dec 07 - a journey of understanding

Chris Banting, Marketing Manager, has recently returned from his first visit to Kuwait where he learnt more than he ever imagined he would. Are we too hasty in making assumptions about places and people we actually know little about? Chris thinks so…

Stepping off the plane after a reasonably paced five and a half hour flight, I was feeling an entangled mixture of uncertainty and excitement. Sure, we have been working in Kuwait for the last 5 years, however, there is only a certain degree of understanding that you can generate from a desk 3,000 miles away.

My travels to date have taken me right round the world, from the depths of the Peruvian jungle to the unyielding outback of central Australia, yet this was my virgin step into the Middle East, a place seemingly entranced in mystery and miscomprehension. I was very curious as to what the next few days would bring.

Kuwait, as I discovered to my delight, is so wonderfully different yet surprisingly familiar after just a couple of days “on the ground”. The people are so warm and friendly, the culture so enticing and the air so full of potential and promise.

It is a country full of energy, vibrancy and harmonic beauty, encompassing the perfect blend of cutting edge technological advances with their traditions and personal beliefs still firmly embedded in every aspect of day-to-day life. A place that has remained true to its strong identity whilst embracing the best from the rest of the world.

The trip was a busy one and it wasn’t until the flight home that I had chance to reflect on the experience. Sitting on the runway, getting ready to take off, I thought back to the many conversations I had had in the weeks leading up to the trip. As is often the case in life, we are too quick to make assumptions about people, places and situations based on limited facts, hearsay and associations. This was definitely the case when I told people of my upcoming destination.

Think back, how many times have you made decisions and formed perceptions based on snap judgements, whether consciously or subconsciously? Although without proof myself and therefore appreciating the sense of irony in my next statement, I suspect that we have all done so at some point in our lives. We are only human after all.

I sat there, gliding into the sky, wondering what a world without preconceptions would be like; where all judgements are reserved until personal experience and all assumptions are made null and void. Would that be a world I’d like to live in? I think so.

Writing this, sat at my desk in the harshness of the British winter, I know I am now truly enamoured with the wonders of Kuwait, a place completely in contrast to a friend’s comment, “oh I bet that’s dodgy”. No my friend, not at all.