Comfort Zone

It is interesting how, in other countries, you often find pockets of immigrants grouped together. In the US, in most big cites you will find a “Chinatown”, a “Little Italy”, a Korean corner, or a Japanese village etc where expats live, work, and shop. Coming to Thailand has helped me understand why this happens. It can be very discouraging not being able to speak the local language, and it is comforting to speak ones mother tongue. So when people of any given nationality group together in a foreign land, it is not only so that they can provide mutual support, but also for the comfort that it brings. After spending a little time in Bangkok, where most people don’t speak English (aside from understanding enough to barter), I was ready for a comfort zone of my own. One such place was Starbuck’s. I know I write about Starbuck’s often but never underestimate the value of a good cup of coffee. After having a taste of home in a cup, our friend Jeff told us that there was a Chinatown in Bangkok that we could visit. Since there are never any “Little Americas” in any of the places we have visited, where we could feel completely at ease, I thought that being among Chinese speakers would provide a little relief. Although we didn’t find many Chinese to talk to in Chinatown, we did speak to a few. It was nice actually being able to communicate a little.
This idea of how people will seek out others that speak their language was also borne out for us when we took a snorkeling cruise. As we were lounging en route to the first island, to our surprise we heard someone speaking Chinese. Later on we said 你好 (hello) to the person and he was so happy that we could also speak Chinese. As the discussion continued, we found out that he is from the same city in China where we are living. What are the odds of that? Well, after that, Mr. Wang latched onto Amanda and me. He would seek us out on the boat. He had us pose for pictures with him. He even asked us where we were staying on the island because he was changing hotels and wanted to stay at the same place as us. I guess he thought we could form our own temporary little Chinatown on the island.
It is funny. Even though I am very far from being fluent in Mandarin, somehow I found it comforting for just a little while to be able to speak Chinese. Soon, however, we will be back in China. Speaking Mandarin will no longer be refreshing to do. It will revert to being the language of the locals with which I am struggling. Even though I have a rudimentary understanding of it, and smidgen of ability to speak it, I have a long way to go before speaking Chinese truly becomes a comfort zone. - Frank When you travel, remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It is designed to make its own people comfortable.
Clifton Fadiman (1904 - 1999)