☺︎ smiling in the land smiles ☺︎

? –> ? –> ? –> ?

The 7 days seemed to pass by both slowly, but quickly at the same time, as odd as that may sound.

As mentioned in my previous posts, I did not have many friends among the USP students as I did not attend any camps and hence did not have the opportunity to get to know them better. Thus, there were definitely certain points in the trip, especially at the start, where I felt extremely down and lonely, and just wanted to go home. These were the points of the trip where time seemed to slow down.

However, as I learnt to become more comfortable and open minded towards the people around me and activities organised, I found myself enjoying myself a lot more – and that is where time seemed to fly by! ?

Personally, as I reflect on my pre-trip post, I did not achieve every single thing that I had intended to achieve prior to the trip. Instead, I achieved some of those things, but learnt so many other unexpected lessons, and grew as a person in many other unexpected ways as well; and sometimes, these little surprises can be a lot more fulfilling than achieving ordinary goals that everyone sets out to achieve?

One of the main things I wanted to achieve in Chiang Mai was to learn more about the culture and lives of others and not be stuck in my own world filled with me, me and only me. One of the things that really struck me about Thais is that, most of the people I came across were really genuine and helpful people, and that really touched my heart. All the locals were really kind and generous with their time, always willing to help us with our interviews that sometimes lasted 15minutes long. In Singapore, it is so difficult to approach strangers for help because they can be rather selfish and unwilling to help. Of course, I am guilty of this myself. Seeing how generous and helpful the locals were really inspired me to do the same when others ask for my help. Another experience that stood out for me was at a night market when my entire group (about 14 people including Mohn and the seniors) wanted to by the same pair of elephant pants. The shop owner seemed really distressed because he had to find 15 of the same pair of pants while tending to his shop and helping other customers. Despite sensing his distress, all I did was stand there impatiently, waiting to get my pants. However, Mohn immediately stepped up and helped the shop owner with collecting money from other customers and even helped him to pack the pants into plastic bags. Seeing this, I immediately felt so ashamed of myself and my impatience. This was a good reminder for me to not only be more patient, but also to extend my help even when others may not explicitly ask for it ?

Another thing I was set on achieving prior to the trip was to take more initiative. To be honest, I was a lot more active and involved in school prior to University, however, because I felt rather out of place in NTU, I chose to stay passive and not speak up and help out. However, during the trip, I pushed myself to become more outspoken and open-minded – participating in activities that I dislike (e.g the amazing race), and strike conversations with the people around me. This trip really taught me not to make any more excuses as to why I should be so passive and inactive, and instead, constantly push my boundaries and step out of my comfort zone. If I had not been as open-minded as I was, I definitely would not have enjoyed all the activities so much, and I would not have been able to get to know my peers better. Therefore, I have no regrets ???

As mentioned earlier, I didn’t achieve every single goal that I hoped to have achieved, and personally, I think that that’s actually alright because life is a journey of self improvement and I’ll definitely have more opportunities to work on my weak areas as long as I make the effort to do so. One of my main goals that I did not accomplish was to approach problems in more creative ways. I realised that I did not really do that when in Chiang Mai, mostly out of the lack of confidence and laziness to push myself further. However, recognising how I did not accomplish this, I will continue to challenge myself and try to approach problems in more creative ways in the future. Of course, I can start with the media deliverables and essay that we have to do. One challenge that my group is facing right now is that we lost some video footage of the focus group we needed for the documentary. However, upon thinking about it, I suggested perhaps using the voice memo of that focus group session that I recorded in the documentary while showing some pictures or short videos related to the topics discussed in the session. Furthermore, I tried to be creative in thinking about a unique media deliverable that other groups may not think of doing (this will be revealed later as we want it to be a surprise ?). So, as I continue on this journey of self improvement, I have to recognise that every new day is an opportunity to work on myself, and that even if I fail in doing so on one day, I should not give up and instead try harder the next day! That being said, I should not be upset that I did not achieve all my goals in Chiang Mai, instead, I should try harder in my every day life to achieve those said goals ☺️

A lesson I did not expect to learn however, was about my own opinion towards smoking and being more accepting of others. Personally, my father experienced health complications due to smoking when I was younger, and that definitely affected my family and of course my view towards smoking. I hated the idea of smoking and did not have a very favourable opinion on those who smoked. However, through the interviews and chats we had with the locals, and even amongst our own sub group, my opinions changed rather drastically. I learnt about how confident smokers were, and how none of them felt that they should be labelled “bad” or be of any less worth than non-smokers. Although of course I still recognise the horrible health impacts smoking has on a person, I realised that I should never associate anyone who smokes as a “bad” person, because in actual fact, they are just like any one of us. The people we interviewed talked about the stigmas smokers faced, and it made me feel guilty about all the times I had silently judged people in my head for smoking. Although I may not approve of their habits, who am I to view them as any less of a human being than I am? This not only applies to smoking, but to everything and everyone in life. Who am I to judge another when I have never even walked a day in their shoes? ?

Despite my initial resistance towards opening up during this trip, I am so thankful that I went and experienced so many new things. This serves as a great reminder for me to always be willing to try new things and meet new people, and to not worry too much about unnecessary things. It also taught me to seize any opportunity I have, and to always make the best of whatever “miserable” situation I may be put in.

I’m glad to say that I found myself smiling a lot more than I would have expected myself to in the Land of Smiles ?