One year in Thailand

Today marks exactly one year since we arrived in Bangkok. I thought it would be a good time to relate some of the things we've learned by living in Thailand:

1. The Thai people are a wonderful people. Their sincerity, honesty, faith, gentleness and tolerance has deeply impressed us. We are very grateful for the hospitality the Thais we have known have shown us during the past year.

2. Thailand is a beautiful country. It is quite scenic and abounds with life and greenery. It has been a wonderful experience traveling through different parts of Thailand on our vacations, and we've only seen a fraction of the natural beauty here.

3. Thai food is great, and we're really hooked on spicy food now. I never thought I'd be such a chili-head!

4. Thai culture is very old and complex. I think a lot of people think of beaches and Bangkok when coming to Thailand, but the complex thread that runs from ancient civilizations here to the present day, and the ancientness of the buddhist religion are underappreciated, I think.

5. Thai society is very interesting and complex. Learning how social interactions work here has been a fascinating experience. It runs differently in many ways than in the US, but as a whole it definitely works to provide much happiness to people's lives here. There are many ways to skin a cat, and the way society is structured in Thailand is definitely one workable way.

Beyond living in Thailand, traveling around southeast Asia has also been a great learning experience for me. Here are some experiences that have been interesting for me:

1. Southeast Asia has great variety within it. Variety of ethnicity, religion, language, culture, outlook, economy. Few areas of the world have such variety in such a contained area, I think.

2. Honor runs through all the societies here. They all approach it differently, but I have also found the people in Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Cambodia to also be wonderful people as a whole. I am grateful for all of the people I have met and who have extended us hospitality in all of these places. Many in the United States could learn much from the acceptance, steadfastness, resourcefulness, and optimism of the people I have met in these countries. And there is still tremendous potential that is still being realized in all of these places.

3. International business travel is an adventure. It has been far more interesting traveling for business for my job here than when I traveled the same amount in the US. I'm still excited when I get on a plane, even though I've filled up 18 passport pages with visas already this year.

It requires stamina, and I can't speak for doing it for 20 or 30 years, but business travel can be a great teacher to one about life.

Finally, my experience at Microsoft has been very instructive as well:

1. Microsoft should not be underestimated. I read a lot of press before working here that implied Microsoft was yesterday's news, but that is definitely not the case. It's an excellent business that has structured a system and set of processes that should persist successfully for a long, long time. It also is populated by people of exceptional intelligence and capacity. If I had to make a list of companies I would guess will still be successful 20 or 30 years from now, Microsoft would definitely be on it.

2. There's a lot of great Microsoft software that's been recently released or is coming out soon. I've long been a fan of Outlook, and Outlook 2010 is the bee's knees. Office Communicator is a really cool IM and voip tool for business. I'm really impressed with Windows 7 so far. SkyDrive has been invaluable for us during our relocation and travels. And I like Forefront way better than other 3rd party programs out there. It's been a neat experience to use this software before the rest of the world.

3. Microsoft's challenges are those of the US and of the world. It's a truly global company and what it works through is what the US economy as a whole works through and what the people in the places it operates are also working through. Few companies are engaged in trying to do business with almost everyone on the planet, so few companies face the entire set of challenges in doing so that Microsoft does. Seeing how Microsoft is working through all of them has taught me how the world itself is doing so. And that's been an incredible perspective to gain.

So all in all, living in Thailand has been a tremendous life experience so far. We've learned and experienced so very much in such a short time. For us it's been enhanced further by being so much closer to Sam's hometown and family, but I believe most people would benefit from living and working overseas if they have the chance to. It's been very much the right move for us to have made.

Here's to looking forward to another year as interesting as the last has been!