Living in a foreign country brings a litany
of adventure and excitement, challenges, frustrations, elation and sometimes
just downright weirdness! After a while,
for the veteran expat, the unusual becomes commonplace.
This thought occurred to me the other day
while I waited at the Thai Department of Land Transport to take my driving test
for the second time (driving on the left hand side of the road sitting in a
right-hand drive car…So, what’s the big deal, my British friends would ask,
right?). It did take a few tries but you’ve got to cut me some slack. It’s been
30 years since I’ve had to do a driving test so it sort of caught me by
surprise. After spending two full days
at the licensing place in Phuket Town (getting there was a feat in itself) I
finally walked away with both car and motorbike driving licenses in hand (or
should I say ‘drove away’ on my Honda Click…finally legal to drive it)! It was high-fives and smiles all around for
the ‘farang’ (me…the expat or foreigner) as I walked out of the administration building.
But I digress. So, as I was sitting and waiting my turn I
came up with a list of things I have ‘gotten used to’ here in Thailand (other
than driving on the left side of the road):
1. Rarely understanding what is being said
around you. Actually, I find this one quite liberating, as it’s sometimes nice
to wander around with total anonymity.
2. The amazing smells that confront you as
you round a corner (some quite pleasurable and some not so much).
 |
| My favorite vendor at our local market...always great smells emnating from his booth! |
3. The explosion of color of the most
exotic flowers you would ever see in a flower shop sprouting wildly from
crevices and around walls.
 | |
| These are just outside my kitchen window. |
 | |
| These delicate pink beauties line the stone wall along our lane way. |
4. Bathroom sinks that just drain onto the
floor.
5. Shower heads just mounted on the
bathroom wall in the open (I just imagine I’m living on a sailboat and it
doesn’t feel so strange anymore).
6. A urinal in my powder room (yes, I said
urinal… I think it’s bizarre but my husband loves it)! It’s right off the kitchen so it has now become
a utility room where I keep the cleaning supplies and the cat’s litter box).
7. Bug tents in all bedrooms.
8. Roosters as alarm clocks (the one next
door comes alive at around 5:15 every morning, which is just before the Imam at
the local mosque starts up his ‘call to prayer’ – we got used to that in Dubai
but here we’ve added the rooster).
9. Boys who try to look like girls (okay, I
admit, that one’s a little hard to get used to but it’s definitely an
interesting sociological and societal study).
10.
Warm weather every day of the year (I had to add that one as a Canadian but,
of course, not all expats choose to live in sunny climes, it’s just our
preference).
I’m sure I could think of another 10 but I’ll
leave it to you to add what you’ve gotten used to in the years you’ve lived as
an expat to the list!
Comments
Not understanding what's being said around you can be very relaxing. When I am back in my native Holland, or in the US, it drives me nuts sometimes to hear all the banal things being said in shops and store dressing rooms!
In Ghana we also had these big "wooden" flowers in our garden. Fascinating blooms. I'm trying to remember the name, but come up empty.
Here in Moldova, my powder room also sports a urinal, and a bidet as well ;)
Ah, the fun of the expat life!