January 2006 archive

Change in November

Tuesday, 24 Jan 2006 | Journal

Bangkok and indeed the whole of Asia is a completely different world from what I’ve been used to so far. And although being part of the reason why I’m moving, the different culture and way of life will be a challenge for me to get used to. During my trip in November, I’ve already noticed a change in myself. At first I was trying to make sense of it all by matching it to a pattern of expectations imprinted in my westernized brain. I was appalled or insulted by certain things happening to and around me, could not for the life of me understand why things were the way they were even though the better alternative sometimes was so obvious.

But I slowly started to change. Instead of trying to project my own culture on this new world, I (although subconsciously) decided it was better to learn about the new culture by accepting it as is. No more wondering ‘why is this’, but just accepting that it is and learning how to deal with it. I only became aware of this change in me at the wedding, when some people in the Dutch group were offended at the Thai people leaving very early. It was interesting to find myself being taken aback by this attitude and wondering ‘how can you as a foreigner in Thailand judge what the Thai are doing at a Thai wedding’. As I get to learn this new culture, I’ll collect more pieces of the puzzle. I expect that slowly, slowly I’ll be able to piece together the corners and attempt to try and start making sense of it all. (Yeah, all those conditionals were put there on purpose. I have no illusions about down the road ‘getting’ the Asian culture, some things can’t even be explained by the people themselves!) While not at all necessary (some farang never touch Thai food, even when living in Thailand!), I’m personally increasingly curious about living in this new culture.

Arjan also noticed this change in me, something I took as a compliment. I wonder what other changes I’ll go through. I’m sure being immersed in a new culture will have it’s effect on me, but perhaps the move across the world and a different life over there will also change me in some way. Time will tell.

Why I'm moving to Bangkok

Monday, 9 Jan 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

The change in the way people talk about my upcoming move to Asia has been really interesting. In the past, people doubted it was actually going to happen - especially those close to me. And I guess they were right in doing so, as I’ve been known to be somewhat of a dreamer. As time went on and my plans became more decided and solid, I started getting the same question over and over again: why are you so set on Bangkok?

It has actually been somewhat of a development. When I returned from Bangkok and Hong Kong I started considering moving to Asia. Bangkok at that time seemed like a logical destination, mainly because my best friend lives there. I brushed aside warnings about perhaps not being able to find a job there and had a tunnel vision about the whole thing. It was actually in this state when I made the decision to move. As time passed by and I started to consider all the pros and cons of the whole adventure, I became more aware of the risks but also the opportunities. I still suffered (and still do, I’m sure) from a dreamy image of my life over there, but much less so than before.

Comparing cultures

Friday, 6 Jan 2006 | Life in Asia

During my last trip, I started ‘getting’ the Thai mentality (please note I did write “started”) a whole lot more than I did in the trip before. That knowledge has started changing my way of dealing with them. Over the last couple of days I have been reading¹ about Thai culture extensively, or rather: how western and Thai culture differ.

The Dutch culture is based on equality². It has its roots in Calvinism at least in part. The concept of ‘everybody is equal’ can be found everywhere in how the Dutch interact with eachother and the rest of the world. Some of those things annoy me, but it is also embedded inside me simply because I am Dutch. Examples (all being annoyances of mine) of this are: providing and accepting (!) bad service (because why is the customer more important than the service people?), not being allowed to show you are rich (how dare you claim to be more than me by showing off your new Bentley! -nope, I’m sorry to say that hasn’t happened to me personally)

Over the last few days I slowly started forming a theoretical profile of ‘the typical Thai’ and this morning decided what is at the base of Thai³ culture: hierarchy! I think it in part derives it’s origin from Buddhism, but I might be mistaken. The clear existance of a class system and abundant presence of protocol in how to deal with one another are good examples. But the concept of ‘saving face’ is perhaps the best proof of hierarchy. Everything you say, do, show and even what you eat, listen to and who you socialize with have their reflection on your status in society. And everybody seems to be constantly aware of their social standing and that of everyone around them. Losing face (for instance, by admitting you were mistaken) lowers your standing, something to be prevented at whatever means necessary.

Cheap calls!

Thursday, 5 Jan 2006 | Miscellaneous

The continues drop of international call charges never stops amazing me! Until now I’ve been paying 13.5 cents (€) per minute to call Thailand using a call service. Which is really not all that expensive compared to the 122 cents KPN charges for direct calls! Today my UPC landline was installed and so I was researching what the cheapest rates are for my international calls. I’ve now found that rates at some other carriers have been dropping to a low of 5 cents per minute for calls to both landline and mobiles in Thailand!

Most of the calls I make are from my mobile, so I’m used to having high phonebills. It’s the price one has to (chooses to, rather) pay for being as chatty as I am sometimes. But not everyone feels the same way. And so because I want to keep in touch with my friends and family as much as possible, I researched and found Skype to be a good alternative. However, it requires an internet connection and using a pc to make those calls - not something all of us are comfortable with. But with these rates there really is no need to use Skype anymore. It’s going to be cheaper for people to call my Thai mobile than it is to call my Dutch mobile now! And even when comparing calling me in Thailand to calling my Dutch landline, the cost of calling me really doesn’t have to be a big deal. An hour on the phone to me will be €3,- instead of the €1,20 people pay now, hardly worth worrying about.

However, for me making outgoing calls it’s a whole other story. I’ve gathered that making international phonecalls FROM Thailand is actually rather expensive. And so while I no longer expect to have to force friends and family to use Skype to be able to stay in touch with me, I do think I will be using it for making my outgoing international calls.

Then again, it was never really the money that I expected to be an issue. It’s the time difference that will be the killer no doubt.

Shipping stuff in stages

Tuesday, 3 Jan 2006 | Leaving the Netherlands

As I’m writing this, the first 10kg/22lbs of my stuff is ready for departure on the Schiphol tarmac and on it’s way to Bangkok. Arjan is flying back after having spent the holidays in Holland and had some extra luggage space to spare that I was only too happy to utilise.

Over the next 6 months, all the stuff that I have in my place will be labelled as ‘sell’, ‘store’, ‘take’, or ‘now’. The first will be sold on eBay and Marktplaats and the second will be stored at a to be determined location.

I decided that at first I will move to Bangkok ‘lightweight’, only taking essentials with me. The rationale being that I most likely will end up elsewhere, there is no sense (frankly, it’s just a waste of money) in shipping my stuff to Bangkok (most likely leave it in boxes) and then ship it onwards to the place I land a job. So, while I do feel I want to take all the stuff labelled as ‘take’ (are you not impressed with my naming convention?) with me eventually, I don’t feel I will absolutely need it in the first year. I’ll have a shipping company pick up and hold it for me. After I’ve found a job somewhere, I’ll call them and tell them to put it on a boat.