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Does anyone else do culture immersion when you travel?

Most of the Americans I know here in Thailand stay together with similar expats, eat at expensive western steak restaurants, ignoring the delicious, inexpensive, local Thai food, shop at big western chains like Tesco-Lotus or Big C.

My attitude is that if you want to be surrounded with western culture, why come to Thailand at all?

In Haiti, I spoke Creole like a native, ran around with both elite/European and black African Haitians.

In Mexico, I rented an apartment from a Mexican family, joined them for meals, hung with Mexicans, and spoke Spanish.

Here in Thailand, I tend to choose cities with few tourists, teach at remote beach side schools, and go months without seeing another Caucasian.

My daughter does the same, quickly becoming fluent in local languages when she lives abroad.

The photo is of my daughter and I posing with elephant statues near Krabi, Thailand. She only visited for two months but quickly learned enough Thai to get around both Songkhla and Hat Yai by herself and even picked up a group of Thai friends her age.

birdingnut 8 Feb 14
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It's the only way to learn , earn the respect of the people there , and make the experience much more enjoyable .

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I do like to immerse myself when I can. The language barrier is hard to overcome but I am reminded of a time in Malta. I found myself in a small greasy spoon type of cafe (not for tourists) and asked for an " iced coffee ". The lady thought I had said a " nice coffee " and proceeded to put a spoonful of nescafe into a half pint glass, half filled it with hot water then topped it up with evaporated milk. If this was not enough she then added 3 spoonfuls of sugar. Being English I did not complain but sat quietly in the corner. As people came in they saw my beverage and assumed that I too was Maltese and talked freely. It is amazing how you can get by with the odd grunt or nod. Maltese being a bastard language comprised Arabic, Italian and English it was not too difficult to glean the conversation. I spent a whole morning just listening and nodding, I even ordered a second coffee !

That's impressive..and cool!

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A relative of mine is always on the move because of her job - took the kids everywhere , - Now grown up one works for London university in South America and the other has 11 languages and works as an interpreter - When mine were 16 I sent them to India for 6 months - they now tend to work in the countries they visit and both such open and broadminded adults - it is the best thing you can do for you and your children

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That's reason to travel to discover new things, Tastes, aromas get inspiration from meeting new people - walk down back streets away from the tourists to find somewhere the locals eat and take in what it has to offer - I've met americans who've been going to Mexicp for their annual hols for 15 years and couldn't speak any Spanish

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It is a common tendency. When I moved to Germany I discovered Heidelberg was a big area for Americans and Brits. I met a guy in the old city and was able to move there. Our small house had 2 Amis (not including me) and a Brit and 2 Germans. Later all the Germans moved out. It became difficult to learn the language because everybody (including most Germans) spoke English. I finally found a neighbor who did not speak English and we became friends and I got to practice the language. In German there is a phrase that says to learn a language one has to have a 'sleeping dictionary'

There is an organization called SERVAS Int'l. (I am a host) that started after the 2nd World War by an American who thought a good way to foster peace was for people to intermingle with those from other cultures. One can be a host and/or traveler and stay with people from other countries for free (kind of like couch surfing but with restrictions and you get to know the host beforehand). Here in the US it is US Servas. Look into the philosophy of this group. They are all over the world and also in Thailand.

That is awesome, and congratulations for being a host and contributing to international mingling!

@birdingnut Unfortunately, most of the members (hosts anyway) are older. The young people are using couch surfing or airbnb. We/I do get young travelers, though.

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If I traveled I would most definitly immerse myself in the culture - I can hang with my own kind back home. But even within the United States we are so culturally diverse that the ethnic food experience is wonderful. When I was 20 my friend Mick and I did a road trip down the west coast, camping along the way. In San Francisco we went into Chinatown. To find a place to eat we avoided the places the round eyes favored and ate at the places favored by the Chinese themselves. My 'problem' is languages, english is tricky enuff for me but I could probably get by.

Sommetimes one has to get out of their comfort zone to progress. It is much easier if you have a partner to travel with. It is even more difficult for a single woman. Have you seen what is on some Chinese menu's - chicken feet, jelly fish, ducks tongues and lots more.

@JackPedigo Maybe it's just me, and my weird androgyne mix, but I find traveling alone much more fun, several times easier, and far more conducive to culture immersive.

In 2001 I got a teaching job in Hermosillo, Mexico, so I could observe whales calving in the gulf. I flew down first for orientation, and my husband stayed behind for a couple of months to pack up our stuff, and close out his job.

During the time I was by myself, I hung with locals, did what they did, went to parties or local cultural events night, slept on the rooftop of a friend on the beach, with piles of other friends who just lay down where they were, to sleep, after a party.

I woke at dawn, to see rare shore birds on the beach, and dolphins surfing the waves almost up to the door of the house. I changed and rushed out to join them. As I swam, I could see the dolphins leaping toward me, then noticed that dolphins were helping Mexican fishermen trap the fish against the shore.

When my husband arrived, the party stopped. No more hanging out with everyone, I ate at home instead of with Mexican friends, etc. It was OK, in that we continued going to the beach, and he joined me on birding adventure and mountain hikes, but the free camaraderie with locals was severely limited.

@birdingnut I can understand that. To me, it depends on the traveling partner.
My late partner traveled a lot with her family. I would have liked to have gone along but everyone spoke Farsi and I was always out of the conversation. When we traveled together we always had similar interests but felt free to do what we wanted even if by ourselves.

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I haven't traveled outside the US yet, but I'm sure I would. I always try to stay at locally owned hotels. Vacation rules for food have always been if you could get it at home, its off limits when traveling.

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First thing I do when abroad is find out where the locals go for street food, then go there for dinner - not only is the food usually much better than the big restaurants, you also get talking to the locals who tell you all sorts of interesting stuff.

Jnei Level 8 Feb 14, 2018
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Except in USA, I never had the chance to live long enough to "get immersed" in a country's culture. I envy you all the languages you speak.
BTW, As you know, most immigrants to USA don't get involved in the country' s culture. I had students (HS) who were here for over five years and only spoke the mother tongue (Ukrainian, Russian, Italian, Spanish...) and that never left their "ethnic corner of the city".

I know it's probably worse for the immigrants to cling to their home country identity, but I love it. That's one of the best things about visiting Manhattan..walking down the street and feeling like it's an international adventure.

Besides all the ethnic vendor food carts, I relish the different languages I hear in passing..Port-au-Prince Haitian Creole, Bolivian Spanish, Cuban Spanish, Canadian French, Parisian French, etc., and other Romance languages, briefly eavesdropping in passing, and enjoying other familiar languages I didn't know, but heard growing up..Arabic, Chinese, etc.

@birdingnut Well, everything you mention I experienced while living in BAires....but the people also spoke the language of the host country. In USA this doesn't happen as much.
The Chinese ladies who do my nails are in the country for over 15 years...and don't speak English....the veggie vendor around the corner from my home only speaks Spanish...and is here more than 20 years.
One thing is the beauty in diversity and another one is no adapting to the host nation.

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Perhaps my favorite thing about travel is eating ALL THEIR FOOD. Even if I end up hating it (rare), it is great experience.

I love to be immersed in the sounds of a foreign language. The mix of languages (including a lot of English) on the streets of Amsterdam is amazing. Dutch, French, German, English, Arabic, Farsi, Indonesia, and more I'll never know. I could stay in that city a long time.

If I could stay abroad for any length of time, I would do it just like you and your daughter. Well done.

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I've been in the US for 28 years now.

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I don't get to travel as much as I'd like to. When I do get out of my back yard, so to speak, I tend to seek out the local culture as much as possible. Last time I went to Mexico I was able to stay away from the tourist destinations. I also speak Spanish and look like a local so I was incognito the entire time. Best vacation ever.

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I stay on this continent now, as I travel with my 2 small dogs in an RV...but, as soon as I get to Canada, the radio station goes to a "French" rdio station so I can practice their accent, and one of my favorite things is cruising small local grocery stores everywhere (wait! Cruising on foot, lol).
And when I worked in Spain I shared meals, cabs, time with locals whenever possible, it was the very best part of my time there! You are Amazing!

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the thai lingo i find too hard for my brain to grasp, but when i stayed for two months on bali once i picked up enough bahasa indonesia to get around & delight the locals of course. i had a little boyfriend who took me to the village where he'd grown up. no one spoke english, there was no electricity, & we arrived in time for an important ritual, the blessing of the water. when i travel to kerala/india, which is quite a challenge for me because people are very sensitive about female dress code, & it is just so stiflingly hot & humid there, i stay & eat with the local people. i love indian food, & sometimes i live in an ashram. same in thailand. i will never understand why someone would travel to asia & not dig into the absolutely yummy cuisine each of the countries has to offer.

Thai is a tonal language, and most westerners can't remember exact word tone pitches since it takes "perfect pitch" skills. But one word can be many meanings, depending on pitch, some of them embarrassing if you make a mistake, so most foreigners stick to a few Thai phrases.

I don't have perfect pitch either, but have found it helps to speak Thai rapidly, sort of mumbling, limiting the sounds of the wrong word pitches, and encouraging Thai listeners to depend on word context.

@birdingnut yes, that makes sense, but requires a certain volume of vocabulary already, otherwise it's just a repetitive "aroymaakkopkhunkaaaroymaakkopkhunkaaaroymaakkopkhunkaa" (mumbled).

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I admire your pluck! And ability to pick up a language. I visited Thailand last year - loved it! - but was pretty much a total fail as far as speaking Thai is concerned. I'd love to go back. My daughter has learned Burmese ... after several years in Myanmar. I learned English as second language. Each language gives a different "flavour" to thoughts. There are always untranslatable things. new Zealand english has adopted a few maori terms or words, that English was lacking.

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Living immersed in another culture enables a genuine understanding of that culture. It also teaches you a lot about yourself and your native culture.. One of the things you learn quickly is that when speaking with a person from a different culture, you do not always start from the same assumptions, and you sometimes have to go back and state assumptions up front when beginning the dialogue.

Yeah, Alan Watts said
"you don't understand the basic assumptions of your own culture, if your own culture is the only culture you know. . . That's the whole principle of triangulation. You don't establish the situation of a particular object, unless you observe it from two different points of view and thereby calculate its actual distance from you."

If you aren't in it for the cultural immersion, you may as well stay home and go to a tanning salon hehe. That is such a huge part of the experience.

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