November 3, 2019
In the last couple of weeks, I have gone to Korat, Khaoyai, Ayutthaya, and back to school, and I've enjoyed it for the most part.
The camp in Korat was an absolutely exhausting ordeal that lasted five days. Campers ranged from thirteen to nineteen years old, and every single inbound from my district also attended. I got to see fellow exchange students from Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Belgium, Taiwan, France, and of course, America. For the most part, the camp was in Thai, and all of our language skills were still developing and none of us were fluent. Despite that, I think it's safe to say that we took home some good memories.
The camp itself was held at the Korat zoo. The first day was mostly speeches that I didn't understand, but we got to visit the actual zoo the next day. There was a live snake show, which was terrifying, and then we were allowed to explore on our own. We rented a couple of bicycles, and I later found out that we probably seemed like idiot tourists because we were on the wrong side of the road. After we were done sight seeing, we decided to visit the water park. I asked a vendor for directions, and one of the exchange students was somehow extremely impressed. He said I was fluent, but he also doesn't speak English extremely well, so I'm not sure if he really thought I was that good or if it was a mistranslation. But either way, I felt great. We went to the water park, which doesn't follow the same strict safety regulations as America, and then headed back to the camp for more speeches. Whenever we sat down for meetings and speeches, we sat cross legged on the concrete floor, and after I got up from sitting in that position for hours on end, my knee and hip joints would feel so weird that I would often fall down. So it looks like I found another way to embarrass myself here.
The next day was a trip to several museums and a temple. I got to see much more of the culture up close, and I even received a blessing from a monk along with several other exchange students. The same day we visited a college campus, during which we watched a movie on something related to space exploration. I wish I could say what it was really about, but I have to admit I fell asleep during the movie. The first reason was because it was in Thai and I understood nothing, plus the space images on screen were a bit hypnotic. The second reason was because the chairs were all reclined so far back I felt like I might as well be in bed. And in my defense, I wasn't the only exchange student who fell asleep during the movie. And at least I didn't snore.
We headed to Khaoyai national forest next, where we went hiking and saw some lakes and waterfalls. I got bitten by a leech, which was possibly the most terrifying thing that's happened to me here, and I'm just thankful that I didn't decide to dip my feet in the water. The rest of the camp after that involved performing skits, hanging out with the other exchange students, presentations of awards, and pictures. A whole lot of pictures.
I got a total of eight hours back at home in Chanthaburi before leaving again, this time to Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is what used to be the capital of Thailand, but it was sacked by Myanmar in 1767. We visited a part of it, in which we saw several dozen Buddha statues, all with the heads cut off. The goal of Myanmar at the time was to destroy the Thai culture, and Buddhists here consider the head to be the most spiritual and important part of the body. To chop off the head of a Buddha was one of the worst things one could do, and it was done to nearly every statue that I saw. Although it was upsetting to learn about what happened, it was extremely interesting to learn about and I'm glad I was able to go there.
After that I was able to visit a floating market, which is exactly what it sounds like. I ate lunch with my host family, then was surprised when they offered me a chance to ride an elephant with my younger host brother, Stang. The elephant we got was actually a mother, and she had her baby following us the entire time. Stang and I sat on the back of the elephant, while another man sat in front of us to help steer her. I've always seen elephants on TV and known they were huge, but it's different when you're riding on their back. Just their step size is absolutely amazing, and I wish I could've spent more time there.
We headed back to Chanthaburi the next day, where I met up with two exchange students visiting from further north. We spent time at the beach, swimming in the dark and only later learning that the water was filled with jellyfish. They turned out to be completely harmless, but every little lump I touched and thought was trash was probably actually a jellyfish and I'm not sure how I feel about that. The next day we went to a waterfall (which didn't have leeches), where there were hoards of fish that nibbled on our feet, and then went to an amazing seafood restaurant that was literally on the water. The crab was as fresh as it could possibly be, and combined with the view it was probably the best meal I've had here. Which is saying something, considering that even the school lunches are good.
Speaking of which, I (usually) no longer hold up the line while trying to communicate with whoever is serving my lunch, which is nice. My communication skills are better, although they still need a lot of improvement. I can tell what people are talking about, just not the specifics, and it's much harder to tell them what I want. But I'm recognizing more and more words, which has become helpful in school. I understand the basics of some physics lessons, and the biology has gotten easier. With school restarting, I'm also taking new classes, including music, art, and dance. I haven't been able to attend them yet due to scheduling errors, but I'm looking forward to staring them later this week and I can't wait to see what I'll be able to do.
Get ready for a whole lot of pictures.
The camp in Korat was an absolutely exhausting ordeal that lasted five days. Campers ranged from thirteen to nineteen years old, and every single inbound from my district also attended. I got to see fellow exchange students from Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Belgium, Taiwan, France, and of course, America. For the most part, the camp was in Thai, and all of our language skills were still developing and none of us were fluent. Despite that, I think it's safe to say that we took home some good memories.
The camp itself was held at the Korat zoo. The first day was mostly speeches that I didn't understand, but we got to visit the actual zoo the next day. There was a live snake show, which was terrifying, and then we were allowed to explore on our own. We rented a couple of bicycles, and I later found out that we probably seemed like idiot tourists because we were on the wrong side of the road. After we were done sight seeing, we decided to visit the water park. I asked a vendor for directions, and one of the exchange students was somehow extremely impressed. He said I was fluent, but he also doesn't speak English extremely well, so I'm not sure if he really thought I was that good or if it was a mistranslation. But either way, I felt great. We went to the water park, which doesn't follow the same strict safety regulations as America, and then headed back to the camp for more speeches. Whenever we sat down for meetings and speeches, we sat cross legged on the concrete floor, and after I got up from sitting in that position for hours on end, my knee and hip joints would feel so weird that I would often fall down. So it looks like I found another way to embarrass myself here.
The next day was a trip to several museums and a temple. I got to see much more of the culture up close, and I even received a blessing from a monk along with several other exchange students. The same day we visited a college campus, during which we watched a movie on something related to space exploration. I wish I could say what it was really about, but I have to admit I fell asleep during the movie. The first reason was because it was in Thai and I understood nothing, plus the space images on screen were a bit hypnotic. The second reason was because the chairs were all reclined so far back I felt like I might as well be in bed. And in my defense, I wasn't the only exchange student who fell asleep during the movie. And at least I didn't snore.
We headed to Khaoyai national forest next, where we went hiking and saw some lakes and waterfalls. I got bitten by a leech, which was possibly the most terrifying thing that's happened to me here, and I'm just thankful that I didn't decide to dip my feet in the water. The rest of the camp after that involved performing skits, hanging out with the other exchange students, presentations of awards, and pictures. A whole lot of pictures.
I got a total of eight hours back at home in Chanthaburi before leaving again, this time to Ayutthaya. Ayutthaya is what used to be the capital of Thailand, but it was sacked by Myanmar in 1767. We visited a part of it, in which we saw several dozen Buddha statues, all with the heads cut off. The goal of Myanmar at the time was to destroy the Thai culture, and Buddhists here consider the head to be the most spiritual and important part of the body. To chop off the head of a Buddha was one of the worst things one could do, and it was done to nearly every statue that I saw. Although it was upsetting to learn about what happened, it was extremely interesting to learn about and I'm glad I was able to go there.
After that I was able to visit a floating market, which is exactly what it sounds like. I ate lunch with my host family, then was surprised when they offered me a chance to ride an elephant with my younger host brother, Stang. The elephant we got was actually a mother, and she had her baby following us the entire time. Stang and I sat on the back of the elephant, while another man sat in front of us to help steer her. I've always seen elephants on TV and known they were huge, but it's different when you're riding on their back. Just their step size is absolutely amazing, and I wish I could've spent more time there.
We headed back to Chanthaburi the next day, where I met up with two exchange students visiting from further north. We spent time at the beach, swimming in the dark and only later learning that the water was filled with jellyfish. They turned out to be completely harmless, but every little lump I touched and thought was trash was probably actually a jellyfish and I'm not sure how I feel about that. The next day we went to a waterfall (which didn't have leeches), where there were hoards of fish that nibbled on our feet, and then went to an amazing seafood restaurant that was literally on the water. The crab was as fresh as it could possibly be, and combined with the view it was probably the best meal I've had here. Which is saying something, considering that even the school lunches are good.
Speaking of which, I (usually) no longer hold up the line while trying to communicate with whoever is serving my lunch, which is nice. My communication skills are better, although they still need a lot of improvement. I can tell what people are talking about, just not the specifics, and it's much harder to tell them what I want. But I'm recognizing more and more words, which has become helpful in school. I understand the basics of some physics lessons, and the biology has gotten easier. With school restarting, I'm also taking new classes, including music, art, and dance. I haven't been able to attend them yet due to scheduling errors, but I'm looking forward to staring them later this week and I can't wait to see what I'll be able to do.
Get ready for a whole lot of pictures.
Me with fellow exchange students
Snake show
Cultural museum
Temples and statues
More exchange students and stuff from the zoo, and also from the hike where we wore ridiculous looking socks to prevent being bitten by leeches
Ayutthaya
Floating market
Elephants!!
Oh look, here's where a leech bit me and I almost screamed like I was seven years old
Did I mention I fed fish? I fed fish. They were crazy. Here's when they splashed me when they were fighting for food.
Visitation, the waterfall, and a style of restaurant I wish they had more of in America.
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