Hello Rotary Club of Palgrave! This is Ella, your outbound youth exchange student. I’ve been in Thailand for about a month now, and I’ve been having the best time! Everything has been wonderful, and I’m so grateful to be here!
 
In school, I’ve been taking Thai culture classes so I can fully immerse myself in the exchange experience. I am taking Thai dance, Thai art, Thai music, and Thai language lessons. The language is pretty hard because it is based around tones, and getting the tones exactly right is pretty difficult. But I’m trying my best and I can introduce myself now! I have a lot of friends, all which help teach me Thai. I feel very comfortable at my school.
 
The only part I don’t like about Thailand is the weather. It’s so hot! It’s rainy season right now, and the temperature is always around 34 degrees Celsius. When summer comes it will be even hotter! Despite the heat, Thai people (and me too now) wear pants all the time!
 
My host club (Rotary Club of Panusnikhom) is very welcoming! I’ve been to one rotary meeting so far, since they meet once a month. With them I helped release fish into a river, and give pingpong tables to a school! I’m very excited about what else we will get up to!
 
Thank you once again for the amazing experience you have enabled me to have. I can’t thank you enough. This has been the best month of my life, with so many new things I get to see and try. Thank you so much!
 
Ella Barnard/Torfa