Post-Trip Reflections

I left Chiang Mai feeling like I understood the local people. People draw the distinction between the ‘tourist’, who gleans knowledge of the place and the people on only a superficial level, and the ‘traveller’, who experiences the place walking alongside the people, walking even in their shoes. I feel that during this trip, I was more the ‘traveller’ than I have ever been in other trips.

I really appreciate how cheerful the local people are. I understand the responsibility that the younger generation feels toward their country, and their struggle to make a difference. I’ve seen their dissatisfaction at the the current state of their country. I’ve seen the youthful spirit and energy of the people, their thirst for excitement and happiness. I’ve seen beggars on the street and I’ve seen compassion from the other locals. I’ve seen devotion to religion. I spoke to monks and now understand Thai Buddhism. I appreciate their beliefs and the way of life that they promote, and I see its influence in the local people’s way of life. It feels like getting to know a new friend, knowing how she is, what she believes in, understanding why she is the way she is. Personally, I am very fond of the people of Chiang Mai.

Our project made us delve deeper in examining the behaviour of the Chinese tourists, as well as the response of the local people. Understanding someone , we had to understand their general disposition, their values, their priorities and struggles. Eventually, as a clinical psychologist, I will have to be able to understand the psyche of my patients through knowing their personalities, motivations, as well as the social influences that they face. Experiences like these that require me to step into the minds of people of an entirely different culture or context will sharpen these skills. This is especially crucial, as I will be meeting people who come from all walks of life, with different experiences and circumstances than what I have been through.

I believe that you have to understand who a person is and the processes and issues concerning the problem that he or she is facing in order to do anything to help him or her. I noticed that this is very similar to what I wrote in my pre-trip projections: “It is only with global literacy that we are empowered to effect positive change.”

“No man is an island.” We are all part of a community — our families, in our schools, on the societal level, and even on the global level. With globalisation and a “shrinking world”, our actions have great impact on the people around us, and now, on the people from all the way across the globe. We have been taught in schools that we ought to be responsible citizens, acting with civic-mindedness, and responsible members of the global community. All these come with an awareness of the issues that our communities face, the processes that govern such systems and the implications of the decisions that we make.

It is funny how all the major takeaways of my trip have come together in this final reflection, into one coherent thought. During my talk with the monk at Wat Chedi Luang temple, he mentioned that meditation brings awareness, and with greater awareness we have greater control of our actions and the impact that we make. Studying the Chinese tourists, I saw that it was a lack of awareness that caused their bad behaviour and all its negative implications.

All of this brings me back to my pre-trip reflection, where I wrote about the importance of global literacy. Our actions can have either good or bad impacts, and it is with awareness that we have control over what we bring to this global community. I realise that learning will be a continuous process, and just as I feel as guests in a foreign land we ought to be humble, open-minded and respectful, we ought to have that eagerness to learn and understand other cultures and communities.