Culture Shock... Or Not.

Maybe it’s because I’ve traveled quite a bit now, but nothing about Thailand has shocked me. Even the time change is not a big deal. Sure I’m tired, but I sleep soundly every night. So really, Bangkok is just another dirty city. Full of Thai people.

Thai driving is like England driving; they drive on the left, and they drive crazy. There are a ton of motorcycles and scooters. Hardly anyone wears helmets and all the mopeds do not obey the traffic laws. It seems that the bigger you are, the more right of way you have. Our tour bus has pulled out in front of other cars, made a U turn in the middle of the road (the bus boy literally got out to stop traffic), and passes other cars on mountain roads. Then again, our driver did get a speeding ticket. However, for all the craziness, we have yet to see an accident. Most people understand the rules of the road and yield. It’s cool that everyone pulls over to the left when we try to pass them, as long as scooters aren’t in the way. Going around turns, we honk twice to warn anyone coming the other way (although it’s my suspicion that we honk twice every time we pass a temple too).

The Thai language is the second hardest language to learn (after Chinese), but it is beautiful to listen to. They read from left to right. There are 44 letters and 33 vowels. There are also three different tone varieties. High tones, with 5 different degrees of intensity, middle tones with three degrees, and low tones with 5. How anyone can make that many different sounds is beyond me. There are different ways to say things depending on your gender. So far the only two words I’ve mastered are sa-wa-dee-ka, meaning hello or good day.  And kob-kuhn-ka means thank you. For guys saying it, the ending would be krap. Yes, like crap, but not nasal sounding.

I’m learning a lot about the different cultures within Asia. I think Americans tend to have gross generalizations that they are all the same. Thai people are definitely different.  Exactly how, I’ll have to wait to see until I go to other Asian countries.  For instance, did you know Thai people do not use chopsticks? It’s forks and knives here.

Everywhere I go, I hear American music. One of the guys on my tour said he asked a European about that once, about why American music is everywhere. The European said it’s because they couldn’t compete with it. I just think America is taking over the world one Louis Armstrong or Leann Rhymes song at a time.

Which gets me thinking about the difference within different cultures. We all listen to the same music (at least part of the musical repertoire features Frank Sinatra), as well as similar interests movies and other pop culture even if the names and places change. There are always advertisements for soda, beer, and food. Always sirens and graffiti. Always traffic and construction work.

So then, what is the difference? What makes me stand out from the Thai street vendor? In Glenn’s words, we’re all just people, living.

We’re all just people. Living. There are surface level differences, like the food we eat and what we watch on TV—but we all need food to survive, and we all like entertainment.

So that leads me to think that the real differences in culture lie within the deeper values of a society, how we view right and wrong, and what we believe in. Our tour guide, Louis, was telling our group about some gambling and drinking place that they were interested in. But then he said, “I never been there. I good Buddhist man.” For Louis, his deeper values lie within his religion.

Yet most cultures have religion of some sort. And all religions are powerful; that’s how they’ve survived so long. There are subtle nuances, but the foundation of faith and morals is basic for the most part. I don’t really think that religion defines a culture, so that puts me back at square one. What makes us so different?

Nothing. We’re all just people, living. And even though we look different, sound different, and act different, the only true difference is how we see each other. Our perspective of people defines the difference. 

On Unbelievability (yes, that’s now a word)

I still can’t believe I clicked the button, the portal into a completely foreign world just a mouse click away.  But I did it, I booked a trip back in February, and now I’m here.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m in Thailand, at the beginning of a seven week adventure in Asia. For the first two weeks, I’m traveling with a group called EF College Break Tours. So far, I prefer traveling on my own agenda—but we’ll get to that later. After Thailand, I’m going to South Korea to meet up with Glenn. We’ll be mostly in Seoul, but we’re going somewhere I can’t pronounce let alone spell. Then we fly together to China and Japan and come home July 4^th. Just like that.

With the internet, it’s been easy (a bit too easy perhaps) to look up everything there is to do in each place we’re going. I say too easy because that makes it not real to me. I thought it would be a lot harder to travel to the other side of the world. But it’s not hard. Not at all.

Bragging Rights

I never know what to answer when people ask me why I like to travel. It really is a dreary outlook when you think about the endless hours squashed between strangers, the hard beds and lumpy pillow, the exceedingly pesky mosquitoes, and the river of sweat running down my neck. And to think that my left arm and leg went to pay for these miseries; I start to ask myself the same question.

Why do I like to travel?

Instead of coming up with some deep, philosophical answer, like “to broaden and enlighten my understanding of the world and myself through experiencing different cultures and customs” (although that does have a certain ring to it, I do admit), I simply answer “because I can.”

Because I can and I want to. Then I can say I been there, done that. And brag about it.

Really, what else besides the few thousand pictures and a couple pounds of elephants that grow heavier every day, do we take back with us? Pictures only capture a specific moment, not replace an experience. Elephants and Buddha statues are good for a taste of traditional souvenirs, but they sit around collecting dust as the memories fade into wisps of long lost yesterdays.

We are products of our experiences, a culmination of all we see and do. By sharing our stories, we start to tap into the infinite knowledge of the universe. Someone once said that we are part of a university of 6 billion people; we share and learn and grow, together and apart.

Traveling is about losing yourself and finding something new. I travel to absorb, to observe, to witness.  I travel to stretch my comfortable bubble of existence and to not only crawl out of my shell, but change its color and texture before I inevitably go back in. Most important are the interactions we have with others—while in other cultures and at home.

I’ve been in Thailand for ten days now, and yes, I’m going to tell you about it. I've earned a few bragging rights. With any luck, we’ll both learn something in the process.