Post-trip reflections!!!

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”

I believe that this quote is adequate in representing what I felt at the end of this trip. As according to my pre-trip reflections, I believe that there are many things that I am unaware of around the world. Despite travelling to many countries, I had never managed to indulge in their culture or to derive any learning out of those trips. My past overseas trip experiences only encompassed travelling to tourist attractions, taking nice photographs, shopping and tasting their delicacies. However, this was the first time that I was actually fully conscious of my surroundings and showed interest in the history and culture of the country. Also, despite being to Thailand for a couple of times, this trip allowed me to experience many firsts. My first time eating street food, my first time trying a fried bamboo insect, my first time experiencing the Thai massage, my first time visiting a University overseas, my first time interviewing experts in their professions, and many more. Maybe, I could say that now, I have read more than one page of this ‘book’.

Even though the trip has already ended, I find myself constantly reflecting upon the experiences I had in Chiang Mai. There were certain scenes that would randomly appear in my mind, be it the exciting and enjoyable times or those that were slightly tough to overcome. However, I understand that what makes this whole trip unforgettable as a whole is due to the mixture of both positive and negative experiences that everyone shared. Be it laughing at a silly joke one of us made, or facing last minute problems with our research topic, these are all snippets of memories that I would never forget.

I am a downright worrywart. “You worry too much!”, “Stop thinking about it.”, these are words often said to me by my family and friends. There was no way I could not worry for this trip at all. As we were headed to Chiang Rai, towards the venue for our first ever interview as a group, my mind was filled with various scenarios- the possible and the impossible. I was worried about how the interview was going to be like, worried whether the findings from the days thereafter would be different from what our group has expected and various other problems like having issues with the group’s chemistry. However, I thought to myself that what has to come, will come, and it is all about how we manage to triumph over our differences. What is important is that we welcome everything with an open mind and an open heart, in order to truly enjoy this whole experience.

When I did my secondary research beforehand, there were limited search results and only one that spoke of nutritional labels – the Traffic light system. Besides that, there was only another nutrition campaign by the government, which is the nutrition food flag, similar to the food pyramid we have here in Singapore. Other than government campaigns, Nestle, a food and beverage company, gives talks and sets up counters in Shopping Malls whereby they would recommend healthier ways of preparing food using their products. Despite this, I was still optimistic towards the situation in Chiang Mai as I hoped that the limited search results were just merely due to the lack of documentation online. I hoped that we would be able to see for ourselves, or learn from the locals of the existence of more education campaigns.

However, by the end of the trip, I was only met with disappointment.

Many locals are unaware of the existence of any nutritional campaigns. Students shared that they do have lessons in schools on healthier living, teaching them to consume according to the food nutrition flag, cut down on junk food and exercising regularly. Yet, there were none specifically on nutritional labels. Could I say that I expected that things would turn out different from expected? I was mentally prepared after all the warnings given by the Profs and seniors that we would have to be flexible once we are actually in Chiang Mai as things may differ from expectations. True that, it did. We could only learn how to adapt to the changes and adjust our direction accordingly. We had to try our best to understand the locals’ perspectives and use all these information to correspond and explain any relevant data in our report.

There were many regrets that I had throughout this trip, other than falling sick and missing out on the amazing race, another problem was overlooking an important aspect that could benefit our research. On the day that we interviewed the Doctors at Chiang Mai University as mentioned in the reflective post on 7^th January, I realized I made a mistake on my end. The doctors brought up the topic on the attitudes that the locals have towards healthier living and nutritional labels during the interview. It was only then that I was reminded of reading through one of the articles that Prof Nat had shared with us, discussing about both knowledge and attitude of people towards nutritional labels. I, myself, too, did mention in my pre-trip reflection that we wanted to know more about the attitudes that they had. However, before this interview, none of us were consciously reminded of discovering the attitudes of the people. This was because we were too absorbed in considering only one aspect, their presence/lack of knowledge towards the labels.

I regretted that I had left out such an important aspect, if we had already thought about the significance of the locals’ attitudes to labels, we could have included it in our interviews for the past 3 days. This taught me that sometimes, it is important for us to constantly reflect upon what we have learnt before and seek its relevance to the research conducted. It was up to us to do recovery work for the remaining time, as we made the best of the rest of our time to research on the attitudes of the locals. It was also fortunate that during some of the interviews we had done, the locals themselves did share a bit more about their lifestyles and habits which spoke about their attitudes towards nutritional labels.

On a more personal note, I felt that it was a pity that I did not manage to accomplish my personal goal of overcoming my shy personality, to initiate conversations with the locals myself. Besides interviewing the locals and bargaining for cheaper prices, I did not take this opportunity to go out of the way to communicate with the locals. I have heard stories of my friends travelling overseas to Cambodia, where they met some strangers who somehow became their new friends along the way. They would spend time together at a café, sharing about each other lives. Isn’t it such a refreshing and exciting experience? To be able to hear people share about their own country while you share about yours. I really envy my friends for having so much courage to step up and speak to strangers. I believe that there are many things we can learn from others and it is a waste that I did not grab such an opportunity this time round. At least I did overcome part of comfort zone by personally interviewing the experts and locals instead of staying behind the camera. Let these be baby steps, baby steps.

On the topic of communicating with the locals, as an accountancy and business student, I believe that communication is an important skill in my current course of study and in my future work endeavors. Be it communicating with my superiors, my colleagues or my clients, it is important to be convincing and confident. This trip has taught me significantly about communication, be it with the Profs, my fellow friends, or the locals, I feel like I have matured in terms of my communication skills.

Communication is indeed a two-way process which involves speaking and listening. Therefore, we must learn to understand others and be flexible and adaptable to the situation, coming up with new questions as quickly as possible during the interviews. However, being in a foreign land, the language barrier was certainly a problem. The locals had great difficulty understanding English, and it was hard to approach them. However, Prof Nat’s friend, Luk Pong, kindly went along with us for the interviews. Her presence made the interviews on our part much easier due to the lowered language barrier. Luk Pong’s kind, friendly and amiable demeanor allowed us to be able to snatch a lot of interviews with the locals as they found it difficult to reject her requests. I feel that we had a lot to learn about communication from her regarding the way she carried herself as she approached the locals. She was convincing and persuasive, which played an important role in helping us reassure the locals, allowing the interviews to progress comfortably and fruitfully.

Moving on from my regrets, there were times that were self-satisfactory too.

“The greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time.” –Bill Bryson

During our OTOT, some of us went on our own to explore Chiang Mai a little better by wandering aimlessly along the streets. With just a simple, everyday act of strolling along the streets, I was able to take the opportunity to be more consciously aware of my environment.  Since we had no specific goal in mind, we left the hotel with the spirit of exploring and could actually take our own time to appreciate the surroundings, be it the small alleyways or the Old City walls. Noting that the places we explored may not be the most accurate representation of Chiang Mai’s true culture due to modifications made to cater to the influx of tourists, it was overall still a fulfilling experience. I feel that this did allow me to fulfil my personal goal of understanding the way of life the locals led as I saw for myself, other sides that they have, out of my fieldwork. Adding that to the sides I had observed and interacted with under my research, they have indeed helped with broadening my global awareness.

At a shop selling hard-carved ornaments

Chiang Mai indeed was much better than I expected, it was a fulfilling trip travelling with my friends while being able to learn things I never knew about this country. These are precious memories I would never forget. Being able to interact with the locals, professors and doctors are opportunities that are hard to find and are ones that I would treasure for a long time to come. The locals were so nice and friendly and I met many adorable doggie friends along the way.

To conclude, I am glad for having a group that brings the best out of everyone. Every member in the group was given an opportunity to speak and to learn from each other. We were always full of energy and enthusiasm for everything, which made work seemed like so much fun too. The chemistry that our group had made everything a hundred times better. Our attached CMU student, Mohn, completed the group. He was so patient with our requests, going out of his way to help us, even skipping his rest time to get more interviews and helping us with all the translations. What surprised me was how he took the effort to remember the conversations we shared! Mohn and I had a minor conversation over how I missed the chance to see one of my favourite kpop celebrities filming live in Chiang Mai. Thereafter, in the handwritten card that he wrote for everyone, mine said “Hope you get to meet Bam Bam (said Kpop celebrity) soon!” It was touching to see how he cares to remember all these minor details and interactions we shared. I really treasure the help provided by Mohn, Luk Pong and our tour guide, Patt. They have exhibited the true spirit of helping without expecting anything in return. I not only matured academically, but also spiritually, from the people who have surrounded me for the past 7 days.

Photo credits: Yong Jia

As some would say, to travel is to live. This was indeed a trip that brought me closer to myself and allowed me to grow. It is really a trip worth remembering.

Chiang Mai, I miss you already.