1
The Game
It is funny how situations can arise from misunderstandings from a game of basketball. The unselfish play-making, intense in-your-face defense, and the constant physical contact throughout the entire game. These situations can be amplified, for the best or worst, when playing in different environments and with different people. Just like how you would respect and abide by the rules in someone else’s home, things will be fine when you do but can get ugly if you do not.
We had the chance to experience a situation like this first hand when Vince, Lance, and I were living in Thailand. The three of us made up our minds to study abroad in a foreign country for one semester. We had our hearts set on Thailand and that’s where we decided on as our destination for our semester abroad.
The college that we chose to enroll in was Mission College because it was one of the few international universities in the country. It was a small college that belonged to a branch of one of the many SDA (Seventh Day Adventist) universities for international studies. The campus sat deep in the mountains of Muaklek, a small province located approximately two hours east of Bangkok, Thailand’s capital.
There were endless rows of colorful exotic flowers lining the sidewalks and walkways throughout the whole campus. Surrounding the campus were a few restaurants where students would hang out and mountains of papayas, sunflowers, and trees as far as the eyes can see.
The natives and students were very nice people. There was a very diverse mix of nationalities from all around the world who attended the college. Everyone was so laid back and didn’t seem to have a worry on their minds. Very rarely would there be any trouble or confrontations between us and the students. But that would soon change once they played a physical game of basketball with us.
The three of us would always have a lot of free time to burn in between classes. If we...