Naa Jun

Naa Jun, these are the words that we hear all the time from people that come to our house to see Owen or when we go out. However you'd probably be surprised to know that Naa Jun doesn't mean cute, good looking, handsome or anything that a foreigner would call a baby. Naa Jun means ugly! Thais believe that if you use words like cute or handsome, the spirits will come and take the baby away. So instead, they use their wisdom to fool the spirits and call Owen ugly because what spirit would want an ugly baby. Before Owen came into the world, I never knew this (although I knew Thais were very superstitious). I love Thai people but some of their beliefs are just plain strange. Now everytime I hear someone say Naa Jun, I know that they really mean something good, or at least that is what Tawm tells me. When I doubt that, I just look at Owen's face and I know Tawm is telling the truth.

As I am posting, I recall a Seinfeld episode where Seinfeld and his buddies go to visit a friend who just had a baby. Don't remember all the details other than that the baby was hideous and none of them knew what kind of compliment to give the parents. If he lived in Thailand, he wouldn't have that problem, he could just say the baby is ugly. He would mean it and the parents would think it was a compliment, both sides win.