Thailand!
It was my first trip to Thailand and I had no idea what to expect. But as the plane touched down into this country of vibrant colors, tropical fruits, kind smiles, and unique energy, it seemed like anything was possible.
I was so surprised when I met my host family, and my host greeted me in Japanese! As it turns out, she lived for one year in Japan as an exchange student. She also studied Japanese at her university, and could therefore speak and write like a native Japanese! This made the homestay very fun because the two of us could talk about all kinds of topics, from dreams to school to politics. It was my first time to have an "older sister" so I was happy that we grew so close. However, all our talking in Japanese attracted some weird looks from strangers. (I don't exactly look Japanese). Sometimes people at common tourist spots, etc. even greeted me in Japanese, which always made me laugh. While I expected to improve my Thai speaking skills, I was surprised that my JAPANESE improved as well!
My host mother and father spoke some English, and so I communicated with them in a combination of English and Thai. On the first day of my homestay my host dad gave me a notebook to write down my new Thai words, and wherever we went helped me find new words and phrases to add. I was constantly asking, "A rai i ka?" (What is this?). My host would respond and then ask me, "And in English?" In this way, we developed our own little games. I learned a lot of food words when helping my My host brother taught me some cool, slang Thai words too! He said my vocabulary started at level 1, but with his lessons I improved to level 3. :-) It was kind of funny that, although Thai sentence structure is similar to English, I kept confusing it and using Japanese sentence order instead.
I can't even begin to express how special Thailand was to me. Every sight, sound, smell, and taste was new and fascinating. I would tell you about my culture shock, but I don't even know where to begin! I learned so much not only about Thailand, but about how people in other cultures view the U.S. and Japan. The experience is one that I will never forget.
I was so surprised when I met my host family, and my host greeted me in Japanese! As it turns out, she lived for one year in Japan as an exchange student. She also studied Japanese at her university, and could therefore speak and write like a native Japanese! This made the homestay very fun because the two of us could talk about all kinds of topics, from dreams to school to politics. It was my first time to have an "older sister" so I was happy that we grew so close. However, all our talking in Japanese attracted some weird looks from strangers. (I don't exactly look Japanese). Sometimes people at common tourist spots, etc. even greeted me in Japanese, which always made me laugh. While I expected to improve my Thai speaking skills, I was surprised that my JAPANESE improved as well!
My host mother and father spoke some English, and so I communicated with them in a combination of English and Thai. On the first day of my homestay my host dad gave me a notebook to write down my new Thai words, and wherever we went helped me find new words and phrases to add. I was constantly asking, "A rai i ka?" (What is this?). My host would respond and then ask me, "And in English?" In this way, we developed our own little games. I learned a lot of food words when helping my My host brother taught me some cool, slang Thai words too! He said my vocabulary started at level 1, but with his lessons I improved to level 3. :-) It was kind of funny that, although Thai sentence structure is similar to English, I kept confusing it and using Japanese sentence order instead.
I can't even begin to express how special Thailand was to me. Every sight, sound, smell, and taste was new and fascinating. I would tell you about my culture shock, but I don't even know where to begin! I learned so much not only about Thailand, but about how people in other cultures view the U.S. and Japan. The experience is one that I will never forget.
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