How it’s Different From Home, Part I

I’ve been waiting to write this blog for quite awhile, but haven’t found the internet time to fit it in.

The things I notice most:
1) Left hand traffic
2) Beds
3) Toilets
4) Shoe removal
5) Sex tourism couples

First thing first – left hand traffic.   Granted, I worked at the coal mine where I drove in left hand traffic patterns for countless twelve hour  shifts over a five year  period.   BUT, it’s still really strange to glance up to find the driver “missing”, or to turn onto  a road and feel like the car is going the wrong way.   Crossing the street is also a trickier proposition, as I generally look in the direction of  the nearest oncoming traffic and start walking.   I have to be very careful to look both ways before I take a single step!

The beds here, because it is horrendously hot, aren’t beds like at home.   It’s generally a more firm, shallow mattress laid out on a wooden platform with a sheet over it.   No top sheet, no comforter, no bed spread.   Each pillow comes with a light blanket if you so choose.   I thought it would be weird until I went to lay down my first night here.   Who wants anything more than a soft surface to lay on when it’s this hot!

Toilets here come in several varieties.   There are the standard U.S./European sit down and flush toilets.   Next come the same style without a water tank.   So sit down, yes.   But flushing means pouring in a few scoops of clean water from the bucket beside the toilet.   Finally, and most challenging for me, are the squat toilets.   Really, if you think about it, squat toilets really are a more effective, quicker way to do your business.   They’re mostly porcelain, just like sitting toilets.   However, they’re about five inches up off the floor with a toilet bowl in the middle.   The edges around the bowl are about five inches wide.   So you stand on the edges and squat over the bowl.   Then you either flush it if it has a flusher  (in airports, shopping malls, etc – yes) or toss a few scoops of clean water in and let gravity do the rest!   It’s been enlightening.   Also, to keep the public restrooms clean (like at bus stations, but not at malls), you are required  to change into a pair of clean flip flops (provided) before entering the restroom.   Which brings me to…

Shoe removal.   Many people practice shoe removal in the US to keep their homes clean.   I grew up in such a home.   Here, it feels a bit stranger because you’re always running around in sandals.   So shoe removal means being barefoot.   I’m sensitive about my feet getting dirty (weird, I know), so I generally don’t walk barefoot on ANY floor.   But, because they’re so obsessed with floor cleanliness here, the floors are always clean.   I have yet to have a bad experience!   And it’s kind of funny to walk down the sidewalk and see a pile of shoes in front of every business entrance! The weirdest thing for me has been having  to trade for “clean” shoes at public restrooms.   It kind of creeps me out have to don a “public” shoe that someone has used solely for the purpose of  relieving themselves (especially when doing so requires squatting – which can be a bit… splashy!).   But, overall, it’s just adding to the depth of my life experience.   I like it!

Finally – sex tourism.   Yucky.   Here, sex tourism doesn’t mean picking up a prostitute in the red light district and finding a hotel.   It’s more like an escort service in Thailand, where men basically rent women to be  their traveling partners, among other things.   It grosses me out, but every restaurant you go into has at least five white male/female Asian couples having dinner.   Yes, I realize that they could be a legit couple and I shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover.   But they’re not.   Usually evidenced  by overheard conversations in broken English – the world currency for language.

Speaking of which, I’ll end with a foot note.   I’m very lucky to be a native speaker of the English language.   It’s the language of tourism, especially here, and the only other language the locals know besides Thai.   Sure I have a few bumps communicating, but the Germans, Japanese, and other non-native-English-speaking travelers have twice the trouble.   What a boon for my traveling!