Ajarn Ed: Explaining America to Thai University Students [S7.E58]

Greg questions Ed about his main job - teaching 'American
Studies' to Thai college students. Effectively, Ed's job and his
side gig (the podcast) are opposites of each other, given that he
is attempting to explain Thai society and culture to foreigners
on the podcast. 


Ed begins with America 101 - basic lessons about the U.S. that
every Thai person should know, especially before traveling there.
First, the U.S. is physically a VERY big country, but also quite
diverse. The Northeast is quite different from the Midwest, which
is in turn different from the South, which differs from the West
Coast, etc. Hence, Ed notes that the U.S. is actually a difficult
country to generalize about, and some of his students grapple
with the concept. For instance, life in an urban city can be
completely different from life in the suburbs or rural area,
despite both being in the U.S. Second, the U.S. has a violent
crime problem, and Thais should be very careful where and when
they go somewhere, especially in cities. While the country
overall is 'safe' in the general sense, that's not true at all
times and in all places. And last, health care in the U.S. is
VERY expensive, and no one should travel there without health
insurance. 'Nuff said.


Greg then asks Ed about cultural lessons, and Ed notes that often
American culture is best explained as the reverse of Thai
culture. The U.S. is individualistic, while Thailand is
group-oriented. The U.S. is legalistic and 'low context', while
Thailand is 'flexible' about the law and 'high context.' And of
course, Americans are more direct and engaging than Thais, who
tend to be 'shy' and hang back, especially with strangers. 


No culture is inherently 'better' or 'worse' than any other, but
that doesn't mean they are all the same. :)


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