America

Dama came to America for the first time when he was moving here to attend Trinity University. He arrived on August 18, 2009 in San Antonio, TX and stayed in a hotel for a short while before moving into the Calvert dorm. He already knew much about American culture from the popularity of American films and music abroad.

Interestingly Dama has gone through little to no culture shock since moving here, most likely due to his living in many different nations growing up and attending international schools that were taught in the English language. Dama said one of the few changes that he encountered since moving here was the level of religious faith of America. Coming from a predominantly Buddhist nation that is fairly secular the outward expression of faith was a mild surprise. Perhaps the most overwhelming change from Thailand to America that Dama experienced was the weather. Thailand is extremely hot and intensely humid and so the lack of humidity and temperature drop that he encountered in San Antonio was a shock, but a welcome shock.

Dama’s main complaint in regards to America is the almost complete lack of public transportation which was not a problem in Thailand.

Thailand

Dama moved to Thailand when he was fifteen years old and lived in Bangkok which is the capital and largest city in Thailand. The most interesting thing that Dama has told me about Thailand is his description of the intense respect shown to the King, King Bhumibol, by the Thai people. He is not particularly monarchist in his beliefs but he said almost all Thai people are and have a deep respect and admiration for the King, who is an inventor. An interesting fact regarding King Bhumibol is that he holds the record for the most honorary degrees given by universities of any living person. He says that the respect for the King can be taken a bit too far sometimes however such as the time someone posted a video on youtube critical of the Thai King that showed his face next to pictures of feet, which is apparently one of the worst signs of disrespect possible in Thai culture.

I went out to eat Thai food here in America with Dama and he said that the food did not even begin to compare to the quality of that in Thailand. His biggest complaint was the poor quality of mango that came with the Thai dessert “Sticky Rice and Mango” and said that the mango tasted as if it had come from a can.