June 2nd
A list of things I'm going to miss about Thailand:
1.) Those weird advertisement vans. They're everywhere, and they blast advertisements while driving up and down the roads. Like an ice cream truck, but more annoying and way louder, and they sell everything from curtains to brooms to sticky rice.
2.) On that note, sticky rice. Both the dessert kind and the regular meal kind.
3.) Fresh tropical fruits. Mango, mangosteen, mayongchit, rambutan, and a whole lot of others. Also, I'm going to miss being able to think 'wow, I want a mango' and then walking five hundred feet to the market and getting said mango.
4.) Cafe Amazon. It's everywhere here. Like Starbucks but cheaper and it has good smoothies.
5.) Thai people in general. I can't express enough how kind they are. Almost every stranger I've met has been incredibly nice and so understanding. I went to the market with my host mom the other day, and she talked to all the vendors like they were old friends. (She introduced me to basically all of them, and I'm not sure if it's because they know her or if it's because they're just that friendly. Either way, it's pretty cool.)
6.) Spicy snacks. Yeah, I wasn't really a 'spicy food' type of person before I came here, and in all honesty I'm not as enthusiastic about it as I could be, but Thai snacks can be really good. Also, non-spicy snacks here are still amazing. Fried chicken skin isn't bad.
7.) Snacks wrapped in banana leaves. Anything wrapped in banana leaves. Banana leaves.
8.) Boba shops everywhere
9.) Friends. Not just my Thai friends, but my exchange friends as well. Most of my fellow outbounds have left, and I haven't been able to see many of my school friends. Fortunately, I got to see a few people from Rotary at a going away party and I also got a visit from a school friend, but it's hard to think of how long it might be before I see them again. I've made some of my best memories with some of those people.
This is going to be my last entry, because I want to write the last one in Thailand and because if I were to write one after this it would basically just be about the plane ride back (and let's be honest, nobody cares about that). So this will be the last one.
Man, it feels weird to say that. Or... type that, I guess.
I'm supposed to be leaving Thailand on June 4th, and that date is coming up really, really fast. I finished half of my packing tonight, and I'll be able to get the rest tomorrow. And after that, I'll be headed back home, and I will absolutely bawl my eyes out in the airport. I got to stay much longer than a lot of my friends, though, and I'm very thankful for that. I switched host families around May 12th, so I got to have another three weeks or so with my first host family, and I got to live with three siblings instead of two now that one of them is back from exchange in Germany thanks to Covid-19 and all that.
In all honesty, Thailand doesn't seem too concerned with this virus in general. We get maybe three cases a day, and sometimes none at all. When there are any, they're in Bangkok or Phuket, so people in Chanthaburi aren't too worried. People are supposed to wear masks when they go out, and if you go to the market you'll see about seventy percent of them complying with that. If you go to the park where people are going on walks or jogging, you hardly see it at all. But even then, I'm not supposed to go out a lot and as a result haven't been able to get a lot of the gifts I had planned to buy at the beginning of the year. Beaches also haven't reopened, which is a bummer, but it's also monsoon season so beaches may not have been the best idea anyway. I've experienced rainstorms and lightning storms more violent than anything I ever saw in America, and while they're not exactly comforting, they're pretty cool to watch. I guess I'll add that to the things that I'll miss.
I've seen so, so many things in such a short span of time. From the views of Phu Kradung and the temples of Chiang Mai to the beaches of Chumpon and Phuket, I've had the absolute privilege of being able to see some of the most spectacular places in this country and I want to be able to remember as much of it as I can. I want to remember the sights, the feeling of the sun and wind on the beach, the language, the people, and the friends I've made. It's been an amazing opportunity, and I would recommend it to anyone with an open mind.
I guess the only proper way to end this is with a thank you.
Thank you to my family, and thank you to Rotary, for making all of this possible. Thank you to my host families, and to all the friends and supporters I've met along the way. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me and told me this was something I could do, and thank you to those who helped me make this a reality.
Thank you.
1.) Those weird advertisement vans. They're everywhere, and they blast advertisements while driving up and down the roads. Like an ice cream truck, but more annoying and way louder, and they sell everything from curtains to brooms to sticky rice.
2.) On that note, sticky rice. Both the dessert kind and the regular meal kind.
3.) Fresh tropical fruits. Mango, mangosteen, mayongchit, rambutan, and a whole lot of others. Also, I'm going to miss being able to think 'wow, I want a mango' and then walking five hundred feet to the market and getting said mango.
4.) Cafe Amazon. It's everywhere here. Like Starbucks but cheaper and it has good smoothies.
5.) Thai people in general. I can't express enough how kind they are. Almost every stranger I've met has been incredibly nice and so understanding. I went to the market with my host mom the other day, and she talked to all the vendors like they were old friends. (She introduced me to basically all of them, and I'm not sure if it's because they know her or if it's because they're just that friendly. Either way, it's pretty cool.)
6.) Spicy snacks. Yeah, I wasn't really a 'spicy food' type of person before I came here, and in all honesty I'm not as enthusiastic about it as I could be, but Thai snacks can be really good. Also, non-spicy snacks here are still amazing. Fried chicken skin isn't bad.
7.) Snacks wrapped in banana leaves. Anything wrapped in banana leaves. Banana leaves.
8.) Boba shops everywhere
9.) Friends. Not just my Thai friends, but my exchange friends as well. Most of my fellow outbounds have left, and I haven't been able to see many of my school friends. Fortunately, I got to see a few people from Rotary at a going away party and I also got a visit from a school friend, but it's hard to think of how long it might be before I see them again. I've made some of my best memories with some of those people.
This is going to be my last entry, because I want to write the last one in Thailand and because if I were to write one after this it would basically just be about the plane ride back (and let's be honest, nobody cares about that). So this will be the last one.
Man, it feels weird to say that. Or... type that, I guess.
I'm supposed to be leaving Thailand on June 4th, and that date is coming up really, really fast. I finished half of my packing tonight, and I'll be able to get the rest tomorrow. And after that, I'll be headed back home, and I will absolutely bawl my eyes out in the airport. I got to stay much longer than a lot of my friends, though, and I'm very thankful for that. I switched host families around May 12th, so I got to have another three weeks or so with my first host family, and I got to live with three siblings instead of two now that one of them is back from exchange in Germany thanks to Covid-19 and all that.
In all honesty, Thailand doesn't seem too concerned with this virus in general. We get maybe three cases a day, and sometimes none at all. When there are any, they're in Bangkok or Phuket, so people in Chanthaburi aren't too worried. People are supposed to wear masks when they go out, and if you go to the market you'll see about seventy percent of them complying with that. If you go to the park where people are going on walks or jogging, you hardly see it at all. But even then, I'm not supposed to go out a lot and as a result haven't been able to get a lot of the gifts I had planned to buy at the beginning of the year. Beaches also haven't reopened, which is a bummer, but it's also monsoon season so beaches may not have been the best idea anyway. I've experienced rainstorms and lightning storms more violent than anything I ever saw in America, and while they're not exactly comforting, they're pretty cool to watch. I guess I'll add that to the things that I'll miss.
I've seen so, so many things in such a short span of time. From the views of Phu Kradung and the temples of Chiang Mai to the beaches of Chumpon and Phuket, I've had the absolute privilege of being able to see some of the most spectacular places in this country and I want to be able to remember as much of it as I can. I want to remember the sights, the feeling of the sun and wind on the beach, the language, the people, and the friends I've made. It's been an amazing opportunity, and I would recommend it to anyone with an open mind.
I guess the only proper way to end this is with a thank you.
Thank you to my family, and thank you to Rotary, for making all of this possible. Thank you to my host families, and to all the friends and supporters I've met along the way. Thank you to everyone who encouraged me and told me this was something I could do, and thank you to those who helped me make this a reality.
Thank you.
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