You don't Realize What You have until You go to Another Country
This week I went to Thailand and I learned so many things not only about Thailand but also China. I had always thought of Beijing as the city with too many people but Bangkok won that title in my mind. Although there are many more people in Beijing it does not seem to be as bad as Thailand. This is mainly from the efficiency that Beijing has perfected. You rarely feel overwhelmed with people because everything is set up to organize the people and continue a steady flow. Thailand is lacking in this area. The sky train, Thailand's above ground metro, was filled with chaos and people. The roadways were not much different with people going every which way instead of in a orderly fashion which made the population seem to be more than Beijing. Thailand taught me that organization really does matter.
I also learned the importance of body language this week. This was one of the first times that I have been to a country with no idea about the language. Thai does not use the English alphabet nor is it similar to Chinese. Thai looks like what I imagine cursive Russian would look like. If a person did not speak English I had to fully rely on body language and hand signals. I was very surprised to learn how much of a conversation can be had without uttering a single word. Body language and facial expressions seem to be universal along with most hand signals. It amazed me how I could converse with so little. It seems that you don't have to speak the same language to talk.
At work this week, I finished up my research on the hazards for children on the Internet. Something I found very interesting was that most countries have the same hazards for children. This is because the Internet does not have lines of sovereignty and does not change from nation to nation. Instead, all of the Internet is available to all nations although some may choose to limit that availability through firewalls. Although use of these firewalls can help protect children from the hazards it can also harm them. Not only are they unable to get full access to the Internet for education purposes but they are also unable to practice safe Internet usage. This can lead to children being unable to appropriately handle Internet hazards when they leave the safety of the firewall. Protecting children is a intricate dance between their education and their safety. Although the entire world has the same problems no nation has yet to come up with a perfect solution.
This week I learned about the similarities of different countries for the hazards on the Internet. I also learned that you do not always need to speak to have a conversation. I also learned that I didn't realize what I had with the organization in Beijing until I went to Thailand.
