Too much pride, not enough good sense

Hi All,

Just in case you were wondering, I'm afraid I have not
committed suicide (after much deliberation, I came to
the conclusion that it would make too many people
happy). Now for an update on my absolutely perfect
life - not!

Thais can be exceedingly polite. Sometimes, however,
they take it a little too far. Today is a case in
point. The Thais politeness, combined with my pride
(the never ending source of my troubles), led to one
very embarrassed Sarah. I went to a workshop today
that was attended by over 200 people, including the
governor of the province. I wanted to show how much
progress I was making in learning Thai so I decided to
sign my name in Thai on the registration sheet and on
my nametag. Quite a few people commented, saying that
they were impressed. In the afternoon, I sat in a
group with a class of junior high school students.
Some of them read my nametag. All in all, I was
feeling very smug. I did not have any indication that
something might be wrong. It was not until I got back
to my office and informed one of my co-workers that
she had written my last name wrong in the newsletter,
that I discovered what I had done. Turns out, I was
walking around with my nametag introducing me as Sarah
Penis. I have no idea how everyone managed to keep a
straight face. Just when I think I’m starting to get a
handle on the language, I discover that I am still a
source of endless entertainment for the Thais. Score:
Thailand: one, Sarah’s Pride: zero.

There is one area though that the Thais politeness
goes out the door – when it comes to weight. The first
two and a half months that I was here, I ate Thai food
and ate like the Thais do (i.e, I went native). The
result, I gained 10 pounds (approx. 5 kilos). I have
since been going to the gym 5-6 times per week and
haven't even lost an ounce. Those of you who know me
well will know that weight has always been an issue
with me. As luck would have it, I am in a country
where people should weigh 500 lbs given their eating
habits, but only weigh about 80. I am also in a
country where they will constantly talk about how fat
you are. Today, I managed to push my weight problem to
the middle of my mind (not all the way to the back)
and was feeling more like a partly beached whale as
opposed to an entirely beached whale, when one of my
co-workers (who is 8 months pregnant) walked up to me
and commented on how very fat I am. Ouch! So if any of
you are thinking about sending me a care package,
please include rice cakes!

That's all for now. I have to go and embarrass myself
some more.

Take care,

Sarah