Living
in Thailand is a daily non-stop language lesson. I keep discovering new
meanings for English words I thought I knew and learning Thai words I have
never known.
Take
the word “trendy” for example. My condo is in a trendy neighborhood in
Chiang Mai. Here as elsewhere, trendy means that there are many boutiques,
cafes, restaurants, banks, and other services all within short walking
distance. Given the neighborhood’s proximity to the airport as well as to lots of
nightlife and traffic, trendy means pretty noisy, too.
My
neighborhood also has some of the same features as regular non-trendy ones in
Chiang Mai. These include having no walkable sidewalks, trash on the
streets, thickets of overhead electrical wires, and more than a few stray dogs.
Before starting to sound like
a crusty and critical expat, let me point out that there is a community where I live. Although I’ve only
resided here a short time, there are many neighbors in my building that I could
ask for help and vice versa. The building security guard and receptionist greet
me with genuine pleasure when they see me. There is a wonderful masseuse in the
lobby of my building whose seven-year-old son loves to tell me about swimming
and his pool adventures when I get massages from his mom.
After telling the Thai shopkeepers on the condo's soi about my concern for the stray dog that lives on our lane—I was carrying a plate of food for the dog and searching for him at the time—they started looking after him as well.
There are two restaurants on the soi where I am a regular. One is a place called Mu’s Katsu operated by a gracious young Thai couple named Mu and Paul. The food is excellent and inexpensive. I eat at Mu’s about three times per week.
“Where is Gally?” Paul asked
one evening recently.
“I don’t know Gally.”
“Yes. Yes, you do,” Paul
said.
“Really, I don’t.” I smiled.
Smiling is very important in Thailand.
Mu’s Katsu is a small
restaurant popular with Thais and foreigners alike. On this particular evening,
most of the patrons were Thai.
Everyone in the place
suddenly became interested in Paul’s and my conversation. It was unusual for
Paul to be so insistent.
“Gally. Gally. You know
Gally.” Clearly, Paul was not going to let this go. I looked around. All eyes
were on me. “Please just tell him you know Gally so he will be happy and we can
eat in peace,” they silently pleaded.
But I did not know
Gally and had no idea where he was.
Mercifully, Paul suddenly
added, “Gally. The guy from Austaylia.”
“Oh, Gary,” I said. Paul
smiled. The whole restaurant breathed a sigh of relief but remained curious.
Gary is a condo neighbor who is also a Mu’s Katsu regular. We have eaten there
together several times.
“Gary is coming back from
Australia next week.”
“I tell you you know him,”
Paul beamed triumphantly. Yes indeed. Silly me.
Oddly, the other restaurant
patrons now seemed more interested than ever. Somewhat daunted by all the
attention, I finished my dinner quickly and left.
Later, I told a Thai friend
about my exchange with Paul. She laughed. A lot.
“You know that in Thai
language ga rii means woman who sells body for sex?”
No wonder everyone in the
restaurant had been so interested.
No, I did not know. Ga rii. Gary.
It is doubtful that ga rii will be a useful term. But how wonderful to have added yet another meaning
to an English name and a new word to my fledgling Thai vocabulary all at the
same time.
(This was originally posted on InterNations, a social network for expats. Please see link on the right of the page.)
(This was originally posted on InterNations, a social network for expats. Please see link on the right of the page.)
