Experiencing Thailand by Amanda Brueshoff

To describe my experience so far in Thailand with only a few paragraphs seems almost impossible - there are so many events, moments and details that I feel I NEED to include to convey how amazing this trip has been for me. However, for the sake of this first blog, there are definitely a few specific outings that have stood out for me and have had a particular impact on my experience so far.

New Year's Eve day was my first "Wow, we're in Thailand!" moment. This was the day that we went on the Elephant riding and bamboo rafting excursion. We were all extremely excited and anxious for this adventure - for me, it was something that seemed like a must... because, again, we're in Thailand!! Why not?! And the excitement was well worth it; I enjoyed every moment of that afternoon out. The elephants we saw were huge and quite majestic, extremely well trained and definitely worth seeing. I felt like I was in a movie as we trekked through the river on their giant backs, with the mountains as our backdrop scene. And then we added to that a river ride on a bamboo raft, very calming and almost surreal. The day was definitely an adventure. To top it all off, we had the chance to experience New Year's Eve in Chiang Mai later that day - I loved walking through the city, observing the mix of people and feeling the energy of the evening. We stopped while walking through the crowds to light and release paper lanterns; with these lanterns, we were able to make a wish for the new year to come. The lanterns are said to take with them all of the bad things or bad luck you've had, which, in my opinion, was a very fitting and meaningful way to bring in the new year. Another first for me that night was hearing the midnight countdown and initial "Happy New Year!" shouts in Thai - how cool!

Another enjoyable outing for me was our time spent at the hilltribe village last Thursday evening. I felt very honored and priviledged to be welcomed into their homes and community with such warmth. We were even given the awesome opportunity to take part in a traditional celebration and dinner with all of them and they made us feel very comfortable when taking part in all of the festivities - my initial thoughts of possibly feeling too much like an outsider were washed away upon experiencing the hospitality of everyone there. And to note, this is something that I have noticed and really appreciated in general about the Thai people I have met so far - they have been so kind, so sincere and seem genuinely happy when seeing/interacting with us. I suppose that this may be a part of the reason why Thailand is known as "The Land of Smiles" :)

So, next during our hilltribe visit we were able to meet the leader/head of the village before having dinner. He looked suprisingly young to me but held an extremely calm, confident and calm presence that really impressed me. After speaking with him, we took a walk around the village, passing many houses all tucked back in the trees and waving to the locals as we walked. During the dinner and celebration, it was lively and exciting and everyone seemed to be having a great time together. We were fortunate to enjoy a traditional dinner with them and experience a small taste of the village life. I really loved the simplicity of it all - or what seems like simplicity when compared to the lives we live back at home. The experience this night had made me re-think about what "necessity" really is... from my perspective (or initial perspective) it seems that the people in these environments have so little... but if they were asked, would they say that same thing? I doubt it. They have such a strong sense of community, culture, tradition, family, togetherness - I feel like they do have everything they need. Maybe those really are the things that are most important...needless to say, the visit has made me look at life a little differently and it was an experience that meant a lot to me.

And there are many more moments that still are vivid in my mind! Our visit on Friday with the students from the University is definitely in my top three favorite experiences as well...I will write about this soon!