What I learned from my trip to Thailand

(This post is my contribution to the latest group writing project at Middle Zone Musings. To participate, simply write a post entitled “What I Learned From …” that has something to do with travel. I wasn’t going to contribute at first since I haven’t travelled much. Guess I just can’t help myself.)

I went to Thailand as part of a group of eight. We spent much of our time teaching English at university campuses in Bangkok. It was my first and only trip overseas since the age of three; definitely an eye-opening experience in many ways. I think I learned as much about myself as I did about the culture!

1. Some people are wimps *

When travelling overseas, you have to deal with things that you are not accustomed to, and this trip was no exception. We had to endure cold showers for the majority of the trip, plus the food was different obviously. Overall though, what we had to put up with was pretty minor, certainly not worth complaining about.

So I was astonished when certain members of the group kept whining about the showers and the food! You would think they had been asked to hike the Kokoda Trail or something. We must have gone to McDonald’s at least a dozen times to get “Australian food” (ha!)

I could understand this if the food was disgusting or very weird, but it was very good on the whole. There were incidents of food poisoning however. Half the team got sick at one point or another. Not me, though, despite eating roadside crab against my sister’s objections.

2. It is possible to wear only one pair of underpants for two weeks

This isn’t as disgusting as you might think. We didn’t have access to a laundry most of the time, so we handwashed our clothes instead, putting them up overnight to dry. This worked pretty well.

Towards the end of my trip, my roommate revealed that he had only worn one pair of underpants for the entire trip. Each night he would handwash them, put them out to dry, then put them back on the next day.

This wasn’t out of necessity either; he had brought 16 pairs with him from Australia.

3. Travelling with a group can bring out personality traits you didn’t know you had

If you are like me (God help you!), you tend to be blind to your own weaknesses at times.

Spending an extended period of time with a small group of people in unfamiliar territory can be a recipe for conflict. Our group was warned before leaving Australia to be aware of this. The eight of us were quite diverse, with several strong-willed personalities. I assumed it would be other members of the group getting aggro with each other while I was on the sidelines. Instead it was me in the thick of it all.

Without going into too much detail, I learned I had abrasive personality traits I didn’t know were abrasive. I didn’t understand at the time why the rest of the team reacted the way they did. Only later did I pick up on it.

Fortunately there wasn’t much damage done. Several rounds of apologies had to be made, but we were able to continue working together as a team.

4. Dealing with a different culture is tricky

While we were only in Thailand for two weeks, we nevertheless experienced a degree of culture shock and homesickness as we attempted to navigate a culture that was alien to us. Everything was different; mannerisms, language, body language, customs, religious beliefs, food, rules and laws, standards of behaviour etc. As Australians, we stuck out like a sore thumb.

Surely there are few things harder than moving to a country with a vastly different culture.

5. People are people everywhere

Despite cultural differences, we have many things in common. The basic needs and desires of people are the same everywhere. For me, to go to a local church and see people in a completely different part of the world worshipping the same God that I do was an emotionally overpowering experience.

That’s it from me. Join the project, or relate your own experiences by leaving a comment.

* Edited so it won’t look like I’m having a go at Robert Hruzek, self-confessed meat-and-potatoes man. He’s from Texas, if that’s relevant. Dare say he wouldn’t like scorpions on a stick.