Heading to the temple for our orientation, I had no idea what to expect. What does a Buddhist temple look like? How would one in Elk River look, and who would be there?
It took me some time to find the correct location, as I was sure it would look different from the surrounding houses. However, we met in a large house similar to the others, and gathered on the living room floor. I was immediately impressed by the calm, friendly yet authoritative presence of the monk sitting above and in front of us. Bald with a friendly face and traditional orange robes, he silently observed us all as we filtered in. After a few others and I had sat down, Acharn Cathy asked us to introduce ourselves. I did not know how to do this in the Thai culture, especially to a monk. I watched others and saw them bring their hands together before saying their name, so I did the same. Acharn Cathy motioned for me to bow as well. I did so, flustered, hoping I had not offended the monk. He simply looked amused and moved his gaze to the next person. We later learned about the different hand positions when greeting, saying thank you and other situations, which helped me to become more familiar with the customs. I am very happy to have had the experience of learning things like how to greet others, where to sit in presence of a monk, language basics and a little bit about Buddhist rituals in such a friendly environment. This experience helped me to feel more comfortable about immersing myself in Thai culture.
One learning goal I have for myself is to simply learn more about the way other people view themselves and the world. I get such a narrow picture of it here, and I really only know how I see the world. I’m excited to see how different groups of Thai people live, what’s important to them, and how they go about their daily lives. Within that, I look forward to learning about how global societal and environmental change are impacting the people of Thailand specifically, and hope to use this information to broaden my perspective as an individual and become an active agent of change.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hi Claire,
I was in the same boat as you because I didn't know what to expect at the Wat Temple. I agree that it an awesome learning experience at the Wat temple, especially about the Thai rituals and greetings as it will help give us a better perspective of what to expect in Thailand. Also, I have a similar learning goal as you, which is to broaden my perspective after studying abroad in Thailand. I think it's great to be in a country where we can see so a variety of things from the Thai culture to their environmental changes.
"Active agent of change"- I love that! I think traveling and constantly learning more about places outside of the U.S. is such a great way to do that.
Love your learning goal… i think it's one that will be utilized. Your picture is awesome as well!
To be honest, as you might know that I am buddist and coming to US; I was expecting to see how Laos community embracing the culture and temple abroad. So first time my mom took me to the temple and what I see was just a regular house. I was in shock because temples in Laos or Thai were built in really beautiful designs with gold and white is the main color. So I really want ad anitcipate to see you and our group mates reaction when we are going to the real temples in Thai.