Wow, only about 5 days left in Asia, then we start our long trip back to the States.
We've had the opportunity to do some pretty cool things this summer, and we've had the opportunity to see how the Body is growing in other parts of the world. It really gets me excited to get to see first-hand how the Good News is affecting change in other parts of our very diverse world.
Thailand has been a bit of a culture shock for us, I think. I know when we got on the plane from Yangon and landed in Thailand, it felt like a different planet in many ways. So much more advertising, more pavement, nicer cars, newer clothes. It felt like we stepped back into the West.
Not that the other country was what I expected either. I expected much less development than I saw. I expected less urban-looking areas in Yangon. I expected less developed housing and more grass and bamboo huts. Actually, we lived in a hotel in "undeveloped" SE Asia and in a bamboo hut in Thailand.
And it has been great to live in a bamboo hut. If it never got cold in the US, I think I would want to live in a bamboo hut there too. So cool.
But the most shocking thing about being in Thailand, when we go into Chiang Mai anyway, is all the white people. They're everywhere. Everywhere you look, you see white people. One of our team even ran into a couple of people that she goes to school with. This is just such a common tourist destination. After being in the last country, that was a surprise. There, we probably in the whole month saw 10 white people, at most. Maybe only 3 Americans. When you walk down the street or in the market or hail a taxi, you stand out much more. Everyone sees you and stares, because it's not often that they see white people. Not many tourists make their way into that country.
And I didn't really mind it either, because we white people think we own the world. We go into a place and we try to make it like home. We expect service and we expect quality and we expect to be treated better than others. Maybe I am generalizing a little too much...
I don't think I expected white people in Thailand. I wouldn't have been in much shock when we landed in LA and saw white people. I just wasn't prepared for Thailand. White people in Thailand.
But, you know white people, you can never be prepared for white people.
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5 comments:
Matt!!
And Heather!!
:)
So...I loved this post. It makes me giggle. It reminds me a lot of Kenya and how very weird (and sometimes lonely) it was being white. The adults looked at me like I was an alien...and the kids thought I was a celebrity. I felt like I was in a parade everytime I walked through the village--the kids would yell "muzungu" (white person) and go get their friends. And within seconds, a crowd of kids would gather outside the gates and watch me walk by, yelling "how are you?" every 5 seconds.
It was priceless.
Can't wait to see you guys again and hear all about it! We'll be thinking about you during your uber-long flight home.
praying for you...hope to see you in a couple weeks at brush creek if you can make it, if not, then perhaps sometime soon somewhere...
ahh...reminds me of that sweet day in bulgaria last year when i got on the bus and a white man from the US stood up, pointed at me, and shouted, "You're not Bulgarian!"
my teamates managed to escape his identification skills with their dark hair and eyes.
it's true what you say, you never can be prepared for those white people.
sure we'll stay in Colorado for an extra week just to see you...yeah right despite popular belief we do have some sort of a life
We do want to see you as soon as possible though and talk to you guys even sooner, hopefully.
Call when you get back!
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