We first met in July 2012 when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand. He sent me an SMS saying, “Hey Guy!”

Before coming to Thailand I knew that I would blend in, but it really didn’t sink in how well I’d actually blend in until arriving.

The Zulu proverb Ubuntu says, “I am a person through other people; my humanity is tied to yours.” 

“Can you describe to me what your social life is like at site?” I eagerly asked a fellow Peace Corps Thailand Volunteer at our joint swearing in/close of service ceremony. 

In Mongolia, you might live in a ger; in Swaziland, it could be a rondavel. Just as each Volunteer experience is different, so is each house. 

May is Asian American and Pacific Island Heritage Month, or so people tell me, but I never knew that we had our own special month because I've always identified as just a regular American. 

From the traditional (Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah) to the fun (Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day) and the obscure (Roadkill Cook-off, Burning Man, the Gilroy Garlic Festival), Americans celebrate many different festivals with friends, family and strangers alike.

You’re probably familiar with Spanish and French, but what about Sesotho, Malagasy, Khmer or Thai?

Like Vincent Vega rhapsodized about in the Quentin Tarantino film “Pulp Fiction,” “You know what the funniest thing about Europe is?… It’s the little differences. I mean, they got the same [stuff] over there that we got here, but it’s just… it’s just, there it’s a little different.”