[indahouweres]

I didn't choose to come to Thailand. My exchange program, AFS chose it for me. I thought (naively) that exchange students only went to Europe. So when the application asked where I wanted to go, I glumly listed France and Switzerland. (France and Switzerland are indeed lovely, but I didn't think they'd be soooo adventurous) Luckily, the exchange program had a second question on the application: What are the characteristics of a place that you would like to go? I asked for some place far far from home that I would normally not be able to visit. I asked for some place with a difficult language that I would not normally get to hear. .....and they chose for me, Thailand.

It was not a hand in glove perfect ah-hah moment. There was huge culture shock, but it was exactly the adventure that I craved. I lived with a loving, supportive family. Upon my return, when my own American family faced signficant fractures, my Thai family was always my constant. When I lost my American mom, my Thai mom told me that I would always have her. Same when I lost my dad.

I didn't choose Thailand, it chose me...and I am thankful for that!