Yesterday morning the Fulbright crew met in a conference room at the hotel, along with our host families for our home stays. The meeting helped established expectations for the cross cultural experience, led by P’Tip, and it was a nice way to help make sure everybody was on the same page. She also assured us that she was placing us in safe families and we did not need to worry about being human trafficked….a thought that had, until that moment, never entered my mind.
After the meeting, Alex and I left together with our hosts for the evening, since all Fulbrighters would be staying with families in pairs.
Our first stop was to a fantastic lunch of deliciously spicy food, probably the spiciest I’ve had in Thailand, but I loved it! After lunch, we went to the house of our host, Ms. Sumran Musikasong. Her family included her husband, two sons, ages 3 and 7, and her niece, who spent 5 months as an exchange student in New Zealand and spoke great English. We left our bags at their home and left for a meditation center for Buddhist nuns. It was beautiful and calming, a very special experience.
Next we went to a market, where I found some fantastic plastic jelly shoes and we wove through a series of interesting booths of inexpensive “stuff.”
Then, after eating some delicious ice cream, we walked next door for foot massages, which are actually like foot, leg, and shoulder massages! This was an excellent treat, and it is something I could definitely get used to!
Soon after, we were dropped off at the home of Ms. P. Pikul Varapark, the president of the Rotary Club of Bang Rak, and her family. This was also were two other Fulbrighters, Eric and Carol, were staying for the evening. A large group of us loaded into a few vehicles and head out for dinner at a very large German Beer Hall, called Tawandang German Brewery. However, we quickly found out we would be served no beer, since it was the day before the elections for people living in the providences no beer would be served in Thailand for the night! Dinner was fantastic, including a largest piece of meat I’ve ever seen-of which our group ate two. There was a large stage spanned the entire front of the beer hall, on which we were given several hours worth of amazing performances. Our favorites included the Beer Army dance crew and the singing of Mariah Carey’s Hero, which was our tables request to the best performer at the restaurant.
Overall, I had an incredibly memorable first day with my host families, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to them for opening up homes.
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