Update #1

This e-mail comes from Courtney Meijers, senior student from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. Courtney is from Scottsdale, AZ and is majoring in Psychology.
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Dear Friends and Family:

When one receives an invitation to an event, it usually includes the phrase, "Come for Food, Fun, and Fellowship." If an invitation were sent for this Spring Semester in Thailand program, it definitely would include this phrase, but possibly with a revision such as, "Come for delicious, inexpensive Thai food, adventures, and long, mind-bending lectures!"

Where can one go to feed 7 people full, delicious meals and drinks for a grand total of $11 US? The Answer: Thailand. All of us have discovered that we can eat three meals a day for about one dollar a day or maybe two dollars if we splurge on extra snacks or any other new foods we want to try. On average, our lunch costs 15 baht, and we've grown accustomed to this (in the one week that we've been here) to the point that when we see meals for 60 to 70 Baht (around $2), we think that it's too expensive.
Ordering food is an adventure in itself in that we don't really know the language so we point and then just try whatever we get which makes every meal interesting. This has also been a bonding experience in that people just buy food, take a piece and pass the rest around. We already act like a big happy family in that way.

Eating food has not been the only adventure so far; it's truly amazing what we have been able to accomplish in a week. Some adventures have been as a whole group, like visiting the U.S. Consulate, the day market, classes, and the mall. However, most adventures happen in small groups where someone comes up with an idea and whoever finds that activity appealing joins in on the fun. These adventures have included hiking around a waterfall, trekking through the zoo, exploring Buddhist temples, attending a Thai/Korean Christian concert, and going to various night markets and experiencing the local culture. Every day starts out with class and ends with some adventure that makes the day spectacular as a whole and gives us an opportunity to apply what we've learned in class.

Everyday this week included some sort of lecture, either by the Dean, the President, or an Ajaan (professor). The lectures by the Ajaan were, of course, lessons in Thai, either language or writing. Tuesday was our first full day of class where we had three hours of Thai Language in the morning with a 5 minute break every hour, and after two hours a new teacher came.
At noon we had a lunch break for an hour where most of us would venture off to the cantine for lunch and then rush off to use the free, fast internet on the fourth floor of the Humanities building (where our classes are located).

same Ajaan that we had for the last hour of the first 3 hours before lunch.
By 3pm, most of us are completely exhausted and our brains are crammed with Thai words and various pronunciations. On Thursday, we had writing after lunch instead of spoken language, which presented a whole new set of challenges.

Even though we've only had a couple of lessons, of which most of them went by very fast, it's been fun listening to the other students apply their new knowledge and hear their excitement when they revel in the fact they can now order their favorite drink in Thai or finally be able to eat at a new place because they do not have to rely on their pointing skills; they can use their new vocabulary to try a whole new variety of food.

Now that we've been here for a week, I asked a couple of my new friends about their highlights of the trip thus far. I received a variety of answers, but my favorite part was how their faces lit up when recalling a specific memory and how they relished in that recollection. In just one week, many of us have accumulated memories of a lifetime. Some highlights that were mentioned are: learning Thai, being overwhelmed and confused by learning Thai, ordering Thai food, enjoying a local favorite desert: mango and sticky rice, wandering around the day market and getting a feel for the town, discovering and exploring Buddhist temples, attempting to speak to Buddhist monks and sometimes successfully conversing with Buddhist monks, running in the morning and observing the local culture as well as the monks' daily trek down the hill, and exploring the waterfalls while simultaneously soaking in the beauty of this region.

Stay tuned for future emails detailing our adventures at the village. Have a terrific day!

Sincerely,

Courtney Meijers

One of 30 students Living the Good Life in Chiang Mai, Thailand