When you live internationally, you tend to meet people from other nations (hince, international!). And when you get to know these people, you find out some very very interesting things about their culture, and more often they teach you some very very interesting things about your own culture.  So I have decided to start a “You Learn Something New Everyday” series, showcasing the new things I learn, the “quirks of culture”, if you will.  So here goes nothing…

My Thai friend from my language class told me the full name of Bangkok today. Maybe you’ve heard it before, but I hadn’t, and I was in awe.  I didn’t think he was going to stop.  I’ll tell you, the sundown went down before he was able to finish:

Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahinthara Ayuthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom Udomratchaniwet Mahasathan Amon Piman Awatan Sathit Sakkathattiya Witsanukam Prasit

No joke. Its that long. Here it is in Thai:

กรุงเทพมหานคร อมรรัตนโกสินทร์ มหินทรายุธยา มหาดิลกภพ นพรัตน์ราชธานีบุรีรมย์ อุดมราชนิเวศน์มหาสถาน อมรพิมานอวตารสถิต สักกะทัตติยะวิษณุกรรมประสิทธิ์

What makes it worse is that Thai is a tonal language. So a word’s meaning can change depending on the pitch of your voice.  There are five tones: high, mid, neutral, rising, and falling.  What may sound like one word to us, could in reality be five different words depending on the pitch.  Its gotta be one of the hardest languages out there. So don’t even try to pronounce the real name. You just might end up calling your best friend’s mom a pancake-eating, tightrope-walking dog.

I’m going to stick with Bangkok.