Reverse Effects of Friday the 13th

I'm not a superstitious person. But when in my lesson plan, there is a passage that the students had to read about 'Superstition', I thought that was a little odd. The passage defined superstition and gave examples like when a black cat walks in front of you you'll have bad luck and if you drop a piece of silverware company is coming over. (The example about the company coming over I thought was an invented superstition by my Great Grandma Z. Either her little invented superstition traveled trans-pacific waters, or it's more well-known than I thought.) Point being, Friday the 13th was not mentioned in the passage. I went ahead and asked them, "Has anyone heard of Friday the 13th, and how it's known to be a little freaky?" Some of them nodded. I quickly asked as if changing the topic, "What's the date today?" They gasped. I heard mutters of "sip saam, sip saam" as they look at their high-tech watches. Sip saam means 13; they were translating to the not-so-well-versed-English-students.

I started thinking about how this Friday the 13th has been a little bit backwards. First of all, the first red truck taxi that stopped on the side of the road didn't shake his head and peel off like the first four usually do. And he motioned for me to enter the passenger door of the truck so I got to sit in the VIP passenger seat rather than in the back of the truck. This has never happened to me before, especially in the busy morning commute. He dropped me off right in front of my building, too! Usually they kick me out at the front gate where another 10 minute walk awaits. He was even teaching me some Thai words like lohn which means hot, temperature-wise. Apparently I was already looking sweaty at only 7am?

Second of all, my students were all on time today. I don't know if any of you have heard of "Thai-time" but it generally represents anywhere from 15 to 90 minutes later than the actual time. You'd use this phrase something like, "Oh Greg? Yeah he'll be here, he just goes by Thai-time." Or if you're the one who walks in late, just give a big Thai-smile and a wink and say "Thai-time." A perfect example of this is in the CMU cafeteria. The large clock on the wall is set 15 minutes ahead of the real time. I just figured this out today. The administration must do this to try to fool the students into leaving the dining hall 15 minutes earlier than they normally would so they get to their next class on time. Unfortunately, I'm the only person who actually falls for this. I was so confused why my half hour lunch break seemed to fly by.

Also, it didn't rain a drop today. It's rained at least once everyday for the last few weeks. My (new) umbrella broke yesterday. Isn't it supposed to rain when your umbrella is broken? I guess the superstition gods are on my side today.

Finally, none of the Thai Ajaans seemed to judge my outfit today. This is really odd. They usually look me over to the point where it's almost assaulting. Imagine someone is undressing you with their eyes. Only they're not undressing you to see you naked, they're undressing you and simultaneously putting a different and more fashionable outfit on you. I honestly can't tell you anymore which scenario would be more uncomfortable.

So it's been a pretty good day, lucky perhaps?