Grandma Wisdom

I had the privilege of visiting the family of another of my English students. When I walked in the room, their grandma was counting money. Not long after that, two grandsons walked in. They sat at her feet on the floor when she called them over and listened somewhat attentively, like they had gone through this routine before and knew that sitting patiently would be worth it. After a 10 minute explanation about using money correctly, she gave each boy over $30. They each gave an appropriate Thai wai before taking the money (the cultural way to receive a gift here in Thaialnd--both hands, palms together in front of you, like a child praying and a slight bow of the head.)

It was great talking with the family and the grandma. She actually didn't talk all that much to me, but my friend said she was so excited for me to come visit.