Planning My Trip
At first, finding a study abroad program was difficult for me. There wasn't a program that would count towards my major, Elementary Education- so I turned to my minor, Visual Studies. Fortunately, I found a three week summer program in Chiang Mai, Thailand. During my three weeks, I'll be studying Southeast Asian Art at Chiang Mai University in northern Thailand.
The most commonly asked question I get from people about my trip is "Why did you chose Thailand?" My top two choices were Thailand and Japan, but I really wanted to go to a non-western culture to experience something very new and unique. Japan was appealing to me because they value art and have a huge fashion scene in the cities. However, Thailand's natural beauty and peaceful, hippie attitude was what really sold me. The country is known for its wildlife and greenery from the beach karsts to the waterfalls in the jungle.
During my trip I plan on hiking up one of the twin mountain peaks, Doi Suthep in Pui National Park. At 5,499 feet above the city, an ancient Buddhist temple sits at the top overlooking Chiang Mai. Buddhism is a central part of the culture and monks and temples are held in very high esteem. Along the hike to the top of the peak there are three different waterfalls and even a hill tribe village. I also plan to see the old city and its many temples, and enjoy the famous food. The cost of living in Thailand is unbelievably cheap, and you can buy a big meal with a beer for under 5 USD. The Thai people's currency is the Baht, which currently roughly converts from 35 Baht to 1 USD.
While I'm still researching and planning most of my trip, I'm hoping to convince my parents to let me hop over to either Vietnam or Japan while I'm already on the other side of the world (since it's so convenient!) I'm also checking out nearby things to do and what I will definitely want to see while I'm in Thailand. Also, if you're interested in following my journey you can subscribe (go to the home page and scroll down- it's on your right) to receive an email update each time a new blog post is published. For now, I'm starting to memorize some important Thai words and phrases- wish me luck!
