My Year in Thailand November 2016
Posted by Ellen Kaderlik on Nov 08, 2016
Ellen Kaderlik
So far my exchange in Chiang Mai, Thailand has been amazing! I've tried so many new things and met so many new people. It’s crazy to think that I've already almost been here for three months and that I'm only here for another seven. The Rotex (people who have successfully returned from an exchange trip) tell me that it goes really fast. I'm starting to see that that is true!
Many things have happened since my last letter. I just had the opportunity to go to the very beautiful Phuket! In Phuket, the home where we were staying was right on the beach. So it was easy to spend most of the time there. But we also went and explored the historic part of the islands that the Portuguese had settled. I also did something way out of my comfort zone and tried zip lining (I highly recommend it, it’s amazing!).
While I was in Phuket we received news that disaster had struck, Thailand’s beloved king of 70 years had passed away. People in Thailand love their king and he is seen as part of their family. So, it has been kind of a mess here with the government system. The new king gets a year for mourning before he gets sworn in, so at the moment no one really knows what to do.
The food here, like I mentioned in my last report is very different! For example, just last week I was at a restaurant with my host family and had no idea what they had ordered until the food came to the table. They had ordered bees, which were still in the comb so they were sweet. Then they ordered ant egg soup, which was probably the strangest thing I've ever eaten! And finally they also ordered fried queen ants. Since they were fried they were almost like a chip, which wasn't too bad, but not the most favorite thing that I've tried.
I have also had the opportunity to go and visit many different temples, one being the very beautiful White temple. It’s a very famous temple for its detail. We went to another temple called the Doi Suthep to show our support of another exchange student becoming a monk.
The next couple of months will be very tough for me because they have all of my favorite holidays, and usually with those holidays you spend them with family. But here in Thailand, my host families can sense that. So to celebrate Halloween we tried finding a pumpkin to carve, but all we could find was a squash. For Thanksgiving we found a restaurant called The Dukes that does a very authentic Turkey dinner on Thanksgiving. And for Christmas all of the exchange students in Chiang Mai are going to be holding a potluck where we all make foods from our country and we meet at someone’s home. These holidays will be the first one spending them without my American family. But I'm so Thankful for all of my extended family.
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Many things have happened since my last letter. I just had the opportunity to go to the very beautiful Phuket! In Phuket, the home where we were staying was right on the beach. So it was easy to spend most of the time there. But we also went and explored the historic part of the islands that the Portuguese had settled. I also did something way out of my comfort zone and tried zip lining (I highly recommend it, it’s amazing!).
While I was in Phuket we received news that disaster had struck, Thailand’s beloved king of 70 years had passed away. People in Thailand love their king and he is seen as part of their family. So, it has been kind of a mess here with the government system. The new king gets a year for mourning before he gets sworn in, so at the moment no one really knows what to do.
The food here, like I mentioned in my last report is very different! For example, just last week I was at a restaurant with my host family and had no idea what they had ordered until the food came to the table. They had ordered bees, which were still in the comb so they were sweet. Then they ordered ant egg soup, which was probably the strangest thing I've ever eaten! And finally they also ordered fried queen ants. Since they were fried they were almost like a chip, which wasn't too bad, but not the most favorite thing that I've tried.
I have also had the opportunity to go and visit many different temples, one being the very beautiful White temple. It’s a very famous temple for its detail. We went to another temple called the Doi Suthep to show our support of another exchange student becoming a monk.
The next couple of months will be very tough for me because they have all of my favorite holidays, and usually with those holidays you spend them with family. But here in Thailand, my host families can sense that. So to celebrate Halloween we tried finding a pumpkin to carve, but all we could find was a squash. For Thanksgiving we found a restaurant called The Dukes that does a very authentic Turkey dinner on Thanksgiving. And for Christmas all of the exchange students in Chiang Mai are going to be holding a potluck where we all make foods from our country and we meet at someone’s home. These holidays will be the first one spending them without my American family. But I'm so Thankful for all of my extended family.
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