It’s been said that over 85 % of communication is non-verbal. My time in Thailand has made this factoid quite evident to me. My original intent coming out of college was to get a job in South America so I could become fluent in Spanish. I somehow ended up in Thailand where they do not speak Spanish. Needless to say, my Spanish has not improved. My ability to play on people’s emotions and body language has been heightened.

Naturally, I have acquired some Thai during my stay in Thailand. However, I am light years away from being fluent. I can say elementary things like directions, ordering food, and basic everyday phrases. This only takes me so far, if a conversation deviates from the aforementioned knowledge, I am up river without a paddle. Like in my previous entry about Ba Moo, I do a lot of smiling and nodding. I gauge people’s body language, expressions, and tone to deduce what they’re trying to tell me. I have been forced to be more in tuned to those non-verbal cues we give out during conversation. With all the talking we do, the real message is seldom from the words that actually come from our mouths and never has this been more apparent to me since my inception into Thailand (Perhaps I will finally understand what women are saying to me…ah, still doubtful).

I find it remarkable that I’ve spent the past year in a country where I don’t speak the native tongue and have communicated quite well. It’s an accomplishment that has been frustrating as well as rewarding. I will miss all the broken conversations I’ve had with various Thai people and sitting at dinner with five other people and still have the sensation that I was eating alone. I will miss smiling and nodding to conversations that I have no idea what’s being said. I will miss the everyday game of charades I go through to communicate with people; turning around and saying to myself with a half smile, “may kowjai” (no understand). I truly will miss all the confusion.