. Unless you're a friend or have asked permission first.
The King - When asked any questions about the King, we were told to respond, "The King is good," and change the subject to avoid offending someone accidently. Seems legit.
Squattie potties - they are a thing. Being American, you don't realize how much you'll miss a western toilet until you don't have one.
Traffic - Death defying. The whole driving-on-the-left-side-of-the-road thing isn't a big adjustment compared to the speeding cars, buses, scooters, song taos, and tuk-tuks that pass each other like it's a race. And for this girl, motion sickness got very real.
Also, crossing the street whenever you want is pretty normal. Vehicles will either stop or hope you pass before they have to slow down. While all drivers are seemingly aware, it didn't ever redeem the fear I had for my life every time I crossed the road or got into yet another vehicle.
Food - We were often given 50 Baht and told to go find our own meals. 50 baht is almost $1.50USD, which seems like very little, but Thai food is extremely inexpensive. Which is why a lot of Thai people who come to America end up broke. They are used buying all of their meals.
Buying your own food in another country, where you don't speak the language is pretty overwhelming -and albeit scary- initially, but you learn to embrace your inner cave man by speaking in grunts, nods, various awkward gestures and so on.
And you get used not knowing exactly what it is you're eating - the whole embracing the culture thought.
Keeping face - This means that in social situations, it is important for each person to maintain respect and dignity from who they interact with. It is first social, because you want others to respect you and think highly of you. Second, face is an impression. It doesn’t matter what their real impressions are, as long as you are treated and treat people with respect.
"To be Thai is to be Buddhist."
The biggest difference between cultures are the religious beliefs.
Everywhere you walk, there is a Buddhist statue, shrine, or temple.
I'm not an expert on Buddhism by any means and what I did learned about it is that when asking questions, someone will always either give a different answer than the last person or they can't give one. Buddhism, from what I have witnessed, is a generational belief system. They do what they think they should do or are told they should do.
It would seem that everything they do as a form of worship is done out of fear that they will have bad luck, bad health, etc. They believe in Karma and gaining merit by doing good things, giving money, and praying to unknown numbers of spirits. By doing all of this, it determines the outcome of their after-life.
The country is somewhere around 1% populated by Christians and over 95% Buddhist.
This makes sharing the Gospel quite different than in America, which I'll will obviously be sharing as well.
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