They, them, the others, have always spoken about reverse culture shock; what happens when you go home an you start comparing and overlapping cultures until your brain explodes (actual definition, look it up! But actually, don't. Just keep reading). But this trip has been interesting in that since leaving China I have now been to three different cultures in three days. Here is a breakdown of thoughts regarding other cultures while I've still been aware.
When I fist stopped on Hong Kong before the program took place I knew it wasn't much like mainland China but I never realised the difference until the return trip. When we go home from trips, especially Asia, it's easier going knowing your home due tithe obvious things such as other people are white and everyone is speaking English. But in Hong Kong everything is pretty much visually the same, to me it's the same people and the same illegible language. Except that's where the similarities end. The first thing that really shook me was waiting at stop lights. After weaving my way through traffic everyone now stopped and waited until the light turned green. It didn't matter if a car was coming or not, they waited. It was very much like being back in Canada. And Hong Kong seemed spotless! Not quite the same observation I would have made the first time through but this time I was amazed, very little spit on the ground and almost no litter. The other thing that took me aback was the silence. Tim and I were walking through the subway station and I made him stop. There were countless throngs of people coming from everywhere and going anywhere and no one was making a noise! All you could here were the footsteps that almost sounded a little too in unison. It was definitely interesting to see this difference and the things that create a division between Chinese and Hong Kongers. I remember my first time through I was surprised so few people spoke English whereas now I could order without pointing at a placemat!
Singapore took these elements to the extreme! My roommate in Hong Kong had said that his friends disliked Singapore because it was too perfect. I didn't know there could be such a thing but now understand where they are coming from (although I don't object to it!) the city is beyond spotless, the people are friendly, so many cultures and people's are woven together to make that perfect tapestry. While I would never be able to afford to live there I wouldn't mind having to make that trip every once and a whole on a companies expense. The other thing I noticed that intrigued me was how important morality seemed to them. Now I was only In the city for 7 hours so I could be wrong but every sign I saw had two parts, the first being the do/don't do and it was always followed by a why. I wish I had taken a picture or written down an example, I will keep my eyes open for next time. One example would be something like 'Don't litter, Keep our city clean'. This was a huge change from China where the signed simple give the order.
Then landing in Bangkok it was like taking a couple steps back again. While I wouldn't be willing to sleep on the sidewalk, which I would have been okay with in Singapore, it has impressed me more than I thought. I haven't quite figured out if people are genuinely nice or trying some elaborate scam on me. Part of me is probably still suspicious after China and while a few people have tried some scams here, I've run into a lot of people who have come up to me and helped me find my way. Even those that where trying something funny usually ended up being quite helpful anyway. The architecture here is also a lot more like mainland China although with some distinct differences. Temples still have three levels but the stair count is different. The style of the roofs put a different emphasis on the numbers. This is all stuff I would have never noticed four months ago but now I have been burdened with greater knowledge an understanding.
I'm looking forward to the rest of my travels and hope I will be less of a Chinese cheapskate when I finish so I can buy a souvenir or two!
Thanks for stopping by,
Colin
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