I could not help but laugh out loud while reading "Learning to be Asian" by Michael Tan. I've been here in Bangkok for about 5 months now and I live and breathe their culture, as I slowly begin to embrace it. It has been an awesome experience for me to be exposed to their unique culture -- their deep respect for Thailand's royal family, their totally different religion, and more importantly, their lack of colonial mentality. As opposed to Filipinos who have dreams of going the the US of A for greener pastures, Thais who are educated abroad will always go back to their country to contribute to society. As for their lack of English, they don't seem to make a big deal out of it. Neither do they feel inferior if they don't get to watch the latest Sex and the City or Friends episodes. In the end, we Filipinos seem like a strange culture to Thais altogether -- because we don't have a unique culture, nor do we have a language we can call our own. I do hope a lot of people get to realize the importance of exposure to the Asian culture before worshipping all that is Western.