A Whole New World . . . of Food!

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We embraced the day after sleeping in and eating a delicious breakfast of pork skewers, purple sticky rice and fruit; so far, my favorite breakfast! I love being able to eat salad and meat for breakfast. All the ingredients are so fresh and juicy; I can’t stop tasting and trying new things. I realize I am not afraid to try new things and be adventurous! One of the things that has been the most frustrating and confusing things so far was the money exchange, switching US dollars to Baht. We were dropped off at a bank and had not much help. It was a learning experience for us and our buddies, to together figure out how to communicate and exchange with the bank tellers. The bank I was redirected to made all of us students combine out money to exchange, not allowing the bills to be ripped, inked, or in bad condition. A crisp, clean bill was the best for them yet we were not told to bring those. Once the teller gave us the money, we then had to divvy up the correct amount to the right person, as we all exchanged different amounts. I exchanged $200 US dollars to gain 3,600 baht. This was another experience where I had to let go of control and I ended up sitting back and letting others take charge to prevent myself feeling overwhelmed. The language barrier was difficult and I was not sure if our thoughts were being communicated correctly; this has been a new feeling for me. Whether it is driving along the road or listening to conversation, all the words and speech are in Thai and only some translated into English. We have been submersed into a culture where we are the minority and that is an interesting, new feeling for me! Throughout the time at the shops and Walking street, the experience was overwhelming, yet fun as it puts me out of my comfort zone. Relating to the second goal of learning more about how a Thai person interacts with other, I am learning about the concept of the wai and why people do it. Our Thai buddies wai their professors and have been wai us as well on occasion, though I see us as equal. They seem more quick to scale themselves against other people and “know their place” more than we do in the US. I also got to see shopping how they don’t like conflict and refrain from criticism. Our buddies did not tell us about the shop keepers saying mean things about us until much later when we were back at the BCNC. I have enjoyed watching them interact and learning more about how they see the world and each other.

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