Written by Justin Governale, Monday 30th May 2011
The Thai culture, an awesome way of life!

Being an American and leaving Thailand a little less than a month ago, it was a culture shock all over again. The Thai culture is such an awesome way of life. I am going to be 100% honest, when I heard the word Thailand; I used to think third world, as do many other Americans.

I packed up my bags and moved to the city of Phuket for six months and quickly thought to myself this place is absolutely gorgeous for being “third world.” Not only is it paradise but also the people are the happiest, most humble people I have ever met in my life. With that being said, I embraced the culture and would be bothered at “farangs” (foreigners) when disrespecting the natives. I learned over the course of the next six months that maybe I didn’t need everything I have had my whole life in order to survive. Materialistic items now became a bonus and I learned REAL QUICK that although I see myself as tough, I was nowhere even close to the badass I thought I was. The small Thai fighters that were literally half my size could beat some sense into with a smile and I mean that literally. What I am getting at is life was so good in Thailand and I had a perfect training staff at Tiger Muay Thai. I had no worries other than if I was going to be on time to training.

Literally minutes after getting to the US I felt a different vibe from the people, MY people. I was waiting in line in Customs for about half an hour and a line opened next to me. I was next in line, so I figured I would just move over one and this man was running to beat me. I beat him to the punch and he started screaming at me in the airport, saying vulgar things I would never repeat even if I had a gun to my head because I am such an angel! This man was yelling like it was the end of the world and then it hit me…I was back in America.

I will only be in the US for a few months and training in different cities as I am visiting my family from all over the country. After that, I will be heading back to Thailand to go train at my gym Tiger Muay Thai.

For now I am visiting my Grandfather as he turns 80 this week and the picture below is my gramps, dad, and I. Three generations of Governale’s in one photo.

Being in the city of Cleveland Ohio at the moment I googled and found a pretty solid gym to train at for the week called Strong Style.