It's been a while

My last post was from my second week being in Thailand. I have now been in this country for three months. I have already moved in with my second family, who are hilarious! I even got my host dad to teach me how to hoolahoop. I have a billion host siblings, I will never know their names. I don't even know the difference between them. I live above a silk shop, our house is complete with a giant stereo system that is constantly playing some sort of Thai soul music. My host mom loves to cook and she looks like she is twenty five. My host went to university for law...but is a car salesman. I live across the street from Tesco Lotus (wal-mart for Thai people) which is super convenient considering there is a KFC in the store.
    I have started school in Thailand, and I have been out for about four weeks due to holiday. School is a joke..... yeah that's all I have to say about that.

    At the beginning of October all of the inbounds met in Korat, Thailand for RYLA camp. It was nothing like any of us expected. We were surrounded by ten and eleven year old Thai kids, with the occasional 15 year old. Our days were packed with coloring, quiet time, and singing songs about bugs. Do you really think any of the inbounds participated in that? No we didn't. We roamed around the Korat zoo, singing our own songs...Justin Bieber mostly sadly to say. We had our own fun!

    That weekend we had another orientation type thing. This again was not meant for the inbounds but for the 2012-2013 outbounds. So again we pretty much did our own thing. It was a lot of fun bonding with the other exchange students. I can tell you now I have met some life long friends.
 

First glimpse

      I am not going to lie it was hard to say goodbye. I questioned the experience even. Boarding the plane I was sad and scared, and when I first got a glimpse of Thailand.... I cried. I didn't know what to expect and everything was so different. I am not really a religious person but I prayed. I prayed for good things to come, and I asked god for help to be strong. I needed a sign. I was feeling down in the dumps and I needed guidance. Around eight in the morning my host dad "papa" came into my room and gave me a Rotary Shirt and said that at nine we were going to the club. I took a shower got ready and put on this kelly green Rotary polo. When we got into the car he then again apologized that he couldn't speak English. I laughed and told him that's okay, I need to learn Thai.

He laughed at me, and I guess we both just thought it was funny. He ran into a couple of stores and picked up a banner, and some paper plates. I thought it was for his restaurant. We headed for the main road in chumphae. He pulled off on the side of this busy street and told me to follow him. We walked to city hall. In front of the hall there was a statue of the Buddhist llama. In front of the statue there was a table filled with flowers and incense. Next to the table, there were 6 Buddhist monks. Then a crowd of people were

watching. Papa and I walked to another tent and we hung up a sign. We then walked to the crowd of people. The monks began to chant, and we all held our hands in the "wai" position. Like in prayer. Men began pounding drums, and the monks were chanting. I was surrounded by fellow Thais and Rotarians. Then to my surprise Non, a Thai exchange student who went to Michigan, comes and sits next to me. He tells me that today we are celebrating the Buddhist king, the 5th llama. It was beautiful. It was like god was telling me everything is going to be alright. After an hour of chanting, and praying, I followed papa to the tent where we set up

the banner. He had cleared off a table and was cooking pans upon pans of pad Thai, apparently his is the best in town. Non, his parents, the president of our rotary club, and I began

serving the big crowd of people Pad Thai along with other Rotarians serving, coconut water,green curry, and pistachio ice cream.I had a blast and met really interesting people. This is why I came to Thailand, I got my sign.

July 7th, 2011

This is where I will be living Chumphae, Khon Kaen, Thailand. I leave in 1 month!!!!!!

RYE

     After going through the  long application process, the stressful interviews, language camps, Rotary club meetings, conferences, and of course the fun times at orientations.... I realize that Rotary Youth Exchange isn't just a great opportunity but it has become my life. My fellow exchange students have become my family, the former exchange students have become my mentors, and the Rotarians that have dedicated their time and effort have become my role models. Thank you Rotary International for giving students like myself great opportunities to not just study abroad, but to open our minds to new and foreign cultures.