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Hello, I’m an exchange
student and my name is Ramon Rodriguez Garcia and I come from
Mexico. I arrived in Thailand and will be staying here as a Rotary
Club exchange student and my host City is Nakhon Sithammarat
situated in Southern Thailand. My school for my time here is the
Kanlayaneesithammarat School and my first host family is the
Karikarns. My host mum is Mayuree Karikarn who is actually the head
of the English Program at the school. I also have Kwan, my host
sister and my host dad whose name is Nippon.
On my second day here in
Nakhon I was lucky enough to join the school’s annual trip to
Malaysia and Singapore. Myself and 60 regular EP students, along
with a group of teachers all set off in a coach for our week
exploring Malaysia and Singapore. I was very excited as I had never
been to either of these countries before.
During the trip I got to
know the teachers and students of the M3 classes. I think that for
me this first month was really exiting because the culture and the
kind of lives people lead in Thailand and Asia are very very
different from those led in Mexico, I didn’t have any bad
experiences, my family are very good with me, and the school is not
bad. Sometimes though its very difficult for me eat Thai Food
because it’s really different from Mexican food. When I came I
couldn’t explain why the people don’t use their shoes inside their
houses and other places. Another thing was why were the drivers
seats of the cars on the right side?
I have also been to
SuratThani for my First Rotary District Meeting and I met many
other exchange students from countries such as Brazil, Japan,
Russia, USA, Germany, Denmark, Australia, Canada and Colombia. They
were all nice students and there were some very nice girls there
too.
My experience in Thailand
so far has been very good, I don’t have problems, the people are
very nice and I am very happy to have come to Thailand. I know, the
cultures between our two countries are very different, the people
are very different and all is very different, but, every night I
think of my home, of my Family in back in Mexico and every day I say
to myself, “Ramon, you need to work very hard to learn Thai, and you
must be a good representative for Mexico.”
I’ve been to quite a few
places with the Rotary Club since I last wrote. I’ve went away for a
month and traveled all around the north of this very interesting
country. I went To Chiang-Mai including Doi Sathep, the highest
point in Thailand. I also went to Laos and Myanmar and many other
places too. I went with all my friends from the Rotary Club and also
with my Counselor Mr. Asa. We took part in many different activities
at the resorts we stayed at.
We were in Chiang Mai for
the Loy Kratong festival, an important date in the Thai calendar. Oh
God, the North of Thailand is a good place. When we arrived in the
hotel, the staff of the trip had a nice activity ready for us in the
lobby of the hotel. We made something like a mini boat with flowers
and candles to use in the Loy Kratong Festival. We went to a lake in
Chiang Mai and floated our newly made mini boats. It was good fun
and we had a great time with all tourists who were also there. Our
tourist guide was 27 year old man, his nickname was Well and he was
very funny, we hade an excellent trip with him.
Loy Kratong is big
festival in Chiang Mai, they put on so many street markets and we
bought a lot of souvenirs for our families. At night we found a
couple of discothèques and Night clubs to go to.
When I finished my trip,
I went to Otelo’s House. He is a friend from Mexico and he is also
over here in Thailand as an Exchange Student. He lives in Hua Hin, a
coastal town a couple of hours south of Bangkok. So I went to Hua
Hin to visit him and we enjoyed the town, it’s great. There you can
find many touristy things. There is a beautiful beach to the East of
the city and there is also a great big night market selling all
kinds of things … and very cheaply too!
In Hua Hin I met Aliki
from Canada and Robyn from USA. They are also Exchange Students and
members of the Rotary Club. After a couple of days in Hua Hin we
then returned to my host City, Nakhonsitammarat. On arriving back in
Nakhonsithammarat we went almost immediately to Krabi on an English
Program Camp. We enjoyed it so much with the students and the
teachers in this camp. We went swimming with the fish in the sea, we
went to some stunning islands and we went to Poda Island, an
exclusive tourist resort …. very nice indeed. The EP students played
with the teachers on the beach, and my friends and I went to the
restaurant for a quick snack and we got talking with other
Foreigners who were there on holiday.
When the Camp finished,
my friends and I returned to Nakhonsithammarat, and enjoyed my host
city. We went shopping in the mall in the Robinson Ocean centre. The
following morning all of my friends went back to Hua Hin..
But, this is not all,
after 3 days I went again to Krabi!!! O I really love this place. I
went with some friends from the other Rotary Club. In Krabi I found
a new friend. He comes from the USA and his name is Kith. He’s
a GOOD person and was traveling around Asia. I think now he’s in
either China or Japan.
This time I knew more
about the Thai Country because I had been traveling around Thailand
for over a month. This month was very good because I met so many new
friends whom I now miss very much. I know this is a very good
experience for me, but I worry a little because next year I will
miss Thailand a lot but at least I will be back with my family.
At Christmas I again went
up to Hua Hin, again with Otelo, and I stayed with his host family.
He has very nice host family. I went with other exchange students
who came from Brazil and USA. We each made different foods from our
own countries and we made in a nice party for the Rotary Club and
the people of Hua Hin. I then came back down to Nakhonsithammarat
for a few days. During this time I took part in an aid convoy to
some of the areas hit by the 'tsunamis' on the 26th December. I then
went up to Bangkok with my host mom for the New Year.
After
traveling to the places affected by the Tsunami, I went with my
family to the City of Bangkok, the Capital of Thailand. We arrived
at the house of my host mums sister where I visited my brothers in
Bangkok and we went to eat at a very big commercial centre. Also I
went shopping at a very very big outdoor market called Ja-tu-jak,
and it is a great market where you can buy absolutely anything you
can think of. The following day I went on a visit to the palace of
the King, an extraordinary place, I saw all the places with my Mom,
my Father and my host Mom's sister. I took many photos and had an
excellent day.
After nearly a
year living and learning within Thailand, I can sum it all up with
just one word .... fantastic. The places I went to, the people I
met, the different sights and smells etc etc. I'd just like to
finish off by saying thank you to my host families and of course a
big thank you to Kanlayaneesithammarat School, the students and
teachers for enabling me to have a unique insight into life in a
Thai school. |
