Had to.

So this morning I rolled over in bed, swung my feet onto the ground and realized they were ankle-deep in rainwater. I felt a familiar mixture of confusion and amusement as I called the downstairs office. What happened in my room this morning is a perfect example of why Thailand will always embody "appearance over substance" for me. I've mentioned this in my blog before, about how obsessed with appearances my school is, to the point where it occasionally detracts from the actual education of the students. This notion is ubiquitous, and doesn't only apply to schools. The obsession with having a professional and beautiful exterior exists at every institution, be it educational, governmental or.... residential.

For the past year I've lived in a curious but comfortable place called the "Amata Mansion." Before you make assumptions, you should know that every apartment building in Thailand is called a "mansion" (perhaps because it sounds fancier than apartment). That being said, where I live is relatively nice, because it's designed as a hotel for the business owners of the Amata factories. I know the staff there, and they're lovely people, but the Mansion is guilty of some definite inefficiencies. The apartment always looks nice from the exterior, because they'll repaint the building before repairing something essential internally.

A few weeks ago, I spotted a man on my balcony, retiling the floor. The floor was perfectly fine before, with brick-red tiles and a large drain in the corner for siphoning rain. This man retiled the floor with some snazzy newer-looking tiles, and apparently decided that a drain would ruin the pristine aesthetic of his tile-job, so he simply covered it up. I was left with a completely enclosed balcony, with no drain (so basically a plugged bathtub) in the peak of rainy season. Last night it poured, and my plugged balcony filled with water, then spilled generously into my room. I awoke in a my own little bath pool.

I suppose this has only reinforced my belief in hardiness over illusion, that the foundation of something is what makes it great regardless of its external appearance. I find myself always considering the most logical and productive way of completing a task, and often contradicts with the procedures I encounter here. Many Westerners would agree that how something looks is inconsequential if it doesn't work. But Thailand is an appearance-driven culture. You are required to submit a photo for every job application here, because (as my student put it) "the way you look show who you are." My coordinators are focused on us looking "polite," giving the right impression and pleasing the parents, but the most effective way to educate falls by the wayside. I hope that they will improve on this system, before this one gets too plugged up.