Today is Thanksgiving, but it pretty much felt like a normal day in July. It doesn’t feel like it could possibly be November because it’s so hot outside. The weather is exactly the same as when I first arrived (before the rainy season kicked in), which makes it seem like almost no time has passed. The fact that I’m in the middle of my second semester instead of at the end of the fall semester doesn’t help my sense of time either.

I worked all day today, and then went for pizza with Daniel (my coworker from NAU) and a couple of students. There’s nothing really exciting to report, except that I learned how to insult Thai people from rural areas by telling them to “go home and feed their buffalos”. According to my students, farmers from rural areas often have to sell their water buffalos to pay for their children’s educations. If you tell someone to go home and feed his buffalo, you’re telling him that he’s so stupid that school is wasted on him. He should keep his buffalo instead of paying for school.

“Go home and feed your buffalo” seems like a fun thing to say, but it’s really really insulting. So if you’re ever in Thailand, try to resist the urge to say it.