ok so i had a little interesting moment, at least i thought so, and figured i'd share it with all you fine people. i came into my room last night and my roommate was watching City Lights, a charlie chaplin movie. i love those movies so i was really excited to finally be able to connect with my roommate over something (we don't get along all that well). i sat down and was immediately confused to find that the whole thing was dubbed in thai. it took a good 20 minutes to explain to her that the movie was actually silent, that there was no english in it to translate. i don't think she ever got it; i think she just decided i was really upset that i couldn't understand the thai. anyway i was still excited because i figured what could transcend culture better than a chaplin movie. watching him run back and forth behind the ref is funny no matter where you are from. what i found out, however, is that even something as simple as a silent movie has tons of cultural quirks that are interpreted differently everywhere. (for all you sociocultural anth people think "shakespeare in the bush") here is the best example that i could understand. for those who are not familiar with the film "the tramp" falls in love with a little blind flower girl, very cute. at one point he drops her off at her house and gets down on his knee to kiss her hand and hold it to his face in that cute old movie way. at this point my roomie started laughing hysterically. i was already all thrown off by the really weird thai that was dubbed over everything, so i was like 'what are you laughing at, this is supposed to be a serious romantic part.' she kept laughing and said 'didn't you see him kiss her left hand?' for those of you who have read a few of these posts you will know about the bathroom procedures and how the left hand is reserved for wiping and nothing else, left handed people have to change their eating habits so their left hand never comes near their mouth. so when chaplin makes this big romantic gesture in my eyes, in hers he is once again being stupid and ridiculous. yeah so i just thought that it was funny, it's not even language that separates us, its everything. not in a negative way, it just does.
peace everyone, my next homestay is in a few days so hopefully i will have something more interesting to say.
peace everyone, my next homestay is in a few days so hopefully i will have something more interesting to say.
2 comments:
where do they wear their wedding rings? do they have wedding rings? do they have weddings? sucks to be me i guess. i do everything besides sports lefty. sounds like everything is going well.
i really miss you and can't wait for you to get back. put up some more pics if you can!!
they dont wear wedding rings. at least i've never seen anyone with one. either that or this is just a really swingin country and no one is married. i don't understand technology but won't more pics mean a longer loading time? will that annoy the world? and you just can't come here if you are lefty, they don't let you in the country.
Post a Comment