Football match and cultural differences

So today I did have my first football game.

We are running a kinda mini-olympic games in AIT.

I'm the international team, and unfortunately most of the other teams are country-based.



So we were just practicing.

It was probably the most frustrating football practice I've ever had in my life.

To best describe it, I think that I can say that they were playin LIKE they have no will to win or score whatsoever.

I emphasise the "like", because they do want to score and win, it's just that they dont do anything that may let you think that they do.


It's kind of hard to describe.

For example, people do a lot of short, not precise passes when they are in the defense zone.
And in the middle field, they tend to kick the ball away in a doomed attempt to pass it, even more unprecisely to the strickers.


The thing here is that you are not supposed to do any kind of NEGATIVE CRITICS or actually the slightest NEGATIVE REMARK.

And when I say negative, it means everything that is not clearly positive.

It isn't specific to any specific country culture, since almost all the southeast and south asian countries were represented in the field. So I guess it's a commonly shared cultural trait in the region.


Trust me, it was kind of hard to deal with these cultural difference.

Eventually, you say to yourself that it's just a game, no matter what it looks like right?


I'm well aware that any kind of words, that are perceived as negative ( I insist on the "perception" part) can caused unexpected behavior.

The most annoying part(at least for me) is that, if you don't pay a close attention, you probably wont realize it.

You will just notice that the person you are speaking to has changed his/her mood, and sometimes you won't understand why.



I will probably face these kind of situations many times in the future.

I'll let you know how I do.

More info on the Magha Puja Day

My friend Maxim has written a very comprehensive article on this special buddhist day.

So if you are interested and want to have more details on it, just click here.


Thanks Maxim.

Makha Bucha Day

Today is a public day off because it's the Makha bucha day.

I tried to know what was the reason of it. But unfortunately the thai friend with who I talked yesterday has a not so good english ( I mean it's really bad ). So I barely get what He was trying to explain.


But from what I get it's a buddhist holy days (there are actually 3days, from saturday to Monday).


The campus is totally empty, it's really funny and wierd and the same time. I've never seen it like that before.


The bad thing, for me at least, is that banks are closed and I don't have a penny left since saturday.
I was planning to go to HSBC in Bkk to retrieve some money from their ATM in order to avoid the insane fee they charge if I retrieve at another ATM just because my bank account is in France.

I guess not everything is globalised.

Few things on Vietnamese lifestyle and culture

As you know I participate to the vietnamese New Year celebration.


It was a good opportunity to talk with Viet people about their culture. I'll try to list them here:

1. They are very welcoming. This is just an impression, and it can be biased because it was New Year celebration and that at that time people are happy and more opened. But that was my first impression. According to one guy I chatted with, it's in their culture to be cool people. I guess that once you get rid of this "tourist" banner on your forehead, they are probably charming people.
   


2. Vietnamese elections seem to be kind of funny. Apparently there are no official candidates. When people go to vote, they wrote the name of the person they want to see as the president. I still cannot believe it. There must be a trick somewhere. Apparently, in order to prevent people to run a campaign, election date are not fixed. So at anytime, elections can be called. I guess there is probably a short delay before the call and the elction day. I'm gonna ask again because this sounds so wierd that I'm afraid I didn't get it right


3. There are many religious in Vietnam (buddhism, catolicism, etc.) But no matter what is one's religion everyone pray the god of the house. One different for each house. In every kitchen, there is a small statue placed just below the roof. And everyone pray that god. Moreover, one time per year, there is a big ceremony which takes place in each house. People gathered in the kitchen to pray and after celebrate.


4. Vietnamese people drink. And when I say they drink, I mean they DRINK. They drink beer like I drink water. and I can tell you, because of the heat I drink a LOT of water.

 

These are just a small fraction of the empty bottles. In 2 hours, I've seen myself being granted with 4 bottles of beer. And it would have been even more if I had actually drink them.


These are just the first glance I had at vietnamese lifestyle. I can't wait to go to vietnam. I hope I'll have the opportunity to do so. If I do, of course I'll blog about that.
So stay tuned, more to come soon.