The Thai consulate is just over a mile from Hollywood, and Hollywood is where we stay because we can usually get the best hotel rates there.
One might think that it would be more expensive in a famous place like that. But I guess none of the famous people actually live in Hollywood. The most common businesses one sees on Hollywood Boulevard apart from restaurants are those establishments selling lingerie, sex toys and the like.
Coming from a culture like that, it is no wonder that sex seems to be the dominant theme TV and movies coming from that part of the world.
It is interesting how we imagine a place to be can be so far removed from what it is like.
I remember that for much of the time when we lived in Haiti in the 1980's and 1990's, the State Department warned against travel to that country. And yet, where we lived, there were few problems.
Or I think of when we went to a church service in a Khmu village in northern Thailand for the first time. I was expecting to hear traditional Khmu songs played on traditional instruments. But when we walked into the building, the first thing we saw was a drum kit, electric guitar and electric bass.
Just last week we were meeting with missionaries who work in Burkina Faso. They apologized for being a bit late for the meeting we were having. As they did that, I thought of the places I've lived in and visited overseas in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, where being late is the norm. So I asked them how timeliness was viewed in the culture they worked in. They replied that it was quite rude to show up late for something. So much for my generic stereotypes of how Africans view time!
So it seems it is just as easy to stereotype places as it is people.
How grateful we are for modern electronic means of communication, where it is possible to find out about what places are really like, if we take the time to research them.
I need to remind myself to take the time to ask the right questions and listen carefully to the answers when I am talking with people about the places they live. Never assume.
Our knowledge about people, places and things is extremely limited.
How thankful we are that we have a God who knows us better than we know ourselves--and loves us anyway.
O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.
You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!
Psalm 139:1-6 (NLT)
