I went to visit my family in Thailand on November 2nd. They live in a city called Khon Kaen. The biggest thing that was hard for me to adjust to was the time difference. It is a 12-hour difference so if it’s 1:00 pm in North Carolina then it’s 1:00 am in Thailand. It was an exceedingly long flight that took about 26 hours to get there. I flew out of Durham airport and traveled to Miami Florida. I then went to Doha Qatar. Doha’s airport was extremely nice and substantial.. They also had nice stores such as a Louis Vuitton store and the Gucci store. One thing that I noticed was that they have their own prayer rooms everywhere for women. From Doha I flew to Bangkok, Thailand. My family had picked me and my mom up from the airport and drove to Khon Kaen which took almost 7 hours to get there. I had super bad jet lag and was sick for about two days. It was also hard to talk to my family back in North Carolina because when they were up and awake, I was sleeping. 

In Thailand they drive on the left side of the road. There are also a lot of moped drivers as well. It is a vastly different lifestyle. There is a lot of cooking everywhere and there are markets everywhere on the streets with people that make their own food from scratch and sell it. Something that I personally did not like was the showers. They can’t even truly be considered showers because there is a big bucket of water with a cup, and you pour the water on yourself and that’s what they call showers. So, there was no bathtub or shower head. 

The currency is also completely different. Money in Thailand is called Bot, so 1 US American dollar is 35 Bot in Thailand. I had got my hair done in Thailand. I normally would pay around 160 US dollars to get it done but when I got it done in Thailand, I calculated that I just paid 50 US American dollars to get the same service there and did not spend as much money as I usually would. Most houses do not have air conditioning which I think is crazy since it’s always hot all year round. I went during their wintertime, and it was always 85-90 degrees. So, there was also a big climate change for me. 

I had gone to watch a scary movie at the theaters with my cousin and it was a lot scarier than the ones in America. Trying to communicate with my family in Thailand was also hard since I do not speak Thai. My mom had to translate everything that was being said. After being there for so long I did start to pick up some words that they were saying. I never realized how much family I have over in Thailand. I met family members that I had never met before. While I was on my trip, we all went down to Pattaya beach. It was an 8-hour drive from Khon Kaen. The beach was super pretty, and it was hot there. I also got to ride jet skis in the ocean. The main part of the city reminded me of the strip in Las Vegas Nevada. There were a lot of lights, people, and small shops. The food in Thailand is also very spicy so that was another thing that was hard for me. I can’t eat spicy food and the food in general was very exotic. The only fast-food places that they have in Thailand that they also have in America are Burger king, KFC and Mcdonalds. One thing I noticed in Thailand is that they have a lot of homeless dogs as well.

I also visited another country. I went to Laos. Laos is very similar to Thailand. Their language is remarkably like Thai. Their money is called kip. Even though they are both similar, their money is quite different. They have a lot of historical places and statues everywhere. They also have these temples where you go pray but you can’t wear shoes and you must stay quiet. Laos and Thailand are deeply religious places. Family is a big part of Thailand. Caring for your elders and helping one another is something that is important. Always staying healthy is important too. I saw a bunch of herbs, oils, and plants that we do not have in the US. All their essentials are to help with sickness. On my way back home, we missed our flight from Bangkok to Aubi Dhabi. Our flight to Bangkok was delayed, making us miss the flight. We eventually found a flight to Tokyo, Japan. Once I arrived in Tokyo, we had an 8-hour layover. Their airport also had a lot of nice stores. My mom bought a Gucci purse. In Tokyo everything is very high-tech including bathrooms. Each toilet had a noise machine that made sounds of water dropping. It also had several types of water cleaning jets to clean up after yourself. When you pay for something, you never hand it to them, you lay it down on a small plate. At every airport you go to you must always get your passport checked. Since you go out of the country they must check and make sure that the airplane does not make any stops to pick anyone up when they are not supposed to. When we finally arrived at Durham airport. As soon as I stepped outside, I noticed how big the temperature difference was. This was an awesome experience, and I would love to go every year.