Wow! These past few days have truly been a whirlwind. I still can’t believe I get to call Thailand my home for a year. I’m so grateful to everyone who has helped me begin my integration into Thailand. I thought it’d be fun to share a couple of highlights so far.

Monday

For my first full day in my town, I was able to drive around Phrae and Lampang Province to check up on my host dad’s grocery stores. He has 4 stores, all around Northern Thailand. It was amazing to see 3 of them, and see both what a grocery store looks like here, and my host dad’s businesses. I also got to soak in the beautiful countryside of Thailand. It was a very rural area surrounded by rolling mountains and jungles. I tried Logan fruit, which grow on trees everywhere here. They sort of taste like sweet grapes. After that, we ate dinner with my second host family and Brian (the Taiwanese student). I got to try Moo Ping, which is grilled pork, 3 different ways. We also ate a cake inspired by Taylor Swift’s Blank Space music video, to celebrate my belated birthday 🥰.

Tuesday

Today, I ate a rice porridge with pork for breakfast, while learning some new Thai words with my host dad. He also went through the Thai alphabet with me, so I can start to understand the writing system. My first writing lesson was my name. My Thai name is มาลัย (Malai), which means flower garland. This is a cultural tradition to symbolize luck and respect. I was able to spend more time with my second host family and Brian today. The mom runs a baking business, so we got to help her roll bread dough and package her butter cakes. They were delicious (a-roi maak). They have their baking kitchen on their farm land. It was breathtaking out there. For dinner, we had Mookata (bbq) again, and I was able to meet Marie, a RYE student from France! Marie, Brian, and I will be going to the same school.

Tomorrow, all 3 of us will be going to get our school uniforms! That’s going to be an exciting adventure for sure. They will be embroidering my Thai name on the shirts. I only have 4 days left until I begin school. I’m very excited to meet so many new friends and have more exposure to learn Thai quicker.

With Love from the Land of Smiles,

Emma Kate/ Malai