Often times when I'm at the SAO I end up chatting with the Balat. The Balat is basically the head of the office, while the Nayoke is the mayor. They are both highly regarded positions at this level of government. The Balat is in his mid-40s, married, and has a chubby 13 year old son who likes to play video games. He's a nice guy, fairly socially awkward, but he's willing to work with me and help me if I need anything. He was the first person I approached about the new bathroom at the preschool and he was very supportive and helpful. The Balat knows lots of random English, more than he lets on I think. If I were to speak to him only in English, he would catch maybe 2 or 3 words, which is more than anyone else in my village. But with the help of my Thai-English dictionary, we can have some pretty extensive conversations in a mix of Thinglish. I think he's worked with foreigners in the past, so he kind of knows where I'm coming from, which is helpful.
Anyway our conversations usually end up being a quasi-language lesson. I ask him random questions about the Thai language - like how the words "near and far" and "cold and lonely" sound exactly the same to my ears. He always laughs and enjoys hearing about my language mishaps and confusions. Since Thai is a tonal language it's really tough for me to hear the slight differences in words that Thai's think are completely different. I still constantly say "I pooped my bicycle home" instead of "I rode my bicycle home." Whenever I say that, a common response from Thai people is, "Oh! Do you have a stomach ache?" because to them they are completely different words. Silly tone difference between poop and ride. Grrr.
On the flip side, the Balat asks me many questions about the nuances of the English language. Today he asked me about the difference between "to wed" and "to marry" and if they mean basically the same thing, why have 2 words for it? He was also convinced the word "breakfast" was "breadfast" because he knows Americans eat bread in the morning, which is actually kind of clever. I also had the pleasure of explaining the difference between a pool, pond, and lake. In Thai, they are basically the same word. I always knew English was a complicated language, but trying to explain it in Thai makes my head spin.
Along with the odd language exchange, we discuss the difference between Thai and English culture. He is well educated and worked with foreigners before so I feel as though I can be a bit more honest on my perspective and opinions on life in Thailand. He understands where I'm coming from and actually finds my annoyances amusing. For example, any and all Thai buses have the world's best sound system for karaoke music, which starts the second the wheels get rolling and it lasts the entire trip - whether it's 1 or 8 hours. Karaoke is a huge part of Thai culture and some might get offended to hear that I don't think it's cool to loudly play repeating music at 3am on an overnight bus. But when I told the Balat this today, he couldn't stop laughing. He just repeated "Yes, very loud, very loud, but fun!"
Regardless, I enjoy our random language and culture exchanges. He's an odd little man who always calls me his sister, but oh well, that's life in Thailand.
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