An Exchange Student - What it's Like Inside

I mostly am doing this post for people interested in any sort of exchange program, and also because I feel like I haven't talked about how I am doing here. I state the physical things I see and such, but there is a mental and emotional side to all this. So after gathering myself together and organizing my thoughts, I've managed to prepare this. Hope you enjoy!

Living in Host Family

My mind has pretty much trained itself to keep watch of everything, even small things. For example, if one day my host brother gives a frown when I kick a nearby night stand, I almost always know something is up. I then go back and reflect. In a sense, I'm constantly adjusting myself to the environment. Eventually though, I believe I will be comfortable and everything will come natural. I'm starting to get down a lot of ideas that are Thai, rather than American. Now I avoid doing things with my feet without really thinking about it culturally or whatever. I hope to be able to have this automatic sense of right with everything here, but only time will tell if that can happen.

School

Most of the time, I absolutely love school. I feel like I have a purpose and my mind gets active. I also get to explore the true culture of Thailand, rather than just the culture of my host family. I interact with tons of students who each have their own way of doing things, so this helps me to establish when I'm doing something wrong in Thai society. For instance, I noticed a lot of the students were taking off school for mild medical problems. At first, I thought of them as lazy or something, but I quickly learned that it's just another part of the culture. I might look down on it, but that doesn't mean I'm right.

On the other hand, school can be Hell though. I'm not the person who likes to always be in the spotlight. I prefer to have my moments of fame and then move on to normal life. But when you're the exchange student, everyone treats you like a celebrity...every day. This becomes a problem when I happen to wake up on the wrong side of the bed and decide today I'm not happy. These days are filled with stress and anger, yet I still manage to put on a smile, so I can't say I'm suffering too much, heh. But like I said before, there are more days where school is awesome! Woot!

Adapting

Oh my God, if I learned anything here in Thailand it's how to adapt. When you're still in your home country in the dreaded "paperwork" phase, you're thinking you can adapt to anything. However, do not let your mind fool you. Sometimes you have to adapt to something you didn't expect to have to change. Now all of a sudden you feel like you're stripped of your being and that you can't be yourself. I will tell you, this is completely normal and you will get used to it. Like I mentioned in the Host Family section, I'm starting to do things automatically. And things I complained about doing before are now part of my daily routine. Overall, I'd say you can never prepare yourself for how much adapting you'll do. You just have to go willing to adapt to some extent. But just remember your limit will be exceeded.

Homesickness

Every Thai I know has asked me if I feel homesick. And I always reply with "No." Though the real answer is a tad more complicated than that. While I don't feel a burning desire to go home, there are things in America I do miss and really wish I could have right this instant. I just don't go home yet because I'm more motivated to stay here than to go back. I really want to finish this year to the end!

Distance Away from Home

To me, America feels like a distant memory. Something I did a long time ago that I enjoyed, but now it's over. Okay, I realize it's not over. I'm going back, but that's just my mindset. Although sometimes America feels like next door. I can't believe I'm all the way here in Asia and my family is on the other side of the world!

Relationships Here

It makes me surprised when I think about how all the people I'm best friends with here, I've only known for a few months now. And yet I've lived with them and gotten so close that they feel like friends I've known for the longest time. I think there's something connecting us, most certainly.

Top 10 Thai Nicknames

I decided to throw in something fun this week. Anyway, Thai names are something quite complicated, especially compared to American names. For one, Thai birth names are generally long and of Sanskrit origin. For example, my Thai name, Tida (ธิดา), means daughter in Sanskrit. Most other Thai names I know though are much longer and have irregular pronunciations. Hence why most Thai people I know, I only know by their nicknames.

Unlike normal nicknames, Thai nicknames are often given by the parents. This is because Thai believe evil spirits are out to harm young children. By giving their children a nickname, it confuses these spirits and therefore allows the child to live happy and healthy. Now days, I think most Thais just give nicknames for fun. And when these children grow up into teenagers, they often decide their own nicknames, with some really cool results.

Yes, that is where the top 10 list comes in. I've heard my fair share of nicknames throughout my stay here, so I think it's time I show them all off. Granted, I have heard some pretty bad nicknames as well, but I can't really make a top 10 list out of these, so you'll just have to see the best ones for now.

Before I get on with the list, here are the names that got honorable mentions:

Belle (bel)
Game (geym)
Art (ahrt)
Pay (pey)
Fluke (flook)
Pepper (pep-er)
Fook (fook)
Peach (peech)
Mew (myoo)
Min (min)
Hippo (hip-oh)
Gob (gob)
Mud (muhd)

10. มะแมว (ma-mey-ao) -

I really can't find an exact translation for this name, but the general idea is that it's "cat". This name is quite fitting for Thai girls because of the way they talk. In America, girls talk like girls, however they don't quite sound cute like a cat. Although one person's cute is another's annoying so hard to say how I feel about this one. But I added it anyway.

9. Mind (mahynd) -

I almost missed this one! The girl who had the name kept saying Mind like "mine" and so I didn't think much of it. But then she wrote it down, and I saw clearly it was indeed Mind. I might be a bit biased on this name because I got my own crazy mind, but this is just too cute and refreshing. I had to add it somewhere to the list.

8. ๑ (neung) -

This is how to say "one" in Thai. I was tempted to stick this at the number 1 spot of the list, but other names got in the way, heh. For me, this name absolutely kicks butt! It implies so many things. The person could be unique, awesome, out-going, and a bunch of other things. However, there's a huge downfall to this name that brings it to the back. It doesn't have the SOUND. I mean part of the fun of having a name is to have fun hearing it. And the way you say One in Thai in completely boring. And I don't think One in English is any better, so looks like it's staying here at number 8.

7. Stamp (stamp) -

This name would have been closer to 1, but aside from the cool sound, it's got no substance. It doesn't really secretly imply something about the person, it's just there. It does sound interesting though, so I added it in.

6. มะพร้าว (ma-prao) -

Translated into English, this name means "coconut". Now, you may be wondering why I would think Coconut is an awesome name. Well it partly has to do with whoever has the name. See, the guys I've met with the name just fit with Coconut. They were all big guys, a little on the round side, and well tanned skin. On top of this, they were all nice, yet crazy, much like I think a coconut would be if it had a personality. I know I'm kind of being weird with this selection, so that's why it's only number 5.

5. Ice (ahys) -

When your name describes the how cool you want to be, it can go either way. In some cases, your name will signal to everyone you're a biggest jerk out of the whole school, yet on the other end, you'll get the foreign students to pay attention when you tell them your name. This will instantly get you a few cool points, but since it can go either way, I put it at number 5.

4. Give (giv) -

This name is absolutely beautiful, and I think the reason is obvious. It's like naming your child "wonderful" or "kind", except less forced, ya know? To me, it implies this child is caring, but doesn't pressure the poor kid into getting everything perfect nor make everyone turn up their noses like they don't believe the name is true for the personality. It's subtle, and that's why I like it, heh.

3. แอม (am) -

I didn't think this name was cool until I looked up the English translation. Apparently, the word is a shortened version of the word "amp" in English. So essentially the girl who I met named herself electricity. I must say that's pretty cool. Awesome enough to earn the number 3 spot~

2. Just (juhst) -

I mainly chose Just as number 2 because I've only ever met ONE person with this name. And she's pretty cute and awesome. For some reason, the name Just...just describes her. No, I don't mean she is like the meaning of the word...more like she SOUNDS like the word. Okay, think about it this way. Say the word "just". Doesn't sound like it has a fun out-going personality? Maybe I'm just weird, but my gut is telling me to put this as number 2 so I am, hah!

1. Name (neym) -

I absolutely think this is the most genius name ever invented! Not only is it non-gender specific, but it also sounds so cool. So far, I've met two people with this name (one girl, one boy) and they're both really smart for picking it as their nickname. I mean, think of how much you can do with it. "Hi, my name is Name." Who doesn't find this completely cool?! And then if you get some American foreigner to talk to, you can confuse them to the ends of the Earth when you introduce yourself! Okay, maybe that's not such a good thing, but enough said. Name is the number 1 nickname I've heard of in Thailand!

Update!

Okay, so I figure I should say that I have changed host families. Now, it really wasn't anything bad that happened or whatever, I think it just overall didn't work out. I knew this before anything turned horribly bad, so I chose to take my adviser's advice and change to another family. I am happy I got to stay with Parn and her family. You guys are a lot of fun and I love you a bunch! Thank you for taking care of me and showing me Thailand! <3

Now I am staying with a family who lives a bit closer to my school. I have a mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa, and a little sister named Belle who all stay in the same house with me. It's kind of cramped, but I feel quite relaxed here, so I think I'll be staying. I will post more about them in the future, but this is an update; not much to say.

I am still staying in the same general area and same school as before too. I get to see Jill and Parn each day at school therefore I don't think I'm missing out on too much. Right now I am eagerly looking forward to the rest of my year with this family. And I hope my blog will thrive as a result.

To the South!

A popular school event here in Thailand is the Sport's Day. And from what I understand, it's much like an American school's Field Day or whatever. However, it's on a much larger scale here. Everyone gets all trained and hyped up over one day of sports. Not to say that American students aren't motivated...it's just here they're REALLY excited about it here.

So how does this get my all the way to the South of Thailand?

Well my school is apparently one of four different schools around Thailand. So each year the large group Sport's Day is hosted at one of the school's. This year, it happened to be at the school in the very South of Thailand. Initially, I wasn't going to go because I am (and probably never will be) good at sports. However, our school's director wanted Jill and I to go along so the three other schools could see the exchange students and such. What made the trip even more tempting was that we were going with the teachers who went around traveling the few days before the actual Sport's Day. So I packed up all my things for a good four days of traveling!

On the first day, we pretty much lived on the big tour bus the school had rented for all of us to travel with. It was actually quite a comfortable place...for a bus. There were chairs and couches as well as a television that could also be used for karaoke. Although it was kind of a pain to sleep while the bus bounced on the "perfect" Thai roads.

In the day we stopped at a few temples and other cool sights, but in the evening we went to the school for a dinner show performed by the students. I must say, for students, Thais are really talented. The bands were awesome, comic plays funny, and dances over the top. With all this going on, eating my food was the furthest thing from my mind. Though I did end up eating till I was full eventually.

We went back to the hotel and slept until the early morning. We then traveled even further to the South to the tip of Thailand that borders Malaysia. And then...we actually went to Malaysia! I was a little scared at first because my VISA only allowed me to stay in Thailand. Though when I found out we wouldn't be staying for long, I was a bit more relieved.

There was a shopping center in Malaysia that happened to take baht (Thai currency), so we all stopped there for a few hours to shop until we dropped. I wanted to buy some clothes, but just ended up buying a bunch of Malaysian souvenirs for my friends and such. Look out America. I'm coming back with a lot. LOL

By the time we got back to the hotel, it was dark again so we slept until the Sport's Day the next morning. The event started with all the schools' directors giving a speech and then a parade created by all four of the school's.

Then there was a soccer game played by the coaches, which was quite funny more than serious. I don't know, I guess it was a little odd watching the old guys play sports like teenagers, heh. Oh, but the teenagers got their chance to play next. It was my school v. another one so needless to say I was quite passionate about the game. Okay, not as passionate as my coordinator who was screaming in Jill's and my ears every time the players moved, hehe.

Different people from our school would dance to our school song or cheer in big groups. And towards the end of the game, Jill and I decided to join them. However, our cheers must not have been that strong because the other team won: 2-0. It doesn't matter though, I'm proud to be with my school!

The Sport's Day closed with the directors giving another small speech and then we all gathered on the grass of the soccer field to hold hands in union. After all, we were all the same school just coming together for fun.

It was back to the bus for us then. And we spent another night trying to sleep with the bumpy roads. Oi, I was glad to have a bed after this, heh.



Birthday in Thailand!

July second happens to be my birthday, so I obviously got to celebrate it in Thai-style! I sort of got two birthday parties because Jill's birthday was only five days before mine. So I got to join in on both celebrations. On Jill's birthday, her family decided to go picnic at a park. The park happened to be a big tourist attraction because it had a cave that housed millions of bats. We went there early in the evening to see the bats fly out of the cave. it was quite a sight! Just went I thought all the bats would stop flying out, there were millions more coming. I actually didn't get to see when all the bats finally made it out. But it was cool anyway.

When we were done with the bats, we all sat down on a mat in the grass to have dinner. I ate, ate, and ate until I could barely move, heh. Then we had this chocolate cake, and I mean REALLY chocolate.

 

Now for those who don't already know, I have a hard time with sweets. Basically, if I have too much sugar, I get dizzy with a headache. Kind of like I'm intoxicated, I guess...heh. In America, this wasn't so much a problem because the things that were sweet, were not TOO sweet. However, while there isn't as many desserts here in Thailand, they're ALL loaded with 30 pounds of sugar.

Worse yet, the cake was absolutely delicious, so I ate like five pieces. Needless to say on the way home I was a little loopy. But thankfully it was bedtime anyway, so no big deal, heh. It was rather funny though, because Jill's family got these trick candles that don't blow out. And, well, the cake happened to be too close to my legs, so a comical scene of me yelling for Jill to blow out the candles only to realize that would have never happened in the first place. LOL

Five days later, it was my birthday. Which was interesting to begin with because for the first time in my life, I had a birthday during school. For all you guys who have had birthdays during school and are wondering why I'm so fascinated by this. Well, you ever remember getting the whole class to sing Happy Birthday to you, have cake and what-not? Yeah, I never got that... So it was a nice treat this year! X3

After school, my family celebrated by buying me cute stuffed animals and giving me a cake. It was coconut, and also not very sweet so I could eat as much as I wanted! Yay! It was super delicious too.

 

I was happy they all remembered my birthday because I was a little afraid they wouldn't. Because in Thailand birthday's are not considered as much of a big deal as in America. In fact, one of my fellow AFS peers said on her host mom's birthday, no one did anything, not even say Happy Birthday. So I really give my family credit for making me feel very much loved.

And before I close this post, I'm giving a huge shout out to my host cousin Film for doing that candle display for me. It was so pretty!! I loved it. And sorry folks, I can't seem to find the picture of it on Facebook, so just use your imagination. LOL