One Thai nickname I've never heard before
Last night I went to visit a friend, and, on the way, stopped by at the house of one of the cleaners from my old work.
She lives with her husband and baby in a tiny rented room, in a wooden house off Samsen Road. The building's been subdivided into 8 or 9 rooms, each with a family inside. Most have relatives randomly appearing from upcountry and crashing for a few days. Everytime I go there I see a new face.
Last night, I was sat on the verandah when a shy, curly haired girl, around 2 or 3 years old poked her head around the door.
'Don't be shy' my friend told her. 'You don't need to be scared of the foreigner' This sounds a really wierd thing to say in English but it's quite normal to say it in Thai... Loads of Thai kids freak out at the sight of a white face. My friend's kid, 'Jane' is 1 next month. Whenever I go to visit, she normally buries her head in her mum's neck for a few minutes before peeking out to take a quick, sneaky look at me. It's like she needs to check that the big scarey foreigner is OK before she will let herself or her mum come near me.
Last time I taught summer school, we took our kids on a field trip to the Imax at Siam Paragon and the other teachers and I were all stunned by the way the kids all wandered around the mall, shouting 'farang', pointing them out and commenting on their size, shape, dress and behaviour. 'Fat foreigner - over there', 'girl, wearing really short shorts, there' 'girl, skin's so white' seemed to be the most popular comments. These kids are taught by 'farang' everyday. They probably go to paragon, or central every weekend. They see foriegners all the time. Surely they had better things to do than go 'farang spotting...'
Anyway, back to the story...
The kid stared at me. 'Say hello' my friend say.
2 little hands joined together to make a very crumpled wai.
I could hardly make out the 'sa-wat-dee.' She was very quiet and shy.
'What's your name' I asked her.
'Pangya' she said.
'What' I asked my friend. 'Pangya?'
'Yep - my friend said 'It's a nice name, isn't it.'
The girls mum also poked her head around the door, probably wondering where her kid had disappeared to...
'Her name's Pangya ?' I asked. 'As in the game Pangya, the online golf game? right ?'
'Yep' came the reply. 'Her father's addicted to playing it.'
| Create Date : 09 ตุลาคม 2550 |
| Last Update : 9 ตุลาคม 2550 8:23:47 น. |
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ผู้ติดตามบล็อก : 1 คน [
but I've never heard before too.