Geocentricities

It is not coincidence that "egocentric" and "geocentric" are almost the same word, they are almost the same thing--the lens is just wider on the latter. And I, like most people, are guilty of both. Don't think you are? Draw a map of your country, freehand--no tracing and without looking at a map. Now compare your drawing to a real map. Look how you have magnified your little corner of the nation and in such greater detail than everywhere else!

Now think of drawing the world. My freehand tracing of this part of the globe was pretty pathetic. How could it not be? In the eastern half of U.S., the word 'international' conjures up images of Europe (the South thinks further south and the West coast can more easily picture the other side of the Pacific.) No different here in Australia, particularly in Western Australia where the population is far from anybody. In fact, it's cheaper to fly to many SouthEast Asian countries from Perth than to fly to Sydney or Melbourne. Or to buy lots of gasoline and drive to the opposite side of this huge state. That's why everyone gets so excited about vacations in SE Asian hotspots. Woo hoo! We're going to Vietnam! Holidaymaking in Indonesia! Thailand, here we come!

Still catches me up short. My mental images of most of these places comes right out of the pages of National Geographic...in the 70's. And the occasional glimpse through the Economist doesn't actually help the imagery much. Go ahead...I'll name a place and you say the first thing that comes to mind: Vietnam (rice paddies, refugees) , Cambodia (mud people) , Saigon (helicopters) , Jakarta (jagged metal shadow puppets) , Laos (ah...rhymes with louse?) , Bangkok (dangerous place) . Burma (shave) , India (cattle & elephants) and Thailand (child sex trafficking) . A far cry from the typical Aussie who thinks: RESORTS! BEACHES! RESORTS! FUN! BEACHES! EXOTICA! MORE BEACHES!

I am trying to replace these mental images. Jakarta (hotel bombings), Myanmar/Burma (rubies, but the people dealing them still have pained refugee expressions on their faces), India (nasty smelling/tasting curries). Not much of an improvement. But I working on it all the harder. Kev has booked us for a trip to Laos in October. People who have been there like it because it is cheap and not yet overrun with tourists. I am debating whether to wipe the mental slate clean and let whatever pops up fill the void or read every possible guidebook and compare reality with literary. The empty-slate method worked on the detour through Malaysia on my way here. We'll see....

And don't fret, I'll faithfully report back on my findings, as always.