People would complain a lot about Minnesota’s summer weather, I was even one of them. However, after one week in Thailand I feel that their complaints are ironic. Here in Thailand, the temperature usually ranges from 80 to 100 Farenheight with “high” humidity. By “high” I mean high enough that if you walked down 2 blocks in the sun you would be guaranteed at least sweating in an area of your body; for those who sweat easily like me would have sweat forming in their face and body, followed by an everlasting stickiness. This, of course, is taken from the perspective of a foreigner from an area with only one hot season.

For the last 6 days that we have been, there was not a day that I did not sweat. By the end of the day all my upper body would be covered with sweat and stickiness. I only sweat this much when I play soccer but it’s like a never ending cycle here. However, always sweating can have a positive impact as well.

Thailand is like a detoxication system for foreigners. Every day you that you are sweating, you are detoxing. I think this detoxification gives a good balance with the food that we eat here. Everything that we eat contains some kind of toxin, and because the foods here are mixed with a plethora of flavors and spices and we tend to eat a variety of them on the streets, most foreigners do not really know what is in the food. For example, because I have been eating everything spicy for the past few days I feel that my stomach is always unsettling. The warm, humid weather helped detoxify my body and made it so that my body did not have to use the restroom so often. If I ate this much back in Minnesota, I think I would be in the restroom maybe 5-7 times a day.

There are more ways that Thailand’s hot and humid can benefit the body, but going deeper into would require many more paragraphs, so I will end it here.

So while Thailand’s climate is really hot and humid and makes foreigners sweat like crazy, it creates a balance with its amazing food by creating a detoxification system that sweats out the toxins in your body.

Hello, my name is Sia Thao. I am a sophomore majoring in Computer Science. While my major is Computer Science, I also have an interest in teaching as well. One of my life goal is to go back to the rural areas of Thailand and teach my people(the Hmong) so they can have  more opportunities.  Thus, one of my goals for this trip will be to assess and compare Thailand’s educational system against the United States in order to find out what I need to prepare when I go back to Thailand and teach my people.

Another goal of mine is to go back and re-live some of my childhood memories in Thailand. I was born in Thailand and immigrated here in 2004. Since then I have never had the chance to return to my birthplace. However, with this study abroad opportunity I will be able to go back and re-live some of my memories from my childhood. I will also be able to meet some family members that I have been missing for 13 years now.

I am excited for this trip and the experiences that it will give. See you Thailand!