Bangkok, Thailand Cultural Awareness Day
As we prepare for starting clinics on Tuesday, the team took time to decompress from the long 29-hour travel day to learn about Thai culture and visit some of the local spots.
First our host, Ms. Dang, wanted to prepare us to know some about the local culture, and basic language to be better prepared to communicate with those we are serving. We learned some key phrases, how to greet others, and how to show respect to the elderly with our body language. We spent all day practicing our new words, including "hello," "how are you," "thank you," numbers, and things to say at clinic. We also learned a fun greeting song we'll sing with the children tomorrow morning.
After lunch, we headed into Bangkok to visit the Grand Palace, the city's most famous landmark built in 1782 and for 150 years the home of the Thai King, the royal court, and the administrative seat of the government. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and a new king was crowned last month. Everywhere in the city is yellow and white to signify the grand event. The monarchy is highly regarded here. At 8am and 6pm each day in the city, the national anthem is played and everyone stands at attention in respect.
Thailand is 95% Buddhism, 3% Islam, and 2% Christianity and other. As we visited these two locations, we did so as tourists, learning from history.
The second location was the Wat Pho, the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand. And it was very large!
First our host, Ms. Dang, wanted to prepare us to know some about the local culture, and basic language to be better prepared to communicate with those we are serving. We learned some key phrases, how to greet others, and how to show respect to the elderly with our body language. We spent all day practicing our new words, including "hello," "how are you," "thank you," numbers, and things to say at clinic. We also learned a fun greeting song we'll sing with the children tomorrow morning.
After lunch, we headed into Bangkok to visit the Grand Palace, the city's most famous landmark built in 1782 and for 150 years the home of the Thai King, the royal court, and the administrative seat of the government. Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and a new king was crowned last month. Everywhere in the city is yellow and white to signify the grand event. The monarchy is highly regarded here. At 8am and 6pm each day in the city, the national anthem is played and everyone stands at attention in respect.
Thailand is 95% Buddhism, 3% Islam, and 2% Christianity and other. As we visited these two locations, we did so as tourists, learning from history.
The second location was the Wat Pho, the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand. And it was very large!
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