In May of 2016, I had the amazing opportunity of studying abroad in Thailand. This experience was something I never would have done, but I am so glad I did. I have never been one to easily immerse myself into other cultures, but on this trip I had no choice. We spent all of our time in locally owned hotels and hostels, local restaurants, and with local tour companies – there was nothing about this experience that was anything close to American.  One of my biggest goals coming to college was to become more cultured and accepting to diversity, and this trip was a huge step.

Upon first arrival, I was faced with my first challenge, the vast array of strange meats, vegetables, fruits, and even insects that are staples of the Thai diet. I remember thinking to myself, “how on earth am I going to survive these next two weeks eating foods that I can hardly even pronounce?”. It turns out I was just being very overdramatic because the food was delicious and it was a great way to experience what is a very important aspect of their culture.

Another challenge I faced during the trip was understanding and properly respecting their national religion, Buddhism. I was raised in a Southern Baptist home and had never been exposed to any other religions, so at first it was very odd when I was participating in Buddhist ceremonies and interacting with the Monks. However, this turned out to be one of the most eye opening aspects of my trip. I realized that their religion is beautiful and there are many things I could take away to better myself and others around me.

Finally, in the classroom, we were taking a course titled economics in Southeast Asia, which mainly focused on the effect of tourism in their economy. Throughout our trip, we would analyze how tourism affected different aspects of their environment such as dining, employment, housing, and farming. We learned that many Thais are grateful for the growing tourist economy because it is moving them away from their dependency on rice and bring in more foreign Direct Investment. Each night, we would write in a daily reflection journal some observations that we had made about the influence of tourism on either infrastructure, employment, or human interaction.