Some random, odd things about Thailand

I decided to make a list of so many random, odd things about Thailand. I have to admit, it's somewhat therapuetic (sp?) to write this as a way to vent and share some frustrations.

* People don't use chopsticks here (I assumed everyone in Asia uses chopsticks, but I am very wrong). We use a spoon and fork, but it is considered very rude to put the fork in your mouth. So you basically push food onto the spoon with the fork.

* Instead of saying "What's up?" or "How are you?" people ask "Have you eaten rice yet?" I can't even count how many times a day I am asked if I have eaten yet. If I say yes, then they ask what I ate and I must describe the dish in detail and how spicy it was. I spend a majority of my day talking about what I ate.

* A similar comment Thai people love to ask is "What kind of fruit do you like?" It's been 2 months and I'm tired of saying that I like bananas and mangos.

* I've talked about this before, but toilet paper is extremely hard to come by. Sometimes at my homestay there is a roll of toilet paper and that's a magical couple of days. But then when the roll is used up, another roll doesn't appear for days at a time. I just don't understand.

* This is a HUGE cultural issue - it's called the head/foot concept. They believe the head is sacred and feet are dirty. They have taken this idea a bit farther than you might expect. This means that you can't put anything on the floor because that is near your feet. Nothing can go on the floor. So at training, we have to pile our backpacks on any table or chair we can find. We can't set water bottles or books or anything on the floor. It's surprising how many things Americans set on the floor. It's also rude to cross your legs because this means you are "pointing" your foot at someone across from you. Feet should remain on the ground at all times.

In regards to the head, it is extremely rude to touch anyone's head or pass anything over someone's head. For example, if someone was sitting on the floor and you wanted to pass something to someone on the floor next to them, you can't put it over their head. I accidentally did this and got quite a reaction from the Thais. Ooops!

* It is considered really rude to point at someone. Instead you must use Vanna White hands when referencing or pointing to someone. Similarly, to gesture someone to come towards you, they do an upside wave. It's very confusing because it looks like they are shooing you away.

So that's just a few cultural differences about life in Thailand. Somedays I'm perfectly okay with them and then somedays I just want to put something on the floor and scream "I don't like fruit. Yes, I already ate, but I'm not going to tell you how spicy it was. Please put toilet paper in the bathroom. I prefer to eat chicken with a fork, not a spoon. Thank you very much."