One of the most striking things I have noticed about the Thai culture is their calmness. Even among chaos and hard times they somehow manage to move through life at a comfortable pace, never seeming to focus too much about the past or the future, but on the present moment.

This became really apparent to me during our visit to the Hmong village. I felt a certain peace among the people while I was there. Even when the rain started to downpour they just rested for a while until it stopped, never seeing a setback as an inconvenience. They’re lives are very continuous, and not broken up into good or bad times. This relates to the Human Ecology Model, specifically the sociocultural aspect. Their calmness and sense of time can be seen as influencing one another in a harmonious way. I’ve observed that the “Thai time” moves slower than our fast paced way of life, which contributes to their sense of calmness. Another time I noticed this calmness and slower time urgency was during meal times. Since the Thai people take such pride in their cooking, it makes sense that they would place value on meal times.

The Thai’s calm nature is something that I hope to adopt in my own life and I can’t wait to see more examples of this play out in the next couple of weeks.

1. The Wat Temple visit was a really great way to be introduced to the Thai culture. Being exposed to the different relationship dynamics, especially between the monk and women, was really interesting and will surely be helpful when we actually get to Thailand. It was definitely reassuring how accepting and welcoming the Thai people at the Temple were. Personally I am an atheist, as others have touched on as well, but they made me feel comfortable in their religious environment. It was a very calm and serene experience.
2. One goal I have for my study abroad experience is to challenge my comfort zones. I’m also going to try and work on letting go of some of the routines and stressors that I find negative in my daily life. In other words, I am going to try and live by the philosophy: “Life isn’t about what happens to you, it’s about how you handle what happens.”
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