So in Japan-speak, a bunch of us ran headfirst into a cultural wall yesterday, and it was a rather bracing slap in the face after having conquered so many other challenges in the semi-distant past…
We went to the sports college next to my university, most famous for being the alma mater of the “Jackie Chan of Thailand” (Tony Jaa), in order to start a thrice-weekly regimen of swimming in their Olympic-sized pool. So we paid 40 Baht (adult price, about $1.20) admission fee, and were promptly rejected entry int o the pool for “not wearing swimming suits.” But the thing is, we were wearing swimming suits. So it ended up being a huge argument with us on one side showing mesh liners and insisting that these were, indeed, pieces of swimwear, and some hick-ass PE teacher on the the other side insisting that they were not (I’m convinced this backward inaka motherfucker thinks that mesh liners are just built-in underwear.).
Anyways.
We fought the law, and the law declared that only skin-tight swimsuits are suitable for use in this particular pool, i.e., the law won. Fags. What kind of sickos want to see my fat ass in a speedo, anyway?
P.S. I must admit it feels kind of dirty cursing on the same page I post the baby’s photos. I guess I’ll just have to pretend he isn’t looking at me.
Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
Don’t worry. By the time he’s able to read, these posts will be well into the archives.
I might have missed it, are you going to raise him bilingually? Maybe he’ll swear in two languages 😉
Well, his mother and I converse in Japanese, English, and (more recently) Thai, so ideally he’ll be able to speak all three as well. I need to study a bit more regarding this issue as I don’t want to confuse him at an early age.
Do they have Speedo’s in Thailand? Are you going to get one? Would you post a picture?
What are the requirements for women’s swimsuits? Are there any cultural rules, written or unwritten, about decency? Because I can’t imagine beginning to wear Speedos at my age, either.
Yes. No. No.
I’m under the impression that swimsuits have to be skin tight in order to be considered swimsuits at this particular pool. I think we’ll wait for the next wave of pools to be built (3 under construction) in this town rather than do hickboy’s bidding.