"Where are you from?"

"Where are you from?"

This question is perhaps the most common question I receive from Thais and simultaneously the most complicated to answer. Almost every day I hear "you look Thaiiiii, like meee" as XYZ Thai individual points to his/her face and the color of his/her skin when they find out I can't speak Thai.

I instantly respond, "I'm from Am-er-i-kahhh, Cal-ee-for-ni-aaaa" (always make the last letter longest for them to understand your English).

"Yes, but where are you FROM?"

I then have to follow up with a "My Dad is from Hong Kong, my Mom is from Burma, but I was born in California."

Usually this yields a multitude of responses, ranging from:

1) "Oh, you no speak Thai?" (Nope.)
2) "Oh, you speak Hong Kong?" (Negative, unfortunately. And it's technically "Cantonese", for the record.)
3) "But you no look farang!" (I know, but I am!)

I thought it'd be interesting coming to Thailand as an Asian-American, and I was right. Many of my students have asked me if I speak Thai, and vendors and shopkeepers will automatically rattle off to me in their native tongue. As long as I don't open my mouth, I'm often eligible to receive discounts on services that only Thais receive. So I smile and nod politely, saying "Ka, ka" in blind agreement. However, I usually travel with Linnea, who screams foreigner with her blonde hair. So that automatically negates any opportunity for me to pretend I'm a local.

Whenever I come to Asia, which is not too often but definitely more than others have, I always come back to the States more appreciative of my country's diversity. That, in addition to our freedoms, which we so take for granted, and many of which are nonexistent here in Thailand (i.e. freedom of speech: one could immediately get arrested if s/he speaks poorly about the King), make me so proud to be an American.

The freedoms we have been allotted in America have conditioned us to be outspoken. We know that we can fight for our rights and speak out and against that which we do not believe. We have the opportunity to openly and harshly criticize our government and particularly scrutinize our presidents without fear of punishment. But yet, many of us are nonchalant and indifferent about these issues; we feel like they don't affect us in our own microcosmic worlds. For example, free speech is a right I have always known about but never quite took advantage of. Too busy, too lazy, too not-disturbed to care.

But after being in this country, which praises, lauds, and worships its King & Royal Family, I appreciate this American right even more. Thailand is getting better as a country but has been, and still definitely is, subject to corruption. The Prime Minister is currently doing a pretty good job at stopping what were years of civil war that included acts of bribery, murders, and other such shady business, many of which were operated under the government officials whom people are supposed to trust.

But despite all that Thailand may (or may not) lack, its loyal people still stop whatever they are doing at 6pm when the national anthem is blasted over all methods of public communication. I have stopped running in the park at 6pm to stand still and pay tribute to the King. I have halted my hurried steps in subways, as all other Thais do, when the anthem is playing. All movie-goers stand for the national anthem before any cinematic feature is played. Images of the King and Queen are blown up and tacked up in shops and restaurants. Calendars? Forget the picturesque images of Thai's southern beaches or northern mountains; no, they are pictures of the Royal Family. Scattered in the medians of roads and highways are shrines and posters dedicated to the King and Queen. It's incredibly overwhelming at first, but I am getting used to it.

I was taken aback tonight, though, when L, Drew, and I had dinner at a German brewery called Tawandang Pharam Sam (which was a hoppin' and crowded place!) with our CIEE friends Bubba and Graham (whom we had randomly bumped into at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar Market), and Bubba's Thai cousin.

[how adorable is Bubba?!]

The delicious dinner, which consisted of both Thai and German food (hm, imagine that!), also consisted of live entertainment. Gorgeous, skinny Thai singers belted out to American and Thai pop songs; lady boys frazzled and dazzled their way across the stage to ABBA and "I Will Survive" (L and my next karaoke song, we decided. Lol). But the most elaborate act came at the end of the show, when all the entertainers came on stage in the most glittery costumes as they danced and sang - with such fervor and LOVE - to the national anthem. They raised up pictures of the King and Queen, which were in golden frames (think Lion King status when Rafiki raises up cub-Simba on the rock); two enormous flags created a blanket over the stage as the entertainers made it dance; a screen even was lowered as images of the Royal Family were projected onto it.

[the flag & image of the King on the projector above)

I slowly sipped my heavy but hoppy beer with zombie-like amazement. "This would NEVER happen in America," I said out loud. Can you imagine that? Dancing around pictures of President Bush and Lady Bush? Guffaw, guffaw. Can I get an LOL or what...

//

I have had to meet "Where are you from" with a complicated answer here in Thailand, but most people in America have to do that as well. As Americans, pinpointing and classifying our identities, as humans so love to do, often yields explanations that are difficult and confusing for foreigners in homogeneous countries to understand. But that is a beautiful, beautiful thing, and I'm glad to be a prototype of this diversity.

Ayuttaya with Linnea tomorrow. It's going to be breathtaking.