I'm Home!!!!!!

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19 hours of travel, and only 3 hours lost! On the way to Thailand, even though we travelled 22 hours to get there, we arrived 2 days later, losing a whole day. The way back to California, we left Bangkok at 8am and arrived in Los Angeles at noon! Now, I just hope I can stay up the whole day to try not to have to deal with the jet lag.

I am so thankful that I have had the chance to experience such an amazing adventure. As those of you who know me are aware, I am pretty obsessed with learning all I can about all the cultures I can. Although I interact with students from everywhere in the world, especially Asia, and learn a lot from them, there is no experience like learning first-hand.

This was my first trip to Asia, and definitely won't be my last. When you travel, even if it is just to another U.S. state, you learn so much about the people you encounter, their culture, your culture, and yourself. I must say, that I have learned a lot in every aspect. I have learned that we take a lot of things for granted here in the U.S. Our lives are very convenient and our society thrives on obtaining anything that makes life easier and more efficient. Although I do admit that I enjoy having these conveniences, I am now questioning their importance in life. It almost seems that the more self-sufficient and individualistic we become, the more we lose in relation to the true richness of life. Maybe our priorities are screwed up, actually, yes, they are. We care more about what we have and what we can get than how our community can thrive together. I also learned that it is not what you have or what you don't have materialistically that makes you truly happy. Happiness is not how self-sufficient you are, or how convenient or efficient your life becomes. Happiness is being thankful for what you do have, striving to live your life to the best of your ability, and remembering that becoming too self-sufficient and individualistic could make you very lonely.

I really feel I saw true happiness in Thailand. They don't have the material things we do, they generally don't have the modern conveniences like we do, and they don't have the competitive, individualist nature we do. I really sensed a strong communal bond everywhere I went in Thailand. Having such a strong community focus really makes a difference on a person's priorities. Working for the good of the country, or tribe, or neighborhood, or village seems to be what drives the people I met there. This really makes me wonder how it feels to be less self-absorbed and more focused on the good of the community. I feel like it would be a much more secure way of life and much less uncertain. I also feel that such security is the essence of true happiness. Who cares about material items, even if they make life easier -- why would you need those things if you are secure with your life, your culture, your community, and especially, yourself? You may not agree with me, and I don't expect you to, but this trip has definitely given me a new perspective on how I live my life and how I set my priorities.

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Comments

[Tekau]

hmmm
Nice note....but don't you over simplicize thailand a little bit? Some of them must have the same standard of living as american do! Come on! ................ Sorry, that was an easy shot! :)