there is something that goes on here, somewhat akin to kidnapping, except less threatening, though sometimes equally as scary...we call it thainapping. this is when one or several Thai people show up at your house, call you outside and tell you you are going "somewhere" with them for an unknown period of time! and Just when you were settling down after a tiresome week, excited to watch that new movie that took 54 hours to download off itunes! But alas, you go because they make you think, despite what you assume, this Could very well be a fun experience!! though, unfortunately, this is not entirely so for most of the time. And the activities range vastly! From being taken to an impromptu community or teachers meeting where you're told to 'sing songs, play games!' to being dragged to a far away city to visit another school and shown off with a bunch of gossiping Thai women, who also happen to work at the same school as you ... which makes it harder to say no to. This is the worst, because they USUALLY take you to a place where there is NO other way of getting home without them! You're stuck, you're trapped, and you cannot, must not, show ANY disappointment. And after four hours of smiling, with four more hours to go, your face becomes tired and numb. All you want to do is simply let your face fall, the corners of your mouth droop down a little bit; No! you're not frowning but resting..YES! you're having a wonderful time! OH! i do simply adore eating a bowl full of assorted fried insects! no really!!! :/
It's no wonder why, when us volunteers are able to get away from site and hang out in a bigger city with each other, we go out dancing and drinking, and then order 5 large pizzas for 7 people at 10am the next morning, to be followed by a burger for lunch and a sushi all u can eatery for dinner. no more riCE!! its also no wonder why each and every one of our communities think farangs (foreigners - in this case, Americans) have poor health or immune systems...because in order to get OUT of these thainappings, we've all perfected the look of tong sia (thai for broken stomach - Diarrhea!!). oh if they understand nothing else about farangs, they understand our inability to deal with the surprisingly (fake...) numerous amount of times we get tong sia...little do they know, mwahaha.
but this is not to say that we use this excuse all the time! we do allow ourselves to be thainapped on occasion...and sometimes its actually worth it! But when you've had a week with no sleep, being forced to go to a far away city to be shown off, then go to a teachers training you're not sure if you're allowed to go to anyway, then being forced to use up your sunday that you thought you were going to use to sleep in and watch movies and eat bad food to teach english to people in your village (NOt that they'll actually pay attention to a word you say anyway)...well...even though you've played the tong sia card JUST LAST WEEK...hmm...OOPS! i think i feel a bout of "Tong Sia" coming on...specifically on friday...specifically when you're supposed to go to that far away town...oh dear me...
he he he he he.....