Any advice for how to keep from getting "weird" as a Thai expat?

[squarethecircle]

When I first came a friend who had been here before advised to stay for 1 year MAX as otherwise I would invariably end up getting "weird".

Certainly makes sense, living in an alien culture with alien speak I mostly don't understand, not much contact with others from one's own culture, etc., might make one adopt habits that would appear "weird" back home. And since I'm not a retiree I assume I'll be headed home at some stage.

 

So, does anyone have some good advice for how to keep from getting "Weird" as a western expat in Thailand?

[HeijoshinCool]

The bad news: it seems it may be already too late ….

 

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/750972-is-there-any-where-else-than-speaks-more-annoying-non-native-english/

 

The good news: your last topic just got more readers.

 

[beachproperty]

Just be yourself.....I've been here 10 years and do not know what you speak of "becoming weird". But then again maybe I was "weird" before I got here!

[wamberal]

       If you don't know, I doubt that anybody else could help you.  Incidentally, you are not a Thai expat.  You might be an expat living in Thailand.

 

 

       Thai expats cannot, by definition, live in Thailand.

 

 

       That's a weird title.    

[bkkjames]

fuck me, I realize we just had a full moon the other day but is there something in the air today that is bringing out the soon-to-be zombie topic starters?

[wamberal]

<deleted> me, I realize we just had a full moon the other day but is there something in the air today that is bringing out the soon-to-be zombie topic starters?

 

 

 

Yep.  It's weird, isn't it?

 

Or it would be, if there weren't so many of them.

[mrtoad]

<deleted> me, I realize we just had a full moon the other day but is there something in the air today that is bringing out the soon-to-be zombie topic starters?

 

 

Agreed, there appears to be a raft of weird stuff

[JLCrab]

Just be yourself.....I've been here 10 years and do not know what you speak of "becoming weird". But then again maybe I was "weird" before I got here!

I prefer being someone else.

[Seastallion]

 

Just be yourself.....I've been here 10 years and do not know what you speak of "becoming weird". But then again maybe I was "weird" before I got here!

I prefer being someone else.

 

Wifey likes me being someone else...last Friday it was a fireman.

[Seastallion]

Some might think me weird for saying that....

[JLCrab]

Some might think me weird for saying that....

No more weird than someone telling to 'take it one day at a time' like how else are you going to do it?

[HooHaa]

 

 

Just be yourself.....I've been here 10 years and do not know what you speak of "becoming weird". But then again maybe I was "weird" before I got here!

I prefer being someone else.

 

Wifey likes me being someone else...last Friday it was a fireman.

 

 

ill bet she does

[In Search of Space]

weird man

[Seastallion]

 

 

 

Just be yourself.....I've been here 10 years and do not know what you speak of "becoming weird". But then again maybe I was "weird" before I got here!

I prefer being someone else.

 

Wifey likes me being someone else...last Friday it was a fireman.

 

 

ill bet she does

 

Haha Hoohaa  

[chiang mai]

The OP could try joining the aliens to some degree, try learning the language to bridge the gap, you wont get all the way there but at least "they" will only seem like partial aliens.

[trainman34014]

I accepted i was weird 50 years before i got here, so nothings changed.  Case closed !

[krisb]

This place made me weird.

 

Stay away from here will help.

[monk213]

define 'weird' but also define 'normal'

We all change due to our experiences and life events, that is inevitable. I have been here 5 years and I a better person than I was before I came for the most part.

[The Man Who Sold the World]

Weird is a state of mind ...

 

"I'd rather stay here, with all the Madmen ... Then perish with the sad men roaming free"

[mesquite]

OP, whatever it is we TV regulars do, do the opposite.  You'll be fine.

[Ulysses G.]

I was friends back home with a few guys in the military who had spent a lot of time in Thailand. I remember thinking about what sexist pigs they were when they told me tales of their experiences. Now, I've lived here more than 20 years and I would imagine that I would fit right in with them. 

[wprime]

Just be yourself.....I've been here 10 years and do not know what you speak of "becoming weird". But then again maybe I was "weird" before I got here!

 

Being yourself is what he probably means by weird. Thai people are on the surface very accepting of everything so expats over time learn to be themselves rather than what western society expects them to be.

[manarak]

The bad news: it seems it may be already too late ….

 

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/750972-is-there-any-where-else-than-speaks-more-annoying-non-native-english/

 

The good news: your last topic just got more readers.

 

 

OP's troll status is confirmed.
 

[Seastallion]

I was friends back home with a few guys in the military who had spent a lot of time in Thailand. I remember thinking about what sexist pigs they were when they told me tales of their experiences. Now, I've lived here more than 20 years and I would imagine that I would fit right in with them. 

So, are you saying you've changed into a sexist pig, or that your perception has changed?

[ATF]

 

Just be yourself.....I've been here 10 years and do not know what you speak of "becoming weird". But then again maybe I was "weird" before I got here!

 

Being yourself is what he probably means by weird. Thai people are on the surface very accepting of everything so expats over time learn to be themselves rather than what western society expects them to be.

 

 

I think his "weird" is 60 year old men sitting around in bars drinking all day and being fawned over by girls a third of their age. Yep it's very weird.
 

[mrtoad]

I was friends back home with a few guys in the military who had spent a lot of time in Thailand. I remember thinking about what sexist pigs they were when they told me tales of their experiences. Now, I've lived here more than 20 years and I would imagine that I would fit right in with them. 

So, are you saying you've changed into a sexist pig, or that your perception has changed?

Check out his posting history, and you should get a flavour

[buhi]

 

 

Just be yourself.....I've been here 10 years and do not know what you speak of "becoming weird". But then again maybe I was "weird" before I got here!

 

Being yourself is what he probably means by weird. Thai people are on the surface very accepting of everything so expats over time learn to be themselves rather than what western society expects them to be.

 

 

I think his "weird" is 60 year old men sitting around in bars drinking all day and being fawned over by girls a third of their age. Yep it's very weird.
 

 

It's fun though, in moderation of course!

[StefanBBK]

Don't worry. It's not you, but all the others.

[ATF]

 

 

I was friends back home with a few guys in the military who had spent a lot of time in Thailand. I remember thinking about what sexist pigs they were when they told me tales of their experiences. Now, I've lived here more than 20 years and I would imagine that I would fit right in with them. 

So, are you saying you've changed into a sexist pig, or that your perception has changed?

Check out his posting history, and you should get a flavour

 

 

Yeah Cheesy Troll flavour?

 

[96tehtarp]

OP: Go with the force.

 

I've been a card carrying wierdo for a long time.