I left the US on July 4th last year and didn’t even bat an eyelash about missing the fireworks, barbecues, or cold beers that make every annual Independence Day another great all-American holiday. Actually, I was pretty excited to leave this "wash-rinse-repeat" society for something richer like Thailand.
I found more than I was looking for. There’s something ancient and beautiful about a lot of Thai culture – something I felt lacked here at home. The music, dance, lifestyle, religion, art and food are far from anything you'll find today's American pop culture.
In fact, I came to love Thailand by having both visited it right after high school and studying more about it here in the States. Just before leaving for Bangkok last year, I hit up a couple stores in Seattle that specialize in SE Asian art. The shopkeeper told me about more than just Bangkok and Thailand, but the wonders of Cambodia, Indonesia and other fascinating countries around the region. Then he showed me around the different artifacts he had in the store - educating me about the culture before I even got there.
Now let's reverse the roles. Let's say I'm a young Cambodian man like Makara, my Cambodian translator buddy. Imagine he wants to come to the US and learn more about our culture (which is a dream for him)- what then?
Well Mak couldn't join their Navy and travel the world because their Navy can hardly secure his own country, let alone travel to others. And I wouldn't count on finding many US shopkeepers in Phnom Penh or any of the rural Cambodian cities either. Looking to the east and west of Cambodia in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam - you won't find even a remotely accurate depiction of American life and culture. Lastly, if you're from any of those nations, you can pretty much count on never having the opportunity to travel to the US, let alone out of country should you be educated enough to know they even exist.
And that's truly what makes our American culture the greatest on the Earth. As Americans, we have so much more access and opportunity to do whatever we feel like as individual human beings, much less a part of a greater species of people. In other words, we abuse the rights and opportunities we have. But it's our right to abuse them until we find appreciation for them and appreciation for the entire human race.
Today, when I think about my forefathers who fought to free themselves from what they felt was unfair rule, I think about what they showed the entire human race - that we can free ourselves. In honor of their sacrifices, I think it's time to build upon their achievements and show the human species once again how great we can be.
As an exercise in this idea, remove all the country lines of the world and see which cultures are the most unique. I think you'd find a lot of countries are like a lot of other ones - till you came across the Atlantic. You'd see a large group of people doing something VERY different, and now for 234 years.
In fact, I came to love Thailand by having both visited it right after high school and studying more about it here in the States. Just before leaving for Bangkok last year, I hit up a couple stores in Seattle that specialize in SE Asian art. The shopkeeper told me about more than just Bangkok and Thailand, but the wonders of Cambodia, Indonesia and other fascinating countries around the region. Then he showed me around the different artifacts he had in the store - educating me about the culture before I even got there.
Now let's reverse the roles. Let's say I'm a young Cambodian man like Makara, my Cambodian translator buddy. Imagine he wants to come to the US and learn more about our culture (which is a dream for him)- what then?
Well Mak couldn't join their Navy and travel the world because their Navy can hardly secure his own country, let alone travel to others. And I wouldn't count on finding many US shopkeepers in Phnom Penh or any of the rural Cambodian cities either. Looking to the east and west of Cambodia in Thailand, Laos and Vietnam - you won't find even a remotely accurate depiction of American life and culture. Lastly, if you're from any of those nations, you can pretty much count on never having the opportunity to travel to the US, let alone out of country should you be educated enough to know they even exist.
And that's truly what makes our American culture the greatest on the Earth. As Americans, we have so much more access and opportunity to do whatever we feel like as individual human beings, much less a part of a greater species of people. In other words, we abuse the rights and opportunities we have. But it's our right to abuse them until we find appreciation for them and appreciation for the entire human race.
Today, when I think about my forefathers who fought to free themselves from what they felt was unfair rule, I think about what they showed the entire human race - that we can free ourselves. In honor of their sacrifices, I think it's time to build upon their achievements and show the human species once again how great we can be.
As an exercise in this idea, remove all the country lines of the world and see which cultures are the most unique. I think you'd find a lot of countries are like a lot of other ones - till you came across the Atlantic. You'd see a large group of people doing something VERY different, and now for 234 years.
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