My experiences at Wat temple was an eye-opening experience.  I thought I knew more about Thailand because I lived in Thailand from the day I was born until I was 10 years of age.  It turns out that I didn’t know as much about Thailand as I thought I did. 

 

I thought that the Wat temple would look more like those that I saw when I was in Thailand, but it looked more like a house.  It was when I entered the Wat temple that I realized the appearances of the Wat temple doesn’t matter, it is what is inside that mattered and the inside felt just like the temples that I went to in Thailand.

 

I went to Thai school for three years and “wai” (greet) all the time and didn’t realized that I’ve been it improperly.  Although speaking and understanding Thai was not an challenge for me, there are two important lessons I learned about Thai culture which I never knew before.  I learned that when “wai” others, my hands are not suppose to pressed flat on one another, they are supposed to spread apart in the middle to form a “lotus” like flower.  When I went to school in Thailand, I’ve always “wai” (greet) my teachers with my hands pressed flat together and no one have ever corrected me.  Something else that I learned is that females are not suppose to sit close to and or touch the Buddha, only males can do so! This was shocking to me, I’ve never heard of it.  I’ve always thought that male or female could sit and touch the Buddha.  This was truly an eye opening experience for me because I learned valuable lessons about the Thai culture and this is one of my favorite part about the Wat temple experience.

 

 



 

 

Another of my favorite part of the Wat temple experience would have to be the food that we ate.  The food was as good as I remembered having them in Thailand.  The chicken “kang” or curry with eggs is my favorite dish and the sweet sticky rice with mango and coconut cream on top was the best Thai dessert for me!  I love this mango sticky rice dessert.  I’ve tried to make it multiple times at home, but I can never find the right mango to go with it, the mango is either not ripe enough or not as sweet as it should be.  I had two to three dish of this dessert! 

 

Although it is true that I lived in Thailand for ten years, I’ve never felt as “free” as this.  When I was in Thailand, I lived as a refugee in a refugee camp which was strictly controlled as of where I can and can’t go.  I am looking forward to my experiences in Thailand and can not wait for the day to come!  I look forward to the different places that I will go and the many different food that I will eat again as well as new food that I have not eaten before.  My learning goal that I have is to compare my experiences of Thailand as a ‘refugee child’ to my experiences as an ‘adult tourist’ and learn from them.  I hope to be more open-minded than I am now with the new insights that I will gain from Thailand.  This is going to be an life changing experience as well as a reminder of where I came from.  THAILAND, HERE I COME!