So far my experience in Thailand has rendered me speechless at times, frustrated me, made me grateful for what I have, and made me love a new family and culture more than I ever thought possible. I'm not even sure where to start. So I'm going to start from day one, getting off the plane. Unlike the United States where most exchange students are greeted by their host families and even some Rotarians, I was greeted only by my mother. This was the first sign of one of the hardest things for me to get used to. I soon realized that most Thai's are too busy. They all work very hard to make minimal amounts of money. For example my host mother and I were talking one night she said the average wage per month for someone with a bachelor's degree is 12-14,000 baht. The equivalent of about $400. This is meant to pay all the bills and feed and educate an upwards of 5 or 6 people. At times I found the amount of my hosts mom's work even too much for me to handle. My host family runs a factory that produces some kind of corn product and uses 20 trucks to ship throughout Thailand. My host mother has to call and check up on all twenty trucks every day. So she is always on her cell phone. She relies so much on her phone that on trips to Chiang Mai where the road is windy and through some mountains she will stop before a certain turn and talk on the phone for about an hr before continuing on. This sometimes gets on my nerves. She has taken me to visit some places but been on her cell phone the whole time, and when no one is there to enjoy an experience with you it's not as much fun.
I have also discovered and learned to respect many other aspects of Thai Lifestyle. One of the YEO's lent me a book titled "Why Thailand" and it couldn't have answered more of my questions if I were talking to it. It explained everything and anything. For example it explained why every restaurant has little pink napkins and why there are so many lady boys and why Thai's are obsessed with Whiskey and Chang Beer. It was perfect.
I have discovered that there are many more lesbians and gays in Thailand than in the USA or at least a lot more that are open about it. I have five boys in my class and 3 exclaimed that they were gay within my first ten minutes with them.
Some other cultural things I've learned:
-Unless retired all Thai's are very busy
-The regular restaurants serve food way faster than the fast food restaurants
-You can feed a family of four in a Thai restaurant for 3 dollars or less
-Most Thai's don't cook, because in most cases it's cheaper to buy it on the streets
-There are night markets, morning markets, Sunday markets, floating markets, night bazaars and walking streets in almost every town.
-The rivers are a source of vitality and wealth for every village near them.
-Thai's never waste food, if they don't eat it they cover it and leave for later or feed it to the dogs, but food is never thrown away.
There are many more that I just can't think of at the moment.
As for my Thai. It is slowly coming along. I didn't study any before I left. It turned out to be OK. I learn the most when I'm around other exchange students. I can now understand about 50-60 percent of what other people are saying to each other and me. It may sound like a little, but for me this is a huge accomplishment. Most of my Thai has developed in the past month. At first I was just trying to stay awake while listening to others speak. Now that I've gotten past the initial culture shock everything is coming much easier. I have finally developed the laid back lifestyle.
Some of my favorite experience so far include:
-Visiting the famous White Temple
-Visiting the famous Black Temple
-Elephant Riding
-Eating deep fried Grasshoppers
-Holding a giant 150 lb anaconda
-Going to school with my friends
-Visiting markets
-Offering food to the monks
-Making a meal and serving 9 monks at my house and many many more.
I'm making memories and friendships that will last forever. I was invited to celebrate Christmas at a church with a friend from school, as an overnight thing about 1 week before actual christmas. I can't wait the same guy also recently invited me to watch the male cheerleading practice after school. This weekend I'm off the Chiang Mai about 4 hours south of my town. I'm going to stay with another YE and celebrate Lao Katong on Sunday. It is one of the two big celebrations in Thailand. They build boats out of banana leaves and put candles in them and float them down the river. This is there way of thanking the goddess of water for everything. There are fireworks and big air balloons, the fill the night sky. It should be a fabulous once in a life-time experience. My host family is amazing, although they don't always have time for me, they take great care of me and always have my best interest at heart. My second and third hosts are my first host mothers two sisters. So it is all one big family and this I enjoy. They do everything together and all three families have my best interest at heart. I have gained weight but every night that I'm able I do aerobics outside the grocery store with 50 or so older ladies. It is so much fun and they have all kindly taken me in and taken care of me. My host father is really shy but sometimes brings me back goodies from his trips into town. Other than that he just smiles and laughs but never really talks. My host mother is tiny and I have become the closest to her. We talk about everything and anything. We bonded over watching the Twilight Series one night in Chiang Mai. We had to sleep in the same bed in the town house, it was about midnight and she roles over and asks "Would you rather date a vampire or a werewolf?" It was so funny we both burst out in laughter. My little host sister is 10 and her name is Ping, she is also very quiet. But she is so cute and is always nice. I brought her back gifts from my first Rotary Trip and she loves them. My second host sister is 15 and is an exchange student in Wayzata this year. The family hasn't really heard from her but from what I hear she's loving it. David if you could maybe try to get her hosts phone number to me and I will relay it to my family. They think it would be cool to meet her so she could see where I come from. I lived with her for about two weeks before she left. She has never called home so I have no way to get it. So far this experience has been a self-developing journey that I can't wait to continue.
Thanks for everything Rotary, Dacotah Smith
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