When you live in a popular travel destination like Thailand for a period of time, you get quite a unique and diverse experience. The tourist becomes somewhat of the local, and this is something that I found myself surprised with numerous times. You become friends with the older lady down the street, who knows very little English, but knows your coffee order every morning. Who begins to bring you fresh cut mango from your tree and expresses sadness when you do not come in for a couple days. You develop friendships that even a language barrier could not divide. You also begin to understand and acknowledge certain things that you may not if you are just passing through. You become the token blonde American girl on your street. The apartment building guards begin greeting you on your way to class. Street food vendors start smiling at you and remember your typical order and requests. You learn how to negotiate with taxi drivers. They actually start giving you local prices, because you know some of their language and they recognize that you're not just passing through. You acquire a different extent of knowledge about the culture, customs, people, and overall environment.

Here are some things you realize once you leave the states and live in Southeast Asia (particularly Thailand):

Most people don’t use the word ‘bathroom.’ They understand toilet, restroom, or the use of WC (water closet) on signs to indicate the bathrooms. I believe bathroom may imply having an actual bath in the room. Then again, restroom could imply that this room is a room of rest. Perhaps, they are using the term ‘rest’ as meaning ‘relief'. Either way, water closet makes the most sense because it references a room that contains water. Bathrooms have a lot of water including the toilet, sink, and whatever else may be in there (shower, bath, sauna, etc.).

Everyone else uses the metric system. This can be important to learn, or you should at least have a converter on your phone, for things like trips to the hospital when you have to convert your height and weight.

The UK and countries they have influenced, call bell peppers ‘capsicums’ and cilantro ‘coriander.’ I have had troubles with this when I look for things in the store and become entirely confused.

People will stare and perhaps even be fascinated by you, especially if you are outside of typical tourist areas. People smile at you for no reason. It is typically because they are that nice, and it is usually out of sincere notion and curiosity.

If you are craving American food, you must understand American food is only the same in America. I use American food for things such as pizza, hamburgers, sandwiches, fries, etc. I am not entirely sure American’s can claim much as being their own food anyways. Except we could claim the fact that we Americanize all other culture’s food. Therefore, I suppose ‘American food’ should actually just be called ‘American fusion food.'

You should learn every culture's history. American schools teach much differently, in my experience, and censor certain things. Learning other country’s histories, such as their events in WWII, was a completely eye-opening experience and my favorite thing about traveling. I would suggest going to other countries' history and war museums. Americans seem to know the least about SE Asian politics, history, etc. This is not entirely our fault, as the media usually focuses on things happening in America and Europe.

In Thailand, when you go to a movie at a theater, you have to pay respect and stand up for the King before the movie begins during the Thai anthem. You must do this or you might even go to prison. Same thing goes with talking about the King or the monarchy, as saying anything that opposes the monarchy can get you into serious trouble. You don't want to find yourself on an episode of "Locked Up Abroad" due to one unnecessary comment.

There are really no lines or queues for the bathroom or food stands. People walk up and in front of you if you are standing behind people. Do not take this offensively, it is simply part of the culture.

Oftentimes, most locals do not know very much English, even if you are staying in a nice hotel. If you ask for directions and a local simply points or gives you very rough directions, they probably do not know exactly what you asked or where you are trying to go.

Lastly, accommodation is cheap if you want it to be. Same goes with food and souvenirs. Drinking and partying seem to be where the most amount of money can be spent. If you're on a budget, try to avoid these costly expenses and lay low on the night life, as drinks can seem cheap but add up.

This is a very short list of interesting differences and things to know about traveling to SE Asia, but if you are trying to plan a trip or want to know more, there is an extensive amount of blogs and articles to be looked at online. Overall, I hope these tips and tidbits help inform the American traveler or anyone considering traveling to parts in SE Asia, particularly Thailand. I also hope this could perhaps convince some people to travel to Thailand for the experience, knowledge, and most importantly FUN.