I never lived in Thailand - my parents and sisters did, and I had one large six week stay with them between moving back from the states to NZ. I lived with a friend for the last 6 months of high school so that I could graduate, then come home for uni.

Thailand was very interesting though. I think the biggest culture shock thing was eating at a restaurant, ordering a fish dish, and being served a whole damn fish - opened, cooked, organs removed, all that, but head and tail still very much scaly and attached. We just don't present food like that in the west!